The Stalker dropped from the trees; it landed twenty feet away, silent as a falling leaf. It was twice as large as a man, with a body that looked like a tangle of black, oily hair and sharp bone.
It had four eyes arranged in a vertical line down its face, all of them glowing with hungry, pale blue fire. It sniffed the air, its many legs twitching in excitement.
Miri let out a small gasp and hid her face in Kai's cloak. The Stalker's head turned towards her, and it let out a sound like two stones grinding together.
It didn't care about Kai; it wanted the pure heat of the child. The Void always preferred the young; their sparks were brighter and easier to extinguish.
"Look at me, you piece of rot," Kai growled. He stepped forward, putting himself directly between the monster and the girl. He raised his sword, and the orange glow from the blade grew brighter, reflecting in the four eyes of the Stalker.
"You want a spark? Take this one."
The Stalker lunged at him; it was a blur of black limbs. It moved faster than the Ghouls at the camps, using its extra legs to push off the ground with incredible force.
It came at Kai from the side, its long, jagged claws reaching for his ribs.
Kai didn't swing widely, he waited until the last possible second and then pivoted on his heel. He used the momentum of the monster's own speed and brought The Scourge down in a vertical arc.
The heavy iron smashed through the Stalker's front limb, shearing through the bone like it was dry wood. Black ichor sprayed across the frozen ground.
The monster screamed; a high, vibrating tone that made Miri cover her ears. It stumbled through the mud, hissing and snapping. It tried to stand up, but its broken limb couldn't support its weight.
It dragged itself backward, its four eyes narrowing in surprise; it had realised the man in front of it wasn't a normal human.
Kai felt a wave of exhaustion hit him. Using the Mark for a strike that powerful was like throwing a bucket of water on a small fire.
He felt a sharp cramp in his side, and his vision blurred for a second. He could feel red in his blood, screaming for more power, but he pushed the feeling down. If he let the Mark take over, he wouldn't be Kai anymore; he would be a walking dead person.
The Stalker decided to retreat. It scrambled up a nearby tree with surprising speed, and even with a broken leg, it vanished into the canopy within seconds.
Kai didn't chase it as he knew it would come back, and it wouldn't be alone. The Void beings are like a pack of Wolves; if one found meat, the others were never far behind.
Kai sheathed his sword; the metal hissed as it cooled. He turned to Miri, who was staring at him with a mix of terror and awe. Her face was pale, but she wasn't crying. She looked at him as if he were the monster now.
Kai didn't say anything to comfort her; he just grabbed her hand.
"Move. We have to reach the clearing before the moon is high."
The forest finally began to thin out. The suffocating grip of the pine trees opened up into a wide, flat moorland.
In the distance, a single point of light flickered; it wasn't the blue fire of a monster; it was the steady, orange glow of a campfire.
Miri tripped over a frozen root, her knees hitting the hard ground with a painful thud. She didn't make a sound, but her breath hitched.
Kai reached down and hoisted her up by the back of her tunic, as if she were a sack of grain.
"Eyes on the light, Miri," Kai said. "That is the crossroads, and if there is a fire, there are probably people. If there are people, there is a chance to rest for the night."
He didn't mention that people also meant questions, and questions were the last thing Kai wanted to be asked. And a man with a kid raises even more questions.
As they drew closer, the shape of the camp appeared. Three large wagons were arranged in a triangle, forming a makeshift wall.
Four men in iron breastplates sat around the fire, their spears leaning against the wheels of the wagons. They looked tired, but ready at the same time.
Kai stopped thirty paces away, well outside the circle of firelight. He raised his hands away from his sword hilt to show he wasn't attacking.
"Approaching!" he called out. His voice was loud enough to reach the men.
The guards scrambled for their spears. One of them, a man with a thick red beard, held a lantern aloft.
"Halt!" State your business and show your face. Don't try to reach for your weapon."
Kai stepped into the light, pulling Miri with him. The guards relaxed slightly when they saw the small girl, but their eyes quickly moved to the massive, sheathed blade on Kai's back. They recognized the weapon of a killer, even if they didn't recognize the man.
"I found the girl at a charcoal camp five miles back," Kai said, his face a mask of exhaustion. "Ghouls took the rest. She needs a seat on a wagon heading towards the inner walls.
The red-bearded guard looked at Miri, then back at Kai. He narrowed his eyes, noticing there was something different around Kai's left shoulder, he couldn't tell what it was.
"You are a long way from the city for a mercenary. And that's a large burden you are carrying for a simple rescue."
A woman stepped out from the back of the lead wagon. She wore fine furs and had a sharp, intelligent face.
She was the merchant of the wagons. She looked at Kai, a little different from the others. With the calculating gaze of someone who knew the value of everything she saw.
"A man who survives the woods at night with a child is either a ghost or a very expensive blade," the woman said. She walked towards them, the guards stepping aside to let her pass. "I am Elara. This is my caravan, we do have room for the girl, but the road ahead is plagued by many things other than the Ghouls."
Kai looked at her; he knew what was coming. People like Elara never did anything for free.
"I'm not a mercenary for hire," he said.
"You are tonight," Elara replied, pointing towards the dark horizon where the Stalker's scream echoed again, faint but clear. "You bring the girl to safety, and you provide us with that sword until we reach the gates. In exchange, she gets a warm bed and three meals. Do we have a deal, mister?"
Kai looked at Miri; she was clutching his cloak so hard her knuckles were white. He looked at the Fire Mark under his bandages; it was cooling down, but the itch remained. He sighed, as he had no choice.
"One deal," Kai said, his voice dropping an octave. "But if the Void beasts come, you stay out of my way. I don't protect wagons, I will focus on only hunting them."
"Deal," she agreed.
The campfire crackled, sending small orange sparks into the black sky. Kai sat on a crate, far from the guards but close enough to watch Miri.
The girl was tucked into a corner of the merchant's wagon, finally asleep after eating a bowl of thin, salty broth. Elara, the merchant, stood by the fire, looking at the map spread out on a barrel.
"The road to the Inner Walls is four days if the weather stays clear," she said without looking up. "But we have to pass through the Dead-Man's pass; it is a narrow canyon. If the void beasts are as active as you say, we will be trapped if they attack there."
Kai looked at his bandaged shoulder; the heat had calmed to a dull ache, like an old bruise.
"They won't just attack," he said. "The Stalker I fought was a scout. It didn't want to kill me; it wanted to see how I would fight. I presume it is already talking to others now. By tomorrow night, they will know my reach and my speed."
The red-bearded guard, whose name was Joram, laughed nervously. "It's a bug, my friend. They won't talk and they don't have a mind. They only know how to eat."
Kai didn't bother to correct him. He had seen too many simple monsters set traps for men like them.
Kai stood up and pulled his cloak tight. He walked to the edge of the firelight and looked out into the darkness. Far off in the trees, he saw occasional pinpricks of blue light. Then more and more, as if something was watching and waiting for the fire to go out.
"Get some sleep, Merchant," Kai said, his hand resting on the hilt of his heavy blade. "I'll take the first watch."
As he stood there, a lone crow landed on the top of the wagon, its black eyes reflecting the dying embers of the fire.