The trio quickly retraced their steps through the forest back to Walden’s Hold. Even before breaching the tree line, Davon could hear the sound of saws and hammers.

  Peeking through the foliage, he saw a group of Walden’s Hold guards hard at work dismantling the Crimson Reaver encampment. There were also a few Revenants milling around, harvesting the bones of their fallen foes.

  A weight lifted off Davon’s shoulders. While the sight of all the piled bodies in the moonlight was unsettling, at least Walden’s Hold had successfully broken the siege.

  “Oi, over here!” An unfamiliar Revenant wrapped in a Green Tracker cloak hailed the group as they entered the encampment. “Emma’s lookin’ for you! She’s around the big tent… somewhere.”

  The trio thanked the Revenant before setting off toward the big tent. As they moved further into the camp, Davon kept looking around, marveling at the remnants of carnage on every side. They had apparently missed quite a battle.

  “Ah, there you are.” Emma suddenly stepped into the group’s path, startling them. “You got him, then?”

  “It was close, but yes,” Kai confirmed enthusiastically. Digging through his material bag, he fished out the three-horned helmet Aelius had worn.

  “Good, hold on to that.” Emma clapped Kai on the shoulder. “And good work out there. I’m impressed.”

  Beaming with pride, Kai put the helmet back into the enchanted bag.

  “Now go get some rest, you deserve it. Oh, but…” Emma hesitated for a second, then added, “Davon, could I talk to you for a second?”

  Davon raised his eyebrows and exchanged glances with his companions. “Uh, yeah, sure.”

  Leaving Kai and Lyla to wait, Davon followed Emma to a quieter corner by a stack of dismantled tents.

  She turned to face him, her gaze solemn. “Now that we have a moment, kid, I feel obligated to talk to you.”

  Suddenly nervous, Davon tried and failed to maintain eye contact with the Green Tracker leader. “Why so? Sure, in the middle of a siege isn’t a good time for a reunion, but we made it out okay.”

  Emma chuckled, but her expression quickly turned serious. “Grant told me about the Night Runner, kiddo.”

  They locked eyes for a moment as grim silence fell between them.

  Davon didn’t know how to react. He hadn’t talked to anyone about what happened on the docks. He wasn’t sure he could yet.

  “I… well, I know grieving can take a while, and most people grieve in different ways,” she said gently. “But if you ever want to talk about it, with someone who knew the crew as well as you did…”

  Emma paused, both letting the words sink in and formulating her next sentence. Then she continued with a wry smile. “Well, Mia’s a mute and Grant isn’t good with feelings. So, if you ever do need to talk, come find me.”

  Davon still didn’t know what to do. A torrent of emotions was swirling inside his heart. Sadness, anger, burning defiance, all churning together in a messy soup. Would he ever be ready to sort through it all?

  He looked up at the Green Tracker, trying to maintain a poker face. “Thank you, Emma. I will.”

  “Good.” Emma nodded as she turned to leave. “Go on now, don’t keep those two waiting.”

  Davon walked slowly back to Kai and Lyla. Ever since that horrible day on the docks, he’d done his best to keep his thoughts from dwelling on the past. There was simply too much going on in the present. He couldn’t risk falling apart.

  Today was no different, so he tried to empty his mind before rejoining his companions.

  “You alright, D?” Kai asked as Davon approached.

  “Yeah.” Davon’s quivering voice failed to convince even himself. Forcing a smile, he managed a steadier tone as he continued, “Come on, let’s get back to the city.”

  Neither Kai nor Lyla pushed Davon on his obvious lie as they returned to Walden’s Hold. He was grateful. The short walk in the moonlight helped him calm down, but he feared that even the tiniest push would be enough to send him back into a spiral.

  A pair of Stalwarts was standing guard in front of the city’s open gates. As the trio passed through, Davon noticed the two Revenants giving them sidelong glances. Further into the city, whenever a patrolling Stalwart passed by, they would stare the group down without even trying to hide it.

  Strange, Davon thought to himself. What did we ever do to them?

  Davon found he was too tired to care. Choosing to ignore the mysterious glances, he focused instead on getting some rest as quickly as possible.

  Lyla and Kai seemed to be in a similar mood. The trio’s farewells were brief when they reached the Guild House. Davon headed for his room immediately and threw himself on the bed.

  An instant later, he was out cold.

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  —

  Davon woke up the following morning at the break of dawn. Though rejuvenated by a mostly dreamless night of sleep, he found that his unquiet thoughts hadn’t calmed during the night.

  With a sigh, he sat up in bed, reaching automatically for his Reliquary. The comfort of the weapon in his hand gave him an idea. He still couldn’t bring himself to face all his grief directly, but he could distract himself by addressing another of his current weaknesses: the limitations of his arsenal.

  Just as the sun peeked over the horizon to paint the training yard in gentle crimson light, Davon arrived at the Boneshapers’ workshop. He pushed the doors open and stepped inside. Only one Boneshaper was there, in the process of sorting the weapon racks.

  “Ah, good morning Davon,” the Boneshaper said, returning a dagger to its place. “How can we help you today?”

  “I need more runes.” Davon placed his material pouch onto the table. After their victory over the Crimson Reaver captain, the trio had split its body evenly, and Davon was counting on this harvest to expand his capabilities. “How many can those bones get me?”

  The Boneshaper inspected the material bag, carefully removing each bone and examining it closely.

  “High quality. We can work these into ten runes, if you wish.”

  “Five will do. Thank, you Boneshaper.” Davon placed his bow on the table. “Oh, and another question. Could you… shape the runes into a specific ability?”

  “Oh, have you not…?” the Boneshaper began, then interrupted themself with a dry chuckle. “Of course you haven’t. The Red Dawn stopped you.”

