Chapter 28

"We need to warn the village that the demons are headed their way." Fan-Huang insisted.

"How?" Kazur asked.

"I could write a letter." Fan-Huang explained. "I've got parchment and ink. That's no trouble."

"But how would you deliver it?" His big brother asked. "We're heading in the opposite direction."

"I can take care of that." Marina answered, her voice full of pride.

"How?" Huang asked.

"I've got friends." Marina said cryptically. She whistled a high-pitched screech through the woods. The group sat still, expecting something to happen, but it seemed nothing would happen.

"What did that do?" Huang asked.

"Just be patient." She said as she surveyed how many hours of daylight they had left. "We should set up camp. The sun'll be down soon and if we're going to face some demon lord, we'll need our strength."

"That sounds good to me." Fan-Huang said desperately. "We've been traveling all day and constantly in fights. I'm exhausted."

"We'll need wood." Marina said as she stared at Kazur. He took the hint.

"Right." He jumped into action. "I'll gather that."

"I'll get food." Marina said.

"What can I do?" Fan-Huang asked, feeling a bit useless.

"There was a bridge back a little ways."

"Where we fought the Fallen Shaman?"

"Right." Marina shrugged. "Maybe there's water there. Could you check?"

"If there is, what would I gather it in?"

"This." Marina handed him a canteen from her belt. "It doesn't hold a ton, but some is better than none."

"Okay."

With those words, they each separated in their different directions. Kazur had no trouble gathering firewood. His muscles and frame were big enough that he could carry large amounts at one time, so the task went by quickly. He kept glancing in the direction that Fan-Huang had left in. He couldn't shake the worry he felt leaving Huang alone in the Cursed Woods. He couldn't bear it if something happened to him. Deciding it was better to stay put rather than risk getting lost, he waited where they had stopped to set up camp for the others to return.

Fan-Huang had quite a bit of trepidation as he wandered back through the woods to the bridge. Thankfully, he ran into no demons or beasts. However, there was still a challenge. Once he arrived at the dilapidated bridge, he looked downward and couldn't see any water. It was too foggy. There was no visibility. He couldn't stand the idea of being more useless than he already felt, so he made a commitment to himself that he would not return to the camp without water.

Throwing reason and caution to the wind, he slipped the canteen onto his sash and carefully approached the edge of the chasm. Being extra careful of his footing, he proceeded down the foggy pit hoping to find water at the bottom. The climb down took several more minutes than he wanted, but he was rewarded with the discovery of a small stream of water, so narrow he could straddle it without getting his feet wet. Once he had filled the canteen, he made his way carefully back to camp.

Kazur felt a wave of relief flood over him when he saw Fan-Huang approach from the woods. Now if only they could get their sister back, then everything would be okay again. "I'm glad you're back."

"Me too!" Fan-Huang gave a relieved gasp. "You'd never believe all I did just to get this water."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah." He said, sitting down against a tree stump at Kazur's feet. "Here it is." He handed the canteen to Kazur.

The larger wizard wasn't really sure what he was supposed to do with the canteen, so he just set it down next to the mound of firewood he'd collected. He then sat down right next to Fan-Huang.

"Why'd you leave, Kid?" He asked.

Fan-Huang remained silent for quite some time, but Kazur knew he would answer, so he gave him his time. Finally, he spoke, his voice timid and nervous. "I..." He sighed heavily. "I couldn't let Fan-Min go off on her own. Family has to stick together."

"Exactly." Kazur said firmly. "Family has to stick together." He looked intensely at his little brother. "So why'd you leave me?" He looked very hurt, which was not lost on Fan-Huang. "We're family, aren't we?" Kazur was upset. That was crystal clear. "You're my brother, Kid. Am I not yours?"

"Of course you are!" Fan-Huang insisted. "It's not like that." He tried to explain. "I wanted you to come with me." His voice grew weaker as he began to cry. Despite his anger and frustration, Kazur still placed a large arm around his little brother and pulled him in tightly to comfort him. Fan-Huang continued through light sniffles as tears formed in his eyes. "I just didn't want to force you out of the life you had at the Sanctum."

"You wouldn't have had to." Kazur said quietly. "I would have come with you."

"I know that."

"I wish you'd have told me." Kazur said. "I would have been able to help you."

"Here you are." Fan-Huang wiped his eyes of the tears in them. "You always help me."

"I try."

