On the road to the capital, the wagon continuously bumped up and down on the treacherous and root-littered ground.

  Kenneth was sitting on one of two beds with his feet up and Nokstella by his side up against the wall. On the other side was Solk brushing Kulo's fur and keeping him by his side even though he wanted to go over to Kenneth.

  Neither had said a word in the many hours that must have passed since the departure.

  Kenneth mostly used this time thinking about the many possible outcomes that could happen when he stood in front of the Aki king. All from being heralded as a miracle worker to being seen as a funny animal that belonged in His Majesty's royal menagerie to even execution on sight.

  'It’s not as if I know what will happen until I’m there. Right now, I’m only giving myself a headache,’ Kenneth thought, letting out a tired sigh.

  “Not used to the road? Solk suddenly asked. “It’s not my preferred route, considering this is uncharted territory for me, but Lord Krakni is not a patient man.”

  “It’s not so much that, Kenneth replied. “I was just thinking about when I meet the king. It’s a big deal, alright, and if my people's history of royalty is anything to go by, it might as well be a coin toss on what’s going to happen.”

  “The king… has a powerful presence. I’ve only stood before him once when he asked about you, and even that made me fear more for my safety than any venture out here, Solk admitted. “I can only guess as to the reason he wishes for you to appear before him, but if he wanted you dead, he would not have ordered the commander of his king's guard to personally escort you.

  “His son may have taken up the mantel in his stead; however, they are of far greater importance than some simple executioners. More so, it might be because you healed the “Burning Death” with such ease. The king might desire to prevent another epidemic from spreading throughout the capital.”

  “An epidemic! Kenneth gasped. “Has it been recent? Are people keeping apart? What measures have been put in place to avoid another spread?!”

  “No! It happened over hundreds of years ago,” Kolu piped up, unable to escape his father’s grasp.

  “At least you remember something from your history lessons, Solk said with a hint of pride. “It was about two hundred years ago. No one knows how it started. Either it could have been a ploy by the heretic to send in an inflicted as a slave, heretic cultist spreading the infliction with their vile rituals or just the careless mistake of a merchant.”

  Solk went on to explain more about the “Burning Deaths” spread throughout a place called Underfoot, as well as how it was handled back then. And horrifyingly, the “Burning Death” didn’t just receive its name from the state in which the infected found themselves.

  Kenneth felt a small sorrow in his heart for the dead.

  Even though it happened so long ago, it was news to him, and even if he only managed to accomplish one thing in this life, it was to ensure something like that would never happen again,

  But even as his mind focused on such a horrifying event, he couldn’t help but linger on something Solk said as he inquired about the heretic cultists.

  Solk was a bit tight-lipped about them but did explain. Apparently, there wasn’t a unanimous belief in the Aki course, and there were those who wished to spread their vileness from within, but apparently, they had all been eradicated some decades ago.

  “I believe that will be enough for now,” Solk said, seeming tired.

  “No, father, I wanna hear more about…” Kolu protested, falling silent as he suddenly fought a desperate battle, inevitably losing to the yawn.

  While Kenneth wanted to learn a bit more, he could hear Nokstella quietly yawn by his side. “You should listen to your father. Children need to sleep far more than adults. You wouldn’t want to stunt your growth and be shorter than me.”

  Kolu's eyes quickly grew wide as he heard the most horrifying news of all. He snapped his head back and looked up at his father, “Is that true?!”

  Solk put the brush aside and flopped down on the bed, pulling his son with him, “Yes, Dahi moulded us, made it so we grow hungry when we need to eat, thirsty when we need to drink, and tired when we need to sleep.”

  Kolu looked panicked as he suddenly realized the earth-shattering revelations had staved off his drowsiness, and in the most aggressive way Kenneth had ever seen, Kolu tried to go to sleep.

  Solk sent Kenneth a knowing and thankful look before extinguishing the only lit candle and going to sleep.

  Kenneth joined him, fully laying down on the long but somewhat thin bed with Nokstella mostly on top of his arm, refusing to move any further away from the wall.

  However, sleep didn't come easy. The bumping and creaking as the wagon moved across the uneven terrain of high hills, slumps, and root-littered ground made it almost impossible to go to sleep, Kenneth only finding brief moments where he nodded off for a second or two.

  He was drifting off once more when he heard small clacking sounds moving closer, followed by tiny hands grabbing onto his arm.

  “…Shouldn’t you be asleep?” Kenneth, tiredly, asked in a low voice.

  Kolu let out a small whine, “I can’t… I wanna go asleep, but keep thinking what will happen if I don’t sleep.”

  “Nokstella, you still awake?” Kenneth asked her, whereupon she replied with a tired groan.

