“Karka and I were coming down the trail when he started whining and pulling me towards the shelf. He sensed you before both of us even saw you. Fauglir have an excellent sense of smell and hearing, so he found you even though you were covered in snow. You were on the verge of turning blue so I got the fire going. We mean you no harm. I’m with the Veritax.”

“I don’t know what the Veritax is,” Nay said. She sat back down now that she established Alric and his animal had no ill intent. If they did, they could have harmed her while she was unconscious. So it either meant he was telling the truth or he was a sadist. He didn’t have the look of a sadist but that haircut was kinda whack. So she didn’t completely lower her defenses.

“Truly?” Alric said, surprised to hear someone had never heard of the Veritax. “The church’s reach covers the entire peninsula, from the tip to the furthest reaches of Stitchdale up here.”

“Yeah, well, I’m from out of town,” Nay said. With as much discretion as she could manage, she checked under the bedroll to see how Nom was doing. She wasn’t sure whether or not she should reveal that her companion was a tentacle, because she wasn’t sure how Alric or his pet would react. A talking tentacle wasn’t really an every day thing to see for her, and she wasn’t sure if it would be for them either.

There was some orange and red color returning to his body, his outer surface had an orange aura. Thank God, she thought. He was getting warm which hopefully meant his blood would start flowing again. She wanted him to be okay and she hoped he retained no permanent damage from being turned into a tentaclesicle.

Alric noticed her looking down into the bedroll and it seemed like he was about to ask her what she was looking at it when she spoke first. “What’s that tattoo on your hand?” Nay said.

Alric looked down at the eye mark on his hand. “It’s not a tattoo. That’s my brand.”

“Brand?”

“Yes. It’s the Brand of The Veritax. It is a marking the church gives to all its monks.”

“You’re a priest?”

“More of a monk. I serve Lucerna’s End and the Valley of Stitchdale. I was travelling from the abbey back to town when I found you. I rarely see travelers out here.”

“So there are other people nearby.”

“It’s a day’s travel by fauglir, weather permitting.” He looked at her with curiosity. “Where are you from?”

“Not from around here, obviously.”

“What is your business in Spineshard Pass, then?”

“My business?” she said. Other than survival and trying to get back to her world, she hadn’t really considered anything else in-between. What if no one knew how to help her get back to where she was from?

Her next words came slowly, like she was figuring it all out aloud. “I’m a cook. A chef looking for employment. Sure, I suppose that would be a good start.” Then she looked back at him and said, “I’m looking for someone to employ me as a cook.”

He stared at her as if he couldn’t make heads and tails of her. “It doesn’t seem like you’re lying so I’m only going to assume you’re japing with me.”

“Japing? No jape. Surely, this town…what did you call it?”

“Lucerna’s End.”

“Yes, Lucerna’s End. Surely this Lucerna’s End could use someone with my skillset.”

“Come to think of it, they could use someone who knows how to actually cook a tasty stew. Their goat stew is like chewing on roch leather. I’m sure there’s nutrients in it but it’s torture to get down.”

“Then that’s where I’m going.”

“But where are you coming from? Oblige a concerned stranger. I find you out here, high up on the mountain on a dangerous trail, almost frozen to death with no fire, no proper clothing or preparation. It’s like you fell out of the sky with not even the bare essentials and if not for my serendipitous arrival you might not be alive to be having this conversation.”

“You’re not too far from the truth when you mention me falling out of the sky.”

“Truly?”

“Look, it doesn’t matter how I got here because it doesn’t even make sense to me. What matters is that I’m here now. I’m alive. And I’m grateful you found me to keep me that way.”

He shook his head and then took out an honest to god wood pipe. It was polished and carved in stylish curves, like it was a big question mark. He opened a packet of tobacco and plucked a plug into the pipe. “Well, I suppose as long as you didn’t come out of The Scar, then I have no reason to regret saving you from an icy death.” He gave her a sideways glance to watch her reaction at the mention of the phrase The Scar.

“What exactly is this Scar?”

“You’re really not from around here are you?” He lit his pipe with the end of a wick he stuck in the fire, taking a few puffs. Once he got it going, he shook the wick until the ember fell off and tumbled into the snow, extinguishing.

“You’re allowed to smoke?”

Alric gave her a funny look. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Where I come from, the monks aren’t allowed to do all sorts of things. I don’t know, I assumed maybe your church had similar rules.”

“The Veritax has no rules for keeping a monk away from the silverbell’s leaf. If they did, I think they’d find they might have a problem recruiting followers.”

“Good to know they don’t separate people from their vices, then. A good vice is the best way to keep demons at bay.”

The monk threw her another questionable look. Then he took a long puff and exhaled. The silverbell leaf smoke smelled pleasant, almost like spearmint chewing gum. “As to your question, on the other side of these mountains is a no man’s land. There’s a giant rend in the earth some say leads straight to the underworld. It stretches from one end of the horizon to the other. No cartographer has gotten close enough to measure its length, but it is considerable and dangerous. This is The Scar. The whole region is covered in smoke and hideous, noxious gases. Get close enough and it will boil skin. Some people believe this rend in the earth is the origin for some of the monster attacks that have befell settlements and cities along this mountain range. It is why no one has interest in ever crossing these mountains. In fact, we’re glad for the buffer.”

