It wasn't that difficult to be a part of society most of the time if you followed some rules. Barbara had always tried to keep up at least with the most important latest events in her acquaintances' lives to maintain the friendly atmosphere surrounding her. Of course, generally, she didn't care much about all those people, even though there were some exceptions. Yet the lack of the proper interest often resulted in situations where she simply felt as if left behind.
It definitely was one of those irritating times. Who could imagine that one-day absence could mean that much? The woman took a day off to celebrate Jim's tenth birthday only to return and discover her workplace in some kind of chaos as the co-workers were discussing something she hadn't even the slightest idea about. That was surprisingly annoying, especially with people asking her opinion all the time. Would it kill them to at least try to explain properly, what exactly had happened?
"Hey, Barbs, have you heard about that?" one of the nurses asked Barbara while passing her some X-rays for examination.
"About what?" the redhead inquired barely holding her annoyance. It seemed that everyone assumed her to be well informed about some kind of event. Most likely, it was another one of those local big news that everyone would forget in a week. Yet right now it was seemingly the world-changing level for everyone. Not for Barbara though. Her biggest concern at the moment was her son showing gradually growing dislike for his birthday as the years passed. It was reaching the open hatred territory too fast, coming to the point when Jim outright proposed just to ignore the date altogether and simply add another year to his age.
It used to be so different when her son was smaller. He had always looked forward to the special days, his blue eyes sparkling with genuine excitement and anticipation. Everything just had gone downhill with Jim's fifth birthday - the only memory of that day made the mother's soul boil with uncontrolled rage.
Her son had the good reason to hate birthday, even if he never remembered why exactly. His mental scar was too deep. Was there any hope to ever heal that one? Barbara would never give up on trying that one though.
The point was that Jim would always remain the top priority, so the mother could easily miss even the apocalypse beginning, let alone that stuff causing the current uproar.
"About the explosion in an abandoned storehouse, of course!" the nurse pouted for no reason, probably upset by the not-that-enthusiastic reaction. At least, it didn't take her long to realize that she had actually found someone uninformed about the event. Next second a true rapid-fire explanation followed: "The official version is a gas leak, but everyone knows there was no gas there. Mandy's sister has a boyfriend who has a friend working at that place and he said that..."
Barbara nodded absentmindedly, immediately filtering most of the information her co-worker was showering her with. As expected, it was simply one of local level big news - too much ado over nothing at first and eventually fading into oblivion. The daughter of Gunmar had seen it too many times to believe otherwise. People always enjoyed chewing on events like that as it created the illusion of more meaning in their lives.
The fragments of the nurse's monologue still continued to reach Barbara's ears as she shifted her attention to the X-rays.
"...some people suspect terrorists, but honestly..."
"...an alien activity..."
"...they heard chilling screams in the neighborhood..."
"...and saw a huge black monster with horns..."
The last one made the redhead forget about X-rays at once. Hell, she nearly dropped those thinking she had misheard something.
"Huge black monster?" Barbara repeated, totally dumbfounded. That could be just a random coincidence, but she knew someone fitting the description perfectly.
"Yes!" the co-worker shrieked with excitement. "The rumored Monster of Arcadia Oaks! It appeared again!"
Apparently, the redhead's slightly confused reaction wasn't the one her colleague expected. The girl frowned for a second and then slapped her forehead in a sudden realization:
"Sorry, I've forgotten that you haven't grown up here... It's just all the locals know about the Monster of Arcadia Oaks. Our parents always scared us with stories about it, so that we wouldn't roam after the sunset. Some say that it's just a peculiar urban legend, some try to find a logical explanation and some believe it to be supernatural... In any case, the monster has been haunting Arcadia Oaks for several decades and they say that most disappearances of locals are its fault..."
"I see," Barbara muttered flatly, wondering how she had managed to live in the city for more than eleven years and never hear something that important. Though, should she have asked that? The daughter of Gunmar had always too skeptical when it came to all kinds of superstitions, old lady's tales, and urban legends. Yes, some of those clearly involved actual supernatural beings, but the vast majority was so off that it reached the offensive territory. Sometimes the woman wondered if someone was actually spreading the misinformation to hide the real supernatural under the pile of absurd stories.
