Katarina and I went through the camp and looted all of the scaled wolves. Chances were there was a bounty for them. If not, we would need to inform the Adventurer’s Guild of their presence. If any remained, they posed a considerable threat to the area.

  We also gathered our team, as much of them as we could. Some bodies were more intact than others, but I managed to loot at least a portion of each member, storing them in my inventory to be cremated and memorialized at the Guild.

  The hardest part, harder than gathering the corpses of our friends, were the children. The burned wagons held cages, just as ours had. Three rows of three, packed in and bolted to the floor. The flames had burned away the floor, causing the cages to fall through and rest unevenly amidst the charred ruins.

  The cages weren’t empty. Those screams I had heard, in the beginning, when I had first woken. The small forms, huddled, twisted, charred. Only five of the eighteen cages were empty.

  “They… they had family. Someone who is missing them.” I said as Katarina and I looked over the sundered area. “I’m going to take them back to the Guild. Maybe someone can identify them or… I don’t know.” I choked, unable to contain the emotions welling up within.

  Katarina placed a hand on my arm. I turned, we embraced. I cried. For my lost friends. For the lost children. For the lost. I felt Katarina’s warm tears on my neck, cooled by the evening breeze.

  For a time, we remained like that. Holding each other, sobbing, as the light of day faded.

  “Don’t mention this to Abernathy,” I requested, some time later, as I pulled the last charred corpse into my inventory.

  A part of me was sickened by the thought of how many dead bodies I had in my storage. It was a necessity, the only way we could bring them back.

  I didn’t open my inventory to see. I kept it closed, and tried not to think about it. I tried thinking of friendship, instead. Of warm conversations in the inn, warm meals and laughter.

  I tried not to think of Elsetha’s screaming, suicidal magical explosion. Of the sounds that Hannah’s body had made when the scaled wolves fought over it.

  Countless other horrible thoughts pushed their way into my mind, bloody memories. I shoved them away, tried remembering the good times.

  Abernathy served soup for dinner. We ate in the pump house, barring the door. No travelers stopped in, no beasts attacked. We ate in silence. A series of mechanical motions. Spoon in soup, up to mouth, swallow. Repeat.

  Each of us were lost to the horrors of the previous night. There came a scratching at the door. We all froze, looking around. It was a small scratch, near the base.

  I stood and walked over to the door, hesitant.

  : Open the door.

  I breathed a sigh of relief, removing the bar and swinging the door open wide enough for the fox to slink in. I closed and bolted the door.

  I walked back to the group and sat, leaning against a vertical wooden support that held up the shelf of empty water containers.

  The kitsiho followed, laying his head on my lap. I thought about asking where he’d been, but didn’t have the energy. I didn’t really want to do anything.

  I looked over at my lute, which lay on the floor beside me. Something inside of me shifted when I looked at the lute. I reached out, slowly, as if to touch a frightened animal, and picked it up.

  The kitsiho stood, walked in a small half circle, and sat facing me.

  I held the lute for a moment. I felt that something inside of me shift again. A great weight of loss. Joy for what had been. Sadness for what could never again be.

  My hands moved, forming notes. The notes weren’t something I thought about, not consciously at least. They were a translation of the sorrow, the loss, the love.

  I closed my eyes and played, mana seeping into the music. There were no conscious thoughts, only instinct and emotion.

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  The song began with a gentle melody as I strummed the strings. I began tapping my thumb knuckle against the soundboard — the flat, round part of the lute — in rhythm with the strumming.

  The sound echoed back to me. I opened my eyes and saw the kitsiho. It was somehow reproducing the sound of the rhythmic taps I made. I closed my eyes again and lost myself in the music that flowed from deep within.

  The gentle strum-strum-tap shifted. The calm melody quickened with remembrance.

  Our first meeting, in the inn. Arlo’s welcoming smile and friendly invitation. Hannah’s joviality. Tobias’ reserved kindness. Elsetha’s logical lectures. My friends.

