The next morning we gathered up the townsfolk and prisoners. While the Losson corralled the pirates I double-checked Taryn’s arm. With a knife I cut up some of the bedding on the ship and used it to bundle the end and hide his bloody stump. I could only hope it wouldn’t bother the children anymore.

Before we left the boats I made certain to pick up a new sword, along with a small dagger that I tucked into my left boot. While they couldn’t make up for my lost shatterblade it was far better than being unarmed.

When we left the cove we left the ships anchored and untouched. Phillins and I had talked about how once the Legion reinforcements showed up they could make use of the pirate ships. At the least they could raid whatever was in the holds.

Once we started our march to the east we put the pirates in the front, with the main bulk of the Losson guards focused around the townsfolk in the back. Taryn, Kaina and I chose to lead the way, retracing our steps through the northern tip of the jungle.

The progress was far slower than what I remembered, though it was due to the children we had along with us. While we walked through the jungle I couldn’t resist looking back at them, constantly worried that one of the kids would wander off into the unknown. My time spent at the orphanage had made me realize that I rather liked children.

It was thanks to that I noticed the pirate who decided to run for it. Even though his hands were bound behind him he made a dash to the south, heading deeper into the jungle. Some of his nearby companions followed after him, most likely encouraged by the first escapee.

None of the pirates who remained made any noises and instead watched their friends try to escape. Some of the townsfolk near the back saw the escaping pirates and yelled. The Losson, however, remained absolutely silent and made no move to stop the pirates. For some reason a couple of them had started to draw their swords.

“Hey! Get back here!” Taryn cried out from next to me, which in turn drew my attention to him.

Kaina put a hand on his shoulder to stop him from chasing after the escapees. “No go.”

“What? But if we don-” Taryn was interrupted by screams that abruptly came from where the pirates had escaped too.

It was for that reason that I stopped looking at Taryn and instead to the darkened trees. The screams continued on for a while, along with other noises that could only be called wet. A few loud cracks, as though bones had snapped, and all of the screams came to an end.

“Kaina, what was that?” I asked as I kept my gaze on the dark jungle into which the pirates had vanished. I had already pulled my new sword out from the cheap leather scabbard.

Kaina stepped in front of me, on my left. “Bone hounds.”

From the jungle a sort of hooting laughter came from multiple directions. A flash of grey fur with black stripes was briefly visible, and then back into the foliage and trees it vanished.

“Get behind me,” Taryn said.

“No,” was my reply, “I don’t need your protection Taryn. Those townsfolk do, though.”

“They’re not the ones I’m worried about,” Taryn muttered, though he listened and hurriedly walked off to the back of our group.

I glanced at Taryn as he moved back to the townsfolk. As he walked past the pirates he glared at them, which made most of the closest ones flinch away and cower.

“Keep it together you idiot,” I whispered, though I couldn’t resist smiling.

When I looked back at the jungle a chill went down my spine, because one of the so-called bone hounds stood confidently out in the open. The creature stood a good four feet tall and was at least six feet in length, with a flat head and a shortened muzzle.

The hound’s fur was short, with little tufts of excess fur running down the spine. The fur itself was a light grey with black stripes that ran vertically on the torso. Part of the fur was a mottled mixture of different shades of grey. It stared at us with golden eyes, a long tongue lolling out of a mouth left wide open.

In front of me Kaina’s finger moved slowly over the arrows in her quiver. After she’d moved her hand over half of them she pulled one out and nocked it. “Wait,” she said over her shoulder to me.

More of the hooting came from the jungle behind the hound, and then a few more of the beasts emerged into the morning light. Blood dripped freely from scraps of flesh which hung from their mouths, and cries of fear came from the townsfolk and pirates.

At first two more emerged, and then a third hound padded out from the shadows. A fourth and fifth came along not long after, while from the jungle that odd hooting call sounded out from multiple spots.

I edged my right foot slightly forward, the sword I held in my right hand at the ready. I tried my best to focus on relaxing, while I bent my knees a little bit. I removed the sheath that I had belted to my waist and, though it was a loose leather one, I gripped it in my hand with full intent to use it for defense.

They made no noise when they attacked, quick dark shadows that darted from the thicker part of the jungle in unison. New ones emerged, almost as though serving as reinforcements, and soon the entire area in front of me was a mass of blackened figures.