  Suddenly, Kolu climbed on top of Kenneth and scampered across his chest until his fur brushed against Nokstella’s scales, his tail wildly bouncing around. “Hi! Your fur is so odd. It feels so hard.”

  Nokstella froze up as Kolu curiously touched her snout.

  “Okay, Kolu, you need to learn about personal space. You can’t just touch someone without asking first and getting permission to do so,” Kenneth lectured him while pulling him away from Nokstella.

  Whining, Kolu nestled between Kenneth’s arm and chest, looking over at Nokstella, “Father never let me go near slaves. I just want to see.”

  “Well, you certainly got energy. How about I tell you a bedtime story?” Kenneth asked, feeling Kolu’s ears perk up at the mention, and even Nokstella moved her snout across his chest, looking up at him.

  Knowing he’d struck gold, Kenneth began to tell the story of the rabbit and hawk.

  On a cloudy and windy day, a little white rabbit was walking through the forest in search of carrots to eat. He’d never ventured far from home, but today, he’d had a whiff of one and would not let the scent go.

  He searched behind every tree and inside every bush until he found the precious orange prize sticking up from the dirt.

  With ecstatic glee, he pulled it from the ground and jumped home, but on the way, rain poured down from the sky, and the winds began to howl, shaking every tree and bush. Suddenly, the sound of a tree cracking, followed by a squawk, could be heard as a branch landed on the little white rabbit.

  However, it was not hurt; it was only stuck with the carrot still in its mouth. He was about to free himself when a sudden squawk made him freeze. Right in front of him was a hawk, a deadly predator, but fortunately, she, too, was stuck under a tree branch.

  Quickly, the rabbit, knowing he couldn’t lift the branch, began digging underneath it until he was free.

  He was about to leave when the hawk squawked, “Wait! Free me, too, and I promise to remember what you did for me!”

  The rabbit was unsure if he should trust the hawk. His parents had always warned him to run from hawks and snakes, as they would only gobble him up, yet his parents had also told him to see the best in every animal.

  Choosing to help the hawk, the little white rabbit lifted the branch as much as his tiny body could as the hawk slipped out from underneath.

  “Thank you, I will not forget this,” The hawk said as she, with her massive wings, flew up into the foliage of the trees.

  With the storm getting worse, the little white rabbit quickly ventured home to his burrow, where his family must have been worried sick.

  However, on his way home, hidden under some leaves was a snake. Before he could react, the snake wrapped his long, thin body around him, trapping him.

  It unhinged its jaw, ready to eat him whole, when suddenly a familiar squawk echoed. From above, the hawk attacked the snake. It wrestled it off the little rabbit and squawked at the snake, making it slither away in fear.

  As the rain grew heavier, the little rabbit thanked the hawk for helping and, not wanting her to get wetter; the rabbit invited the hawk home. And as they arrived, the family of rabbits greeted the strangest visitor they’d ever had in their burrow.

  As Kenneth finished, Kolu and Nokstella seemed to have fallen asleep, lightly snoring and stirring as the wagon continued to bump up and down against the ground, somehow ending with Kolu’s hand on Nokstella’s snout while she oddly enough nuzzled against it.

  “I’ve never heard a story of such a nature before,” Solk’s quiet voice cut through the darkness.

  Kenneth barely reacted to his voice either because he wasn’t startled or didn’t want to disturb Kolu and Nokstella now that they had finally gone to sleep, “It was one my parents would tell me at times.”

  “You still remain a strange one, I see, Solk said, sitting up, his form barely visible in the dark. “He shouldn’t be so close to that heretic, especially since you removed its chains.”

  Kenneth took a moment to respond, “She isn’t going to hurt him.”

  Even in the dark, Kenneth noticed Solk’s eyes staring at him, Kolu, and Nokstella. “My son, I love him dearly but constantly worry about letting him out of my sight when not within walls of allies.

  “He is far too trusting and unaware of the dangers in this world. Not too long ago, when he was out of my sight, he found and approached the Qsiosija… he was lucky. It could easily have been a predator or heretic, and I doubt he would have reacted differently.”

  “I understand that fear, but even so, isn’t his willingness to approach anyone something that in some way, shape, or form should be nurtured, Kenneth argued. “Of course, he should be mindful--"

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  “No, because he will eventually succeed me, and if he has not learned by that time, the slaves might see his weakness and…” Solk fell silent as he looked at his sleeping son nestling up against Kenneth.

  “You shouldn’t think of such thoughts. Never done me any good…” Kenneth advised.

  “If only I could,” Solk sighed, falling silent.