In any case, after hearing about the Monster of Arcadia Barbara was nearly one hundred percent sure that Bular was nearby. The description fitted perfectly, not to mention that he was the only Gumm-Gumm she knew not trapped in the Darklands at the moment. People disappearing because of him was a no-brainer as well. The daughter of Gunmar seriously doubted that her brother would ever change his food preferences. Of course, he was actively hunting and most likely left a lot of mess. All of that could easily give him the title of the local monster. But there was an oddity too - Bular wasn't the one to keep a low profile or ever bothering about covering his mess. He would more likely just expose every single supernatural being. Someone was obviously concealing all the mess for him, someone with enough connections to ensure that the official story would contain some logical and even trivial explanation to silence all the rumors.
That one certainly required a proper investigation.
Who said it was easy to protect the peace from shadows? They had to be delirious, that was for sure.
A dark-haired young man sighed, remembering the trashed storehouse he had explored only some moments ago. His companions took a note of his mood at once.
"Hey, Doux, you ok?" a pink-haired young woman inquired, putting her hand at his shoulder gently.
"It's not your fault," a black cat in glasses added. "No one would expect Bular appearing there."
Did both Zoe and Archie actually mean that, or was it just another way to comfort their friend? Douxie wasn't too sure.
It would be one thing if he had screwed during the Camelot times, back when he was just a reckless and clumsy youngster, and everyone thought of him as a walking disaster. Hadn't he overgrown all of those tendencies? Wasn't he polishing his magic skills and hunting all kinds of supernatural beings on a regular basis?
Douxie should have found some way to keep Bular out of the city, there should have been some way to do that. Yet now it was too late and someone lost their life. Apparently, that wasn't the first occurrence as well if local scary tales were a good indication.
Bular was just a remaining fragment of the fearsome era, most likely, the only Gumm-Gumm left on the surface after his father's defeat and imprisonment. Someone like that could seem to be pretty neglectable in theory - hadn't the knights of Camelot thought exactly that way leaving the infamous Butcher? They may have suffered heavy losses during the Killahead Bridge battle, including their king and some of the best knights, but that was still a grave miscalculation.
Douxie hated to admit it, but he hadn't considered any possible consequences as well. Though, to be honest, back during those times, he had his hands full with his own troubles. With Arthur's death and Merlin's mysterious sleep, everything in Camelot had changed drastically.
At first, it looked great for all supernatural beings and magic users. After all, the Killahead battle was the first union between humans and trolls, showing that cooperation was possible. It could be the new page, hopeful and bright. Many magical prisoners held all over the country had finally gotten their freedom, wizards and witches had come out of their hiding, and all the supernatural folks had felt some tremendous relief.
So when had it gone that wrong? Douxie couldn't say for sure - back then, he had been quite busy building the special tomb for his master together with other Merlin's associates. The old wizard had left some surprisingly detailed instructions for all the following actions, making everyone wonder how much he was capable to predict.
Though, perhaps, even someone of Merlin's level wasn't able to imagine all the disarray and chaos the kingdom faced after losing its most influential people. Or maybe, Zoe was right when she begrudgingly implied that he simply hadn't bothered to alarm everyone.
In any case, it had been quite a disaster. It turned out that there were too many people who either hated the supernatural with passion, were afraid, or had their own grudges. King Arthur admitting his own mistakes hadn't changed that much. If anything, it only had fueled paranoia.
'How can we live without the protection of the Excalibur's wielder?'
'How can we trust trolls? Maybe they were ones to murder the king?'
'What about wizards? Aren't they dangerous? Hasn't Morgana betrayed humankind? What will stop others from the same?'
Such talks were spreading too fast, first in hushed whispers, yet growing louder with every passing day. Soon enough, it came back to hunting supernatural, even if it was illegal by current kingdom laws. The worst thing was that some of the knights, supposed to enforce the law, weren't above ignoring the violence towards magic beings or could even participate themselves.
The momentary peace was shattered to smithereens. At least, Douxie was happy that there was no second Gunmar, and all the magical beings just had gone into hiding. The wizard-in-training still remembered the first Trollhunter talking to some of the better Camelot knights - she wasn't too amused about the situation, that was for sure. The end of that discussion felt more like a non-aggression pact rather than a cooperation one.
Perhaps, the wounds were still too fresh. Shouldn't the magic users' community have worked hard on building some links? Apparently, the answer was 'no' as no wizard or witch had any respect or influence in society.
There had been no second Merlin, whose protection could stop the violence against some unfortunate soul. There had been no one like Morgana, who had also saved many lives before she defected to the evil side.
