Coming back from shopping can really tire someone. “Rok, my arms are hurting.”

  Rok turned and looked at me blankly. “My stomach is hurting too.”

  “From all the food you’ve been eating?” I asked.

  Rok shook his head. “I'm still hungry.”

  I looked at him baffled for a second before turning straight again, I couldn’t help but yawn again. “Ya know Rok, I can’t wait to slump on the bed.”

  Rok nodded in agreement.

  I was already mentally halfway asleep by the time we reached the guild.

  Which is why the panic hit me so hard.

  Because panic in a guild only ever means one thing. Someone’s about to ask you to fix it. And I definitely did not want to go back out.

  “Ay Rok…” I said, as he turned to face me. “Whatever you do, walk quietly back outside. I’ll set up a camp.”

  Rok looked at me blankly before complying.

  As we started to quickly and quietly walk away. The bags I was holding suddenly tore, sending every item crashing down.

  Rok and I stood still as everyone stopped to look at us. I closed my eyes, and let out all my thoughts. Curse the outside markets and everything they stand for. I hope they’re blown to smithereens and never operate again. As I finished my rant, footsteps started to approach

  “There you are,” a calm voice said behind us.

  This time I actually wish to disappear.

  I slowly turned around to see Sylvia glaring down at us again.

  She didn’t say anything.

  She just stared.

  Her eyes moved from the torn bags. To the scattered items, then back to me.

  People nearby stopped pretending not to watch as I swallowed.

  “May I ask.” She finally said, her voice calm in the most threatening way possible, “where you’re headed to?”

  I started to think of every excuse in the history books before landing on one. “I—uhhh…walking my dog?”

  …yeah I understand, but if you were in my shoes with every eye on you, what would you come up with?

  Obviously Sylvia didn’t take my excuse as she grabbed me by the ear and started to drag me. “Rok!” She yelled. “Pick up the mess and come to the elders council after.” She said, staring down at him.

  Rok nodded immediately and began gathering everything without hesitation.

  “Ow—ow, ow, ow.” I continued to squeal until I fell on the ground in a weird dark, but cool looking room.

  “There you are, Mister Elias Kane.” One of the figures said, looking at me.

  Sylvia kicked my feet, I took the signal and lifted myself up, chest puffed up, saluting.

  The elders chuckled at my action, “ please, sit.” One said.

  I sat down in front of them, as I did one of them got up.

  “Do you know why you're here?” I shook my head.

  “You’ve proven yourselves capable,” he said. “Slaying the Shadow Stalker was no small feat. It disrupted trade, travel and morale for months.”

  “So imagine our shock when two newcomers came and slain the threat for us. Thank you for that again.”

  I resisted the urge to puff up.

  Another elder leaned forward, “because of that, we have a request. One that does not normally go to guild channels.”

  My attention shifted to him.

  “There is a village,” he continued, “deep within the eastern front. It operates in partnership with the underground guild. Supplies, information, shelter, all the quiet work.”

  “Operates?” I said slowly.

  The elder nodded. “Yes. Operates.”

  A different voice spoke up—older, and sharper. “Contact has been delayed. Deliveries have not arrived. Messengers sent weeks ago have not returned.”

  I frowned. “So…bandits?”

  “No,” the elder said.

  “Then monsters?” I asked.

  A pause.

  “…We don’t know,” he admitted. “That is the problem.”

  “Reports we have received mention strange behavior,” another elder added. “Villagers sealing homes during daytime. Tools abandoned. Almost as if it’s a ghost town.”

  “…so uhh, why did you summon me then?”

  They looked at me blankly, as if confused by my question. “Confirm their status. Restore contact if possible. If there is a threat—assess it. Do not engage unless necessary.”

  “And when would I leave?” I asked.

  “We were hoping immediately.” They said, pulling a map with details closer to me.

  That’s all I needed to hear, I stood up and looked them in the eyes.

  “…No.”

