The signs of the herd of dire deer grew more and more obvious the longer Priscilla's party traveled on the road towards the capital.

Grass was trampled, tufts of ruined earth flung about as hundreds of hooves tore through the ground. Trees lining the road were cracked in half, sap still drying along the splintered wood. There were even a few patches of blood, fur, and viscera from where a small animal was too slow to get out of the way. Not to mention the ungodly amount of deer shit that littered the ground, the round pellets were more numerous than the rocks that lined the path.

The mood at their camp was somber when they went to bed at night, as everyone was antsy. No one wanted to encounter the deer when they were vulnerable, and that meant they kept up a guard as they cooked and ate dinner. Illnyea put up a waist high barrier of earth about ten feet from the camp, and another two feet closer with the hopes that even if the deer cleared the first wall, they might get caught on the second wall. Arnold declared he was bored and that he was going to enchant the horses' harnesses and horseshoes so they could move faster and get this whole trip over with sooner.

Priscilla was antsy as they continued, her mind unable to let go of the question about who the cult was trying to kill with these deer attacks. Perhaps they were just trying to cut a swath of destruction so that the Equinarial Tournament would be tarnished. Or maybe the deer were just a smokescreen for the Duchess's assassination, but a feeling in Priscilla's gut told her there was more than just that.

While she hated the assholes, Priscilla had to admit that many of the higher ups in the cult were intelligent, and made sure to get the cult leader's approval before attempting a plan. The cult leader wasn't a man who approved half-cocked ideas, he preferred the long cons because he thought he had all the time in the world. When you were a quasi-immortal, Priscilla supposed that made sense, but that just made Priscilla wonder why the deer were hunting whoever had been at the waystation.

And she was certain they were being hunted. While dire deer herds were known to cover up to nearly ten miles during rutting season, the way the deer followed the road was unnatural.

The farther down the road Priscilla and her friends traveled, the fresher the signs grew — the sap was more liquidy, barely given enough time to ooze, and the smell of freshly turned soil was strong.

"Do you hear that?" Illnyea suddenly asked, cocking her head as she stared ahead of them. There was a small copse of trees that obscured the path further as the road sloped downwards, but Priscilla took the moment to cast about her senses.

Priscilla closed her eyes and as she focused, she heard the distant sound of hoof beats. Asha squeezed tight on her hand and Priscilla mentally prepared herself for battle.

"The deer are ahead of us," Illnyea said, her gaze stuck forward. Her eyebrows were drawn together, mouth a firm line.

"I can hear them but I don't know how a herd that large could hide itself from us," Sulaiman said, frowning. "We shouldn't be rash and rush ahead."

Illnyea looked like she was about to agree, albeit reluctantly.

Then a terrified scream pierced through the air, carried on the crisp wind, and Illnyea dug her heels into her horse's side. They shot off, kicking up dust in their wake and Priscilla swore as she urged her horse after Illnyea.

"She said she doesn't have a death wish," Sulaiman said darkly, his grip tight on the reins. Kavil followed after them, and Priscilla heard Mr. Ordan push the carriage's horses to go faster.

It didn't take long for them to break through the copse of trees and beheld what was shaping up to be the sight of a massacre.

The land sloped downwards for about thirty-five feet before a hill rose on the other side. The road was meant to skirt the edge of this change in elevation but based on the deep wheel treads in the side of the hill, it was clear that the party ahead of them had not had the chance to do so.

What remained of the platoon of guards were arranged in a circle around three wagons, one of which was turned on its side, their weapons drawn as they tried to fend off a horde of dire deer. The guards that were standing were bloody and bruised, deep circles under their eyes that spoke to many nights with interrupted sleep. By the wagons were a cluster of terrified people who had just dragged the injured out of the reach of the deer's hooves and antlers.

Priscilla wished she could appreciate the graceful beauty of the dire deer — majestic creatures that looked straight out of Irish folklore of faeries that wanted to hypnotize you to follow them merrily to your death. But it was hard to see past the blood that dripped down their antlers and stained their hooves. Their eyes were wide and wild as they ran in a circle like a swarm of sharks, keeping the poor people trapped below them. One would break off from the herd, bounding over to ram a guard onto his back before darting back into the safety of its brethren.

