The flames had mostly died down in the village, leaving only trails of smoke curling into the sky like ghostly tendrils. The scent of scorched wood, ash, and cooked flesh lingered thick in the air. The village square, once a quiet communal space, was now a graveyard and was silent except for the occasional crackle of embers.
Kai and Vepice stood amidst it all.
They had looted what they could. A mental inventory formed between them. Vepice had found dried meats, smoked fish, preserved fruits, root vegetables, and two whole crates of salt-pickled rations that would last for months inside Kai's shadow space. She'd also gathered a small pouch of alchemical powders, herbs sealed in wax, and a short blacksmith's hammer inscribed with runes of minor reinforcement.
'I've considered trying to learn how to make weapons. I'd trust my work more than a stranger's, but I'd have to spend some time on it. Maybe that hammer is a good starting point.'
