"There it is!" Tristan pointed ahead. "The big tree!"

  I followed her finger. There, in the distance, just barely visible through all the trees, was a massive oak tree standing at the top of a hill. The tree's branches were as gnarled and twisted as I remembered.

  That tree was a landmark for Tristan and me. Under its leaves, we'd had our first real talk with one another and established what we were. I couldn't help but smile at the memory.

  "Pretty," Vral said to my right. "I can see why she was so excited to see it."

  "Very," Na-Ya added from my left. "I remember the last time we were here. It was a great trip..." Her face fell, "... minus that kid getting abducted by a gloomfang, the other monster in that barn, finding zombies in Copperhold, you, Tristan, and Jorn running into the cult..." She shook her head. "Okay, it wasn't that great of a trip. But it sure was pretty the day we got here!" She nudged me with her elbow. "Also, you two were adorable back then. Everyone but you knew you were a thing. It was incredible how in denial you both were."

  "Ugh, don't remind me." I glared at her. "I should have left you two at the temple."

  "You would have missed us." She grinned at me.

  "Says you." Na-Ya and Ro-Saleh's quest to Velmire had been delayed for a few days, so they'd asked if they could come with us to Goodfield. I'd agreed and teleported us all back to Fairbrook. The return trip landed us in Fairbrook's river. Na-Ya had just stopped picking on me for that, and now this...

  Ro-Saleh leaned forward so I could see him the from other side of Na-Ya and smiled at me with his stupid, perfect teeth. "We're going to be around for a long time, brother. I don't think you'll ever live that one down. Especially with Na-Ya. You know how she is."

  "How I am?" Her face twisted as she turned toward her lover. "Do go on. Explain."

  He laughed as if he wasn't in mortal danger. "You're beautiful."

  Masterfully done. I could learn from him.

  "Damn right, she is." Vral leaned forward and glared at him. "Don't you dare insult the second-hottest elf I know that way!"

  "Excuse you?" Na-Ya turned back to Vral. Her sapphire eyes were burning. "Second hottest?"

  "You heard me, Elfette. You're in second place." Vral pointed at Tristan. "You might have the sexy long ears and the high cheekbones, but do you have those adorable freckles? Or those toned shoulders? Dark Father's breath, those shoulders..." Vral's ears were starting to go red. "And have you seen her ass? It's perfection."

  "I can't disagree." I gave Tristan a twice-over. Her ass really was perfection.

  Na-Ya's frown broke into a big grin. "I'm happy to hear my cousin's so loved. You passed the test, Vral."

  "Psh, I'll pass any test you throw at me. Except for reading. That shit's hard."

  "Hey, I see the village!" Tristan turned and waited for us to catch up. "I wonder if the kids are out and about? I'd love to see them."

  "Me too." When we caught up, I hooked my arm in hers. "Let's find out."

  We walked for a few minutes, until we passed the first house that marked the village's boundary. I didn't remember that house from last time.

  "Did the village grow?" I asked as we passed another house I didn't recognize, one with a smithy attached to the side, a stout man hammering away in its forge. That was definitely new.

  Ro nodded. "Yeah. I heard the survivors of Fairbrook, as well as several other of the smallest villages, moved up here after everything that happened. Renard, Silan, and Ennel have been coming out here a lot to check on progress. It's apparently been going well, especially with Ennel's support."

  "What support?"

  "Ennel's been offering his wealth to help the villagers with the new construction."

  For as much of an entitled asshole he'd been when we first met, I couldn't help but admire how far he'd come. My sacrificing myself for him seemed to do him good. "I'm glad to hear it."

  As we continued, we passed more and more new homes. The village had more than tripled in size since we'd last been here.

  "Wow," Tristan said. "It's bigger than I expected."

  "Me too."

  We walked through Goodfield until we reached the village square, where the chief's hut was located. Except it wasn't a hut anymore. It was a mini manor made of stone. Attached to its north side, I could have sworn there was a small barracks.

  "Is this really the chief's—"

  The sounds of children's voices, high and excited, forced me to pause.

  "Is that them?"

  "It's the Templars!"

  "They're back!"

  Turning, I saw a group of kids tearing up the path toward us, their faces bright with excitement.

  I recognized a few of them. Cam, the boy we'd saved from the gloomfang, was leading the charge. Behla, the girl who'd fought with Cam before he had been abducted, and his sister if I remembered right, brought up the rear. She'd grown a ton and nearly looked like a woman now.

  "Hey!" Cam reached us first, skidding to a stop at our feet. He'd grown at least half a foot since we'd seen him last. "You came back!"

