The boy quickly shut the door just as the men dispersed to ransack the inn. Kor's heart raced with terror, pounding in his chest like a drum, and his vision blurred from the panic and tears welling up in his eyes.

All he could think was: Aphid! Aphid!! APHID!!

In a daze, Kor's body seemed to move on its own, driven by instinct. He snatched Aphid's treasured security blanket from their bed without a real thought to it and lifted open the small window in their room, just as the door handle began moving.

Kor plopped onto the ground outside, the window shutting behind him with a soft thud.

He was now behind inn, which faced the rickety fencing that surrounded the village.

The narrow space between the inn and the fence was used for storing empty crates, and Kor had nearly landed in one of them. Instead, he lay there on the ground, frozen in terror.

The chaos around him was deafening – the screams of townsfolk, the dying gasps, the shouts and laughs of the malicious men putting them down. Kor had heard this all before…when he lost his home…his Papa…

Whimpers escaped him as he drew up into a little ball, his mind pulled back to a time that wasn't all that long ago.

He wanted his Papa. Where was Papa?

A flash of those swords running his Papa through blinked through Kor's mind. No, no, no. That hasn't happened yet, has it?

A clearer memory came to mind – Kolgrim, his Papa, kissing him on the two little dots of his cheekbone before tossing him as far as his strong arms could. The memory persisted with Kor being carried away by a townsman who caught him, just as a mob of bandits circled his Papa…and those swords…

Kor curled further, drawing his knees against himself and pulling his hands against his face. Only, he realized he was still clutching something – Aphid's blanket.

Aphid! He had to get to Aphid! He had to find his big brother before--

Kor heard the ominous sounds of footsteps rounding the corner.

His heart sank as two of the invaders came around the back of the inn, their gross chuckling and mumbling echoing through the narrow space.

Kor remained frozen, still curled up in a ball, as the two men drew nearer. He could feel his heart pounding fast and hard, and he was certain they would hear it too.

He held his breath and tried to will his heart to slow down, but it only seemed to race faster.

Just as he thought he couldn't take it anymore, he heard a crate amongst the wall around him shuffle.

"Think these are all empty," one of the men said.

"Yeah, what'd be in 'em anyway?" the other replied, "Flour? I'll stick to needing dough. Not kneeding it."

The conversation was followed by a silence, before Kor heard the first one reply with a confused, "What?"

"You didn't get it?" the second asked, "Flour? Dough? Money? Kneed? Need? Kneed?"

"...What?"

"Nevermind, you're too numb in the skull. No wonder you're here working with him."

"You're here too."

"Whatever, numbskull!"

That bandit struck a crate, toppling it over and onto Kor.

Thankfully, it landed with its open top side down, boxing Kor in, though he wasn't sure if he had yelped or hollered out when it encased him. He was sure he did.

He heard the men rustling a few more crates, and Kor feared they were moving them aside to get to him, but it suddenly stopped.

"Eh, these are all empty," one said, "Let's just see if boss got the guy yet."

So they hadn't heard him, but Kor remained where he was, his mind racing with thoughts of Aphid and what he should do next.

Was Aphid going to find him?

What if Aphid wasn't looking for him? What if he was already… NO!

Kor refused to think that. Before he even realized his actions, he had tossed the crate off himself and was rushing around the side of the inn, Aphid's blanket clutched tightly in his grasp.

Through his teary eyes, Kor finally regained clarity on his surroundings and realized what he was doing.

He ducked down behind a bush near the porch of the inn, trying to steady his thoughts on how to reach Aphid.

As he peeked towards the inn's entrance, his heart sank at the gruesome sight before him.

One of the raiders was dragging out the lifeless body of Orza by her foot, leaving a trail of blood on the ground.

If Aphid had already gone into the inn to find Kor, then… No. No, Kor refused to entertain the thought again.

Thankfully, the intense shaking of his head didn't alert the nearby man to his presence, but Kor now wondered how he would move unnoticed.

Should he make a run for it and dash straight to Aphid's workplace?

Just as he was contemplating his next move, he heard another noise.

The noise had only been the bandit dropping Orza's foot, but Kor accidentally let out a startled yip, and now that man was looking directly at him.

A wicked grin spread across the bandit's lips.

"What's this?" the man said, his voice dripping with malice, "A little squirrel stashing away in the bush?"

Kor's heart raced as the bandit took a step closer, his eyes fixed on Kor with a sinister intent.

Kor recoiled further into the branches of the bush, his heart pounding with terror.

"Leave me alone!" Kor pleaded, his voice trembling, "Please, just leave me alone!"

But the man continued to reach for him, his grasp closing in like a vice.

"NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Kor screeched, his voice piercing the air as the hand began to grasp him.

"LEAVE—LEAVE ME--ALONE!! APHIIID!!"

In a desperate bid to escape, Kor summoned every last ounce of strength and burst into a mad dash towards where Aphid was supposed to be working.

Unknown to Kor, however, was the ancient ursine spirit that dwelled within his bloodline that had lent its hand in his freedom from the bandit's grasp.

As it had done before, in his most dire of moments.

This mysterious power had enabled Kor to perform feats beyond his capabilities, such as lifting heavy objects not even a full grown man—or two—could lift, or even more mystically summoning icy winds or snaring roots.

But Kor remained blissfully unaware of these occurrences, just as he was unaware of the force just moments ago that had him snap the raider's knee in half and shatter his jaw, … piercing the man's brain with his own bone.

As Kor continued his frantic dash towards Aphid, the ancient spirit went silent once more, so quickly back in its slumber. Kor was none the wiser to its presence at all, for whatever ill or good that would bode.

He sprinted towards the house on the east end. He twisted, twirled, and ducked with frenzied agility, evading the grasp of other raiders who sought to capture him.

A blade narrowly missed his face, whizzing over his head with a menacing whoosh. The air was filled with the sounds of shouts, laughter, and the whirling of more objects perilously close, but Kor remained fixated on reaching his brother, his determination driving him forward. He lost Papa. He would not lose Aphid.