“We’ve got to be getting close and it’s going to get dangerous.” Sage said as they broke camp again.

  “Get dangerous? I’ve died more in your presence than otherwise. I think that ship has sailed.” Ryan was using his knife to trim the knots off a new staff.

  “Going to get more dangerous, I guess. What level is everyone?” Sage put on her armored jacket and fastened the ties.

  “Level 14.” Payton reported when her chainmail cleared her face.

  “I’m level 12.” Scout counted her arrows and stomped her boots until they fit comfortably.

  “I’m nearly level 14. One good wolf and I’ll be there.” Steve kicked dirt into their firepit.

  “And I’m a little stuck at level 11. How far are we from that gnoll cabin?” Sage began to warm up her fingers for the violin.

  “Three hours walk, two if we hurry. There are seven gnolls who have traveled back from Bent Spoon with their wagons full of trade goods. It seems wherever they normally go is significantly beyond the cabin.” Scout said without looking up from a loose fletching she was tying in place.

  “Seven is too many for us to take at once. They’ll have armor and possibly their own spellcaster.” Steve shook his head.

  “They’re smarter than the trolls. It was hard enough to separate the trolls, it might be impossible with the gnolls.” Ryan spun his staff to get the feel for its balance.

  “They built the road to use the road. Fenton is at the end of that road.” Payton started pacing.

  “Maybe we should skirt the cabin all together. We sneak through the woods and catch the road further west.” Sage suggested.

  “Or we should consider a more direct option.” Ryan started to talk and Steve cut in.

  “This is a non-starter bro. They’re not going to go for it.” Steve had tried to talk Ryan out of this the night before.

  “What does he mean?” Scout asked. “What’s more direct than getting killed over and over fighting them head on?”

  “I don’t mean we should fight all seven. What if we pretended that we were a down payment on his demands. We could get close enough to deal with Fenton without fighting the gnolls.” Ryan shrugged and kept making eye contact with everyone to try to feel out their reaction.

  “No, absolutely not. We’re not pretending to be commodities for this fool.” Payton crossed her arms and glared at Ryan.

  “Would this realistically get us to Fenton?” Page asked.

  “Probably. If he really does want the company of twins, it could get you right to him.” Scout shrugged.

  “Probably not with your weapons. The gnolls with him seem very organized. They built this road in just a few months. I don’t think it’ll be so easy.” Steve shook his head.

  “And once we deal with Fenton,” Payton made some stabbing motions as she spoke. “They’ll all turn on us right away.”

  “Ok, it seems like that won’t work. So we sneak up on Fenton and then what?” Sage started walking off the road and into the forest.

  “Oh, I guess we do need a different plan.” Payton had been so set on being angry, she was a little disappointed to not keep arguing.

  “Maybe we could slowly pick off the gnolls until we eventually kill them all?” Steve offered.

  “That could take months and could be really risky. Our nearest bell square is in Bent Spoon. That could be days from their settlement.” Scout responded. She had an arrow on her bow and quickly took the lead into the forest.

  “Maybe we could catch Fenton outside of the settlement. He’s gotta leave at some point, probably have fewer guards too.” Ryan threw out.

  “That has potential.” Scout sounded surprised it was Ryan who had that idea.

  “Either way these gnolls are going to be more difficult to deal with than the trolls. The trolls were stupid and easy to bait. We cannot count on out numbering the gnolls again.” Steve felt like he was repeating himself by now.

  “Nothing likes getting hit by lightning. And we should do what we can to strategize better. Immobilizing enemies and busting them from afar is an option now, right? We don’t have to burn gnolls or use silver?” Sage finished her thought with less confidence than she started.

  “Don’t look at me. I haven’t played this game for a decade. For all I know, gnolls require a secret password to kill.” Steve backed away from the group when they all looked at him.

  “Then why are these gnolls so much tougher?” Scout asked.

  “I don’t know. Ryan, do you have any thoughts on this?” Steve tried to shift attention away from him.

