Stephan’s mind blanked. The danger, the threat to the town vanished, forgotten, as if it had never existed.

  “What do you mean you don’t know who I am? Are you pranking me?” The words left his mouth as a jumbled stutter.

  “I’ve never seen you before.” Lacy said as if she was talking to a perfect stranger.

  Stephan reached towards her. She stepped back.

  “Lacy,” Stephan’s voice shook. “We are planning to get married. We are practically engaged in everything but name, do you really not recognize me? What happened? Did you hit your head?”

  Fear crept into Lacy’s eyes as she shook her head and took another step back as if her beloved was a raving madman.

  Stephan didn’t make it any better, his voice rising with panic. “We were discussing getting married not ten minutes ago, how—”

  “Kids!” Mike barked, his eye twitching as he watched Lacy for signs of deception. “Play your jokes on someone who isn’t a watchman. Now, Stephan.”

  He turned back to Stephan, looking him straight in the eye. “You said gremlins. Why do you think gremlins of all things will attack Brighhollow?”

  Stephan looked at him, his mind struggling between two completely unrelated lines of thought. Finally, the urgency of their situation and the town’s imminent doom prevailed over the dread of Lacy not recognizing him.

  ‘I’ve seen it.’ Stephan opened his mouth to say the words, but choked on them. Confused, he tried again, but not a sound came out.

  “I just do.” He managed and frowned. Those words came out just fine.

  “Trust me. A gremlin called Bluecap will lead them, and it—they will butcher everyone unless you and I stop it.”

  Mike hesitated, searching for something in Stephan’s eyes. Silence stretched. After a long, tense moment, he nodded slowly.

  “Fine. I’ll trust you. For now. But if you kids are messing with me, I’ll skin you like cats. You’re gonna be sorry you were born, you understand?” He shook his finger an inch away from Stephan’s nose.

  Stephan nodded. He understood. He wasn’t messing around. The gremlins would set the town on fire within minutes. A trickle of warmth seeped into his chest, adding to the bit that was already there.

  Mike shot him another glare, then unfastened the other item of office from his belt - a bell. He started ringing it wildly and hollering.

  “Danger! Danger! Gather here and don’t tarry! Danger! Danger!”

  The ringing and shouts echoed through the square and spread through the town. Doors opened with bangs, and townsfolk came running. Tod and Kel sprinted faster than the others, one off-duty watchman holding a cleaver, the other a short spear.

  Finally, everyone gathered at the square. Everyone save for Buck.

  The three watchmen exchanged tense glances.

  “Buck’s on gate duty,” Tod, the eldest of them, said. “He should’ve closed it and come here by now.”

  He looked at Mike. “Why’d you raise the alarm?”

  “Stephan says gremlins are coming.”

  Lady Clara pushed her way to them. “What kind of prank are you pulling, Stephan?”

  “None, Lady Clara,” he fumbled for words, once more struggling because of his less-than-serious reputation, when an idea struck him. “Please check my class.”

  She did, and once more fell down.

  “Hope help us,” she whispered. “Sir Paladin has fallen.”

  The guards exchanged worried looks, but before they could say anything, a shrill voice rang out.

  “Oi, oi, oi! What’s all this, then? Seems like Ol’ Bluecap’s been a good boy, and you lot wanna help me leave me mark.”

  Stevan looked in the direction of the gate.

  Gremlins stood atop roofs, cackling, their eyes hungry for blood and entertainment. Some threw darkened straw into the air, others rolled in it as it fell, shrieking in delight.

  In front of them stood Bluecap, leaning on his bloodied scythe.

  “Ptui.” He spat on his tiny palms and rubbed them together. “Well, that record won’t set itself. Time to get workin’. Now, just stand still, you won’t feel nothin’.”

  He jumped into the crowd faster than Stephan could follow. Then he was among them. Blood sprayed, people screamed, and gremlins cheered and laughed.

  “I said stand still, dammit!”

