Stepan lay motionless under the pine trees. The smoke from a slowly burning building made breathing difficult. He needed clean air, but he had to stay under cover of the smoke to avoid the Black Soul Riders. The mercenary guild he had spent over fifteen years of his life with had now sent men after him. Misty rain and the black smoke made it difficult to see anything as water poured freely from his shaven head to his eyes. He had to trust his hearing before doing anything. His hound, Paddy, was nowhere in sight.

They attacked his house while he was gathering wood in the forest, and now his three sons were lying dead next to the burning house with arrows in their backs. Their bodies were burning slowly as their clothes had caught flame from the fire. Stepan could do nothing for them. They were all under 10 with all life ahead of them. Attackers were moving outside around the wooden house. A house that he had built himself for his family years ago. He knows they won’t back down until they either kill him or he kills them. 

There are five of them. Two on horseback, two men on foot with swords ready. Their leader looked like he had done this many times before. They wear no armor, just like Black Soul riders preferred. Only rugged black clothes with a long coat on their shoulders. Armor only makes you slower in combat. Stepan keeps low, knowing he can take advantage of the horses if need be. He needs to take one down by surprise to get a better weapon.  

The leader spits on the ground and starts yelling orders. “Horsebacks do a wider search around the house. Others check those pine trees. He can’t be far!” Stepan knew the man, Balmon. The Linarian, who took all the immoral jobs at the guild. He never liked the man. Even his voice sounded like a carrion bird. There was always a feeling he had a grudge against Stepan or against his powerful bond with the animals or for being the void caller. But then again, everyone had some issues with him when he left the guild. He could not live by the guild's code anymore, as the mercenary guild started doing ever shadier business. He left the guild with a few of his friends. The guild's leaders promised they were free to leave and come back as they wished. This felt a betrayal when the attack came 10 years after he had left. Adding insult to injury was sending a man like Balmon after him.

The noise from the leather boots woke Stepan from his thoughts as the steps were getting closer to him. The Black Soul advances, choosing carefully his steps under the smoke while scanning the area. Stepan sees one of his enemies within just an arm’s reach, with sword ready and still fresh blood dripping from the sword. Enemy wasn't a big man, just a medium-height brute, but with a sword, he was deadly to anyone. Stepan looked for an opportunity with only his hunting knife with him.

In an instant, Stepan’s missing hound Paddie lunges from the smoke onto the swordsman to protect his master and brings the attacker to the ground as the hound has a tight grip on the man’s arm. Black Soul yells for his mates for help. Stepan reacts to the opportunity he had been looking for. He forces himself up and with a ruthless strike; he hits his knife to the man’s throat, and yanks it off violently. His enemy goes silent as the blood flows from his throat and spills over Stepan's arm. He looks at the man, and he can't recall him from the past. Just a nameless face to him but a deadly foe to his sons. He takes the sword from the dead man’s hand and whispers to the hound, “Good boy, Paddie. Now stay next to me!” Paddy answers with a warning bark, which alerts Stepan.

A hard swing from behind almost hits him. Stepan rolled to the side, the blade grazing his shoulder. He evaded a killing blow, as another Black Soul almost caught him by surprise. Stepan cursed in his mind for letting his guard down so easily. He gets up and puts his sword up for a parry as the enemy unleashes a ruthless swinging from side to side, trying to break Stepan’s defence. Stepan has to withdraw as his opponent lands a few scratches on his stomach. Swinging a longsword with heavy blows can break a man, but Stepan repels attacks. He knows this guy from his crooked nose. Kiril. Another bastard who has a grudge against Stepan. That's what you get when you punch a man on the nose and break it into pieces after another disastrous contract that Kiril fucked up. 

The thunder of horses was closing in on them as the blades clashed. Stepan was already bleeding. He made a feigned swing to the left and then rammed into Kiril who stumbles back a couple of steps and loses his guard, which is all Stepan needs as he thrust his sword into the opponent’s stomach, who fells to the ground moaning in agony. 

