Kai and the others worked with Blane and the locals to extinguish the small smouldering flames, treat wounds and generally clean things up from the ash wolf attack.

Lieutenant Silver and the rest of the guards arrived not long after the villagers had finished cleaning up from the battle. Almost a dozen had burns, but thankfully they hadn’t lost anyone to the attack. One unfortunate man had caught the edge of an ashen breath and had lost a lot of the skin on his forearm, but the makeshift barricade had blocked the worst of it.

Once Silver had arrived, someone went off to fetch the village head, Tella. Tella was a stern-looking woman who immediately took charge of the villagers in the area, directing them and putting specific people into groups based on their tasks.

Wherever Tella stepped, the chaotic scramble to recover from the attack became organised as they were given purpose. It was impressive.

“Lieutenant Silver, it’s been a while,” Tella called out as she approached them. “Bobby, go ahead and grab some folks to get those corpses processed. Someone might pay for their parts, and we can’t turn down the meat.” Tella gestured to a burly man off to one side, who grunted and tapped a few others on the shoulder before moving toward the ash wolf bodies.

Kai noted the headwoman’s words with interest. Maybe that was something Verdan would want. Enchanters valued monster parts as they made prime materials for use, but there were so few out there that most of what was harvested was used for more mundane purposes.

Verdan had already displayed knowledge of enchantment, not to mention his ability to make Kai able to enhance his weapon. So, perhaps these would be worth acquiring for him. Alchemy was more plant-based, as far as Kai knew, but Verdan had ordered those hearts, so who knew. Kai was learning not to make assumptions about what Verdan could or couldn’t do.

“Headwoman Tella, I wish I was back in better circumstances,” Silver said, giving the woman a respectful half-bow that she waved away with a scowl.

“None of that, the blood between us may be thin, but it’s there all the same,” Tella said, looking over the guards that Silver had brought, as well as Tom and Kai. Seeing the two of them, she frowned, taking in their lack of guard attire and the blood that covered Kai. “Sorcerers?”

“Yes, but working with us and reliable, you can trust them,” Silver said, giving Kai a warning look.

“Huh, strange times we live in, that’s for sure,” Tella said, her brow furrowing as she gave Kai and Tom a second, more appraising look. Her gaze lingered for several seconds before she turned back to Silver and cocked her head in his direction. “So, you have my thanks for your aid with the wolves, but what brings you out here? With supplies, no less.” She gestured to the wagon that accompanied them.

“We’re here to hunt the elemental bear, to stop it from doing any more damage,” Silver declared, his words rippling out through the surrounding villagers as they stopped what they were doing to look at him in disbelief. The stoic guard officer squared his shoulders under the weight of their stares, not giving an inch.

“Hunt the bear,” Tella repeated flatly, shaking her head at them. “A creature that did that.” She paused for effect as she pointed to the damaged palisade wall around the gates. “It wasn’t even trying that hard to get inside; if it had really tried, we’d all be dead. If you go provoking it, maybe next time we won’t be so lucky.”

The atmosphere was tense as the villagers looked at Silver with grim expressions, many of them nodding along with Tella’s words.

“Maybe we discuss this somewhere more private. There are aspects to this that you don’t know,” Kai offered, drawing some of the attention to himself.

“Very well, come with me,” Tella said after a long pause, turning on her heel to head back into the village. “The rest of you, get back to it!”

Kai gave Tom a nudge and set off after the headwoman as the villagers got back to their work. Silver gave a few instructions to his guards before joining them.

Willowbrook was a reasonably large village, filling the area between the river and the hill with a tightly packed but well-organised mass of buildings. Tella’s house was somewhat in the middle of it all and was both her home and the site of all official business for the village.

“Please, come in, take a seat,” Tella said, waving for them to enter and guiding them through to an office of sorts. There were only two chairs, and Tom was already moving to lean against the doorway, so Kai reluctantly took the one next to Silver. It would have been rude not to, no matter how little he wished to.

“Good, now, what warrants this secrecy?” Tella asked, her gaze resting on Kai.

“Lieutenant Silver and his men are equipped with special weaponry that can hurt the creature. Perhaps even enough that they can kill it without Tom or myself helping,” Kai explained, choosing his words carefully to try and maintain some secrecy about what they had. So far, only the guard knew exactly what they had. Kai hadn’t explained the test to the mercenaries and ex-guards he’d brought to Verdan, so they would have suspicions but nothing else. The longer they kept this under wraps, the better.

“Special weaponry?” Tella echoed, looking over to the Lieutenant this time.

“Yes, which we’ll need to keep secret from your people. I’m sure you understand,” Silver said, holding Tella’s gaze with his own.

“If you fail, a lot of my people are going to die,” Tella said softly, tension building in her posture. “Are you sure you can take it down?”

“With what Verdan gave us, I think the same as Disciple Kai. We have a good chance without their help. With their help, I am certain we can bring the beast down,” Silver said firmly.