When the hounds were a couple of body lengths distant from us Kaina fired her arrow. The arrow itself flew over the top of the bone hounds, though it wasn’t because she missed. Instead the arrow proved to be a bit different from the normal, as it produced a high pitched screech as it passed over the beasts.

It wasn’t only Kaina who fired a special arrow, as a couple more came off from my right and where the Losson guards were. The response from the hounds was immediate, they yowled and ducked their heads down. Some of the more forward fell down and tumbled, only to get run into by their pack members.

I didn’t wait for the go ahead from Kaina, it was obvious enough to me that it was the time to act. While the nearest hound floundered, crying in pain at the sound of the arrows. I dashed up to that beast and without a hint of hesitation stabbed the sword directly into it’s left eye.

I took a big step forward with my left foot, even while I ripped the sword out of the hounds head. While still mid-step I took advantage of my forward momentum to punch at the side of the beasts face. My fist collided with a loud crack, and I could feel the bone of the hound crunch beneath the blow.

I snapped that same fist that I’d used to punch the hound out to my left, and toward one of the other creatures. The leather scabbard I had swung out like a poor man’s whip slapped the second hound in the face, causing it to flinch. I followed through with a quick swing of my sword and cleaved deep into the side of the hounds face.

A couple of arrows flew in from behind and hit some of the still active bone hounds. It was support from Kaina that I had no issue receiving, though I wasn’t dumb enough to turn around in the middle of the fight to thank her.

Instead I focused on the pack that was in front of me. It was a precarious position to be sure, as five more of the hounds were in my vicinity. Though a couple had been hit by Kaina their focus was entirely on me, though I could only guess as to why that was the case.

I had no intention to draw on the power of Lanius, nor was I able to use my Presence, and so I focused inwardly on that sliver of Taryn’s. Immediately I could feel that extra power pump through my body, and I knew that my eyes had turned crimson once again. I took one step forward, a slight tremor sent out from where my foot connected with the ground due to the excess power.

The impact on the bone hounds was instantaneous, as they backed away and gave low growls. A couple of them hooted to the others, before they turned and took off in a dead run for the jungle. The others nearby me followed soon after and so I was left with no more opponents to fight.

No longer engaged with my own fight I turned my attention to the others. I could only guess that the bone hounds had reached a few of the pirates since some of them were gone, but all of the townsfolk were thankfully huddled together further back.

The Losson had taken up a formation where some of them were in the front and the rest stood behind them. The ones in the front had pulled out their swords, while the back row continued to utilize their bows. A small group of dead hounds had fallen in front of them, covered in arrows and slash wounds.

Behind them Taryn stood with a battered hound still gripped in his single hand. Nearby him two more hounds were lain out on the ground, their bodies crushed down from what I could only guess was Taryn using the one he held as a club.

Before I could join the fight to help the Losson their opponents stopped in their attack, their heads turned toward the jungle where new hoots sounded out. A few seconds later the remnants of the pack scattered back into the dark undergrowth.

“Kaina,” I said as I turned to her, “is it safe now?”

“Hounds scared.” Kaina lowered her bow and waved her hand toward the jungle. “Run far.”

From behind I heard the sound of someone approaching, and then Taryn said, “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” I faced him, hand lifting up halfway to reach out to him. I stopped it there though, as this was not the place for any type of cuddling or other such silliness.

“They seemed a bit smarter than the other things we’ve seen here,” Taryn commented.

I gave a nod at that before I said, “I hope we don’t need to deal with them again. If they hit us from a blindspot they could kill a lot of people.”

“Come,” Kaina called out to us as she started to walk away, pausing only for a moment to make sure we followed her.

Though the townsfolk had been shaken they, along with the pirates, started to walk with us once more toward Vexxon’s Landing. The pirates were the ones shaken the most, and they spent the next few hours sending worried looks toward the jungle to our south.

We only had one other incident on our march back to the town, as a Snapjaw emerged from the jungle without warning. The monstrosity bashed through a tree and started a mad charge toward the middle of our group.

Kaina reacted before I could, as she pulled out one of the flowers she’d gathered from before. She impaled that flower on the tip of her one arrow, and then loosed the arrow itself toward the oncoming Snapjaw.

When the arrow hit the flower burst, a small cloud of spores unleashed near the face. The Snapjaw drew back, inhaling deeply, and then let out a loud squeal as it shook violently from one end to the other. Before I could even understand what had happened, it took off in a dash back into the jungle from whence it came.