  Davon gave the Boneshaper a confused look. The robed figure started placing the bones in a circle around Davon’s bow, working in silence for a few moments before continuing: “Once the runes are embedded, it falls on you to speak with your Reliquary to shape them. You can even remake the old runes, if you wish.”

  “Speak to it?” Davon asked, his eyes dropping to his weapon.

  “Yes. When next you find a quiet moment, meditate on those strings that bind you with your Reliquary,” the Boneshaper explained as they finished arranging the bones. “Follow them. See where they take you.”

  Davon pondered this idea as the Boneshaper began chanting. As before, the chanted words transformed the materials into globules of light, then guided the light slowly into Davon’s bow. Moments later, the light vanished, having carved five blank squares into the bow’s limbs.

  “It is done.” The Boneshaper spoke with satisfaction, clasping their hands in front of them. “We eagerly await your next visit.”

  Davon retrieved his bow and material pouch in silence, then left the workshop. He inspected his bow closely. What exactly had the Boneshaper meant?

  There was only one way to find out. Unfortunately, it was not a way Davon could take at the moment. While his curiosity was strong, he knew darn well he couldn’t do any sort of meditation with his thoughts still in disarray.

  Instead, he walked back into the Guild House, sighing as he made his way towards the Imbuement Chamber.

  On his way through the maze of hallways, Davon again noticed passing Stalwarts giving him aggressive side-eyes. He briefly considered confronting them, but decided against it. They weren’t worth the effort.

  When he pushed the doors to the Imbuement Chamber open, Davon paused. If he and his companions hadn’t visited the Chamber before fighting Aelius, how badly would they have been beaten? And what about this next jump in power? Would it be enough to face whatever new horrors the Crimson Reavers had in store?

  He tried to push these thoughts aside, but he felt even more unsettled as the doors closed behind him.

  Almost immediately, the Chamber’s voice echoed in his mind.

  “Current status: Strength three, Endurance six, Agility eight, Resonance five, Aptitude twenty. Results: Powerful Novice. Compatible materials detected within chamber. Commence Imbuement?”

  “Yes,” Davon replied, trying to keep his voice steady.

  “Commencing Imbuement.”

  The same strange feeling he remembered from his previous visit ran through his body. This time, however, Davon found it strangely pleasant. Whether it was because he’d gotten used to it, or because he knew he would come out of the Chamber stronger, he couldn’t tell.

  “Imbuement complete. Capabilities improved: Strength ten, Endurance fifteen, Agility twenty, Resonance ten, Aptitude forty. New results: Average Journeyman.”

  The jump in his ratings surprised him. Davon found a sense of excitement building within him again. Suddenly, he was eager to test himself, to see exactly how much stronger he’d become.

  “Process complete. Releasing Revenant.”

  The stone doors behind him slid open, filling the room with room with light. Davon exited with renewed confidence. When he stepped out of the chamber, he noticed a slight change in the world around him.

  No, the world hadn’t changed. It was his perception of the world that was different.

  His movements felt more fluid. His steps felt lighter. Every action seemed to take a little less effort. The experience was strange at first, but Davon found himself getting used to it rapidly.

  “Thought we’d find you here.” Davon was startled to attention by a familiar voice. He looked around to see Kai walking up to him. “So eager to make yourself stronger, eh?”

  Davon straightened his posture. “After that last fight? Absolutely.”

  Kai let out a hearty laugh, leaning against a nearby windowsill. “Yeah, me too. My back still hurts from that slam, you know?”

  The two shared a chuckle, then Kai’s expression turned unusually serious.

  “We’ve been invited to a war meeting.”

  Davon raised his eyebrows, and the young warrior went on, “Grant and Emma are pushing for a counteroffensive. They want to take back Heinburg.”

  Davon rubbed his chin, contemplating the news. “I suppose that makes sense. We just annihilated one of the Crimson Reavers’ armies. Carrying the momentum does sound like the best move.”

  “I find it hard to disagree, but…” Kai rubbed the back of his right hand nervously. “Aren’t you worried about that general, D?”

  Davon shrugged. “Of course I am. I can only imagine how powerful a general is compared to the captains. Still, it’s not like we’ll be fighting the damn thing alone.”

  “Yeah, that’s true,” Kai conceded, but Davon saw his brow furrow with worry. “It’s just… well, from what I overheard, the news from the other fronts isn’t good.”

  Davon shot Kai a questioning look.

  “It’s just what I heard, of course, and I guess we’ll get the details at the meeting.” Kai’s expression turned more serious with every word. “But… there’s talk that the western front, other side of the continent, already faced one of these generals.”

  “And what happened?”

  Kai’s gaze dropped to the floor. “They got decimated. Three hundred Revenants, gone. All dead.”

  They were both silent for a long moment.

  “Just rumors, I’m sure,” Davon said finally. He kept his voice light, but Kai’s words were already burning into his mind. “We can’t know for sure, not unless something comes out at this war meeting.”

  “Yeah. And speaking of…” Kai suddenly straightened up, drastically changing his tone. “I should wrap things up here, and then we should head there, no?”

  With an awkward chuckle, Kai clapped Davon on the shoulder and pushed open the Imbuement Chamber doors.

  Left with his own thoughts again, Davon found himself increasingly uneasy. What might the future hold for him and his companions?

  He took a deep breath. Adding more worries to the chaotic mess in his head would be bad news, for him and everyone around him.

  Instead, he pushed the anxious thoughts down as far as he could into his subconscious. Then he fixed his eyes on the doors, waiting patiently for Kai to exit the Imbuement Chamber.

  For now, all they could do was get stronger.