  The townsfolk started running. Some away from the gremlins, some towards them. The watchmen charged, running for the murderous gremlin, as did Stephan.

  Suddenly, arms wrapped themselves around his legs, and he smashed face-first into the ground.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Lady Clara shouted, clutching his knees. “Are you insane? You’re an unarmed boy with barely any training!”

  “Let go of me!”

  Feet slapped the paved square around them, and Stephan clenched his teeth.

  “Let go! I’m the Paladin! I have to help!”

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  “You have to grow!” she snapped. “The Paladin isn’t forged in a day!”

  This again.

  He wanted to kick the old Priest in the face and disentangle himself, but couldn’t. He couldn’t make himself do that to the person who taught him the few letters and numbers he knew. Who read him stories when he was a boy.

  Then he saw the butcher’s stall. A cleaver shining, hanging off a hook.

  “I won’t fight them unarmed, I promise,” he said solemnly. “You are needed to heal the injured.”

  Lady Clara hesitated, but released him. She kept watching him like a hawk, but Stephan backed away towards the stall. “Bless them, help them any way you can.”

  Finally, she relaxed a little and nodded.

  “Don’t get any silly ideas,” she warned. “You’re not a hero.”

  I am THE hero, he thought, but nodded obediently.

  While they exchanged those few words, the square had turned into chaos. Anyone fit was armed with whatever they had on hand - clubs, knives, axes, but the gremlins were agile and hard to hit, their claws sharp. People screamed and bled. It was bad, but not as bad as the first time. It wasn’t a massacre, and none of the homes were on fire yet.

  Lady Clara went to help, and Stephan, trying to be as inconspicuous as the circumstances allowed, grabbed the cleaver. The handle sat in his palm just right as he took it off its hook. He rarely used it back home; it was too unwieldy, but now… now it was just right, ready to split skull and bone.

  He didn’t charge. He circled, slowly moving around the stalls, preparing to flank the gremlins. He didn’t dare imagine what could happen if Lady Clara tripped him with a cleaver in hand.

  “Stephan!” Lady Clara noticed he was gone and spun around, searching for him. She found him in a blink, but she was too far away. “Get back here!”

  Being a good boy, Stephan obliged and took the shortest way back. He jumped into the melee, cutting his way through the gremlins.

  Killing them barely made his chest warmer, the feeling almost beneath his notice. Especially when compared with the panic of a furious Priest making her way towards him.

  “You little—!” a gremlin leapt at her. She crushed it with the mace Stephan had used not twenty minutes ago. “Get back here!”

  “I am! I’m getting there!” Stephan wasn’t entirely honest. He had started veering away from her, heading towards the Bluecap, who was fighting Mike.

  “No!” Stephan was five yards away when the gremlin found an opening.

  The scythe flashed, and Mike’s head flew into the air.

  “Good fight!” Bluecap, already crimson with blood, snatched the head by the hair. “Gonna keep your ’ead.”

  He started fiddling with it, tying its hair to his belt, and Stephan snapped. He roared and cleaved in half a gremlin blocking his path, then lunged for the gremlin boss.

  Bluecap ducked under the slash and laughed.

  “Feisty. But you’re rubbish.” He slashed at Stephan, about to claim an overextended arm, when a spear jabbed at his head.

  Bluecap made a split, dropping to the ground and dodging the thrust. He twisted to the side, slashing to hamstring Kel. Stephan hacked at him, and the gremlin once more abandoned his attack. He rolled on the ground, scythe disemboweling an unlucky gremlin by accident. The others jeered and pointed, several dying because of the lapse.

  Stephan and Kel harried him, one slashing, the other stabbing, covering each other’s openings well enough to stay alive and keep pressing.

  “Bless!” Lady Clara shouted, and the world seemed just a bit clearer and slower, the Bluecap’s movements slightly easier to track and match.