  Suddenly, Kenneth felt Nokstella biting his arm in her sleep, and he remembered a question he ought to have asked long ago. “If you don’t mind my asking, that Nok I got from you had a mother… is she, perchance, pulling one of these wagons?”

  In the darkness, Solk barely moved, “Hmm… many of my slaves are rented, but not that one… that one I owned. That one was strong and always kept pulling, but unfortunately, it died during a heretic sneak attack by a stray arrow, I believe.

  “A shame, really. I doubt I’ll ever find a slave of such good quality again for so few coins.”

  Feeling his gut sink and turn to ice, Kenneth worriedly glanced at Nokstella, who, thankfully, was still asleep, lightly snoring, completely unaware of the horrible truth that Kenneth now knew.

  “ARRGGG!!!”

  Suddenly, an ear-piercing desperate scream rang out, making both men jolt as Kolu and Nokstella stirred from their slumber.

  It was followed by vibrating chirping, like that of a bird, but far deeper.

  “What the…?!” Kenneth exclaimed, looking around in the dark, his eyes settling on the outline of his bag.

  He went to reach for it but stopped feeling Nokstella clinging to his arm, crying while shaking in absolute terror, “They here…! They eat us!”

  Kenneth quickly turned to Nokstella as Kolu ran over to his father. “Listen, I know it’s scary, but everything is going to be okay.”

  “That sound! A Sleecie! Solk growled as he lit a candle, illuminating the confined area. “By Akina, I knew we should have stopped when the light left us.”

  Suddenly, the chirping grew louder and more chaotic as the singular voice was joined by many others, cementing the fact that it had not come alone.

  Before anyone could react, the creatures descended upon every wagon, crashing into them with loud bangs, the force of which made some wagons turn and fall on their side.

  Kenneth grabbed hold of the bed frame, steadying himself as he held Nokstella close. However, as the beast scratched the exterior of the wagon suddenly, a giant beak tore through the wall.

  Nokstella let out a shriek of terror, and Kenneth jolted away as a candle flew past him, landing right inside the Sleecie’s mouth. Spitting it out immediately, it recoiled, pulling its beak out while chirping in distress.

  “They fear fire! Solk yelled as he, with shaky hands, gathered every candle and lit them. He handed one to Kenneth just as another Sleecie broke through the wall.

  Shouting as loud as he could, Kenneth violently swung the candle at the Sleecie’s beak, extinguishing the meeker flame; however, the moment it happened, the Sleecie let out a violent chirp as its beak slid from the wall.

  They could hear a few more quiet chirps before they were silenced with a loud crack. Suddenly, the door flung open, and Trafka stepped in. He scanned the room, his eyes focusing on Kenneth.

  “Stay here! Barricade the holes and keep quiet!” He ordered.

  Heart racing, adrenalin pumping, Kenneth took quick breaths, “Wa-was some hur--”

  Before he could finish, Trafka slammed the door and barked orders to every man.

  Kenneth peered through the two holes made by the Sleecies, seeing figures in the darkness, barely illuminated by the few torches some had managed to light in the chaos.

  “Don’t get close! Solk yelled, grabbing Kenneth by the shoulder and attempting to pull him away with little result. “He fought those two off, but there are always more.”

  Hearing Solk’s words and feeling Nokstella’s grip tighten, Kenneth snapped out of it, “You're right. Let’s… let’s do what he said. Nokstella, please let go. I need both hands.”

  “They come! They eat you! They eat Mama,” She cried.

  As yelling and screaming blared from outside, Kenneth gently spoke to Nokstella. “I know you are scared right now, but I need both my arms. I promise you everything is going to be okay, trust me--"

  “What are you doing?! Solk yelled in the middle of flipping his bed up. “We don’t have time! Just Knock the slave away!”

  Kenneth reached down with his other hand, and Nokstella shuddered as though she thought he was going to do such a thing, but instead, he just gently caressed her head. “I’ll keep you safe; just trust me.”

  She continued to tremble in terror, but through tears, she found the courage to let go of Kenneth’s arm.

  With unrestraint mobility, he grabbed the bed in front of him and flipped it against the wall along with the one Solk was in the middle of lifting, covering up both holes.

  As the fighting grew louder, both men were about to barricade the door with whatever they could find when a loud holler rang out. “ONE OF THEM GOT FIRAK!!! HE’S BLEEDING OUT!!!”

  “Arg! NO! They got the healer! Those damn beasts!” Solk cursed.

  With his bag in hand, Kenneth rushed to the door and stepped outside.

  “What are you doing?!” Solk yelled. “We need to stay here!”

  “Nokstella stay here! I’ll be back soon!” Kenneth said, slamming the door shut.