  Their faces dropped as if I was the anomaly from the village itself. “What? Why not?”

  “What do you mean why not? It’s like dark outside, who in their right mind goes out in the dark? “ I said. “Plus, we’re exhausted, we fought the Shadow Stalker and my hands are tired from carrying all the items.”

  “We’ll pay you double the amount.” They said,

  “No…no amount of money will ever change my mind—“

  “You will always have free, unlimited access to the food court whenever you please.”

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Before I could reject it, Rok suddenly barged in. “We’ll accept the offer!” He exclaimed.

  “What the, no we—“ I got cut off as Rok picked up the map and dragged me by the arm.

  “Rok, calm—“

  “We’ll be back!” He said, slamming the council door.

  The council and Sylvia watched in bewilderment. Before shrugging it off.

  As we walked deeper into the forest, the remaining light was quickly swallowed up by the darkness.

  “See?” I muttered, squinting ahead. “This is why people invented torches. Or beds. Or not leaving at night at all.”

  Rok walked ahead of me like none of this mattered, resting his new club on his shoulder. “It's fine.”

  “It's dark,” I snapped. “And cold, you dragged us out just because someone said ‘free food?’”

  He nodded. “That was a good deal.”

  I sighed, rubbing my eyes. “Man, I can barely see my own hands.”

  Rok slowed down, and glanced back. “Can't you just make lightning like you did back then?”

  I scoffed. “If I could, don't you think I would've done it already?” I said, gripping my hammer.

  He looked at me with a calm expression. “You don't need to make lighting,” he simply said. “You just need to make light.”

  I looked at him with a deadpan stare as if Rok said the obvious thing.

  “Ah. Of course. What a brilliant idea, why didn't I think of that? Let me just–” I said, lifting my hammer lazily. “Light,” I muttered. “I summon you.”

  I stared at it for a moment before turning to Rok. “See what I mean–”

  The metal flickered.

  Then it started to light up.

  I screamed and flung it to the ground. “AHHH!”

  Rok and I stared at it carefully as it remained lit up.

  “Did you do that?” Rok asked.

  “Well—yeah. I did. Who else would’ve?”

  A slight hesitation hit me as I slowly started leaning closer to it.

  I touched it gently with a finger.

  Before it sparked me.

  I yelped upwards.

  “You almost had it,” Rok said, calmly. “Maybe you scared it.”

  I shot him a look. “You can’t scare light.”

  “Oh.” Rok said.

  I turned back to the hammer as it continued to flicker, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I stared at it intently before trying again.

  “I swear, if I shock myself because of this.” I said, before grabbing it.

  It did shock me—but to my surprise, it wasn't that bad.

  My face lit up at the sight, “Rok, Rok look I finally did—“ I stopped mid-sentence as I saw his grin.

  Clearing my throat, I put on a serious expression. “Let’s go before something happens.”

  Rok nodded as we walked, with the path finally clear enough to see.

  I couldn’t help but yawn. “Honestly Rok, do you think they will have beds over there for us? I really don’t want to sleep on a cold floor.”

  Rok shrugged. “I dunno.”

  “Hopefully they do.”

  We kept moving through the forest, hammer in my hand casting a faint glow ahead of us. I glanced down at it again, a small grin creeping up.

  I mean—look at this.

  Lightning. Actual lightning. In my hands.

  I lifted the hammer slightly, watching the light dance along the metal, as if bonding with it. If this was just the beginning, what else could I do?

  Focusing my attention back to the road, I took another step forward.

  The first thing I saw was a pair of blue eyes inches away from my face.

  “AHHH—!”

  I shrieked and jumped straight into Rok’s arms on instinct, nearly knocking us both over.

  I held the hammer out defensively as I got a better look at him, sharp blue eyes, silver hair, and a face so striking it almost didn’t feel real. And the torch he was holding? Made his face shine like a diamond.

  Our eyes locked together as he stared intently at me.