Douxie had always wondered if it was meant to be his role. Wasn't he the apprentice to the most powerful wizard?
Who had he tried to fool? Yes, the young man had always dreamt about proving his own worth, about showing everyone that he could do more, but… Everyone knew that back during the Camelot times, Hisirdoux Casperan hadn't even been able to milk Slorr without getting into trouble. Who could take someone like that seriously?
It was so easy to imagine that people expected to see someone different when they heard about Merlin's apprentice. Some kind of prodigy, an outstanding and proactive person, someone capable of filling his absent master's shoes. Basically, the second Merlin.
Douxie simply wasn't the one like that. He had no firm standing with the Camelot authorities to provide the same kind of protection for the magic users as the old wizard. He had no proper respect from most people. Yet…
Archie had always supported the teen - and they both knew that it was more than just the obligation of the familiar's bond. The cat-dragon was the family, and despite the occasional sarcasm, he still believed in Douxie.
And then there was Zoe, who outright claimed that she would hate him becoming the second Merlin.
The fact that there were people who cherished him for who he was, made Douxie at ease somehow. Otherwise, he would have done something beyond his own capabilities a long time ago and perhaps, would have perished foolishly because of such recklessness. On the other hand, the wizard-in-training always wished to get approval from his master, to prove that Merlin's first impression about his apprentice had been fully justified.
A worm of doubt always whispered to the young man that perhaps the old wizard had changed his mind at some point and regretted his decision. It wouldn't be that far-fetched - hadn't his master had Morgana to compare him to?
Besides, there were those written instructions Merlin had left before going to sleep. Yes, on the one hand, Douxie was proud to be the only person who had gotten an individual part in that letter. On the other…
As for Hisirdoux, you'll have an important mission. Lay low and stay out of trouble until I contact you. And don't get yourself killed. I mean that.
Douxie had always known that his master had never been sappy or sentimental, but the message sounded too dry even for him. Not to mention the total omission of many vital details - there was nothing on magic practice or what to do with all the loose ends.
It was as if Merlin expected nothing from the teen. Well, it also could mean that the old wizard just trusted his apprentice enough to let him make the most of decisions himself as Archie had suggested once. Probably, that one wasn't true - otherwise, Hisirdoux would have gotten his own staff a long time ago.
The last one was a sore spot - the young man had known too many full-fledged magic users who were weaker than him in skill or magic, but their teachers had given them a pass. He, on the other hand, had stuck as a wizard-in-training, no matter how much he had polished his spells.
Merlin had always told him to learn how to live first, but… Douxie wasn't a boy anymore, he had baggage of several centuries and countless travels behind his back. Various people, different epochs and cultures - he had seen them all. Wouldn't that count as experiencing life?
Well, apparently, only the legendary wizard would know for sure, so Hisirdoux just waited for the contact.
Perhaps, Merlin would expect his apprentice to stay in Camelot, but the young man had left that place a long time ago. At least, he wasn't alone - several magic users followed him. Unfortunately, most of them had gone their own ways soon enough. Douxie nearly expected to stay together with Archie only, yet one person surprised him heavily, sticking to him until the very end.
The young man had met Zoe for the first time way before Morgana had switched to the evil side. It hadn't gone well, to put it lightly - the hex witch turned out to be a profound Merlin's hater, so the dislike for everything related to that person came by default. The fact that Zoe had been under the legendary wizard's protection didn't change a thing.
If someone had told Douxie back then, that the strong-willed girl would end as one of his most loyal allies and the closest friends (or more like way more than just a friend eventually), he would definitely question that person's sanity. Yet their relationship had grown from hostility and dislike to understanding to acceptance to camaraderie to friendship to love through all of these years.
They had been the team of three, traveling across the countries, doing occasional monster-hunting and exposing some changelings at times. The last one was the most troublesome and perhaps it counted as breaking the instruction of laying low as apparently, the magic-twisted trolls were not just the remains of the Killahead times, no, those were obviously multiplying and attempting to get as much influence in the human society as it was possible. Douxie wished he knew their agenda as it would most likely help him to prevent the catastrophe from happening, but changelings stayed cautious and left no clues, much to everyone's annoyance.
Yet right now, it seemed that there was a vital clue at last - the one that would tie all the loose ends together. Who could imagine that moving to Arcadia would bring such a change?
