Chapter 11

  I woke up to the smell of cooking meat and the sound of quiet voices.

  For a split second, I was completely disoriented. My neck was stiff as hell, my back felt like someone had used it as a punching bag, and there was drool on my chin. Real attractive.

  "Shit," I muttered, trying to sit up and immediately regretting it. My body was making it very clear how bad my sleeping posture was, after living in the shelter I kinda forgot how bad it was.

  The smell hit me again—rich, smoky meat that made my stomach growl loud enough to wake the dead. Someone was cooking breakfast, and it smelled amazing.

  I blinked the sleep out of my eyes and looked around. Most of the survivors were already up and moving around the camp. The woman with the child was sitting by the fire, watching as Henrik turned what looked like chunks of meat on a makeshift spit. The teenagers were helping G1 and G2 organize supplies, while the others just sat quietly.

  My monsters were awake too. Nox was sprawled nearby, watching the activity with lazy interest. Fei was perched on his usual branch, head tilted as he observed the humans below. But I didn't see Orion anywhere.

  "Morning," Henrik called when he spotted me trying to work the kinks out of my neck. "Sleep well?"

  I snorted.

  I stretched my arms above my head, wincing at the protests from my shoulders.

  "Sun's been up for maybe an hour," He smiled, gesturing at the chunks of meat he was tending. "Your wolf brought us breakfast."

  "Orion?" I looked around again, finally spotting him emerging from the forest with what looked like satisfaction written all over his face.

  "That's the one. Came back maybe twenty minutes ago dragging this beast." Henrik nodded toward the fire.

  I walked over to get a better look and saw that he was talking about the boar-like monster my monsters and I had been encountering over the past few days

  "Any movement??" I asked Henrik, gesturing toward the forest.

  Henrik shook his head. “Your golem kept watch while you were out." He nodded toward G1 and G2, who were now helping the teenagers sort through what little supplies we had.

  "Good thing too, 'cause you were dead to the world."

  I felt my cheeks heat up. Some guard I'd turned out to be.

  I looked toward the northwest, where the town had been. The orange glow was completely gone now, just a thin column of smoke rising into the morning sky. The knights were probably long gone, but I needed to be sure. And if there were any other survivors hiding in the ruins…

  The meat's still has another hour before it's ready.

  That was enough time.

  "I'm going to scout the town." Fei landed beside me.

  “You sure?”

  “There might be other survivors.” I reached up to scratch Fei's neck, and he immediately spread his wings

  He nodded.

  I climbed onto Fei's back, settling into the familiar position. "Keep everyone here until I get back, alright?"

  G1 and G2 are more than enough to keep the shelter safe from monsters.

  "We'll manage," Henrik said firmly. "You just be careful."

  Fei launched us into the air with a powerful thrust of his wings. Below, I could see Nox and Orion already moving through the forest, following our path from the ground.

  The flight gave me a good view of the damage from last night's fire. The burned area was bigger than I'd hoped but smaller than I'd feared. Maybe a square mile of forest had been consumed, leaving behind blackened stumps and ash-covered ground. But the flames hadn't spread as far as I'd first thought. The trench G1 and G2 had dug wasn't even close to being tested.

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  Thank god.

  As we got closer to where the town had been, the devastation became clear. What had once been a bustling settlement was now just charred ruins and empty stone foundations. Smoke still rose from a few spots, but there were no flames left. No movement either—no knights, no survivors, no signs of life at all.

  The knights were gone. The town was completely abandoned.

  Fei circled lower, and I could see the full extent of the destruction. Every building had been reduced to rubble and ash. The gates hung open, twisted metal that looked like it had melted in the heat. Bodies were scattered throughout the streets, but even from up here I could tell they'd been there for hours.

  My stomach lurched hard.

  Back in my old life, the closest I'd come to seeing a dead body was at my grandmother's funeral—and even then, the funeral home had made her look like she was just sleeping peacefully. Clean, serene, nothing like this.

  This was different…

  It was real.