"You do." They both grew quiet for some time and just enjoyed sitting together. Neither of them wanted to talk about what was missing, but she was on both of their minds. Finally, Fan-Huang spoke again. "Kazur..."

The large wizard looked down at the small one beside him, taking in his shiny blue eyes. "What?"

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay." He smiled. "I'm here. It's all good."

Fan-Huang still looked sad. "Almost."

Kazur nodded knowingly. "Almost." He gave Fan-Huang a squeeze. "We'll get her back. Don't you worry, Kid." Fan-Huang just nodded lightly, but didn't seem convinced. "Don't you trust me?" Kazur asked.

"I do."

"We'll get her back."

Marina finally strolled back to camp, after what seemed like forever to the guys. Over her shoulders was slung the carcass of a deer. In its neck was the sure sign of a bolt's fatal wound. Kazur stood up, ever the gentleman, and offered to take the deer from her. Fan-Huang smiled and joked with her. "Took long enough. Did you get lost?"

She recognized the playful nature of his comment and smirked. "Actually, I did."

"Oh." Fan-Huang said, dropping his smile and allowing concern to replace it. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just never been good at navigating."

"Aren't you a Demon Hunter?" Kazur asked.

"Get a fire started." She responded. "I'm hungry." She didn't give the deer to Kazur, but rather threw it hard on the ground and began slicing it up into their meal. "I'll tell you about myself as we eat."

"Oh, okay." Kazur was a bit surprised. He assumed a Demon Hunter wouldn't want to share anything about herself. "Only if you want to."

"Who doesn't love talking about themself?"

They chuckled as they got a fire going and organized some larger logs and rocks as seating in an attempt to make their makeshift campsite as comfortable as possible. As the fire got big and hot, they began placing the cuts of meat from Marina's hunt, letting each one roast until they were all nice and tender. Fan-Huang had never had venison before, so he nervously, but with a bit of excitement bit in. "Ugh!" His face scrunched up in disgust. "That's horrible."

"Too bad." Marina defended her hunt. "It's all we have." She grinned. "Unless you wanna' eat the leftovers of one of the demons we fought back there."

"No, thanks." Fan-Huang eyed her suspiciously. "I think I'll stick with this."

Kazur bit in, but showed no sign of delight or disgust. He seemed to just eat it because there really wasn't any other options. They were lucky to have someone like Marina who was so experienced in wilderness survival. "So…" He began as he took a seat on the dirt floor, resting his back against a large log they'd moved into place. "Tell us about yourself, Marina." He smiled as Fan-Huang sat beside him, sliding in close and leaning against his big body. "If you don't mind."

She took a big bite of her meat and smiled pleasantly. A big smile. A genuine smile. Something that was not common amongst Demon Hunters. She sat down opposite the fire of the two wizards, clearly the third wheel amongst a deep, genuine friendship. "Sure." She mumbled through stuffed cheeks. "Where to start…?"

"Just whatever. I'm not trying to interrogate you or anything. You helped keep my little brother alive. You're good in my book."

"Well, I'm 22 years old. I'm an only child. I'm pretty sure I'm adopted, but I don't know for sure."

"You don't know?" Fan-Huang asked, a bit shocked, as he forced more food down his throat.

"Never asked." Marina shrugged as she enjoyed her meal. "My father was a priest, so I had no mother. My uncle lived with us; my father's older brother. He was a hunter. He taught me how to hunt deer and boar." She nodded toward the meat over the fire for proof. "I was an excellent shot. He'd always brag about my talents with the bow and crossbow. I thought little of it. To me it was easy to hit a target." She looked down, clearly remembering the past.

"You okay?" Fan-Huang asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. It's just…" She looked up at them through teary green eyes and pulled her hood down, finally giving them a clear look at her pale white skin and long, night-black hair. "You don't get into the Demon Hunting business without a tragic past."

"I can imagine." Kazur expressed his condolences through the gentle tone of his voice.

"It got to the point that I would go hunting alone. I didn't need my uncle anymore, plus his age was catching up with him. He had achy knees and shoulders from all the tracking and climbing." She paused as she remembered it all. "I went hunting once, by myself, and when I got home around sun-down, I knew something was wrong."

"What?" Fan-Huang asked, a bit nervous to hear what tragedy befell her.

"The front door of our cabin was open. We lived in the woods, near enough village that we could travel there easily, but far enough away for privacy. My father had the option to live in the parish in the village, but chose to stick out in the woods and travel to work every day. The door to our home was never left open, so I knew something was odd. And it was too quiet" She paused again to collect herself, clearly working to keep her emotions in check.