  A spear nicked Bluecap’s cheek, Stephan’s cleaver slashed for his head. In a completely insane gambit, the gremlin ducked and raised his clawed hand to snatch the cap off his head, losing two fingers for his effort.

  Cuts and slashes whittled at Bluecap, then Stephan found his chance. His blade flared gold and dropped, hitting the gremlin between neck and shoulder, cleaving him until it got stuck in his chest.

  A surge of warmth burned in Stephan’s chest.

  [Level f—]

  [Level six reached—]

  He didn’t have the time to read the messages, instead focusing on the gremlin. The creature staggered and fell on its back. The scythe clattered to the ground, and Bluecap started petting his bloodied cap.

  “Hush, hush, love. Don’t worry. There is only one cap for Bluecap. I’ll be back in a moon’s dance. I won’t leave you alone for long. You stay safe.”

  The other gremlins retreated from battle. They eyed the cap with greed as the fighting stopped.

  “No! Away with ya! I’m Bluecap! Me! It’s mine! Mine!”

  The gremlins pounced on their former leader and tore him apart, screaming and laughing, throwing gore at each other like snowballs. One of them triumphantly waved its new bloodstained blue cap and ran off, the others screeching and chasing behind him.

  Stephan watched in shocked disbelief.

  “Are they insane?” he muttered.

  “Yes,” Kel said. “They are fae. Every last one of their kind is insane.”

  “You! Little! Brat!” Lady Clara stomped her way towards them, and Kel the watchman wisely retreated, not wanting any part in the Priest’s wrath.

  “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!” She bellowed so loudly they probably heard her in the next town over.

  “Lady Clara, calm down,” Stephan said, not sure whether to cry or laugh or feel chastised, the rush of pleasure from getting two levels still making his head spin. “Your behavior is unbecoming of a Priest.”

  “And your brain-dead, head-first jump into battle was,” the woman reined in her temper as anger torrented out of her along with the words. “Also unbecoming of the Paladin.”

  “I think it was—” Kel started approvingly, but Lady Clara’s glare had him shut up.

  “It was perfectly in tune with my class,” Stephan continued his words fearlessly, then looked around. “We lost five good men fighting, and another twenty when that monster attacked.”

  I could have done better.

  “Buck’s dead.” Tod came running back from the gate. “Shot a bolt, the monster got his head.”

  Stephan’s sense of victory dimmed further as he wondered how the old watchman had managed to run there and back in so little time. He looked around, searching for his parents, and found his father and brothers among the fighting men, along with Lacy’s pa and brother.

  Then there were the wounded. People who needed healing, who needed his help.

  “We’re not done, Stephan!”

  “Yes, we are, Lady Clara. At least until we heal the wounded.” He committed the scene to memory. “It might seem horrible, but it could’ve been much worse.”

  [Level five reached

  Skill acquired: Inspiring Aura I

  +1 Agility, +1 Charisma, +1 Composure, +0 Dexterity, +1 Endurance, +1 Intelligence, +1 Luck, +1 Perception, +1 Presence, +1 Strength, +1 Toughness, +1 Vitality, +1 Willpower, +0 Wisdom]

  [Level six reached

  Skill acquired: Blessing of Conviction I

  +1 Agility, +1 Charisma, +1 Composure, +1 Dexterity, +1 Endurance, +1 Intelligence, +1 Luck, +1 Perception, +0 Presence, +0 Strength, +1 Toughness, +1 Vitality, +1 Willpower, +1 Wisdom]

  [Stephan Cobblerson, Paladin level 6

  Class skills: In Living Memory XVI, Blessing of Healing I, Blessing of Arms I, Smite I, Blessing of Protection I, Inspiring Aura I, Blessing of Conviction I

  Attributes: Agility: 15, Charisma: 15, Composure: 16, Dexterity: 15, Endurance: 16, Intelligence: 13, Luck: 15, Perception: 15, Presence: 14, Strength: 15, Toughness: 15, Vitality: 16, Willpower: 16, Wisdom: 15]