  Realizing my postion, I scrambled out of Rok’s arms and cleared my throat. “Ahem, who are—“

  I didn’t get to finish before he cut me off.

  “Why are you traveling this late at night?” he said.

  “I-uh…” I glanced at Rok. “…we’re heading to a village.”

  He tilted his head. “That’s it?”

  “Yes.” I nodded.

  He paused, before asking. “Which village?”

  I squinted, trying to remember. “Shoot…I don’t know.”

  His eyes twitched. Just slightly.

  “You don’t know?”

  “I mean,” I said, “they talked really fast.”

  Rok nodded. “There was a map.”

  The memory came back to me. “Oh yeah! Don’t you have it?” I asked Rok.

  He nodded, pulling out the map. “Nibbleford.” He answered.

  I snapped my fingers then pointed at him. “That’s the one.”

  The man stared at me for a long moment, like he was debating whether I was serious or not.

  “My name is Damien Valcrest,” he said finally, eyes fixed on us. “I’m leading a party to Nibbleford village.

  I nodded, more out of habit than confidence.

  As I looked at him again, a strange sense of familiarity crept in, like I’d seen him somewhere before, just out of reach.

  But before I could say something, the sounds of footsteps broke the moment.

  Three figures stepped out from the trees behind him, loud and unbothered. One of them laughed their lungs out, one was adjusting his gear and the third tossing a coin and catching it mid-air.

  When they saw me, they stopped and grinned for a second. “Well what do we got here?”

  Damien didn’t turn around. “Quiet,” he said.

  The laughter dipped—just a little, but didn’t stop entirely.

  One of them smirked. “Relax. It’s just two nobodies.”

  I opened my mouth. “Hey—“

  Damien finally turned as the air shifted, “I said,” he repeated, voice calm but iron-hard, “quiet.”

  That did it. The coin flipping stopped. The smirks faded away.

  Damien faced me again, as if nothing had happened. “These are members of my party,” he said. “We are the Sunforged.”

  “The Sunforged…” realization hit me as memories from the huge crowd started to make sense.

  One of them scoffed. “We are Sunforged. Big name. Bigger pay.”

  “Bigger reputation,” another added. “Nibbleford’s just a stop along the way.”

  Damien’s jaw tightened. “Our assignment is the cave beyond the village,” he said. “Don’t confuse it with sightseeing.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” one waved him off. “As long as the rewards’s worth it.”

  I glanced at Rok. “They seem…motivated.”

  Rok nodded. “By shiny things.”

  Damien exhaled slowly, like he was counting to ten in his head.

  He looked back at me. “You’re heading to the village.”

  I nodded. “Yep.”

  “That puts us on the same road.” He paused, then added, “for now.”

  One of his party members laughed. “You’re not serious. You wanna walk with them?”

  Damien’s eyes flicked sideways. “Unless you’d like to lead?”

  Silence followed.

  “…Didn’t think so,” he said.

  He stepped forward, already moving. “Stay close. And follow me.”

  I didn’t have time to react as all of us hurried after him.

  The forest seemed to tighten around us the deeper we walked. Damien walked at the front, pace steady, confident. His party followed right behind, laughing too loudly, waving the torches around without care.

  Rok stayed at my side.

  I kept my hammer low, the faint light brushing over roots and stones, just enough to keep us from tripping. But every now and then, it caught Damien glancing back at us, not long. Just enough to check we were still there.

  Before I knew it, Damien slowed down his pace to match ours, all the while the other three took the front.

  We continued walking side by side until he broke the silence, “Your hammer,” he said. “How do you use it?”

  I glanced at my hammer, still lighting the way forward. “ In all honesty… I’m not sure myself.”

  He looked at me.

  “I'm still learning, ya know? The most I’ve got is this.” I waved the lit hammer once.

  Damien nodded, eyes briefly flicking to the hammer.

  “If you focus,” Damien said, “and train with intent…the hammer will meet you halfway.”