  Outside was pure chaos as deafening sounds pierced his eardrums and shapes shrouded by the darkness of either friend or foe moved around, with barely any light of any kind other than the torches that vaguely showed where some were.

  Though he was scared, though he knew he was an idiot, Kenneth rushed ahead, remembering the direction from where the shouting had come from.

  Scanning the area as he ran, Kenneth noticed a gathering of people near a turned-over wagon surrounding something, ‘That must be where he is.’

  He rushed ahead through the darkness, constantly looking around for the slightest of movements.

  “There's another one!!!” one from the group ahead yelled.

  Frantically looking around, Kenneth tried to see where the Sleecie were when an arrow flew through the darkness and hit him in the head. “FUCK! That hurt!”

  “Did it just speak!”

  Making his way closer to the confused group, someone held up their torch, illuminating Kenneth's figure. “Th-The black healer… Why are you---”

  “No time!” Kenneth interrupted as he pushed past the group, seeing who he presumed ot be, Firak lying in a pool of his own blood with his throat ripped out.

  He dropped to the ground and wrapped both hands around Firak’s neck, stopping the bleeding.

  “Two more! Protect the black healer!”

  All who surrounded Kenneth and Firak tightened the formation with weapons at the ready as a pair of Sleecies rushed toward them. Illuminated by the torches, their hulking figure and six muscular legs with six sharp talons on each were revealed.

  The man who’d shot Kenneth loosened another arrow, penetrating the brown hide of the beast, but it did little to hinder it as it continued to rush toward them.

  The only man with a torch wildly swung it in front of the beasts to stave them off.

  Both flinched, one stopping in its tracks as the other stumbled full force to the side, crashing head first into the turned-over wagon, demolishing what was once the roof.

  The group separated. Two men ran over to the Sleecie inside the wagon while the two others stayed.

  The man with the torch thrust it into the Sleecie’s face, and while it recoiled, he brought down his sword, splitting its beak wide open.

  Chirping darkly, both Sleecie suddenly rose, standing on their hind legs, growing twice their height, the one inside the wagon breaking through what was now the roof, now towering above the men and striking with their many talons while letting out horrid chirping noises.

  However, as the scene unfolded, Kenneth, both hands still clasped around Firak’s neck, heard the telltale chirping of a Sleecies from the other direction.

  His head snapped around, and in the darkness, three blue eyes peered at him.

  “HEY THERE’S ANOTHER ONE!!!” He screamed; his heart raced as the Sleecie sprinted toward him.

  Yet none of the men could come to his aid; they were still busy fighting for their lives.

  ‘I have to get away with him! NO! I can’t drag him by the neck! Kenneth thought, keeping his grip firm with one hand around Firak’s throat as the other rested on the dagger he’d been gifted. ‘I have to stand my ground! My clothes will protect me! I just have to hold out!’

  He drew his dagger only to realize too late he’d grabbed the handle with his coat around it.

  Panicking, Kenneth could only brace for the inevitable mauling when suddenly, with a thundering thud, a giant hammer came crashing down on top of the Sleecie’s skull, cracking it wide open and sending bits and pieces of it flying in every direction.

  He snapped his head to see Trafka panting with both hands on his hammer and shield on his back.

  He glared at Kenneth, snarling before spinning around, striking the towering Sleecie in the crumbled remains of the wagon, killing it instantly.

  Seizing the opportunity, all four men surrounded the remaining Sleecie and attacked from all sides, two stabbing it in the back, one from the front, and the last shooting an arrow in its throat.

  However, before death could get its clutches on it, the beast swiped with its talon, a last desperate attack that sliced the man that stood beneath its right eye. Unfazed by the pain, the man snarled and pushed his sword further inside, forcing the beast to draw its last breath as it tumbled to the ground with a heavy thud.

  With a brief moment of peace, Trafka turned to Kenneth and grabbed him by the collar, shouting, “I told you to stay inside the wagon!”

  “Let go of me! Kenneth yelled. “We have to get him inside!”

  Suddenly, there was an eruption of light as one of the wagons was set ablaze.

  With that one act, the tide quickly turned as all of the the Sleecies’s chirping turned pained, and they began to stumble around disoriented.

  Every bloodthirsty man took the opportunity to attack, but as they quickly downed a few, one Sleecie let out a deafening high-pitched melody of chirps.

  Suddenly, all began running wildly in every direction, crashing into anything and anyone as they fled.

  One demolished what remained of a wagon, impaling itself on the shattered and sharp wood; another tripped over the body of another Sleecie, breaking its neck in the process, but most just knocked over anyone in their path, including Trafka and Kenneth.

