Year 2, Winter, First Month, First Week.

The mournful villagers stepped forward, each holding a flaming torch. Almost in unison, they threw the torches into the pyre. The flames grew and slowly consumed the bodies of their fallen. Samia lowered her head as Alfeur tried to comfort her, she couldn’t keep looking. While Sania made sure to look at her grandfather’s body until it was completely consumed by the fire. The timid twin would mourn old Bill with feelings of guilt and regret, but the fierce one only had hatred in her heart.

The pyre burned for a long time, but nobody dared to move. The Council members exchanged a look, an ending speech might be what they needed at this ominous time. Surprisingly, Omero wasn’t up to it, losing his friend had dealt a blow to his confidence, so Marlen decided to say a few words, her old friend and all who sacrificed themselves deserved it. She walked ahead making mental notes of what she should say and turned back to face everybody, however, before she could start, something happened.

The first snowflakes descended, passing through the barrier, surprisingly easy. The thin snow showered the villagers and appeased the flaming remains of the pyre. It was like the Origin was also mourning their dead. Usually, snow wasn’t a good sign because it marked a period of suffering and death, but right now it was welcomed, a reminder that life goes on and they would have a promising future ahead of them.

“Today we mourn the passage of 24 villagers, family members, friends, loved ones. I don’t have much to say besides, thank you…”

Marlen tuned to dying pyre and bowed. A lot of people noticed the bruises on her arms and legs, the rumors were probably true, she also fought against the Guards.

“Thank you for fighting for our freedom, thank you for paying the price. Because of your sacrifice, we are no longer villagers, we are no longer commoners, we are finally, free! May the Origin receive your souls and guide you back to the cycle of life… And we shall honor your memory.”

***

Sania dodged the white wolf’s attack and rolled on the ground before retrieving her spear and stab it into the wolf’s neck. She panted heavily as Lew arrived to help her. He looked at the girl’s wounds and said:

“You’re being too reckless…”

“And you should stop following me… Other teams can also use your help and I don’t someone to keep checking on me, I am fine. Grandpa died, but life continues…”

The coldness in the girl’s voice made Lew shiver.

“I’m sorry…”

“You shouldn’t be, but the Kindom should. One day, they will pay for it…”

Lew stopped trying to argue with her and moved back to help the others collect the beasts. Sania looked back and saw signs of sickness in her team, they wouldn’t be able to handle this for long, but before they could return, she had a job to do.

Since Bill’s funeral one week ago, she has taken on herself the job of mapping the outpost’s surroundings. Because of their previously limited numbers, Toni only organized a one-kilometer watch around the outpost, but now they needed to expand it, especially to check for MT beasts. For the last, her team had already checked around ten kilometers south and north of the camp, and now only the eastern part remained.

Sania called the magic locator operator and asked her to check for MT beasts. Soon, she felt the familiar waves passing her and patiently waited for the results. However, this time, the reader showed something. The engraved stone slowly rose in the wooden scale until it stopped at the E mark level. The operator struggled to accept it but Sania already understood what it meant, there was a MT beast near. 

“The reader… The reader identified a MT best approximately 500 meters east.”

Sania turned back to her team.

“Let’s go back, our job here is done.”

***

Hanna stood up as silently as she could and quietly left the temporary sleep section. The night was dark and she could barely see the other sleeping villagers, so she had to rely on her memory of the section’s layout. Although she trampled on few legs, she still managed to leave the communitarian sleeping space without drawing unwanted attention. After recounting the instructions from memory, Hanna walked through the outpost trying to avoid the places where the night watch could pass by until she arrived in front of a simple tent near the barrier’s border.

“You’re finally here… Did anyone saw you? Good, now we can start.”

The mysterious voice took out a shining stone that immediately provided enough illumination to reveal ten scared faces inside the tent. Sania smiled and explained:

“This is a light crystal, the Alchemy Department lent it to the teams working in the night watch in case there’s an emergency and their torches become out of fire… Anyway, let’s begin… Everyone here agrees the Council is being too soft in their decisions…”

The other ten people present made affirmative nods. A young man that looked a little over 20 spoke:

“Like when they let Carion’s parents leave, that’s probably why the Kingdom found us so fast… But what can we do about it?”

This time, they looked at Sania, waiting for an answer.

“For now, we should only discuss the things we don’t agree and find more people that think like us… But later, we could find ways to make our own moves…”

Hanna was a little hesitant about it, so she decided to ask:

“Wouldn’t that be betraying the others?”

Sania smiled before answering.

“Of course not. Aren’t we doing it to protect everyone? To grow stronger? Think of it as helping them in secret…”

The meeting went on for about an hour and then, everyone except Sania left. Some time passed and someone entered the tent. Sania took out the light crystal again and greeted Omero.

“Everything went as we planned…”

“Great! Your grandfather will be able to rest in pace once we avenge him… Just be sure to don’t push them too fast, they need time to grow and understand our mission better. Also, avoid standing against Karl. We have to lower his power but he’s essential to our survival… I trust you won’t talk about our little group with your family or Marlen, they wouldn’t understand…”

Sania nodded in agreement. Omero kept calling it our group and our mission, but Sania wasn’t naïve. He was trying to use her, but she would be the one using him. The group she was forming, would be loyal only to her. If Omero crossed her path, she wouldn’t mind giving him his long-deserved rest.