Four days later, the geography of the Oakhaven estate had changed a lot.
What had once been an open, vulnerable farmhouse surrounded by rotting fences was now enclosed by the beginnings of a fortress.
A five-foot-high wall of rough-hewn limestone encircled the main yard, the greenhouse, and the house itself. It wasn't pretty—the mortar was messy and the stones were uneven—but it was thick, solid, and defensible.
"More mortar!" Kael bellowed from the east section.
He was shirtless again, despite the snow. His Golden Tiger evolution had permanently increased his body temperature, making him a walking furnace. He lifted a limestone block that weighed easily four hundred pounds and slammed it into place as if it were a brick.
"Mixing!" Caspian shouted back.
The Shark beastman stood by the trough. He didn't use a shovel to mix the lime and sand. He plunged his webbed hands into the slurry and spun them.
[System Observation: Target Caspian.]
[Evolution Progress: 45%.]
[New Trait: Hydro-Pressurization.]
Valeria watched from the porch as Caspian pulled his hand out. He pointed a finger at a jagged rock that didn't fit the wall's gap.
Hiss.
A jet of water, thin as a needle and pressurized to incredible levels, shot from his fingertip. It sliced through the limestone with a high-pitched scream, shearing off the jagged edge cleanly.
"Hydro-cutter," Valeria murmured, noting it down in her mental ledger. "He's becoming a living industrial tool."
Ignis stood atop the wall, using a plumb line. "Level," he declared. "Next layer."
It was a well-oiled machine. The mana from the World Tree sapling was acting like a steroid for their productivity. The Spirit Wheat in the greenhouse was already knee-high, ready for a second harvest.
But the peace was an illusion.
"Commander," Lucian called out.
The Phoenix was perched on the chimney, which was the highest point of the estate. He was wrapped in his velvet cloak, his sharp eyes scanning the horizon.
"Smoke," Lucian reported. "Black smoke. Coming from the north ridge."
Valeria looked up. "The logging camp?"
"Yes," Lucian confirmed. "And... I see flashes. White light."
Ignis lowered his plumb line. He looked at the horizon, his red eyes narrowing.
"White light," Ignis said, a grim smile touching his lips. "That is the signature spell of the White Lotus Paladins. Purging Fire."
"The letter worked," Valeria said. "The Temple raided Bram."
"They are burning the evidence," Ignis noted. "Or purifying the 'heresy' of the Guild's presence."
"Good," Kael grunted, dusting his hands. "Let them burn."
"Wait," Lucian chirped, his voice rising in pitch. "Someone is running. On the road. Coming here."
Valeria activated her Merchant's Monocle. She looked toward the snowy road leading from the ridge.
A figure was stumbling through the snow. He was huge, but he was moving erratically.
[Target: Bram "Iron-Tooth".]
[Status: Critical Injury. Burned. Panic.]
"It's Bram," Valeria said. "And he's alone."
"He's coming for help?" Caspian asked, stepping away from the trough.
"He's coming because he thinks we're the lesser evil," Valeria said. "Or he thinks he can take a hostage."
She turned to her husbands.
"Battle stations. Kael, guard the gate. Caspian, flank left. Ignis, get down from the wall. You're too exposed. Lucian, stay on the roof. If he draws a weapon, put a needle in his knee."
Bram crashed into the clearing five minutes later.
He was a mess. His fur vest was scorched, his beard was singed off on one side, and his iron-capped teeth were bared in a rictus of terror. He clutched his left arm, which hung uselessly at his side.
He saw the new stone wall and stopped, confused.
"Open up!" Bram screamed, his voice hoarse. "Let me in!"
Kael stepped out from the gap in the wall that served as a gate. He stood with his arms crossed, blocking the way.
"You're trespassing, Bram," Kael rumbled. "And you owe us a cord of wood."
"Wood?" Bram shrieked. "The camp is gone! Those fanatics... they burned it all! They found the crates!"
He stumbled forward, falling to his knees in the snow.
"You have to hide me," Bram begged, looking over his shoulder at the empty road. "I didn't tell them about you! I swear! I told them the Guild forced me!"
Valeria walked up to the gate, standing safely behind Kael.
"Who is chasing you, Bram?" she asked calmly. "The Paladins?"