  As the dust settled and the only sound that remained was the crackling of fire, Kenneth got up.

  His hand was still miraculously around Firak’s throat, but he wasn’t breathing, and his eyes had turned glassy. With a sorrowful heart, knowing it was too late, he let go.

  As he looked around, he saw the utter devastation that had been illuminated. Destroyed and turned over wagons, including the one that had been set on fire, and corpses of Sleecie’s and people littered the area while those only wounded cried out in pain.

  Suddenly, Trafka grabbed Kenneth by the shoulder, dragging him while yelling, “Everyone! Get standing! We are moving on!”

  “ENOUGH!” Solk yelled with eardrum-shattering might. With everyone’s attention firmly placed on him, he walked over to Trafka and Kenneth; his clothes and fur darkened with sod.

  “Mind your own business, merchant,” Trafka spat.

  Solk’s tail stood standing, and his friendly smile had completely vanished. “My business is travelling these lands. Yet you don’t seem to understand the dangers of them having lived your entire life behind walls!

  “Had you heeded my advice, we could have been in a better position to defend ourselves against the Sleecies, and I wouldn’t have been forced to set one of my own wagons ablaze to scare them away!”

  Trafka made a low, grumbling sound, “Black healer, get back into the wagon! We are continuing forth!”

  “NO! Solk angrily shouted. “You might not have noticed, lord Krakni, but they didn’t just attack us wildly; they went for our food storage! We don’t have the provisions necessary to make it back to the capital!”

  “We’ll make do with the slaves, Trafka coldly stated. “My family will reimburse you for the loss.”

  Solk’s tail began to grow bigger. “The ones the Sleecies didn’t already maul managed to escape in the chaos! The only thing we have left to pull the wagons is the Qsiosija!”

  “If you had only heeded my warnings, we could have travelled on far safer roads!”

  Trafka’s patience seemed all but gone as his claws protruded from his fingers.

  “CALM DOWN! Kenneth shouted. “Listen, what’s done is done! If fire keeps them at bay, I doubt that blazing inferno will keep us safe for long! I suggest we use our energy to focus on what we do next!”

  “Hmph…! We head to the nearest village and get provisions, “Trafka spoke as though his words were the orders everyone had to follow.

  “We can’t, Solk said straightforwardly. “I’ve travelled these lands for many years, and we are too far from a village. Those Sleecie’s are still out there. Their hunger may have been satiated for now, but they’ve got a taste for blood, and they won’t soon forget it. If we continue forward, we will only get picked off one by one.”

  “So are we just heading back to the outpost then?” Kenneth asked.

  Solk let out a long sigh, “If only. Lord Krakni insisted on a road against my wishes that I was not familiar with. And without a road mark of any kind to guide us, it’d be pure luck if we managed to find one before we get set upon again.”

  “So merchant, for all your brash words, you have no solution of any, Trafka interjected. “If so, we head to the nearest village.”

  “…I loath the idea and prey to the old, the new gods, and the shield of Akina; we stumble upon an outpost, but we have no other choice than to follow the only road mark we can see, Solk reluctantly said, looking up past the tiny glimpses in the foliage. “We head to the tower.”

  As the words were uttered, everyone looked at Solk with expressions of shock and disbelief.

  Trafka shouted, “Have you been inflicted with madness?! I will never set foot among all those vile…!”

  “We have no other choice without any other roadmark to guide us, Solk said. “If we head in that direction, we might not find an outpost, but being in the proximity will ward off the Sleecie’s for a bit and should grant us enough time to make it to the tower.

  “Once there, I can barter with them, get provisions, plan out the route, and then we leave.”

  As the blazing inferno ate off and darkened the wood, the structure crumbled under its own weight, sending a wave of heat throughout the area.

  Looking around at all the wounded, Trafka let out a growl as he relented, “We get provisions, and then we leave, not a moment later.”

  “Everyone, we got three wagons left! Secure the two in a line behind mine and tie them all together, then gather anything of value and throw it on! Solk ordered. “Anyone who is wounded needs to be healed by Kenneth from now on, and the dead throw them into the burning wagon. They’ll ascent to their ancestors, and their bodies will grant us a little more kindling!”

  With time of the essence, everyone began working, following Solk’s command, but once all the talking had been concluded, Kenneth realized something blatantly obvious. Solk was here.

  Before anything else could happen, Kenneth sprinted to the wagon, ripped the door open, and entered in a flash.

  As his heart briefly raced, Kenneth looked around in the dark, spotting both Nokstella and Kolu tucked away in a corner.

  Her scales were all but white as she cried and shook, but Kolu comforted her, wrapping his arms and tail around her body in a comforting embrace.