  "Of course we did." Tristan knelt in front of him. "How could we not come back to see our favorite kids?"

  "We're your favorites?!" Another kid, a young girl with pigtails, bounced on her toes. "Who's your mostest favorite?"

  "All of you are my favorites!" Tristan reached out and grabbed the girl's hand. Cupping her hand over the girl's ear, she whispered something to her.

  Whatever Tristan whispered made the girl beam.

  "Chief Nel said you might come visit." Behla walked up and stopped directly in front of me. "I'm glad." The girl smiled up at me. "I never got the chance to tell you before..." She wrung her hands. "T-thank you again for everything you did for Cam."

  "Is it true you fought a vampire?!" Cam's voice was frantic. He was boiling over with excitement. "And you went down into the ground to fight monsters for us?"

  "Well—" I started, but Vral cut me off.

  "Hell yeah, we did!" She jumped up onto my shoulders with ease. "We kicked that vampire's ass, saved the Hero, and sealed away these super-powerful evil monsters!"

  "Whoa!" One of the boys pointed. "Is she a goblin?!"

  Vral wobbled on my shoulders. Looking up, I saw that her eyes promised murder.

  "You have a problem with that?"

  The boy's eyes went wide, and he started jumping. "N-no! I just... I always wanted to meet a goblin!"

  I felt Vral twitch. Then, she began cackling, stepped on my head, and did a backflip. "I'm not just any goblin! I'm the matron of my whole tribe!"

  "Whoa!" the boy shouted. "That must mean you're strong!"

  "The strongest!" Vral shouted.

  "Do another flip!" Another screamed.

  "She's so pretty!" A girl started clapping

  Yet another girl walked up to me and asked, "Are you a gladiator now? My daddy said you're a gladiator! And he said you're really strong!"

  "He's got a fancy name," Cam responded. "The Steel Shield or something!"

  "The Iron Sentinel," I corrected.

  "That's it!"

  Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

  One of the boys who was watching Vral asked, "I heard you went on an adventure with the Hero! Does that make you a hero, too?!"

  "I heard you fought in a war in Galden!" A boy grabbed Na-Ya and Tristan's hands. "Is that true?"

  More kids began appearing from everywhere and clustered around us. Within moments, I couldn't make out anything they were saying.

  "One at a time, everyone!" Na-Ya was holding her hands up and trying her best to restore order.

  The kids weren't having it.

  "Boss!" Vral shouted. "Let's do the thing!"

  "What thing?"

  "You know! The thing! Put your arm out!"

  Ohhhh. I lifted my arm and turned my palm to the sky.

  "Are you two doing this right now?" Tristan asked me.

  I grinned. "I mean—"

  "Yes, now!" Vral leaped into my palm. Pulling a half-dozen throwing daggers from the sheaths on her thighs, she balanced on one foot, pointed the other to the sky, and began juggling.

  The entire group of kids locked in on our performance and began screaming, clapping, and laughing.

  At that moment, the mini manor's door swung open, and Nivan and Nel exited the house. They looked worried at first, but the instant they saw that it was us, they started laughing and joined in on the fun.

  Cupping his hands over his mouth, Nivan shouted, "It looks like the circus is in town! What tricks do you have for us?!"

  "Yeah, show us what you've got!" Nel added.

  Reaching down, I scooped my free hand under Tristan's butt and picked her up into the air.

  She kicked and screamed the entire way. "Alex, no!"

  "Alex, yes!"

  "I'm going to kill you!"

  Vral's red eyes burned as she looked down at our partner. "Sell it, girlie! You're the eye candy!"

  Tristan stopped kicking and shouted, "You two are so stupid!"

  "Always!" I shouted back.

  Shaking her head, Tristan pointed at Vral and said in the most over-it tone I'd ever heard from her, "Feast your eyes on Vral the Slasher and the Iron Sentinel as they do their amaaaazing routine." She ended by kicking her leg out.

  All around the square, a crowd of people, these adults, had appeared and were watching with a range of expressions on their faces. Many looked entertained. Some were irritated. A few, mostly mothers, never stopped looking at the daggers Vral was juggling.

  "Alright, you runts!" Vral threw the blades high, did a flip, and landed on her other foot. Snatching her daggers from the air, she crouched and shouted, "You heard the pretty lady with the blue eyes! You don't want to miss this!"

  With everything I had, I heaved, launching her into the sky.

  She nearly cleared the treetops.

  ***

  "What do you think? Am I okay?" Nel's brows were scrunched as Na-Ya and Tristan's magic washed over her.

  "I'm confident you're healthy, Nel." Na-Ya lowered her hands, causing her light to fade. "But please, try to sleep more."