Thankfully, Illnyea didn't jump off her horse and attempt to wade directly into the throng. Illnyea raised her hands in front of her palms together, guiding her horse with her thighs. The ground in front of Illnyea roiled and then a swath of earth defied gravity to rocket upwards, blocking the deer's movements. The ones closest to it couldn't stop their momentum and hit the sudden wall with a crack.

With a sharp movement, Illnyea twisted her hands and then pulled them apart. The wall of earth split in two and then parted, shoving against deer on both sides. Illnyea kept her hands pulled apart, beads of sweat rolling down her face as the deer began to bat against the dirt walls in earnest, unhappy that they had been forced to a halt. The sudden stop of the deer made others trip over their brethren, letting out pained bleats as they ran into each other's horns.

But Illnyea had opened up a path straight to the caravan's guards, who were now staring at Illnyea with their jaws agape. Priscilla spurred her horse on, as Illnyea probably couldn't hold those walls forever. Her skin crawled from the use of magic but it was easy to ignore as her mind raced, trying to latch onto a way that she could help.

"I'll cut them off on the east and north side with a wall of fire," Sulaiman said, "and take on any that jump the flames." He unsheathed his sword and sparked to life, leaving a flurry of sparks behind them.

"Kavil give Priscilla the crossbow," Sulaiman barked as Kavil came alongside Priscilla, "and you focus on seeing if anyone is in critical condition!"

Kavil nodded and then they were past the earthen walls, the carriage hot on their shields. Priscilla took the crossbow in her hands, twisting so she could face the deer. She shot into the horde of deer the same moment that heat blasted over the field as a wall of fire roared to life.

Illnyea let her own wall drop, but she dismounted to place her palms directly against the earth.

A wave of spikes radiated out at her touch, moving at a pace that was almost too impossible to track with the naked eye, stabbing into several of the dire deer on the outskirts in the legs and catching more in the chest and throat. Blood ran down stone and the deer looked panicked, rising up on their hind legs as they tried to adjust to the shifting tides of battle.

"Who's the worst injured?" Kavil asked, skidding to a stop next to the carriage.

Priscilla tuned out everything else, trusting her friends to their jobs as she lined up another shot. She had practiced with the crossbow on occasion at Sulaiman's insistence, but Asha helped to steady her aim, allowing her to send shot after shot into the throats of the dire deer. The ones she hit immediately fell, tangling up their kin's legs as they were overwhelmed by pain, and Priscilla moved onto the next one. She couldn't tell if there was any obvious leader within the herd, and just kept shooting.

It was easy, though that was probably because the crossbow was fancy and reloaded automatically.

Tighten your finger just so, and the crossbow bolt went flying forward. Shift just a centimeter to the left and do it again. One shot after another, Priscilla kept brought death to these magnificent and horrible creatures.

There was a loud boom as Arnold tossed out the artifact that stored and released sound, and then another boom as he tossed a second one. The deer did not like that, letting out fearful bleats as they tried to get away.

A deer broke away from the herd and began to charge the caravan, eyes so wide you could see the whites.

It was on a collision course for her, but Priscilla didn't let herself panic.

Priscilla breathed in and out, gently pulling the trigger as it thundered towards her. The bolt sank deep into the deer's chest and it fell, its momentum carrying the body right to Priscilla's feet. The tip of its antlers dug into the ground to the right of her, its deadly edge gleaming with viscera from where it had already gored someone. Perhaps that was a closer call than she should have allowed, but Priscilla pushed out any visions of failure.

She had a fucking job to do and there was nothing more to it.

There was a war cry from Illnyea before the ground rippled beneath all their feet. Ten foot long spikes surrounded the small contingent, pointed towards the now thinned herd of dire deer, daring them to risk their life and leap at them.

A small object sailed through the air, and one more loud boom rang out.

What remained of the herd turned and fled.

Priscilla kept her crossbow trained on them until she was sure that they weren't going to turn and come back. She let out a slow sigh of relief, letting the tension ease from her shoulders.

"Miss Sunscarre?" a high pitched, incredulous voice asked. "Is that you?"

Priscilla blinked in surprise, turning towards the voice.

Though she was bloodied, her long hair disheveled tangled against her back, and the skirts were not as fine as when Priscilla had last seen her, Lucilla, the noble that Priscilla had met at the harvest festival, was staring at Priscilla with as much shock as Priscilla herself was feeling.