They had never planned to settle here, but then Zoe had gotten the proposal to work at the Hex Tech - the company founded by some of her fellow hex witches. That seemed like a good change of pace the trio wished for.
Yet Arcadia had turned out to be far from a peaceful haven. There were all kinds of supernatural beings swarming the night streets - a good sign that this place had some important spot of power somewhere. And not only that - soon enough Douxie had heard some quite peculiar stories about the so-called Monster of Arcadia.
All of those could be just fantasies, but the wizard-in-training couldn't help noticing some alarming details and eerie consistency when it came to the local urban legend's physical descriptions.
That could be only Bular - the fearsome troll that used to terrorize Arthur's kingdom. Douxie had seen him once when the Butcher was in temporary captivity in Camelot, and that appearance wasn't something that easy to forget. But why was the last remains of the old war between trolls and humans here, in this place? Not to mention still alive? How could he hide for so long?
There had been too many questions, so Archie was in full reconnaissance mode - in a cat form, the familiar had access to more places than both Douxie and Zoe could imagine, and as a dragon, he also possessed great mobility.
Unfortunately, they had gotten the answers too soon and not in the nicest form. Bular just had trashed one of the local storehouses, eating an innocent passer-by in the process. The worst thing was that changelings apparently worked to cover for that mess - Archie may have arrived too late to help the victim, yet he still had the perfect opportunity to see some of the allies of the Gunmar's son.
So tonight three of them came to explore the place of the incident. It was rather obvious that the changelings knew their job - yes, the place was still ruined, but without any kind of information, it was easy to take all of that for some more trivial tragedy.
"So what was the official version?" Zoe inquired, frowning at some debris.
"A gas leak," Douxie muttered, still upset and frustrated that they hadn't made it in time. They could do at least something.
Merlin would have known how to prevent all of that.
"I imagine they sneak some of theirs into the government," the pink-haired witch added and cursed under her breath. "The changelings surely develop their own network… And now it turns out that Bular is with them!"
"Not the best development," Archie agreed, sniffing the air in the hope of catching any scent. "But what can we do? There's not enough manpower!"
It was like the cat-dragon was able to read Douxie's mind - after all, the wizard-in-training was on the verge of suggesting to hunt the son of Gunmar. That was a reckless and outright dangerous idea. The last time Bular had been captured, it had taken combined efforts of Merlin, King Arthur, and several knights. And what did they have now? A hex witch, a half-baked wizard without staff, and a small cat-dragon? The chances were basically inexistent even if the dark prince was alone, let alone with his changeling allies taken into account.
"Don't beat yourself, Doux, even your 'oh-so-almighty' master wouldn't be able to change a thing," Zoe elbowed her boyfriend gently. "I bet he'd rather go with some kind of 'acceptable level of losses' bullshit."
He opened his mouth to protest but shut it up immediately - the girl was right, after all. Merlin had always been pragmatic and jaded to the point that people often found him a heartless bastard. Thinking globally, seeing the bigger picture, and sacrificing few to save many - all of those were right approaches in the old wizard's books. Douxie had never agreed with those fully himself, but maybe there was something rational in that way of thinking too.
"There's no point to hang here anymore," Archie pointed out when it became clear that they wouldn't find a thing.
"True," Zoe nodded, dropping the piece of wood she had been examining. "It's better to think out all the next actions… Douxie? Are you going?" she turned to the young man.
"Just a second," he replied, kneeling down and scribbling some kind of runes on the floor. His companions approached him in curiosity.
"Oh, a detection spell?" Archie smiled. "That's a good idea!"
"Yeah, if something supernatural comes here, we'll know at once," Douxie made some more strokes, corrected one part, and hummed in satisfaction: "That'll do. It's advanced one, it should cover even changelings".
The young man stood up, dusting off his pants. He wished it was as easy to shrug off the lost life, but the sense of guilt would definitely haunt him for a while. Yet right now, those alive people were more important, so their small team should have done their best to protect those.
"So, what are we going to do now?" Zoe asked when they left the storehouse. "I suggest putting some detection spells around the city…"
"Detection only won't be enough," Douxie disagreed, banishing guilt somewhere deep inside his soul and getting hold of himself. He wasn't that clumsy and useless boy Merlin had taken under his wing all those centuries ago anymore. It was the time to show how much he had grown since then. "Some magic traps are the must."
