Duskbound

They entered a leatherworking shop three streets over. "We can talk here," the girl said. "My mom owns the place."

There were no customers, nor was there anyone else in the building. It was just her, a lot of belts, coats, boots, and gloves on display, and him. He shifted in place and peered curiously at the wares. This stuff's not bad. Jensen would turn his nose up at it, but the boots look like they'd hold up to someone with physical 30 running on them, and that's without any sort of enchantment.

"I appreciate you helping me figure this out. My name's Torwin. What's yours?"

"Sildra," she said.

"Alright, Sildra. Tell me the story, please."

"I don't know all of it. I was just a kid myself when it happened so this is just what I remember. Nobody really told me what was going on. Someone came to the house and talked to my parents, and then they got me and asked if I'd seen Chalin and Velik. I told them I hadn't, didn't think much of it, and went back to whatever it was I was doing.

"It wasn't until a few days later the monsters started showing up. I remember because at first no one was worried about it. I mean, monsters happen. The local watch took care of them, everyone talked to their kids that evening about staying close to the village and running away if we saw a monster, and we all went on with our lives."

She paused for a second and thought. "I do remember some of the adults speculating that the two missing boys might have been killed by the monsters. They'd been gone for a few days by that point, and the timing made sense. Chalin's dad got into a fist fight with someone over it."

It wasn't hard to picture that scene. In fact, something similar had happened in the village Torwin had grown up in thirty years ago. The only difference was that he'd already been an adult with a family, not a kid on the periphery of what was happening. He could still distinctly remember the twisting ache in his gut when his hunting party had found the missing child, or what was left of him, about a day before the horde had reached the village.

"Everyone thought that was the end of it, but then the next night, a bunch more monsters invaded," Sildra continued, oblivious to Torwin's own reminiscing. "That was when the bodies started piling up. Twenty people died before the watch got things under control. We found out later that a few of the more remote farms were completely overrun."

He didn't need the play-by-play, not for an all-too-familiar story, but Torwin didn't rush the girl. He'd ask his questions when she was done. Hopefully the answers would help him get this whole problem sorted out.

"There were three attacks, I think. I guess it depends how you count them. We were still fighting off one wave when another one hit the last time," she said. "Chalin's father lived through them, but Velik's whole family was killed.

"Velik showed back up the next day, somehow. Nobody was expecting him to still be alive. They took him into the biggest house and got him to tell them what happened. Chalin's father tried to kill him there, I remember that. He ended up tied to a hitching post out on the street to keep him under control. No one would tell any of the kids what was going on, just that Chalin and Velik did something stupid and riled all the monsters up. Pretty much everyone knew whose fault it was right away."

Sildra sighed and shook her head. "Maybe if we weren't still being attacked, or if people hadn't died… Chalin and Velik were my friends, you know? I wasn't close with them or anything, but we were the same age and it's a small town. So we were friends. Learning that Chalin had died, and then they drove Velik into the woods when we were besieged by monsters, which was as good as killing him themselves, that was the worst of it for me. The adults were supposed to protect the kids, not throw them to the wolves.

"But then he didn't die. He survived, and he's strong now, out there hunting monsters. I hear he goes to the other towns sometimes, but never here. You can't blame him. The adults back then made it clear they blamed him. His whole family was dead, and no one else would take him in."

She went silent and turned her face so he wouldn't see her brush at her eye. After a moment to compose herself, Sildra said, "That's the broad strokes of what happened. I know Velik is still alive. They call him Black Fang now."

Torwin scratched at his chin for a moment and thought it over. So two boys go out to the dungeon. Something happens. One of them dies. Monsters start showing up everywhere. That's all normal enough if they accidentally unsealed something or even if they somehow brought the dungeon back to life. But it doesn't explain why nobody shut it down in the last decade if they knew about the dungeon, or why it's suddenly ramping up in the last few months.

"There's got to be more to it," he said. "What about the dungeon? Why wasn't anyone called in to take care of it when the monsters first started showing up years ago?"

"I don't know. It was destroyed back when my grandmother was a little girl, about fifty years ago. Supposedly people went out to investigate it after the incident, but there wasn't anything there. All the monsters made it difficult to reach, so I don't think there was any follow up after the first time."

"It's possible they missed something then. And what about this Black Fang guy? You said that's Velik, but how do you know it's the same person?"

"Oh, I saw him a few days ago. I hired an escort to help me harvest some [Moonsilk Blossoms] and we were attacked by an elite monster. Velik showed up and killed it in one hit. It was over practically before I even realized he was there."

That tracked with Torwin's own estimates of Velik's prowess. The boy had to be at least in the mid-thirties to be that strong, maybe even low-forties depending on his class. If he'd really had his class for a decade, the level itself wasn't that astounding, though it still indicated a respectable work ethic. The real stumper was how a boy of only seven or eight years had managed to survive to grow into the man he was now.

"I'd like to talk to this guy. He probably knows way more about what's going on with the monsters than anyone else," Torwin said. "I don't suppose it would be possible for you to arrange a meeting?"

"Me?" Sildra laughed. "I haven't seen him since we were kids, then when I did finally run into him, he pretended to be someone else and ran away. Velik avoids this whole town, and it's hard to blame him."

Torwin had more questions to ask, but he could hear two people walking down the street. They stopped right outside the door, then pushed it open. "Sildra!" one of them said. "Your mom about?"

"Not at the moment, but your order's ready. I can grab it for you if you've got the payment," she told them.

"Sure thing, young miss," the man said. He had a woodsman's ax over his shoulder and the rough, calloused hands a man used to swinging it. His partner was more of the same, but shorter and broader through the shoulders. Both men eyed Torwin with something somewhere between curiosity and animosity.

"New face in town, huh?" the stouter of the two asked.

"Hired to kill monsters," Torwin said. "I was just looking at the lovely selection of boots on display here."

"Make sure that's all you're looking at," the tall lumberjack said darkly.

"Knock it off," Sildra scolded him. "Mr. Torwin wasn't doing anything like what you're trying to imply. He's been nothing but professional and courteous."

"That so? 'cause I heard he got thrown out of the Boar for hassling people about that fucker who nearly got the town wiped out. Not a good look on a man, that."

If I push now, it's going to make trouble for her. I think I've got the shape of things, and there's probably not much she can tell me that's actually relevant. It's beyond obvious that I need to check on this old dungeon to see if it's come back to life, and also that I need to cuss out whoever put together the job posting and neglected to mention that fact.

"I'll come back some other time to praise your skills," Torwin said. "Maybe when your mother is here so nobody gets any untoward ideas about my motivations."

"Ah… Sure," the girl said, her brow furrowed as she watched him leave. "It was nice meeting you."

"You as well," he said.

Torwin exited the shop and circled around to get away from the windows, then paused to listen to the conversation not so far away.

"I hope you weren't running your mouth to that outsider," the stout one said.

"I'll talk to whoever I please about whatever I please," Sildra snapped back.

Got spine, that one, more than some of the new hunters I've seen.

"Nobody's going to save you if you get yourself in trouble. Don't go screwing with things that are over your head," the tall lumberjack threatened. "Here's your money. Tell your mother I said thanks for the quick work."

Torwin waited to make sure both men left the shop, then went to go fetch his apprentice. He'd learned what he needed and confirmed his next move. It was time to get out of Deshir before his presence caused problems.