  “I barely got to pack clothes before we left. I didn’t think there would be a quiz.” Ryan turned and walked off the road.

  “We’re going this way!” Scout shouted before Ryan went too far the wrong way and they walked south to go around the gnoll outpost.

  “Why were you looking at me?” Steve whispered to Payton as they walked under the canopy of the trees.

  “You’re a guard. I thought they … like … trained you or something. Told you something useful.” Payton elbowed Steve because he was walking too close.

  “With the frog things, the lizardfolk, and those elephant birds. If we come across a giant sloth, I can definitely tell you it is a giant sloth. But nothing about gnolls.” Steve whispered back.

  “Great. If stuffed animal trivia comes up, you’ll be super useful.” Payton sped up to walk away from Steve.

  “Did you hit on her?” Ryan caught up and put an arm around Steve’s shoulders. “And it went bad?”

  “I did not hit on her. We’ve only just gotten to know each other. She’s been angry ever since we found that flyer. Once we know what we’re against, it might help.” Steve silently crossed his fingers for good luck.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t be talking so loud. Something might hear us.” Ryan announced to the whole group.

  “There’s nothing out here. The gnolls have hunted out this area.” Scout responded, but still put an arrow to her bowstring anyway.

  “There’s no way they’ve killed everything. And if they haven’t killed it, whatever is leftover is probably very strong.” Payton didn’t sound concerned despite her observation.

  Three large bucks dashed through the bushes, bounded over some exposed roots, and disappeared as quickly as they had arrived.

  Snarlying and snapping, three gnolls sprinted after the deer. And when they found the group instead of the deer, they didn’t hesitate to act.

  A stout club, studded with bronze nails, cracked into Ryan’s arms which he raised to protect his face. A weighted net spun over Scout’s head and dragged her bow down to point at the ground. And a pair of spears pincered towards Sage’s waist, but were the only attack not to make contact.

  Sage sung a quick chord and flung one hand towards the snarling gnoll. Fire fanned out from her hand, blinding the gnoll and scorching its face. The gnoll dropped its knives and tumbled away from the angry flames.

  Bones in Ryan’s forearms snapped and he fell back away from the attacker. Peyton’s ax hit the gnoll on the unarmored shoulder and when Ryan slammed his foot into its ankle, the gnoll collapsed.

  The third gnoll who had thrown the net grabbed onto Steve’s shield and pulled him off balance with it. It stayed away from Steve’s flailing sword and tried to pull Steve into Sage.

  Peyton freed her ax and then chopped through the leg of the burnt gnoll. Steve tripped and knocked her off her feet.

  Sage stumbled away from the fighting and brought her violin up. The fast chords and rapid progression came a little easier this time. Lightning flashed through the trees and each gnoll was struck by a blinding whip of light. Fly ash from the burnt leaves drifted over the recovering fighters and Sage let her violin fall off her shoulder.

  “You didn’t need to cast the big one right off the bat, we could have taken them in a minute longer.” Steve struggled to untangle himself from Peyton and stand upright.

  A gnoll snarled and he instantly regretted it.

  All three gnolls yipped this high pitched bark from wherever they landed after the lightning strikes. It changed to a deep rumble and became more of a roar. The gnolls’ grey and black spotted fur fell out and was replaced with jet black, long fur. Their stooped spines straightened in what appeared to be a very painful transition. Their thick fingers sprouted slender claws and their muzzles lengthened out to make room for their new teeth.

  “I didn’t think they would do that.” Peyton picked up her ax but hesitated. The gnolls’ wailing was filled with pain and one of them even clawed themself across the chest without realizing it.

  Scout managed to get out from under the net and with some effort threw it over the nearest transforming gnoll. Its clawed hands snatched the cords and tore the net apart. Then it howled a long mournful note to the sky.

  “I’ll do it again.” Sage stammered out and put the violin back on her shoulder despite her trembling hands.

