Inside my head I cursed at the failure of watching my own back. This was a strange hostile place, neither Taryn nor I had much in the way of experience with the western continent. Somehow all of that had been forgotten at the mere sight of Vexxon’s Landing.

Ahead of me Taryn had gone as rigid as I, having noticed that we had an unknown person behind us. He began to turn his head slowly before his eyes widened in shock, and then narrowed in rage.

The anger that had welled up in him poured through our connection into me, a tidal wave of rage threatened to overcome my own mental state. With one hand lifted up to warn him to not do anything I turned to face the stranger, hoping that he could keep himself in check.

The first thing I saw when I turned was the bow, a small and well designed one created with maneuverability in mind. While the range wouldn’t be too long, that would matter little since the distance between myself and the bow was only ten yards. The sharp looking arrowhead was made of a type of metal I couldn’t quite recognize, dark black in color.

Taryn’s intense rage became understandable since the arrow was aimed straight at me. It was a protective response that tickled at my heart and brought a tiny smile to my face. Perhaps if I had been a bit more insecure I would’ve been offended, but I knew that Taryn simply cared immensely for me and couldn’t stop himself from getting upset.

The holder of the weapon was someone I hadn't expected at all, and I could only surmise it was a native of the continent. Her skin was dark enough that she could blend in well with the shadows that abounded in the jungle, while black irises with a blue sclera instead of the usual white. Her face was for the most part without any signs of scars or identifiers and her brown hair had been kept short enough that it barely reached her ears.

A tight leather bandeau covered her top, while a sash ran around her waist and held up a skirt made from fur. A basic type of leather sandal was the only footwear she wore. At her waist and hanging slantwise off of the sash was the quiver for her arrows.

“Who are you?” she asked, her voice controlled and quiet. Her voice thick with an accent that I couldn’t even begin to place.

With a slow and easy movement, fingers outstretched with palms turned toward the stranger, I straightened my back and stood at my full height. Though I wasn’t altogether tall that was of little importance, as instead I wished to portray a proper demeanor during the exchange.

“My name is Liliana Rose, of the Rose family of Scintallia,” I answered truthfully. “My companion behind me is Taryn Lucent, caretaker of the Shiadone orphanage.”

The dark-skinned girl narrowed her eyes as though suspecting some type of deception was at work. The tense standoff continued for a few more moments before she gave a small nod of her head and lowered the bow, relaxing her arm and letting the bowstring go slack. She did not, however, move the arrow away from her bow.

“Why are you here?” she inquired without taking her eyes off of us.

I could feel the rage within Taryn subside as the situation quickly began to defuse. “We were on a merchant ship when it was sunk by some pirates,” I placed both hands on my hip. “You skipped a step, by the way. It’s common courtesy to tell others your name after they introduce themselves.”

The native’s eyes widened in surprise at that, before she gave a quick nod of the head. Even as she partially bowed in our direction she slid the arrow in her hand back into the quiver. “Kaina,” was her short response, before she continued on, “I am sorry. If you look for help, no more Vexxons.”

“What do you mean, did you do something to them?” Taryn stepped up closer, standing next to me. “Did you eat them?”

A tiny grin appeared on Kaina’s face as her eyesight clearly started to drift down. “Answer his question,” I stepped in front of Taryn and crossed my arms.

Kaina laughed before she motioned toward Vexxon’s Landing. “I eat none,” she offered her left hand palm up toward us. “Kaina show you.”

Kaina sauntered past us, her eyes peeking to her side to get another look at Taryn. With a beckon of her right hand she called for us to follow her. I scowled, a bit unhappy with the savage, but I put aside my personal distaste and walked after her toward the town. Behind me I could hear Taryn stir out of his confused state, a tint of embarrassment tickling my mind through our spiritual bond.

The outside of the town, along with the sand, had been littered with chunks of wood. The gateway itself still had a few pieces of wood that hung off of it, clear evidence of a gate that had been destroyed. Numerous footprints could be made out in the sand and pathway that led up to the gate, the footprints leading both into and out of the town.

I came to a stop and squatted down to study one of the chunks of wood while Kaina and Taryn continued on through the gateway. The wood was lumber from a type of tree I was unaccustomed to, so I could only assume it was one of the local species. What interested me most was that the edges were clean cuts, flawless as though sliced by an extremely sharp blade. With how many chunks littered the area I couldn’t even imagine what made that possible.

“Over here,” Kaina called out from ahead.

After I stood up I walked over toward her and Taryn, opting to ignore the information I’d gained until I could actually make sense of it. It was a waste of energy and effort to worry about something that didn’t matter at the moment. Taryn watched my approach, sword held in front of a certain part to block it from sight.

“Something the matter?” he asked in a soft voice.

“Nothing,” I didn’t bother telling him about the odd cuts on the wood. While I loved Taryn he was a bit of a brute when it came to problems, punching someone being his go to solution.

Now that we were in the town itself the situation became all the more mysterious. The town consisted entirely from wood and thatch made from leaves. Each building was a single floor with no windows. To be honest it looked like Vexxon’s Landing had been made in a hurry and nobody had gotten around to upgrading it yet.

The houses throughout the town had some minor damage, though a couple near the gate had collapsed and also shared those clear cuts. The doors on the homes that still stood had been destroyed, wood chunks visible when I peered in. A few of the homes had a trail of blood that led out from them, clear signs of someone wounded or dead being dragged out.