  The song took shape from memories we had forged together. The melody shifted, rose, fell, wrapping me in a symphony of comfort.

  The kitsiho contributed to the song, providing the gentle knock, knock rhythm.

  I don’t know how long I played. The music poured from me, melding with mana, forming a song organically. I repeated the song three times before opening my eyes.

  Katarina and Abernathy stared at me with shocked expressions. Tears welled in their eyes.

  The music ended. The kitsiho provided two last knock, knock sounds as the last notes faded away.

  “That… was beautiful.” Katarina whispered. Abernathy nodded in agreement. They both glowed with a gentle purple aura. A notification appeared.

  New Song Created!

  Requiem Vitae

  Written by the fledgling bard Chanter, this song represents a remembrance for the fallen. It is a mourning of loss, and a celebration of life. Lasting two minutes and forty-five seconds, it is not considered a combat song.

  Provides increased mental stamina, fortifying the mind. Boosts positive thoughts and optimism in all who hear. It creates positive emotions, bringing forth pleasant memories. This effect is magical and lasts for half an hour.

  We all sat in silence for several seconds, remembering the time we had spent together.

  “Thank you,” Abernathy wiped his eyes. “It’s hard to put in words but… it felt like there was a hole in me after last night. Or a crack? And darkness leaked out. Made it hard to do… anything. Lesh helped bring me back, but that song. The darkness is gone.. at least for now.”

  He looked down, fiddling with a small cog.

  “Yeah,” Katarina said, “it made me feel a lot better too. And we are glowing! Did you just make that song up?”

  “I did, but I’m not sure how. Maybe all the practicing I have been doing paid off? It just came out, I’m not sure.” The kitsiho lay down, making the knock, knock sound again. He lay his head on his paws.

  “Why don’t you have a name?” I asked.

  “Never needed one,” he replied, yawning.

  “You should have a name. I don’t want to keep thinking of you as a kitsiho. That would be like you thinking of me as a human.”

  “Hmm, human. Cute. Don’t you mean changeling?” He raised an eyebrow in an un-foxlike gesture.

  I froze, my heart rate spiking. “Oh, uh, you knew?”

  “Of course I knew. I knew the second I marked you the first time.”

  “Thank you for not telling anyone.”

  “Who would I tell? Lesh?” The kitsihos tail flicked, his ears raising in what I interpreted to be amusement. Or maybe annoyance, but he had a playful tone to his voice.

  I laughed weakly. “You should have a name.”

  “We are bonded, you can provide a name, should you choose.” He punctuated the sentence with another pair of knock knocks.

  I sat back and thought.

  “What about Echo?” Katarina offered. “He seems skilled at copying sounds. Kinda like a fox-parrot.”

  The kitsiho snorted. “I am no fox-parrot.”

  “Echo… hmm, I like the idea but…” I trailed off, thinking.

  “Sorry, I know you’re thinking about something else, but do you think you could play that song again?” Abernathy requested. “It was so nice.”

  “Encore!” I said with a broad smile.

  Bonded Kitsiho name updated from to Encore. Confirm name selection?

  I selected . Encore lifted his head.

  “Encore. I like it.”

  “Me too!” Katarina agreed, mirroring my smile.

  I performed Requiem again, renewing the buff. Abernathy swayed, losing himself in the song. Encore joined in, providing the knocking cadence.

  “Thanks, Chanter,” Abernathy whispered after it was done.

  “My pleasure.” I replied.

  “Ok, I have a weird request,” Katarina looked at me with wide, innocent eyes. “If you don’t want to, it's fine. I get it, but I am just so curious.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “Can you transform? Like change your shape?” she asked, blushing furiously, which confused me. I felt like I should be the one blushing.

  “It’s been a few days since I practiced, but I really should practice more. Sure, I don’t mind. I’m scared to be anything but human in the city — since that is what I am known as — but we are safe enough here.” I looked up at the door. It was still barred.

  “Alright. Let’s see.” I pulled up the game menu, reviewing my available transformations.

  patronage!