"No," Bram wheezed. "The Paladins are busy with the fires. It's... it's the Supervisor."
"The Supervisor?"
"The Guild Handler," Bram spat blood. "He was at the camp inspecting the shipment when the Temple attacked. He thinks I tipped them off. He killed my men. He's coming to finish the job."
Valeria's blood ran cold.
A Guild Handler. Not a grunt. An elite.
Thwip.
A sound like a tearing canvas cut through the air.
Bram stopped talking. His eyes went wide.
A black bolt, fletched with crow feathers, had sprouted from the center of his throat.
Bram gargled, choked, and collapsed face-first into the snow. Dead.
"Contact!" Kael roared. "Cover!"
He grabbed Valeria and threw her behind the stone wall just as a second bolt struck the limestone right where her head had been, chipping the rock.
"Sniper!" Ignis shouted from behind a pile of bricks. "Three hundred yards! The tree line!"
Valeria pressed her back against the cold stone, her heart racing. That shot was impossible. Three hundred yards in wind?
"Lucian!" she screamed. "Do you see him?"
"I... I see a glimmer!" Lucian called from the roof. "He's using a cloaking artifact! He's blurring with the snow!"
[System Warning: High-Level Threat Detected.]
[Target: Guild Hunter "The Silencer".]
[Class: Ranger / Assassin (Level 25).]
[Equipment: Mana-Enforced Crossbow. Stealth Cloak.]
Level 25. Kael was powerful, but he was technically around Level 15 in raw stats. This guy was a professional hero-killer.
"He's pinning us down," Kael growled. "I can rush him, but he'll put a bolt in my eye before I get halfway."
"No rushing," Valeria said. She looked at the dead body of Bram lying in the open gateway. "He killed the witness. Now he's cleaning up loose ends. He won't leave until we're all dead."
"Water," Caspian whispered.
Valeria looked at the Shark. He was pressed against the wall, his eyes dilated.
"Can you hit him?" Valeria asked.
"Too far for the cutter," Caspian said. "But... I can make a mist. If I vaporize the water in the trough... I can create a fog bank. He won't be able to aim."
"Do it," Valeria ordered. "Ignis, help him! Use your fire to flash-boil the water!"
Ignis nodded. He crawled over to the trough. He placed his hands on the cast iron.
"Burn," Ignis hissed.
Orange mana flared from his hands. The water in the trough began to hiss and bubble violently.
Caspian took a deep breath and blew on the water, using his mana to disperse the steam.
Within seconds, a thick, white fog rolled out of the yard, drifting toward the tree line.
Thwip. Thwip.
Two more bolts flew blindly into the yard, thudding harmlessly into the ground.
"Now!" Valeria hissed. "Kael, into the fog! Take the left flank! Silas!"
She looked at the Wolf. Silas was trembling, holding his head. The Hunter's presence—the specific scent of a Guild killer—was triggering his trauma.
"Silas!" Valeria grabbed his face. "Look at me! He is one man. You are a Prince. Hunt him."
Silas blinked. The grey cleared from his eyes. A low growl started in his chest.
"Hunt," Silas whispered.
He dropped to all fours and vanished into the fog, moving silently to the right.
At the tree line, the Silencer cursed.
He lowered his crossbow. The fog was unnatural. Magic.
"They have a mage," he muttered, adjusting his cloak. "Report didn't mention a mage."
He checked his surroundings. He was a professional. He didn't panic. He switched vision modes on his goggles. Thermal Imaging.
He scanned the fog.
He saw a large heat signature moving fast to his right. The Tiger.
He tracked it. He loaded a Frost Bolt.
He aimed.
But just as he squeezed the trigger, a cold feeling washed over his neck.
Not a thermal cold. A primal cold.
He spun around.
Nothing but snow.
But his instinct screamed Predator.
He looked up.
Perched on the branch directly above him was a figure. It wasn't the Tiger. It wasn't the Wolf.
It was a boy. A boy with red hair and massive, velvet wings made of a cloak.
Lucian had flown. Or rather, glided silently from the roof in the cover of the fog.
"Hi," Lucian chirped.
He didn't throw a needle. He dropped a jar.