"Lucilla?" Priscilla said incredulously.

Lucilla burst into tears and lunged at Priscilla, wrapping her arms around her. Startled, Priscilla hugged the woman back, exchanging incredulous glances with her friends as she tried not to poke the woman with the crossbow.

"Oh it's been so awful," Lucilla sobbed, "those horrible deer killed Peli, and I've been trying my best to keep all these good folk together but my, my guards." Lucilla hiccuped, pulling back to stare with watery eyes. "We weren't supposed to encounter this much trouble, and too many have died and we, we—"

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Lucilla broke off into shoulder-wracking sobs, and Priscilla couldn't find it within her to be upset at being hugged so tightly by a stranger. The noblewoman had obviously been put through hell the past few days.

"Are you injured?" Priscilla asked quietly.

Lucilla pulled back, blue eyes wide.

"Oh, I'm not, but," Lucilla detangled herself from Priscilla, taking a deep tremulous breath as she tried to calm herself, "some of our guards, they, they need—"

Lucilla saw that Kavil was trying to put a man's guts back into his body and she made a soft, tremulous noise, a fresh wave of tears falling over her lashes.

"I sent prayer after prayer begging for deliverance," Lucilla said, staring at each member of Priscilla's party as they began to help the injured, "and the gods granted us mercy by having our paths cross once more." Lucilla turned to Priscilla, something approaching awe and worship in her eyes.

"What brought you here?" Lucilla asked.

"Let's talk more later, okay, Lucilla?" Priscilla said, glancing over the many, many injured. "Let's help the injured first and set up a perimeter so we're ready in case the deer come back."

"You're right, you're right," Lucilla said, smoothing back her wild hair from her face. She looked fragile and lost, like she wanted to help but didn't know how.

"My friend is a healer," Priscilla said, gently guiding Lucilla towards Kavil, "and he'll know where we'll be best put to use."

Taking another deep breath, Lucilla nodded and drew herself up to her full though diminutive height and walked forward with brittle confidence.

Illnyea was at the edge of her stone spikes, staring out into the fading light with a fierce expression that spoke of doom for any deer stupid enough to attack them again. Arnold stood by her side, his green eyes darkly glinting as he held a wicked looking net in his hands. Perry was wrapped around Illnyea's shoulders, his eyes glowing malevolently in the darkness.

Kavil immediately tasked the two of them to start washing out wounds.

"They have some alcohol over there," Kavil said, gesturing with his elbow since his hands were busy keeping a man alive. "It's not my first choice to disinfect wounds, but we have to work with what we have since we don't have a lot of clean water. Sulaiman — after they disinfect the wound, bandage it if it's not bleeding too heavily. Otherwise, get someone with working arms to keep pressure and let me know, and move to the next patient. Hans, I need you to triage and identify anyone in critical condition and I'll help them first, when I'm done with Rickard here."

And so, they got to work.

People cried out in pain as Priscilla poured alcohol over their wounds, but Sulaiman kept them pinned to the ground so they didn't lash out. Lucilla held their hand, fresh tears in her eyes and she whispered words of encouragement, telling them that they were still alive. The noblewoman didn't let out one peep of complaint as the patients' grip turned bruising and her bones creaked audibly.

It was gruesome work, with Priscilla's stomach turning over as she saw the extent of the injuries. Bones weren't supposed to be visible, and there was always a primal sense of wrongness and revulsion when you saw one, especially when it was framed by ragged flesh. Asha helped Priscilla keep her cool, constantly filling their bond with a sense of calmness and serenity, soothing the edges of Priscilla's disgust and guilt that they hadn't gotten here sooner.

Priscilla's gloves were stained with blood as she moved from patient to patient, and alcohol, dirt, and blood ran together, down into the dirt below.

"We're safe now," Lucilla whispered to a young woman writhing in agony as Priscilla prepared poured alcohol over her badly broken leg, part of the bone piercing through the skin. "The deer are gone and they're not coming back."

"They killed Trey, Lucy," the woman said, her voice hoarse and scratchy from tears. "Gutted him right, right in front of me."

"I know," Lucilla said, blinking and sending a fresh wave of tears down her cheeks, cutting through the blood and dirt, "and I'm so, so sorry Jenny."