“Part of you thinks I wandered out of The Scar?”

He shrugged. “Can’t be too careful in Stitchdale. It can be amok with strange and beguiling creatures. It wouldn’t be the first time a monster tried to trick me by wearing a human face.”

“Are you fucking with me?”

“I swear by Verity’s Truth. It disguised itself as a beautiful woman. I’d be skewered into the trees if it wasn’t for the Gloom Rangers who saved me.”

“Are you calling me a beautiful woman?”

At that, Alric was in mid-puff and started coughing. He tried to clear his throat and started hitting his chest to clear his airways.

Nay enjoyed how uncomfortable he suddenly got but then she let him off the hook by asking him another question. “Gloom Rangers?”

Alric wiped the tears from his eyes and recovered from the coughing fit. “The men and women who patrol Stitchdale and the land on this side of the mountains. They have a Fort not too far from the abbey. Fort Nixxiom, or Scarwatch as the locals call it. They hunt the monsters here and monitor any activity that they might suspect as Scar-related.”

“So they’re like scouts who keep an eye out and then warn everyone else if there’s something they perceive as a threat from The Scar.”

“You got the idea.”

It was then that Nay’s blanket rose up as if there was a rod underneath it that suddenly went erect. The fabric slid off, exposing Nom to both Alric and his fauglir, Karka, who recoiled in surprise. Nom screamed at the sight of them. Alric nearly fell off of the log he was sitting on and Karka was up, hackles rising, its form taking an aggressive stance towards Nom, barking at the tentacle.

Now it was Nay’s turn to intervene and get Alric and Karka to calm down. “Relax! It’s just Nom.”

Alric clutched his staff in one hand and the talisman around his neck in the other. “What in the nether hells is that?!”

“I told you,” Nay said. “It’s Nom.”

“What in the nether hells is a Nom?”

“You’ve never seen a tentacle before?”

“I know what a tentacle is but what was one doing underneath your blanket and oh my it has an eye!”

Nom coiled up Nay’s leg and wrapped around her torso, hiding much of his body behind her while poking his head out at Karka. “Nay, that thing is trying to kill us! Look at its teeth!”

“It speaks!” Alric cried, backing away, putting his staff between them.

“It’s not trying to kill us,” Nay said. “It looks mean but it’s basically just Alric’s horse.” And she turned to Alric. “And Nom is harmless. He’s my friend.”

“What’s a horse?” Alric said.

“I’m not harmless” Nom cried. “I can fuck things up!”

“You don’t know what a horse is?” Nay said.

“Would I be asking what a horse if if I knew what one was?” Alric said.

“Good point,” Nay said.

“Can somebody tell me what’s going on?!” Nom cried. “Have I awoken into another nightmare?”

Nay sighed. “You’re fine, Nom.” Then she put her hands out to both Alric and Karka. “It’s fine! Nom, the tentacle, is with me. He’s my sous chef.”

Alric shook his staff at them both. “How do I know he’s not just your appendage of doom and you’re beguiling us and your true form is actually some Scar monster that wants to tear us to shreds?”

Nay sighed. “Jesus Christ. I don’t know how else to explain it. Can you just trust me? Can we all just calm down, sit down and enjoy the warmth of this fire? I promise we’re not monsters who want to hurt you. We’re just a little lost and need some guidance on our way to your town. Besides, you saved us and if anything we owe you.” Nay looked to Karka. The fauglir had stopped barking and was merely growling. “Yes, even you, Karka.”

Karka whined and looked to Alric. His master nodded and Karka relaxed, slowly lowering himself in front of the fire again.

“Would you put down your stick?” Nay asked Alric. “You’re gonna put someone’s eye out.”

“And I only have one of those!” Nom said.

Alric, suddenly self-conscious about the staff, put it vertical again and leaned it against the rock shelf wall. He returned to his log, staring at Nom.

“Wha – “ Alric began, then stopped himself. Unsure of how to phrase whatever he was going to say.

“Nom,” Nay said. “This is Alric. He’s a monk. And Karka is like, his horse or something.”

“What’s a horse?” Nom asked.

“Nevermind,” Nay said, exasperated. “Would you introduce yourself?”

Nom uncoiled from around Nay and slithered closer to the fire, wavering in front of it, basking in the heat. “My name is Nzxthommocus the III, formerly the Third Whip of the Pain Lord, Ormandius,” he said, bowing before them. “At your service.”

“Nom for short,” Nay said.

“Wha…how do you two…how did you two meet?” Alric asked.

“Oh well,” Nay began, “we kind of just –“

Nom cut her off. “Yeah, it was an inter-dimensional spider attack that brought us together.”