"You okay?" Kazur asked.

"I'm fine." She said. "This happened many years ago. So when I went into my home, I found my father and my uncle both being eaten by horrible ghouls." Her face betrayed her stoic voice. "I took my crossbow and shot a bolt between both the monsters' eyes. They died immediately." Her face expressed a vengeful anger. "But that didn't bring my family back."

"I'm so sorry, Marina." Fan-Huang spoke sadly. Kazur nodded his head in agreement.

"It's not your fault." She spoke through gritted teeth. "The fault lies entirely on demons like Avator." She looked fiercely at the men. "That's why I devoted my life to hunt demons. So no one else would have to experience the horrid fate that befell my family."

"I'm glad you're helping us." Fan-Huang said.

"I'm helping you because you're hunting demons." Marina answered, her eyes filled with anger. "I've heard stories of Renegade Wizards. Some say they're just as bad if not worse than demons."

"That's not true!" Fan-Huang defended them.

"Whether or not it's true doesn't concern me." Marina responded. "I just want to kill demons and that's what you're doing." She resumed eating, forcing her emotions to pass by. "So as long as we have the same goal, we're allies." With those words, a large black wolf bolted through the brush and landed right before Marina. Both Fan-Huang and Kazur jolted up in panic, but the Demon Hunter remained entirely calm. "Here's my friend." She said casually. "He'll deliver your letter."

Both the wizards stared at her in wonder. "This wolf can deliver letters?" Huang asked sounding absolutely shocked. Marina simply nodded like this was nothing unusual. "Okay…"

Sensing his confusion, she chuckled as he began writing his letter. "I've done a lot of hunting. I've learned a thing or two about animals. Save an animal, you earn their trust and loyalty. Kai would do anything for me." She smiled as she petted the ferocious, yet docile looking wolf.

Once the letter was strapped around the neck of the wolf, Marina held a cloth to the wolf's nose. It sniffed the cloth and darted off into the woods, the letter firmly fastened to his neck. "Where's he going?" Fan-Huang asked.

"The cloth has the scent of my home in New Tristram on it. He'll head to town and they'll get your letter."

"Amazing…" Kazur wondered.

They finished their meal and made small-talk around the fire until the late hours of the night. Fan-Huang had never been more frightened or uncomfortable as he was then. The howls and snickers of demons echoed through the mangled trees and the cold of the night pierced right through his thin arcane garb.

"We should get some rest." Marina said as she made a quick check around their campsite. She wasn't necessarily good at navigating, but she could sense and hunt demons better than most. If there were any stalking them, she'd know.

"Is it safe to sleep?" Fan-Huang asked, clearly shaken by their circumstances.

"No, but we need to anyway." Marina said as she settled down opposite the guys of the fire. "But it's more dangerous to fight on no sleep."

"She's right." Kazur agreed. "I'll be here." He nudged Huang. "So if anything comes, just wake me up."

"I hate this." Fan-Huang complained. "I just want my sister back."

"We'll get her back." Kazur assured him. "Remember, I promised?"

"I remember." He admitted softly as he forced himself to trust his big brother. Kazur laid down on his back, wiggling until he got comfortable on the dirt floor and then placed a big arm around Huang and pulled him down, resting the small guy's head against his broad chest.

"Just wake me up if you need to." Kazur said. Fan-Huang could feel his deep voice echoing around in his chest. He didn't respond, save a slight nod. "I'm right here by you."

Silence fell on the party for a few minutes before Fan-Huang finally whispered to Kazur. "How can you be so brave?" Why aren't you scared?"

"I am scared." Kazur whispered back. "I want Fan-Min back. I want you safe. I want to go back to civilization." He squeezed Fan-Huang affectionately. "But we can't have any of that if we're not brave. We have to face the darkness to get Fan-Min back. She needs us, just like we've needed her."

"Yeah."

"Besides, I have you." Kazur spoke proudly. "If things get bad, I know you'll help bail me out."

"And you'll do the same for me."

"Exactly."

Marina finally turned over, sounding a bit irritated. "Would you guys give all this sentimental crap a rest? I'm trying to sleep!" She huffed before rolling back over to sleep.

"And when we're both in trouble, Marina's here for us." Fan-Huang chuckled. His head shook around as Kazur chuckled deeply as well. "Good night."

"Good night, Kid."