"I want my brother back," Jenny said and then cried out again as Priscilla tipped the bottle and alcohol hit the bone. Jenny's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she passed out from pain. Lucilla gently put Jenny's head down and Sulaiman took over for Priscilla, elevating the leg just enough to wrap a length of clean cloth around the leg so it wasn't resting on bare dirt.

When they had run out of clean bandages, Priscilla donated her scarf, which Sulaiman tore into strips to make it last longer, and then they went to fish out a Priscilla's spare cloak to tear as well because these injuries had to be shielded from the elements.

It took twenty minutes to disinfect everyone's injuries, and Priscilla felt a type of bone deep weariness as she looked over the camp. Many of the people were injured and lying on the ground, and Kavil was moving from one crisis to the next, his face set with grim focus. Blood was smeared across his forehead, like he had absently wiped away sweat with the back of his hand, and his clothes were absolutely ruined with blood and gore.

Kavil looked far older than his eighteen years as he brought people back from the brink of death — if they had been breathing when Kavil found them, he poured magic into them, reknitting bones, regrowing flesh, and chasing away infections before they could take root. His hands were constantly glowing and as darkness fell, his light stood out in the night like a beacon that refused to waver. Amidst the pain and suffering, Kavil never failed to reach out and soothe them, promising relief and kindness.

Sulaiman lit a fire within the middle of the clearing, warmth radiating from it to combat the chill of fall and it drew people closer to the promise of safety. They were huddled together in twos and threes, clutching each other wide wide eyes that saw nothing at all. It hadn't quite set in for most of them that they were safe now, and they trembled with fear and shock.

Since there were few able bodied people available, Priscilla and Sulaiman rolled up their sleeves and helped line up the dead near enough to the camp that monsters wouldn't eat them, but far enough away that the smell wouldn't affect the survivors. Only three people died before Priscilla's party arrived, but she recognized one of the men as Peli, the man who had been with Lucilla during the festival. Priscilla asked Illnyea, who was dealing with the deer carcasses with Arnold, to grab her crossbow bolts.

Priscilla and Sulaiman found out from Kavil what the best pain killing herbs were and which herbs could be used to put people to sleep and took his herb pouch. They distributed the painkillers to the people who were injured seriously but not badly enough that it required Kavil's intervention at the moment, and gave sleeping herbs to everyone they came across that was not already passed out. They only stopped when they ran out, as Kavil hadn't kept a huge stock of them.

Lucilla refused both.

"I will not rest until I know that my people are safe," Lucilla said firmly, though she said it through tears.

Priscilla respected the noblewoman a great deal more now. The woman had a surprising spine of steel, never turning away from the people within this caravan, and had been at Priscilla's side every step of the way despite her obvious exhaustion. Lucilla then went to go talk with the people who were still awake, speaking in low tones as she held their hands or knelt beside them.

Kavil stood up from his last patient and swayed dangerously on his feet. Mr. Ordan caught Kavil by the elbow and Priscilla rushed to support her friend's other side. Together they maneuvered Kavil close to the fire.

The healer barely had any strength left in his legs and when his knees buckled, Priscilla went down with him to soften his fall. Kavil's head lolled, eyes fluttering as his temple hit Priscilla's shoulder. Mr. Ordan, sensing that Priscilla had this, went to speak with Arnold and Illnyea.

"He needs food," Priscilla said, looking up at Sulaiman. "I don't know if he has any magic left in him after healing that much in a short period of time."

Sulaiman brought back soft cheese and jerky wrapped in a clean cloth, though it was obvious that he had washed his hands. He knelt in front of Kavil, tilting Kavil's head with two fingers.

"Open your eyes, Kavil," Sulaiman said gently, but firmly.

Kavil's eyes fluttered open, though there was an exhausted glaze to his copper eyes.

"You need to eat," Sulaiman continued and Kavil made a soft noise of discontentment, trying to put his head back down. Sulaiman frowned.

Sulaiman took Kavil's chin a little more firmly.

"You will be jumping to the top of my worst patient list," Sulaiman said with an undercurrent of irritation, "if you do not listen to me and eat this food."

"Yeah, you'd be worse than me," Priscilla added, readjusting her grip so that they both sat a little more comfortably. Her clothes were probably going to need to be tossed as she kept Kavil close, but Priscilla didn't care.