It was a jar of Ignis's Failed Alchemy Experiment #4—a sticky, tar-like substance that smelled of sulfur.
The jar smashed on the Silencer's head, drenching him in black goo.
"What the—"
The Silencer tried to wipe his goggles.
From the fog to the right, a grey blur materialized.
Silas didn't bark. He slammed into the Hunter, his jaws clamping onto the man's crossbow arm.
CRUNCH.
The Hunter screamed, dropping the weapon. He reached for a dagger with his other hand, stabbing Silas in the shoulder.
Silas yelped but didn't let go. He thrashed, dragging the man down.
"Get off me, mutt!"
The Hunter kicked Silas away and scrambled back, reaching for a potion on his belt.
But then the ground shook.
Kael emerged from the mist like a nightmare. He was in his Hybrid form - seven feet of magnificent golden fury.
"You shot at my wife," Kael roared.
He didn't use a weapon. He used his backhand.
His bronze-coated fist connected with the Hunter's head.
The sound was like a melon being hit by a sledgehammer.
The Hunter flew sideways, hitting a pine tree with enough force to snap the trunk. He slid down, leaving a smear of blood.
He was alive, barely. His Level 25 stats gave him durability. He groaned, trying to activate his stealth cloak.
Valeria walked out of the fog. She held Bram's bag of silver in one hand and her dagger in the other.
She stood over the broken Hunter.
He looked up at her through shattered goggles.
"You..." he wheezed. "You're shielding... a Silver Moon..."
He had seen Silas close up. He knew.
"And you," Valeria said softly, "are trespassing."
"The Guild... will burn this... whole valley..."
"Let them try," Valeria said.
She looked at Silas. The Wolf was bleeding from the shoulder stab, but he was standing over his tormentor, his lips pulled back in a snarl.
"Silas," Valeria said. "Yours."
Silas looked at the man who represented years of cages and whips.
He stepped forward.
"No whistle," Silas whispered.
He lunged.
Five minutes later, the fog had cleared.
The body of the Hunter was stripped of gear and buried deep in the woods, under a pile of rocks. Bram's body was burned in the kiln—a grim necessity to hide the evidence.
The party gathered in the kitchen. The mood was somber.
Valeria sat at the table, examining the loot from the Hunter.
[Item: Silent Crossbow (Rare).]
[Item: Stealth Cloak (Damaged).]
[Item: Guild Badge (Rank: Handler).]
"We killed a Handler," Ignis said, bandaging Silas's shoulder. "That is... significant. When he doesn't report in, they will send a squad."
"We bought time," Valeria said. "The Temple raided the camp. The Guild will assume the Paladins killed their Handler during the chaos. Or that Bram did it before dying."
"It's a flimsy cover," Kael noted, wiping blood from his knuckles.
"It's the only one we have," Valeria said.
She looked at the Guild Badge. It was silver, with a stylized whip emblem.
"Ignis," she said.
"Yes?"
"Can you forge a letter?"
"I can forge anything."
"Good," Valeria said. Her eyes were cold, violet ice. "Write a letter from this Handler. Addressed to Guild Headquarters. Say that he found the 'Silver Moon' trail... and it leads to the Duke of Ironclad's estate."
Ignis stopped bandaging. He stared at her.
"The Duke hates the Guild," Ignis said slowly. "If the Guild sends spies to his estate... he will slaughter them. You are starting a war between the Guild and a Grand Duke?"
"I'm creating a distraction," Valeria corrected. "A very big, very loud distraction."
She stood up.
"We have the crossbow. We have the wall. We have the food. Now, we just need to survive the winter while our enemies kill each other."
She walked to the window and looked out at the half-finished fortress.
"Lucian," she added.
The Phoenix looked up from his corner, where he was cleaning goo off his hands.
"Yes, Commander?"
"You flew today."
Lucian paused. A shy smile spread across his face.
"I fell with style," he corrected. "But... yes."
"Keep practicing," Valeria said. "Next time, I want you dropping firebombs, not goo."
[Mission Complete: The First Defense.]
[Reward: Library Level Up. Unlocked: "Basic Mechanics & Trap Making".]
[New Blueprint: Ballista.]
Valeria grinned.
"Kael," she said. "How do you feel about building a giant crossbow?"