Toward the center and offset from the main path there were a dozen bundles of cloth, tied with vines and stained in random spots with red. Kaina had moved to stand near the bundles of cloth, bundles which I could only assume were corpses, and her head was bowed with eyes closed.

“Was this done by one of the monsters in the jungle?” I wondered, though I doubted based on how clean and simple the damage had been.

“Men killed Vexxons,” Kaina lifted her head, tears in her eyes. “Men came and took Vexxons.”

“Took them?” I couldn’t hide the surprise on my face. Kidnapping of an entire town was a new one for me, even if I thought back to what my teachers taught me in the Legion I couldn’t remember that ever happening. The dryads attacking a town, the Plague attacking a town, slave traders hitting single houses...but an entire town?

“Didn’t you say there were legionnaires?” Taryn spoke up, his body close to my back.

“Yes! Kaina, there were legionnaires here, warriors,” I walked up to her and gripped her left shoulder. “Didn’t they fight off the men?”

“Leg-” Kaina started to say the word before she shook her head in frustration. “Men killed men, took Vexxons.”

With her left finger she pointed to the western wall of the town. Above the wall the sun had already started its descent. I stared at the wall, lost in thought. “Taryn, we’re spending the night here. I doubt they’ll attack again since they already raided the whole town.”

“What about the corpses?”

“We burn them,” I said with a hint of regret. In this land there was no Plague, which meant people could properly bury one another and grieve over a grave. However we had neither the tools nor the knowledge, and I didn’t want to deal with any scavengers coming into town trying to eat the bodies.

♪ ♫ ♬ ♫ ♪

The bonfire in the middle of the town lit up all of Vexxon. The bodies had been placed on it before Taryn and I had sought out refuge in one of the houses for the night. We found one that had a bed large enough for the both of us, and had curled up in it. Kaina had vanished off into the jungle, a small promise of return her way of saying goodbye.

Taryn and I were on our sides on the bed, with him directly behind me. His arms wrapped around me in a light hug. As I lay there I could only think of all that had happened since the start of what should have been an easy escort job.

Everything had gone wrong when our ship had been smashed to pieces by the greedy pirates. From that point on we’d been forced to fight against monstrous animals in this strange, foreign land, and barely survived all the way through to the town. I’d even learned about Taryn’s sword and what had happened with his father.

Taryn’s hands squeezed my own in a soft reassuring motion. “Everything is going to be alright,” he whispered into my ear, most likely having felt something through our link.

“No boats. I can’t believe there are no boats at the pier.” We had investigated the waterfront in Vexxon’s Landing before the sun went down. There had been nothing to find anywhere, not even a single sunken ship beneath the waves. “How are we going to get back home?”

“You’ll figure something out,” Taryn tightened his arms. “Push comes to shove I can always yell at my father to help.”

THAT was a thought I had put behind me, almost as if suggested to. The fact there was a god right next to us in Taryn’s sword opened up new possibilities. It also brought a question to mind because of what he had said to me inside that nebulous inner world. “Taryn, what did your dad mean that I smelled like you?”

Taryn went still at that question, his fingers loosening their grip slightly. “Well...he’s the god of souls right?” Taryn finally said. “I put a part of mine into yours so that’s why.”

It was an answer that brought a small laugh from me. “I forgot about that. Blood, souls and life?”

“Yeah...I think we should try to just sleep.”

“Fine,” I almost grumbled. Though I was tired my mind refused to go still and instead worked far too much at what had occurred so far.

Even if I wanted my brain to stop it didn’t work that way, instead I could only lay there and patiently wait to work through all the anxiety I’d gathered. Behind me Taryn’s breath grew quieter, but his arms remained tightly wound around me. His warmth and presence were a comfort that I sorely needed while on this strange continent.

♪ ♫ ♬ ♫ ♪

When we emerged from the town the next morning we had taken some of the clothing from the various homes. Once again we had shirts, pants and even shoes, while I couldn’t find any type of proper weapon anywhere. If what Kaina had said was true, that people had kidnapped the townsfolk, they had clearly raided the houses for anything of real value.

The sun rose in the east, a mist that had formed along the treetop of the jungle scattering in the warmth of its rays. Movement near the base of the treeline drew my attention as Kaina emerged from out of nowhere. Her thin brown body and dark clothing had made her difficult to pick out while she had stood still, and even in movement she blended in well with the jungle.

Kaina offered a woven basket of fruits to us before she herself took one and ate it. Whether it was to show that we could trust her, or that she was merely hungry, in the end it didn’t matter since Taryn and I were starving.

The green fruit had a bit of a sour tang to it that was quite new to me. Although my family was well off and I had eaten many types of foods these fruits were completely new to me. Beside me Taryn wolfed down everything he could put his hands on, far hungrier than what I was.

“Did you want me to try and talk to Lanias?” Taryn asked after we had finished our makeshift breakfast.

A shake of my head was response to that question. I had made my choice in the middle of the night while Taryn slept. “We’re going to go find those people,” I told him, hands tightening into fists. “We can’t just leave them to die.”

It was a declaration that Taryn immediately agreed to. He had a sore spot when it came to slaves, and most likely the survivors of the attack would be sold off when taken back to the eastern continent. After a lot of thought I had figured out the identity of who had attacked Vexxon’s Landing.

“We’re going after the pirates.”