  Steve sprinted the short distance to the weregnolls and slashed across its chest. His sword’s runes flared with magic but it didn’t seem to notice. The claws gouged into his shield, pulling off his arm entirely. The runed sword plunged into the beast and this time it couldn’t ignore the searing white light.

  Peyton struck another weregnoll in the face as it tried to get to Scout. Her ax cut and completed a full circuit to cut it again. The wounds began healing, drawing the thick blood back into the unnaturally formed body.

  Sage couldn’t stop trembling long enough to play the lightning song. She plucked out some simple notes. It was a warm up she did before private practice, nothing she had been taught. But with the last note, Peyton’s axhead glowed blue and the next wound it gave didn’t seal up so easily.

  Scout backed away from the fighting and recovered her bow. She began muttering words the others couldn’t hear over the snarling and shouting. The arrowhead on the arrow in her hand turned white. As if the razor’s edge had crept all the way to the center.

  That arrow passed through the weregnoll’s chest and stopped with the sharp tip hovering over its shoulder. The wound from the arrow spread and began to bleed, really bleed.

  The weregnoll with Steve’s sword embedded in his chest stood up and picked Steve up with the sword.

  The blade snapped near the hilt and the weregnoll collapsed to the ground.

  Peyton cut the weregnoll facing her one more time and then it bolted away. The weregnoll with the arrow protruding from its back coughed and then followed before Scout’s next shot could find him.

  “You’re really lucky they ran off, they make a huge mess wherever they go.” A voice behind the group startled everyone and Scout spun and released her arrow. It streaked over the back of the small deer where the voice had spoken.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “Hey, ease up. I’m not a threat. I’m not even really a deer.” The deer jumped and flinched. It gently began to shift from deer to a man with his hands held up in the air.

  “Who are you?” Steve asked.

  “My name’s Nigel, I am sorry I led the gnolls into your path. But it really wasn’t my fault. They’ve been looking for me quite persistently. It’s become a weekly event to see if they’ll catch me this time. Haven’t been able to kill one of them like you lot, so thanks for that.”

  “You wouldn’t happen to know a Mr. Fenton who had a close personal friend named Nigel?” Sage put her hand behind her back to hide her trembling.

  “I’d rather not talk about my former employer. He is rather intent on killing me. Your friend needs medical attention and then you all need to leave. He’ll only send more gnolls when he finds out you’re here and that will make my weekly chase much harder.” Nigel adjusted his ragged clothes and knelt next to Ryan.

  “Oh thank you, they do seem to be broken.” Ryan as green light passed from Nigel’s hands to his arms.

  “We were sent here to … negotiate with Mr. Fenton.” Scout glanced at Steve as she spoke.

  “Negotiate? Oh no, don’t do that. Please. You have no idea what he’ll do to you.” Nigel looked from Sage to Peyton and back. “You really don’t want to be the price of his cooperation.”

  Nigel’s voice quivered like a taut guy wire in high wind.

  “We’re not part of his price, we’re his cure. If you can help us get to him, we can correct things.” Peyton stated.

  “There is no getting to him. I’ve tried. I couldn’t get close as a sparrow, mouse, or a raven. You cannot get close, but fortunately you can walk.” Nigel stood up from Ryan’s side.

  “That is so much better than waiting to die to fix it. But it is critically important that we fix what Fenton broke or took.” Ryan gingerly tested his arms and then pushed himself off the ground.

  “Fenton is the worst kind of inherited brat. He’s also expecting you and he was paranoid before that. At any given moment there are a hundred gnolls in his settlement and I have no idea how many are weregnolls. And you can’t trust him, believe me, to keep his word at all. He’ll make deals and forget them the instant he has what he wants. Whatever he took, let him keep and just stay away.” Nigel began to walk away and the group followed without asking permission.

  “Does he leave the settlement for any reason? Any reason at all?” Steve asked, gesturing with the broken hilt of his sword because he hadn’t thought of putting it down yet.

