The imp.
Bastion flattened himself against a blackened wall, heart thundering, and scanned the landscape.The only thing of note was a pair of trees, standing side by side like gatekeepers.
Another giggle, farther away now.Bastion stepped out onto the bluff.Carefully, he drew his blade, muscles ready to act.He prowled forward, keeping a careful eye on his surroundings.The night seemed to suck in a hissing breath.
More snickering, closer, like a child unable to suppress their glee at a choice hiding spot.Bastion slowed, moving with all the stealth he could muster.He took one careful step after another, scanning the moonlit darkness as the silence deepened.
Then, an owl called, high and shrill.It faded, leaving only the sigh of wind through the grass and the familiar emptiness of a deserted landscape.
The imp was gone.
Bastion straightened.Had it appeared to torment him, or had his shame conjured up the miscreant?
His eyes caught on a dark shape in the grass.
Bastion stepped forward cautiously, sword ready to swing.When he reached it, he relaxed with a frown.
A man lay on the ground.
Squinting, Bastion drew closer.Burns covered half the man’s face and upper body.The dull shine of congealed blood along his neck and shoulder gleamed in the moonlight, exposed by torn, blackened clothing.As the wind changed, Bastion grimaced at the smell of death.He knelt and checked the man's pulse anyway.
The man clutched something against his chest.Bastion pulled on the chain sprouting from his fist, prying open fingers tightened by rigor.Finally, he freed a gold pendant.Bastion lifted it, tilting it curiously.It looked like an upside-down fan, with a symmetrical flourish design cut out like lace.Five small rubies dangled from the scalloped edge.Even in the dark, each one was as vibrant as a drop of fresh blood.
If he wasn’t mistaken, this was Acari-made.
Bastion’s frown deepened.Acari jewelry was highly sought after.Not only was it expensive, but pieces were often passed down within noble families.What would one be doing here?
Quickly, Bastion searched the man.He found nothing else of note but a handful of poorly done tattoos on his unburned arm.By the stiffness of the corpse, Bastion guessed he’d been dead since last night.
He stood and looked back toward the village.
Something bothered him.The imp certainly hadn’t killed the man, but no one had reported a missing villager, either.No… it was the Acari pendant.That sort of thing didn’t make sense in a remote fishing village.
A gruesome thought came to him.A way to find out more.Just a rumor, really, but one worth pursuing.
Bastion pocketed the pendant and heaved the man over his shoulder.Then, he returned to the village as quickly as his burden would allow.
On the outskirts, he deposited the corpse into one of the destroyed homes.Hoping the darkness would disguise any blood, Bastion strode into the village proper.
In the doorway of the infirmary, he was relieved to see many people slumped against each other in exhausted sleep.The Yvri healer wasn’t one of them, though.She’d moved to sit with someone else, farther inside the broken home, and her eyes snapped to his the moment he appeared.Bastion beckoned her outside.She furrowed her brow.He motioned more urgently and stepped away, to what he hoped was a distance out of earshot, and waited, shifting from foot to foot.Finally, she emerged from the infirmary, her expression dubious.
“I need your help,” he whispered.Her eyes fell to his lips as he spoke.A flush crept over his collar, and he reminded himself this was not the time or place to be distracted.“I need you to look at a corpse.”
She jerked away, baring her fangs.
“Please?”he asked.“It’s not a villager.It might help us understand what happened here.”She glanced back through the door at the people dozing around the tiny fire.After a moment, she grit her teeth, flexed a clawed hand, then gestured for him to lead on.Bastion sighed.“Thank you.”
He led her back the way he’d come, taking care to make sure no one followed.In a shaft of moonlight inside the emaciated home, he knelt beside the corpse.The healer joined him, checking the body quickly and efficiently.
When she was done, she gave him a severe but quizzical look.
“Can you read his last thoughts?”Bastion asked, gambling.
She sneered and started to rise.He caught her hand, gently.A jolt of annoyance surged through the contact, and he said, “I mean no disrespect!It’s important, or I wouldn’t ask.”
Nervous anticipation ran through him, thrumming in his blood.His heart skipped a beat, and he dared hope that she would confirm his hunch.
She stared at him for a long time.He realized he still held her hand, the pebbled texture of her scales cool against his palm.A flush spread across her cheeks, and he suspected she’d gleaned some of his emotion.He let her go and ran his fingers through his hair.