Paddie started barking again. Shadows emerged from the curtain of mist and smoke as the riders whipped their steeds forward to run over Stepan, who left the dying Black Soul to his agony and turned to face the riders. Stepan stood his ground. He waited until those black steeds were just 30 paces from him. He made a high pitch whistle, and both horses broke down hard to both sides of Stepan, while sending their now surprised riders into uncontrollable flight past him, smashing onto the ground. One rider got up to his knees and saw his companion lying on the ground with a broken neck and Stepan advancing towards him. Black Soul tried to stumble up, with his eyes wide open towards him. "Stepan, no.." but Stepan did not listen to him and kicked him in the ribs, taking the breath out of his lungs. Then Stepan made a full swing at the neck, beheading the man. He did not know him, and he didn't care about it either. Another bastard down, only Balmon left. Stepan readied himself for any attack, but Balmon had disappeared into the shadows. He started listening, but he could only hear the fire crackling on the burning building. The hound needed to do his magic. “Paddie, search!”

Stepan eyes started changing to black as his rage took over him. His shout boomed loudly in the misty rain. "Balmon, you really thought you could kill me. You have only condemned your soul!" 

Paddie rushed right past Stepan and vanished from sight as the visibility faded from smoke and darkness. He knew where the leader was after Paddy gave one bark. 

Stepan kept his eyes focused on the prey, raised his arms and started howling in a high pitch tenor voice. It sounded like a hundred songs bound in silence, but free again to hurt the unprepared. Like a scratch forming into a mirror, opening a rift that should not exist. Voices form in the distance, creep closer, and the fear takes over Balmon, as he realizes hundreds of bats engulfing him. A scream of fear and despair fills the air as he tries to swing his sword all around as the bats circle around, biting and hitting their wings against the man everywhere on his body. Stepan watches until the leader drops to the ground, still screaming. He whispers a gentle word, Käelen, which opens up a rift where the bats push the condemned man, who is still trying to scream even he has lost his voice already.

Stepan dropped to his knees, exhausted and shivering with guilt after pushing the man to the void without the afterlife. It was done, and he had to live with it until the end of days. This was not the way he was supposed to use his powers. Tears fall on his cheeks. He promised on his wife's deathbed to take care of their sons. He could not keep his promise to Margo, and now he can't hear the laughter of his children anymore. Now he only got tormented souls on his conscience. And it was the only damn thing that gave him solace. 

Crows were watching over him from the trees. More silent than ever.

****

Morning came without sleep. Stepan's face was a blank canvas, as his clothes were dirty from digging the graves and the blood of his enemies. The joy of life was gone from those bright green eyes. At over six feet tall, Stepan seemed much smaller than he actually was. Sitting next to the graves raised too many questions in his head. 

Stepan’s wife, Margo, had died five years ago, and now the boys joined their mother in the afterlife. He took comfort in the thought that her wife connected back to her children, but it felt like only the remnants of his heart were intact anymore. It was torment to lose his family. He felt physical pain from all the fighting and digging, but it was nothing what was happening inside. His soul was burning and would keep on smoldering until his last breath.

Paddy sat next to him and touched Stepan’s knee with his paw. The hound looked at Stepan and then laid its head on his lap. He stroked the hound’s head. Tears started falling and washing his cheeks.

 He headed then to a nearby river to wash off the blood and dirt from his body. It felt invigorating, but also gave him loving memories of how he used to watch sunsets with Margo and make love in the moonlight. He taught his sons to swim and fish near the river. It was all gone, with only memories. He felt angry and determined to avenge his sons. 

The scratches on this abdomen weren't bleeding anymore, but were painful. He cleaned the scratches carefully and applied linen bandages. He dressed in the clothes found in the Black Soul's saddlebags. It felt wrong to be dressed as a Black Soul again, but he didn't care. Dressed all in black, and pulling up the hood felt so wrong and right at the same time. The only things that mattered were finding out why, who and where and hunting them down. He went to the basement, took out the old longsword Deliverance from the weapon rack and a pouch of Linarian gold coins stashed from the early days.

Stepan looked away and saw a couple of horses from the Dark Souls. He called the horses to come near him to check on the saddlebags and find any clues about why they had attacked him and his boys. 

Bags contained hunting knives, a leather coat, food, water, wine and letters with wax seals in place. There was a seal broken in one letter. 