  “He doesn’t leave. He hasn’t left since they found a statue.” Nigel didn’t seem to mind the company and headed right to the ruins that served as his home.

  “You are a very well informed treasure trove. Tell us about the statue.” Sage quietly cheered and raised her fists in celebration.

  “It was a full-body, marble statue. A nude, but that probably didn’t factor into it. It was an inert magical artifact, a warding piece. It would provide protection in a large area once it was repaired.”

  “Someone just leaves magical statues around?” Peyton asked doubtfully.

  “Of course, I have my bed propped on a few we could use. Clearly I have many ancient artifacts of wondrous magic lying around.” Nigel snapped.

  “Well, I don’t think the sarcasm is helping anything.” Ryan said.

  “If we made it look like there was another statue around here, how would that work?” Steve asked.

  “They didn’t exactly have a class on counterfeiting art at the International Butler Academy.” Nigel shook his head. “I have no idea what you expect from me.”

  “Can we see these ruins you live in?” Sage asked.

  “Just to warn you, I haven’t been able to clean anything and there are animals everywhere.” Nigel seemed to calm down at that suggestion and led them deeper into the forest.

  They passed three handmade brooms as they approached Nigel’s hut. Three sides were partially fallen walls and the fourth was open to the air. He had piled bundles of grass on a log frame to make a sturdy roof.

  The remains of granite walls made it clear this had been the center of a large compound. The marble flooring was broken up by trees and bushes, but it was clear someone had put a lot of effort into whatever had preceded these ruins.

  “There’s a bell square just a little ways that way and there’s a well with it. There’s not really space for everyone in my hut, but I hope we can find a comfortable place for you all to camp.” Nigel gestured to the north vaguely and picked up a broom. He swept some leaves away from one of his walls with an awkward smile. “Didn’t really expect to get any polite company, sorry.”

  “Do you think this was a castle?” Peyton asked idly.

  “Haven’t seen many castles, most of the quakes leveled Europe’s castles before I was born. So, maybe it was a castle?” Nigel responded with a shrug.

  “There is more underground here than remains on the surface.” Peyton stomped and listened to the stones’ response.

  “I found stairs going down, but they don’t go far. The ceiling collapsed on the stairs before I even got here.” Nigel waved vaguely behind him.

  “Are those the only stairs?” Peyton asked and stomped again.

  “Maybe, I haven’t been looking for stairs. Figuring out this whole turn-into-animals magic has been a full-time post since I got here.” Nigel shrugged.

  “I think there might be another stairwell and I don’t think it has collapsed.” Peyton picked up her ax and turned to where the ground told her was a hollow space.

  “The basement of a ruined castle may be my best bet to replace my sword. You guys coming?” Steve moved closer to Peyton.

  “No, I need to rest.” Sage dropped her pack and lowered herself to sit on it.

  “Me too, I’ve never cast that spell before and doing it twice gave me a headache.” Scout leaned against a wall and took a drink of water.

  “I’m in. My arms are fully not broken, so I’m excited to get them broken again.” Ryan said with sarcastic optimism. “Sometimes I’m worried I’m not as smart as I should be.”

  “These are strange times friend, let’s find some treasure and make ourselves feel better.” Steve put a friendly arm around Ryan and the three of them left Nigel’s clearing. They each took a turn ringing the bell in the square before following Peyton’s stomps to where a stairwell burrowed into the ground.

  “We’re really going down there?” Ryan asked.

  “And down I go.” Steve led the way down the stairwell with his shield leading the way and his knife in his main hand.

  The marble blocks forming the stairs were uneven or missing as they descended to where the building forgot it was supposed to be ruined. The stonework tried to keep the dignified transition from marble to granite despite piles of dirt and fallen leaves. The arches stubbornly held up the ceiling and tried to ignore the dripping water that undermined their strength.

  “Ryan, hold on to this torch. I think I can light it.” Steve pulled a torch from the iron holder in the wall and held it out to the monk.