  "And don't forget to eat," Tristan added. "I know you're probably struggling to keep food down right now, but please, do your best to eat when you feel like you can, okay?" Tristan lowered her hands next, causing her magic to fade.

  "Okay." Nel sat down. "Thanks, you two."

  "Of course," The cousins said in unison, then laughed together.

  I looked around the waiting room that Nel had brought us to. While simple and rustic, the interior of the manor was warm and inviting, and everything felt lived-in and homey. It seemed like their life was going well these days. I was happy for them.

  The crowd outside the manor screamed. Vral said she didn't want to do the boring stuff and wanted to stay outside with the kids. From the sound of it, she'd done another trick.

  When the crowd roared yet again, Nivan walked in through the front door and made his way toward us.

  "Alex!" I couldn't help but grin as Nivan pulled me into a rough hug. "Good to see you, man. It's been a while."

  "You too, Nivan."

  He clapped my back, then turned to Tristan, pulling her into a gentler hug. "And you, Tris. You're looking great."

  "Thanks, Nivan." Tristan hugged him back. "How are you feeling?"

  After hugging Na-Ya and Ro, he said, "Besides hungry? Great!" The young Templar smiled. "I just wish I could help Nel more, you know?"

  "Ugh, you and me both." Nel made her way to the dining room at the end of the waiting room, sat down at their dining table, and sighed.

  "Besides the fatigue, are you feeling any other symptoms?" Na-Ya asked as she made her way to the table.

  Nel grunted. "I'm tired. Hungry. Need to pee every five minutes. So, you know, I'm doing great."

  "Pregnancy sounds fun," I said dryly. Memories of Vral being pregnant floated into my head. Then, I saw our baby's face. The loss didn't sting to think about anymore. Not much, anyway. It had been a dream after all. One day, though... maybe... we'd all try for a real one.

  "Oh, trust me. It's a dream," Nel deadpanned, then her expression softened. "But really, I'm good. We're good. Great, even." She reached out and took Nivan's hand. "I honestly couldn't be happier."

  "Me neither." Nivan smiled at his wife as he sat beside her.

  Taking Nivan's hand, Nel asked, "Is Vral coming?"

  "I don't think so," He shook his head. "She said once she's done with her routine, she wants to play with the kids for a while since they were so excited to meet a goblin. Problem is, I'm not sure their parents will want that."

  "Play?" Tristan asked.

  "Well, it was something about 'showing them how to kick ass,' but I figured that was close enough."

  "Ah." Nel nodded. "I have a feeling that by the time you all leave, the kids will be convinced that she personally punched the Dark Lord in the face."

  "Actually," Nivan laughed, "She's already trying to convince them that Alex did." He looked at me. "That might be my fault, though."

  "Why's that?" Tristan asked.

  "Recently, the kids asked how you all were, and if you were going to visit, so I told them what Renard told me. I think that might have turned you all into local celebrities." His eyes met mine. "Which may be warranted. Did you all really fight a vampire? And you actually went with Faye to the seal?"

  Nodding, I said, "Yeah to both."

  "What was it like?"

  I sighed. "Amazing and terrifying. We beat the vampire on our own, but if it hadn't been for Faye, we would have lost to the Scions."

  Nivan and Nel both stared.

  Nel spoke first, "I thought we'd misheard Renard. You actually saw them?"

  "Yeah. All seven of them."

  Nel rubbed her arms. "That's terrifying."

  Tristan took my hand and squeezed. "You should have seen Alex fight. He was incredible."

  "I wish we could have seen it," Ro said beside her. "I'm sorry we weren't there."

  "Yeah," Na-Ya's voice was heavy. "One second, we were in the hallway with you. The very next, we were in the Temple. I'd never experienced anything like that before. I should have been more careful."

  "We messed up," Ro said, his voice heavy.

  I shook my head. "That's okay, you two. It all happened how it needed to."

  Neither elf looked convinced.

  "So," Nel sat forward in her chair, "Now that we've caught up a bit, let's get down to business. Mother Varga said you were coming to help with our monster problem?"

  "That's the plan." I leaned back, trying to work out the kinks in my shoulders. I hadn't rested since I carried two people all night. I still wasn't exactly tired, but I was getting a little sore. "What's going on?"

  Nel's expression grew serious. "We don't know what it is. The people who've spotted it have had conflicting reports. Some say it's a dragon. Others say they've seen feathers. All we know is that it's big, it can fly, and it's been showing up near the farms at night."

  "Has it attacked anyone?" Tristan asked.