The three of them had a lot of experience hunting all kinds of malevolent creatures, so they knew several varieties of effective traps. Of course, none of those would be enough to take down someone of Bular's caliber, but they could still spoil his mood a lot and perhaps, even interrupt some of his hunts.
"What about barriers?" Archie threw in his own suggestion. "Granted, we won't be able to cover a lot, but it's still possible to create some obstacles or safe spots…"
Douxie wanted to comment on that when he caught some movement near the storehouse entrance. Someone went inside. Why now?
"Those cannot stop changelings though," Zoe argued with the familiar, never noticing her boyfriend turning back and walking rapidly towards the storehouse.
"We can try to improve the magic formula," Archie retorted. "Imitating the effect of the pure iron or something like that… What do you think, Douxie?"
"Douxie?"
They both finally had noticed their third companion's absence, but it was already too late…
It wasn't that difficult to find out the location of the storehouse in question. After all, her talkative co-workers had given detailed directions after Barbara asked. It was like they wanted her to investigate everything. No, of course, that was just a crazy thought.
The daughter of Gunmar half-expected the place to be out of limits - simply because it would fit the cover story more. After some contemplating, the woman decided to go during the dark hours to avoid attracting unneeded attention. There was also an option to investigate as her true self - that would provide superior mobility and stealth, but she decided against risking like that. There was no guarantee that the accursed Trollhunter wouldn't try to investigate himself, and Barbara didn't want any repeat of her unfortunate encounter three years ago. After all, her battle skills were still rusty and this time could be easily the last one for her.
She sneaked in without any trouble - several 'Keep out' signs were the only protection. Whoever was covering for the mysterious 'monster', definitely knew how to make things look like just an accident - tragic, yet normal. More security would just scream that something way bigger than they claimed had happened.
The storehouse lacked any lights, not that she expected otherwise. Probably, Bular's mysterious cover team had taken care of that one as well. The woman took out the flashlight in the hope of noticing the signs she needed. Of course, she would prefer just having her true form's night vision, but that was a luxury at the moment.
The flashlight picked out some bits and pieces telling their own stories to the one who knew what to look for.
Several dents, obviously left by giant fists.
Some boxes cut with an enormous sword.
Dark spots splattered in some places - dried blood, without any doubt.
Barbara stepped on something, and a quick examination revealed a fragment of bone to her. Even before she had gotten all the medical knowledge she possessed now, she could tell apart human bone from an animal one. Right now, it was a piece of cake even to distinguish which part of the body it used to be. A fibula gnawed and discarded for whatever reason.
There was no place for doubt anymore - someone had devoured a human being here, perhaps, even more than just one. As for dents and cuts, there was probably some kind of fight breaking out all of sudden - was that the Trollhunter ambushing the Monster of Arcadia?
Barbara regretted that she couldn't check by scent - that would tell her a more coherent story, than that debris thrown around. She was nearly one hundred percent sure that the one who had killed and eaten a human was Bular - it just fitted his personality. As for his attacker… Well, that could have been anyone, not just the Trollhunter as the woman assumed. Maybe, no one had attacked at all. All ruination could possibly be the result of Bular taking out his frustration on his surroundings. Like most trolls, he was pretty short-tempered. There could be at least several dozens of reasons to cause the foul mood.
But honestly, the whole investigation had led nowhere, as the redhead realized soon enough. Yes, her brother might have been in the storehouse recently. Nevertheless, most likely, he had changed the lair already - either because he recognized that it wasn't that safe anymore himself or his mysterious helper told him so. It would be simply brainless to stay after wrecking so much chaos. At the moment, the son of Gunmar could be anywhere. Probably the entire night trip was pointless to start with.
Barbara sighed, preparing to leave, and suddenly had heard some careful, yet hurried footsteps. The next second she was nearly blinded by a flashlight. Someone seriously lacked tact to point it right into her face.
"Ma'am?" the young voice called to her hesitantly. "What are you doing here? It's dangerous".
It seemed someone else had come to the storehouse as well. But who? And why? Some curious soul investigating urban legends or, perhaps, one of those who were covering the truth? Or maybe even some third party?
Barbara cast a glance at the stranger, trying to discern his looks in the darkness, which wasn't that easy. Had he blinded her intentionally? It would take a while for her eyes to get used to darkness once again.
The woman could only tell that it was a male and relatively young one, probably in his late teens. Or at least, he looked young - she was well-aware that in the world she belonged to, appearance could mean nothing.