  “Wait, it’s sticky. All the pitch has run down the handle. Just give me a second.” Ryan took a rag from a pocket, wiped off the wrought iron handle and then wrapped the rag around the head. Steve snapped his fingers a few times and then a small flame sprang from his pointer finger.

  “You gotta teach me that trick.” Peyton said as they resumed walking in the close darkness.

  “I think it’s a survival thing. I picked it up on patrol around Davtown. Let’s see what we have down here before I give away the only useful thing I can do after breaking my sword.” Steve flipped his hand back and forth until the flame on his finger went out.

  Peyton lit the other torches as they came across them and slowly revealed the corridor with orange light. The corridor turned a corner, but ended shortly after that in a caved-in section. The doors had rotted away faster than the masonry and the darkened splinters led into small rooms with ruined chests and ransacked shelves.

  “This one looks bigger.” Peyton peered through the last door before the caved-in section of the corridor.

  The room was much larger than the other rooms. Alcoves in the walls held incomplete suits of armor and a chandelier hung at a bad angle in the center of the room. Two leather bound chests appeared to be intact and scratches on their locks showed someone had thought they held valuables.

  But in the center of the room, wearing the chandelier at a jaunty angle, was a much more important find. A marble statue missing only an arm and the left side of its face looked like it was so done with standing in the dark.

  “Do you think that’s enchanted?” Ryan asked out loud.

  “I don’t think it matters, we just have to make it look enchanted.” Steve started circling the statue. He waved Ryan over and they carefully lifted the iron candle holder off the statue.

  “This looks pretty good. I think we can fake this.” Ryan brushed away dust. The statue seemed, aside from the obvious flaws, mostly unharmed.

  “Yeah, you just pick it up and carry it out of here. No problem at all.” Peyton hadn’t started circling or admiring the statue and her comment made the two men sigh.

  “Well crap, we can figure something out.” Steve deflated a little and turned away from the marble to examine the chests. There was still a chance he could find a sword in one of them.

  “So you’re sure it’s not fixed to the ground?” Sage asked when they returned to Nigel’s cottage.

  “We got it to wiggle a little, it’s just really heavy.” Steve answered. The chests had been filled with scrolls and sheets of parchment sewn together. They had brought two of them back. Sage was loading her Yawning Space bag with all the documents.

  “And tall. We’ll have to tip it over to get it through the door.” Peyton added without enthusiasm.

  “But, you have a spell to make it float out of there, right?” Ryan looked hopefully at Sage.

  “No, I don’t have a spell to make statues float. I don’t have hidden spells that pop up to conveniently solve problems.” Sage glared at Ryan.

  “Hey, it wouldn’t be the first time.” Ryan muttered.

  “Getting the statue out is just a matter of time. We’re strong enough if we work together to move it. Even if we have to dig down through the ceiling, we can find a way to get it out. The important part is what we do with it once it's out.” Steve didn’t like how distracted everyone seemed.

  “I don’t think we can set it somewhere and hope Fenton finds it. That could take weeks and the next full moon is in two weeks.” Nigel pointed out.

  “Why did you mention the full moon?” Ryan asked.

  “You don’t know? Oh, you two have lycanthropy after that fight with the weregnolls.” Nigel twiddled his fingers nervously.

  “Hold up, which two?” Sage stopped. Everyone held still while Nigel hesitated to answer.

  “You really don’t know? I thought you could see it.” Nigel grimaced at the intense stares aimed at him.

  “How can you see lycanthropy?” Scout demanded.

  “Most of my druid magic is healing magic. I thought you knew, you didn’t get a notification?” Nigel pulled some acorns from his stained shirt pocket.

  “We wouldn’t be so surprised if we got a notification.” Ryan blurted out.

  “Ooooooohhhh, maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.” Nigel anxiously began munching on the acorns.

  “You can heal us though. You just said your magic was healing magic, so no matter who it is we can just heal. Right?” Steve felt his simulated heart-rate rising.