I gave a confused look toward Kaina, but she didn’t even respond to me and instead continued on. Taryn gave me a pat on the shoulder with his one hand, though he made no move to follow Kaina until after I had. Far back behind us I could hear the sound of the villagers as they talked loudly amongst themselves, but the distance made specific words hard to make out.

When we finally reached the wooden bridge the townsfolk began to cry for joy, though none of them made any move to run ahead of us. In the distance the battered remains of their village could be made out, the gateway still gone thanks to the deceased pirate leader.

With the sun having started to set we hurried ourselves along, increasing the pace even though it would be hard on the older folk and children. Taryn and I both had no interest in camping out after the day we’d had.

The town itself was the same as how we’d left it, a thankful change from the continual stressful life I seemed to live. No strange wood monsters or large beasts lurked inside the wooden walls of Vexxon’s Landing, and the townsfolk quickly set about trying to settle in for the night.

The Losson borrowed one of the more battered houses that none of the townsfolk used, pushing the pirates into it for the night. They talked extensively with Kaina, and then one of them went and ran off out of the town.

It was a move that made me worry a little, though I had begun to trust Kaina and didn’t want to think that she might be up to something. The fact that none of the Losson could speak our language well had created a bit of an annoyance.

I pushed the thought of potential betrayal to the back of my mind, and instead I set about heading over toward the sturdiest building in the town. What I arrived at was a battered box of wood and metal, enough damage done to it that the walls had caved in. The roof had fallen in along the western side, while the door that would normally be at the front had been shattered to pieces.

“Taryn,” I called over my shoulder, as I knew that he had shadowed me quietly, “help me clear this out. There should be a small metal box somewhere in here.”

He thankfully didn’t argue with me and instead began to move the lumber. While I struggled with some of the larger pieces he easily picked them up, and with minimal interest he discarded all of them randomly off to our sides.

It was well into the night by the time we’d made sufficient progress, most of the outer layer of the destroyed building having been peeled away. Taryn was the one who found what I wanted to, a small box hidden beneath a broken table. The box itself was made of metal, and it had numerous knobs on it that had multiple odd symbols etched into them.

I took that box from Taryn and gave a small cry of joy, before my hands worked on the knobs. As Rocky had taught me so many years ago I worked the locks on the puzzle box. Taryn started to say something but a quick glare stopped that nonsense, as I needed to focus on the task at hand rather than deal with an unnecessary question.

To be fair I might’ve been a bit rude toward Taryn, but since the unlocking process took me a good twenty minutes I felt somewhat justified. A single mistake during that would’ve forced me to start over from the beginning, and only after the tumblers had properly reset after an hour or so.

When the box made a loud click I triumphantly slipped the top open and revealed the content, a small black sphere. “Finally!” I declared as I scooped the sphere out of the box, and then promptly discarded the box into Taryn’s hands.

“What is it?” Taryn asked while he put the box down on the broken table.

“How we’re getting home.”

I rubbed the sphere with my both my hands, letting my body heat work into the cold stone. Once the warmth had filled it I lifted it up to my mouth. “Hello?”

Taryn gave me a very confused look, but right as he was about to most likely ask if I was alright the stone vibrated audibly. “This is legionnaire Rexton, identify who you are immediately.”

I couldn’t resist the grin that spread over my face. “I am Liliana Rose of Scintallia.”

“The daughter?” the voice on the other side of the stone sounded strangled for a moment, before a loud cough could be heard. “How can I be of assistance?”

“I’m currently in Vexxon’s Landing and all the legionnaires here are dead, and their boats are all gone,” I informed Rexton.

“Ships,” he corrected me, “it might take me a few weeks simply to get the paperwork through to get someone out to you.”

“That’d mean at least a few months before a boat got here!” I almost swore at that, but managed to keep control of my emotions, “get ahold of Sciroco. Tell him Flower needs his help.”

“The high general? I heard you were connected to him but...alright, I’ll personally go now to speak with him. He should be having breakfast soon.”

“Alright, I’ll make sure to keep the stone nearby for any future communications,” I told Rexton, and then I pocketed it.

Done with my conversation with the legionnaire I turned my attention back to Taryn. With a loud cry of joy I jumped at him and wrapped my arms around him. “We’re going to get back home!”