  "That's the strange part." Nivan leaned forward. "No one's been hurt. Not even a scratch. But livestock keeps going missing. Sheep, chickens, a goat or two."

  "Sounds like an animal," I said.

  "That's what we thought at first." Nel exchanged a glance with Nivan. "But then we started finding the livestock."

  I blinked. "Finding them?"

  "Alive and unharmed. Just... relocated." Nivan rubbed the back of his neck. "It's like something's been moving them around. Herding them, almost."

  "That's... weird," Vral said from the doorway.

  I hadn't noticed her come back inside.

  "Why would a monster herd animals?" She asked as she made her way to the table and sat beside me.

  "Very, weird" Nel agreed. "And I have no idea. But none of the animals are hurt when we find them."

  "Could this thing be protecting them?" Tristan said quietly. "Could it be moving them away from danger?"

  "Maybe." Nivan didn't sound convinced. "But from what?"

  Ro said, "If it is, maybe we should be looking for multiple threats?"

  "Maybe." Nivan nodded. "But whatever it is started showing up about two weeks ago, and it's been active almost every night since, based on the sightings and the sounds."

  "Sounds?" Ro asked.

  "Deep in the forest, and always at night, people have heard grunting and shrieking."

  "Have there been any other sightings? Anything else that's unusual in the area?" If there were multiple monsters, there would be signs.

  Nivan's brow furrowed. "Now that you mention it... yeah. I've been finding these strange crystal formations out in the forest when I've been on patrol. They're all over the place, too. I've never seen anything like them."

  "Crystals?" Na-Ya leaned forward. "What do they look like?"

  "Hard to describe. They're translucent, kind of glowing. Some are small, about the size of a cat. Others are the size of me." He shrugged. "I figured it was just some natural phenomenon. Maybe something to do with the leylines or whatever. Those are supposed to be pretty strong out here. I have no idea if they're connected to our flying friend or not."

  "Could be worth investigating," I said. "Anything else unusual?"

  "The monsters," Nel said. "Or rather, the lack of them."

  That got my attention. "What do you mean?"

  "Used to be, we'd have an occasional gloomfang or skitterslink sneak into the village. Some wolves were prowling the edges of the village a while back, too." Nel spread her hands. "But lately? Nothing. It's been quiet."

  "You think whatever's flying around is scaring them off?" Tristan asked.

  "Or hunting them," Nivan said. "We found trails of black blood out in the forest."

  "So let me get this straight," I said. "You've got something big and flying that shows up at night, moves livestock to safety, leaves mysterious crystals everywhere, and might be hunting monsters. And you want us to... what, exactly?"

  Nel sighed. "Find out what it is. Make sure it's not a threat. And if it is a threat, deal with it before someone gets hurt."

  "And if it's not a threat?" Tristan asked.

  "Then maybe we can figure out a way to coexist with it," Nel said. "Or at least understand what it wants. Right now, the villagers are scared. They don't know what to think, and after everything that happened last year, they're afraid. If we don't figure out what this thing is, we're worried the villagers might try something and get hurt."

  "Try something? Like what?" Vral asked.

  "Like, try to hunt it themselves," Nivan added grimly. "A group of farmers already tried to organize a hunting party. I managed to talk them down, but I don't know how long that'll last." He looked at Nel. "They trust us as their new leaders, but we still don't have a ton of sway. It's hard to keep everyone working together."

  I nodded. "Alright. We'll look into it." Pulling my [Pathfinder's Map] from my inventory, I unfurled it and asked, "Where are the crystal formations at?" As I spoke, an image of the region appeared on the page, with a sprawling village appearing in the center labeled "Goodfield."

  Nivan chuckled. "I've never seen an inventory in person before. Neat trick, Alex."

  I smiled. "Faye taught me."

  He shook his head. "You've come far, my friend." He pointed to the northeast section of the map. "I've found those crystals mostly out there, west of Copperhill."

  "Perfect." I noted the spot, rolled up the map, and put it back into my inventory. "We'll start there."

  "Thank you all," Nel cut in, the relief evident in her voice. "Really. We've been at our wits' end with this."

  Nivan sighed. "I've tried to find whatever it is, but I've had zero luck. I appreciate you taking this on for me, especially with harvest on the way. We just don't have the time right now to do both."

  "Anytime." I nodded to him and stood. "We've got you."

  "Yeah, we have your backs," Ro stood with me.

  "Leave it to us," Tristan said as she stood.

  "It's as good as done," Vral pumped her arm.

  "We'll be back soon!" Na-Ya said.

  "Come on, team. Let's do this." As I turned to the door, I felt my blood start to pump.

  It was time to go on another adventure.