  Some of the bodies were burned beyond recognition, charred shapes that barely looked human anymore. Others had been cut down trying to run, sprawled in doorways or collapsed in the streets where they'd fallen. I could see what looked like a child's toy lying next to one of the smaller forms.

  None of it had mattered in the end.

  I pressed both hands to my mouth, fighting hard against the bile rising in my throat. In movies and video games, dead bodies were just scenery. Props. You walked past them and maybe felt a little sad, but you moved on.

  This wasn't a movie. The smell was starting to reach us even up here—smoke and ash and something sweet and rotten that made my eyes water.

  Fei let out a soft cry, probably sensing my distress through whatever connection we shared. Below, I could feel Nox and Orion's confusion through our mental link. They didn't understand why I was upset. To them, dead things were just dead things.

  I took a shuddering breath, trying to get my emotions under control. As much as seeing this devastation made me sick, I needed to focus. There might be survivors hiding somewhere. There might be supplies we could still use.

  Take us down, I told Fei.

  He descended carefully, landing in what looked like it had been the town square.

  The smell was overwhelming this close,

  I covered my nose with my shirt and started picking my way through the rubble. Nox and Orion appeared at the edge of the square, having caught up while we were circling. Both wolves immediately flanked me, their eyes constantly scanning for threats.

  Most of the buildings were completely destroyed, but I could see the remains of what had been shops, homes, maybe a tavern. Anything wooden had been reduced to ash. Stone foundations and walls were all that remained of most structures.

  But there might still be useful things. Metal tools that hadn't melted. Coins that had survived the flames. Maybe even food stored in cellars that the fire hadn't reached.

  I was carefully stepping over a fallen beam when I saw it—a wicker basket tucked against what remained of a stone wall. It was partially hidden under some debris, but the shape was unmistakable.

  A cradle. A baby's cradle.

  My heart lurched with sudden hope. Maybe someone had hidden their child, maybe—

  I rushed over and carefully moved the rubble aside. The basket was intact, somehow protected from the worst of the flames by the wall and debris. There was a small blanket inside, and underneath...

  "Oh god," I whispered, my voice breaking.

  The infant was so small, maybe only a few months old. The fire hadn't touched the baby—there were no burns, no obvious injuries. But the tiny chest wasn't moving. The little face was blue.

  Suffocation. The smoke had gotten to the child before the flames ever could.

  I dropped to my knees beside the basket, my hands shaking as I reached out, then pulled back. There was nothing I could do. Nothing anyone could do. The baby had probably died hours ago, hidden away by parents who'd thought they were keeping their child safe.

  Tears I didn't even realize I was crying dripped onto the stone beside the basket.

  I sat there for what felt like forever, just staring at the tiny form. Back home, this would've been on the news. People would've been outraged, demanding justice. There would've been investigations, arrests, consequences.

  Here? The baby was just another casualty in a world where life was apparently cheap.

  I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand and forced myself to stand. Breaking down wasn't going to help anyone. The dead were dead, but the living still needed supplies.

  I spent the next hour picking through the ruins, my wolves trailing behind me like shadows. Most of what I found was useless—charred wood, melted metal, ash where belongings used to be. But I managed to salvage a few things that had survived the flames.

  A leather pouch with several silver coins, tucked inside what had been a blacksmith's shop. The metal had protected it from the worst of the heat. A few iron tools—a knife, a small hatchet—that were scorched but still functional. Some clay pots that had cracked but could still hold water.

  I found what looked like it had been a general store, its stone foundation still intact. The wooden shelves were gone, but scattered among the ash were metal buckles, a few more coins, and something that made me stop in my tracks.

  Fabric.

  It had been stored in a metal chest that had somehow survived the fire. The cloth was rough and simple—nothing like my clothes—but it will do for now. There was enough for a basic tunic and maybe some kind of pants or skirt.

  After stuffing the fabric into the leather pouch, I scanned the store again, looking for more salvageable items. Unfortunately, the cloth was the last of them.