"Mmnot worse than 'scilla," Kavil mumbled, and spite seemed to give him enough energy to open his mouth. Sulaiman fed him a piece of cheese, and then a strip of jerky, and slowly Kavil filled his stomach. Kavil drank a whole water skin, too tired to object under Sulaiman insistent mother henning, and then he slumped fully against Priscilla.

Between her and Sulaiman, they adjusted Kavil so that his head was laying in Priscilla's lap instead, so maybe he'd wake up with less back pain. Sulaiman used the cloth to wipe the worst of the blood off of Kavil before he sat on Kavil's other side protectively. He put his hand onto Kavil's calf, keeping up a steady barrier of heat around the healer while he slept. Priscilla easily ignored the pain as the warmth spread to encompass her as well.

For a moment, the two of them sat in silence, staring into the fire.

"Well," Priscilla said quietly, "I guess we can cross 'fucking up rabid dire deer' off our bucket list."

Her stupid joke startled a snort out of Sulaiman, an ungraceful noise that was more of an expelling of tension rather than true amusement, but it made Priscilla smile.

"I fear completing your bucket list may get us all killed," Sulaiman said dryly but leaned back on his palms as he let himself relax enough to tease Priscilla.

"It's not too bad," Priscilla said with a wry smile. "I just want to see a few cool creatures like dragons and krakens, you know? Can't die without seeing beautiful beasts like that."

Sulaiman rolled his eyes, but the corners of his lips were twitching upwards. "You are incorrigible."

"I think you mean incredible," Priscilla corrected and Sulaiman shook his head. They lapsed into a comfortable silence, both tired from their ordeal.

Illnyea stumbled over to Priscilla and Sulaiman. She dropped down the crossbow bolts with a clatter before sitting down heavily to lean against Sulaiman. Perry slid off her shoulder onto her lap, clacking his beak as Illnyea tiredly rubbed his head.

"Arnold's draining the bodies of blood," Illnyea said half into Sulaiman's shoulder, "so we can skin and butcher them tomorrow. I helped cut off all the horns because they do good stuff with enchanting but to be honest…" Illnyea yawned so wide that the popping of her jaw was audible. "I don't remember a single word he said — there was too much math."

Sulaiman patted Illnyea's knee and she practically melted, sighing in contentment as she too was wrapped in warmth.

"Arnold is setting up a perimeter," Illnyea continued sleepily, "with a set of his artifacts that's supposed to be super loud if anything larger than a fox gets close to us."

"I think your stone spikes will be a good deterrent for most creatures," Priscilla said. Illnyea smiled faintly, though her eyes were now closed.

"We all fought well today," Sulaiman said quietly, "working quickly and efficiently."

"We were heroes today," Illnyea whispered, something dreamy in her tone.

Priscilla's throat was tight but she swallowed past the lump. The title had always rested uncomfortably on her shoulders before this, but the conviction in Illnyea's voice made something shift in Priscilla's mind. Though Priscilla had not set out to be a hero and lacked many of the heroic instincts, Priscilla could see the impact of her actions in the tired but alive faces that surrounded the fire.

Maybe… Well, maybe Priscilla was a hero, at least to these people, though she was reluctant to call herself that.

Sulaiman had a conflicted expression on his face, part disbelief in the furrow of his eyebrows, part denial in the slant of his lips, but in his black eyes, Priscilla saw the faintest hint that Sulaiman so desperately wanted those words to be true.

"You did good out there today, Mr. Hero," Priscilla said quietly, "protecting our flank and slaying all who came before you. I know that I only fought as well as I did because I knew you had my back."

Sulaiman looked sharply at Priscilla. There was something vulnerable in Sulaiman's face, only shown through the trembling of his eyelashes and slightly quiver of his lips. Priscilla didn't tease him though, letting her sincere words sit between them.

He looked away first, mumbling, "It, it wasn't… I'm not a…"

"If a sorry fuck like me is a hero," Priscilla said gently, "then you are a hero ten times over."

Illnyea stirred, murmuring, "My best friend's a best hero."

Sulaiman's cheeks flushed, shutting his mouth with an audible snap, and he stared at the fire like it might save him.

Priscilla decided to take pity on him and stopped pushing. She was feeling quite sleepy herself, and this ground was feeling quite soft. Sleep crooned seductively, drawing each one of them into its loving embrace, and by the time Mr. Ordan came over with blankets and pillows, they had all fallen asleep, curled around each other.

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