  “It’s not an illness, it’s a curse. It will follow you even after you die. You have to get a specific counter-curse.” Nigel spoke around a mouthful of mashed acorns.

  “Who has lycanthropy?” Peyton demanded.

  “Those two.” Nigel pointed. “I can’t remember your names, I’m sorry.”

  Ryan and Scout froze. Nigel had pointed them out and now he couldn’t look at them. They fidgeted while they didn’t know what to do with this information.

  “It’s not active until the full moon or what happens at the full moon?” Steve broke the silence.

  “The full moon triggers the first transformation and will trigger a period of thirty hours where they aren’t in control of themselves. They will be more dangerous than the gnolls.” Nigel started to pace.

  “We’re right here.” Scout said angrily.

  “And if we’re going to deal with Fenton, we need to do it before we turn into monsters. We need something to move the statue first.” Ryan drew his knife and stomped into the woods.

  The whole group worked in awkward silence. Limbs and saplings cut down. Nigel did some weird stuff with the soft bark and made cords. Scout disappeared for a while as they worked and was grumpy when she came back. With her help, they managed to tie the branches around the statue to make it possible to carry it through the door and up the stairs.

  Nigel turned into a bear to help carry it up the stairs by the makeshift frame. Sweaty, dirty, and out of breath, the group collapsed around the prone statue while gasping for breath.

  “Hey Sage, can we talk real quick?” Steve asked as they wandered back to Nigel’s hut for the night. Sage slowed down to walk with him while the others went ahead.

  “Is this about the statue?” Sage asked. She bounced the violin’s bow against her leg nervously.

  “Not really, the statue is better than I hoped. I’m more worried about Fenton.” Steve nervously touched his empty sheath.

  “Isn’t Fenton a whole group problem? Why talk just to me?” Sage took half a step back from Steve.

  “Fenton is all of our problem. Just we all have things we do well. Peyton and I fight, Scout is an incredible guide, Ryan hits hard and distracts people, and you….” Steve’s voice tapered off.

  “I cast lightning and set things on fire.” Sage looked bored already.

  “More than that, you’re going to be talking Fenton into our trap. Fenton isn’t going to listen to me, Peyton isn’t very wordy, Scout looks like a badger in a trap right now, Ryan… is Ryan. And you are good with words.” Steve didn’t like how his words were coming across. He worried Sage thought he was talking down to her.

  “I have dealt with men like Fenton before.” Sage glared at Steve.

  “Ok, that makes me feel better. I should get to what I mean to say. Fenton is going to assume you are part of the payment and that’s not really fair to put on you and Peyton. If you don’t want to deal with that, we might need you and Peyton out of sight so I can talk with him.” Steve offered.

  “You don’t think I can deal with a creep? I can deal with him.” Sage was right on the threshold of anger.

  “That’s not what I said. I want you to have an option. I know I would prefer to have a choice if I was in your shoes.” Steve took a step back and looked at the ground.

  “We need everyone if the gnolls make trouble. No one can sit this out. You should see about finding a sword instead of worrying about me.” Sage wasn’t sure if she should be angry or touched.

  Steve mumbled something Sage couldn’t quite make out and followed after the others. The last chest was in Nigel’s clearing and Ryan was sorting through the clothes in the second chest.

  “Hey, I’m having trouble getting that open.” Scout said as Steve picked it up. The chest clanked as the contents shifted.

  Steve took three steps and threw the chest against an exposed foundation stone. It landed on the edge and the joints separated with a rip. A kick finished the job, to the surprise of everyone else in the clearing, and Steve spread out the contents on the ground. Forks, spoons, and candle holders looked very valuable to someone who didn’t need a sword.

  “Worthless, I’m practically worthless…” Steve muttered and stomped to a secluded corner to set up his bed.

  “What was that about?” Ryan asked Scout softly once Steve was gone.

  “No idea.” Scout shrugged and took the queue to set up her own bedding.