Balmon,

This one is important. We need to tie up all loose ends from the past, and Stepan is one of those. Kill him. He knows too much, and we can't afford to have any threats to my plans for the Guild. Remember, he used to be one of the Black Souls, so don’t hesitate. Just take him down when you have a chance. 

A. 

He read the paper twice and could not understand it. Stepan knew his past would come back to haunt him, but he wasn’t expecting that his old group would attack him. He had done a lot of things while he was riding among the Black Souls, but he crossed no one of his own. Why is he a loose end? It made no sense to him. He had always treated his riding companions with the utmost respect, kept his friends alive, and never taken more than his share. 

He opened two more letters and found they were for two other targets. Both his companions at Dark Souls, Mariko and Helda. Both women parted their ways from the black souls at the same time as Stepan, and now they were targets as well. He needed to find them both and get some answers. His house had burned to the ground anyway; only the basement was still intact. 

Paddy started barking. There was a rider approaching, with a wide-brimmed hat and dressed in a yellow gown. Stepan noticed it was Jiraie, the neighbor's young daughter and his late wife's niece. He pulled his hood down, walked towards her and raised his hand, and tried to stop her from coming any nearer. "Jiraie, don't come here now. There is nothing left here, and this isn't something you need to see." But it was too late.  

She looked at the dead bodies and started panicking. "Where are Samu, Hector, and Kallen?" 

Stepan could offer nothing but the blunt truth."They didn't make it. I buried them last night." 

Jiraie had her eyes fully open and tears started falling, as she had no words. Her whole body started trembling. Stepan had to catch her before she fell from the saddle. He walked her to what was left of the burned porch and sat next to her and let her cry. 

"I have to gather all those horses, and then let's get you back home." Paddy walked next to Jiraie. She kept crying, but the hound calmed her down. 

She was looking down and could not make eye contact with Stepan. "What happened here? Why did they die?"

Took a long time for Stepan to respond. He looked down and said, "I don't know, Jiraie. I wish I could know." 

They spoke nothing on the way to Jiraie's home. Both wept in silence. Stepan for blaming himself for what happened, Jiraie for losing her friends. Paddie followed them, trailing the horses. 

Jiraie's mother, Inka, was standing on the porch when they arrived at the neighbor's house. Hearing what happened, the woman, who spent her younger years in Tolwaina evading monsters roaming the streets, didn't show any emotion. She acted fast on instinct.

"Get inside Jiraie." She did not look at Jiraie, but kept her gaze on Stepan while Jiraie walked past her inside the two-story house. "You took a soul, didn't you, Stepan?"

He looked down and kept his voice silent. He grimaced before he admitted it to Inka. "I... I did. Just... couldn't contain my rage. They took my family while they were looking after me." 

"And the more souls you take, the closer you are to becoming a shade. You promised to end it. You promised Margo. And to me."

"Don't bring her into this. Not now. My family is dead, no point in caring about my soul." 

"I mourn for the boys, but after I see Jiraie is asleep. I must stay strong for her, no matter how I feel. But you... You promised my sister. I don't want to see a damn shade in my family."

Stepan looked Inka in the eye, but said nothing. Inka saw blackness in his eyes and looked away. For a moment, it looked like her jaw was trembling, but she gathered herself and turned towards Stepan again. 

"You probably better go now. I know what you are going to do, and my husband has to stay out of it." 

Stepan steered into her eyes. "I'm not asking Kallan to join me. This is my path to take. And if I wanted someone to join this road from your house, you know it would not be him." She stared at him for a moment and looked away. "Go before he comes back from the field. I'm sorry, Stepan, but you know me. I'm a heartless bitch."

"No, you are not. You just act like one. But I'll go. I'll leave these horses with you. More use here than for me on the road." Stepan turned away from Inka and walked to his horse. He got up to the saddle, raised his hood and turned back to Inka. "Take care of Jiraie. She saw too much there, and she needs all the help she can get." Inka stayed on the porch and said nothing, watching him and Paddy leave.

"I mourn the boys too, Stepan Komodo. Damn you and your promises," she whispered after he was gone in the distance. She went inside to find her travelling gears.