Though it was possible that she was simply paranoid and overthinking. A youngster like that could easily get interested in a spooky story. Or it could be a dare from his friends - visiting a supposed monster's lair could be some kind of courage test.
It took a while for Barbara to realize, that the teen was waiting for some kind of response. He seemed worried, after all.
Wait, worried?
As her eyes more or less get used to the surrounding darkness, the woman could distinguish the stranger's expression. Luckily, he was standing close enough for that. It wasn't a fear of someone caught in a place where they shouldn't be, neither was that anxiety of someone trying to cover some nasty secret. No, the teen seemed to be genuinely concerned for Barbara's safety and well-being.
"Ma'am? You alright?" he asked again.
"Yes," the redhead nodded, forcing a smile. If she kept silent, she would become the most suspicious one. "I'm leaving already... And you shouldn't be here as well - your family must be worried".
The last phrase was just a means not to look shady - after all, Barbara got a gut feeling that the weird stranger wasn't just a random guy coming to the storehouse out of curiosity. The teen clearly not behaved like one.
Something also told the woman that neither he was Bular's mysterious ally. That one would try to obliterate anyone approaching possible secrets, granted the conditions were just perfect for that.
No, everything pointed out that the teen belonged to some previously unknown third party. The one, which put common folk's safety as the main priority.
There was a high chance that the mysterious stranger had been watching the storehouse, and had gone inside once noticing someone entering. If the third party was also aware of the true nature of the recent incident, that would make sense for them to try their best to keep curious people away.
The hunch only got stronger the moment the daughter of Gunmar exited the storehouse as she had noticed another stranger - a young girl - watching her intently. Perhaps, it was just imagination, but Barbara could swear that one was ready to attack. In any case, the girl obviously relaxed the moment the young man also appeared.
Something was clearly going on there, but the woman decided to leave. There was no need to make more enemies right now.
The only thing that was worse than angry Zoe was angry Zoe plus angry Archie. At the moment, both clearly looked like they were going to kill poor Hisirdoux themselves.
"What the hell were you thinking?" the pink-haired witch hissed. "I know I've told you many times to stop following Merlin's words all the time, but getting yourself killed is not the thing I implied!"
"Sometimes I feel like you'll never grow up. What kind of infantile recklessness was that?" Archie added.
Douxie knew they both were right and his own decision to follow the unknown woman into the storehouse wasn't too wise.
"There wasn't much time, and I needed to act fast," he tried to find some excuses, but right now, those sounded quite pathetic. It would have taken only some seconds to tell his companions. Besides, it wasn't like that woman was heading into the monster's trap in any case.
"What if she ambushed you?" his familiar wasn't going to accept any excuses.
"That could be a changeling," Zoe folded her arms - a good sign she wouldn't let it be as well.
"She wasn't," Douxie shook his head. "My detection spell didn't react."
To be honest, it had actually reacted, but not in a way it should have in case of a troll or changeling entering the building. It was more like it picked up some protection or stealth magic - those were difficult to tell apart as they were of the same nature.
Was that woman some kind of witch too? The wizard-in-training wasn't too sure. She could simply be under the protection of some friendly magic user. What if that redhead was too interested in everything supernatural and kept getting in trouble while visiting paranormal spots?
Douxie couldn't help sharing those thoughts with his friends, hoping for some insight. The good thing was that neither Archie nor Zoe could be angry for too long.
"It's not that far-fetched," the cat-dragon murmured. "No matter how good we try to hide, some people still notice that something is off and start investigating…"
"We've met enough of those," Zoe added. "At least, they don't go witch-hunting anymore…"
All three shuddered unwittingly, recalling some unpleasant memories. Paranoid folks were never that peaceful and would always attack in irrational fear.
"The problem is that some people are roaming at night, visiting secluded spots while there's a huge aggressive troll around," Douxie stopped his thought abruptly, realizing some grim implication. He wasn't the only one though - both Zoe and Archie were looking at him, their eyes full of horrifying realization.
"Someone spreads stories about the Monster of Arcadia purposedly," the cat-dragon was the first one to break the heavy silence, voicing everyone's theory.
"It's the perfect way to lure people interested in paranormal and provide Bular with a food supply. Most people wouldn't think of local madmen disappearing as something too suspicious," Zoe finished grimly.
Apparently, right now, they all had another responsibility as well…