“Don’t make me regret this,” Tella said after a few moments of thought. “I’ll back you and yours. The hunters might know where it lairs. Ask for Callum. He’s in charge these days.” Tella got up and crossed to a cabinet as she spoke, pulling out a small flask of something and taking a hefty swig of the contents.

“Thank you, Tella,” Silver said, rising to his feet and giving the headwoman a formal nod.

“Thank me by killing the beast. It’s caused too much death already,” Tella said, taking a second swig from the flask. “Now, get gone; I’ve work to do.”

“Of course,” Silver said, leading the way as the three of them left the building. “I’m going to organise a patrol and see what we can do to help the villagers. See if you can find that hunter she mentioned. See what he knows.”

“Will do,” Kai said, giving Silver a half-wave as he headed back toward the damaged gates.

Tom and Kai spent the next half hour finding the head hunter, who was gathering a group of a dozen others together to head out of the village when they caught up with him. Callum was an older dark-haired slender man with an innate stillness to his movement that was almost disconcerting. He didn’t twitch, fidget or shift around; every movement was deliberate and purposeful.

“Can I help you?” Callum asked as the two sorcerers approached, his eyes flicking between the two of them before settling on Kai.

“We’re here with the guard. Tella said you might know how to find the elemental bear, where its lair might be. Can you help?” Kai asked, cutting straight to the chase.

The hunters that had gathered around Callum went still at Kai’s words, all of them turning to look at their leader with a mix of fear and hope.

“Maybe, we’ve tried to stay out of its way more than we’ve tried to find out where it's lairing. I can tell you that it’s west of here, that’s for sure, but the actual location, I don’t know,” Callum told them, showing none of the reaction his subordinates did.

“Would some of you be willing to help us look?” Tom asked, speaking up for the first time since they’d reached the village.

The silence hung for a few long moments before a tall, young-looking woman with long dark hair raised a hand and stepped forward slightly.

“I saw it not too many days ago when I found the lost traveller and guided him back here,” the woman said, her voice little more than a whisper. “I’ll guide you back there and help you hunt it.”

“Enough, Clara, I will go with them, but you’re staying away from that beast,” Callum said in a tone that brooked no dissent. The head hunter stepped over to the younger woman as he spoke and Kai noted the strong family resemblance between them.

“No, Dad, I’m going. After what it did, someone needs to make sure it’s hunted down,” Clara said, a surprising amount of venom in her whisper-quiet voice.

“There’s too much of your mother in you,” Callum said, a sad smile touching his face as he reached out to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “We’ll both go, then. Someone needs to watch your back. Ole, you’re in charge of the hunters until I’m back, understood?”

“Yes, Callum,” a grizzled-looking older man said, squaring his shoulders and giving a few other hunters pointed looks.

“Good. Now, when are we heading out?” Callum asked, turning to face Kai once more. Like when they first arrived, Kai was impressed by how utterly still the head hunter remained when he wasn’t actively doing something, a useful skill indeed.

“I’m unsure; we need to speak with Lieutenant Silver. It’s his command,” Kai said with a subtle shrug, happy to put such decisions on the guard officer.

“Then let’s go. Ole, take everyone else east to see what game you can find,” Callum said, giving Ole his parting orders as he started toward the gate, Clara hurrying after him.

Kai started after the two hunters before pausing as he noticed that Tom wasn’t keeping pace with them. Going back, Kai waited until the other hunters had left before nudging Tom. “What’s wrong?”

Tom started at the touch, giving Kai an apologetic look before shrugging. When Kai raised a brow in his direction, Tom shifted his weight a few times before finally replying.

“It’s just all becoming real. We’re going after an elemental bear, a creature that sorcerers only go after in groups.” Tom told him, shaking his head in disbelief as he spoke.

“You don’t have to go,” Kai said neutrally, not wanting to push Tom into a situation he wasn’t ready for. The ex-guard hadn’t long been a sorcerer. Giving him more time to adjust wasn’t a problem. It would change their emergency plans, but that wasn’t a huge problem.

“No, no,” Tom said, shaking his head and holding a hand up to stop Kai. “That’s not it; I’m just not sure how much use I’ll be. I can’t even control my power.”

“You’ll learn, don’t worry,” Kai said confidently. Tom had been putting the work in; it was only a matter of time. “Look, we’re only here if things go wrong. Until then, you just need to watch my back. We look out for each other, alright?”

“Yeah, I can do that,” Tom said, the big man taking in a deep breath before nodding to himself as he exhaled. “Yeah, I can do that. Nothing will get to you while I’m here.” Tom promised solemnly, his eyes serious as he met Kai’s gaze.

“I know, Tom, I know,” Kai said, giving the big man a warm smile as he patted him on the shoulder. Kai remembered how Tom had ripped through the darjee at the ruins; he had no doubts in his ability. “Come on, let’s see what the good Lieutenant has planned.”