  I exchanged a quick glance then focused back on the road. “Is your mission related to the Nibbleford village too?”

  “Partially. There were reports of giant monsters. One sighting is noise. Multiple reports mean a problem.”

  I looked at him, wanting to ask another question.

  Damien picked up on this as he asked. “Something on your mind?”

  I nodded. “Are you like…a big deal?”

  My question seemed to catch him off guard.

  “When you do dangerous work,” he said slowly, “people start paying attention. Whether you want them to or not.”

  “…And do you enjoy it?”

  Damien didn’t answer my last question, and I didn’t press him. We walked on in silence.

  The forest path narrowed. Ahead, the road split, one trail going left while the other going straight ahead.

  Damien slowed.

  His party didn’t—at first.

  “Oi,” one of them called back. “You lagging now?”

  “That’s the village,” he said.

  I followed his gaze. “Nibbleford?”

  “Yes.”

  Rok leaned forward slightly. “Looks…big.”

  Damien looked at me. “You’re heading straight. That puts us on separate paths.”

  Rok scratched the back of his head. “So…this is where we split?”

  Damien gave a small nod.

  Behind him, his party was already heading towards the cave. “You coming or what?” One of them called.

  Damien stepped back, turning towards the others. “Good luck,” he said, already turning away.

  I blinked. “You too.”

  He paused, just long enough to glance over his shoulder one last time before disappearing.

  The Sunforged disappeared into the darker trail, their voices fading into the trees.

  I looked down at the hammer in my hand. The lightning within it flickered, steadying as I tightened my grip.

  “Let’s go Rok, we got a mission to do.”

  Rok nodded as we turned toward the village and kept walking.

  Nibbleford wasn't empty, that was the first thing I noticed.

  Lights were burning behind the windows, doors were shut but not abandoned. A woman tugged a child behind her the moment she saw us. Somewhere nearby, a door shut.

  Whispers followed us down the dirt road, cutting off each time I turned my head. Eyes watching us.

  “Uhh…Rok?” I said, catching his attention. “Have I got something on my face?”

  Rok shook his head. “No, you look the same.”

  Looking at the lights being lit, I decided to stop the lightning on my hammer.

  With a single flick, the lightning stopped—cleaner than I expected, “Oh wow,” I muttered.

  We hadn't gone far before a broad figure stepped into our paths.

  He was tall, sleeves rolled up to show his scarred arms, his hand hovered near the axe strapped on his back–not threatening, but ready.

  “You two,” he said. “Identify yourselves.”

  I lifted my hand slightly. “Elias. This is Rok. We were sent to check on this village?”

  His eyes were fixed on me. “You two? You two are the only ones sent here?”

  “I-uhh…yes?”

  I could sense the frustration flashing across his face for half a second–then it vanished, buried under something far heavier.

  His eyes flickered past us, down the road and into the trees.

  “Come,” he said. “Follow me.”

  He led us toward the largest building in the village, its doors reinforced with wooden beams. As we walked, I noticed the gouges in the dirt. Long, uneven marks.

  Inside, the building smelled wrong. Sharp and bitter, like something burnt through wood.

  The man stopped at the center of the room. A thick cloth draped over something big, resting on a reinforced table.

  “We sealed homes during the day because that's when it started,” he said. “Tools dropped. Livestock vanishing. And people hearing…scratches.”

  “Scratches?” Rok shifted. “From where?”

  The man reached for the cloth. “The cave.” He said.

  He pulled it back.

  For a second, my mind refused to name what I was looking at.

  The head alone was massive, mandible split and blackened, edges all scarred and what seemed to be melted. Its eyes were dull, lifeless. But even when dead, it felt like they were watching us.

  My grip tightened around the hammer.

  The man exhaled. “This is the first one we’ve killed.”

  Silence filled the room.

  Then, very quietly, Rok spoke. “…That’s not normal.”

  No. No, it wasn’t.

  And if my assumption is correct, if this is what I really think it is, then it’s definitely not alone.