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Sandy wondered if he was crazy. She had wondered that a lot the last few days, since Tobias had knocked on her door. If there had been any rumors around that visit, it didn’t matter, as she was sure there were plenty that started from all the visits he made to Sandy’s after. She had questioned him a fair bit that first night, but when he left, the concept couldn’t leave her. She found herself unsettled, rolling around in bed. Her pets and beasts all eventually fell into deep sleep as the moon rose, but she couldn’t. She had gotten up several times to poke the fire, add more logs, boil water for tea, and pace up and down. As soon as first light was up, she went down to the Artizan Chamber of Records. She had to see if there was any truth in any of it.

There, in the grand wooden hall, she found that the scrolls had lists of those who had been kidnaped by the monster. There were a number of theory books as well as the original record of the first time the monster had descended from the waterfall.

Tobias theory was plausible. There was evidence to suggest that the monster simply took revenge. It could be as simple an explanation as that. For years, they had assumed there was some bloodline link, or physical connection, like that of marriage, or siblings. They had realised there was some sort of connection between previous victims. It was always brothers-in-law, spouses, best friends. They had assumed a bloodline link or marital bond. But it wasn’t lineage—it was a raw, shared emotion linking the victims together. Guilt. Grief. Or perhaps betrayal.

Sandy looked back at the initial record of the shadow monster. The answer was right there. Dale Simons had been taken, and his wife remarried quickly after. Then she was taken the next Blue Lunar moon. It was plausible that she married quickly because the relationship had started when Dale Simons was taken.

But why the lights on that one skipped year? Sandy’s eyes went to the window and followed the horizon to the mountain. Perhaps there was more there than they thought. It had been assumed the creature lived in a cave between attacks. Why had no one gone up to check? If it was really docile or hibernating between the moons, then surely it would be safe to walk up? If Tobias was right, Keira was probably already up there. It would only take a few days to get there.

The answer, of course, was simple. Fear. A small town is exactly that – a small town. It’s filled with fishermen, a blacksmith, farmers, and shopkeepers. There were a few who were men tied to desks, like Tobias, who handled disagreements and ensured the law was adhered to, but the majority of the town were concerned with the daily goings-on of the town. Anyone who was brave generally left to go live in the cities beyond the bridge in Vertex. Guards hung around because the pay was good and they had no interest in being in the fields. They didn’t stay because they were valiant or aspired to become knights. Nobody wanted to go up because nobody wanted to go to their potential death.

Sandy remembered there had been a handful of scholars over the years who had made the journey, but she didn’t recall any of them returning. There were another handful that stayed in the town, consistently threatening to go up and inspect, but usually announced they would go when ‘so-and-so’ came back. Procrastination is a scholar’s best friend.

She scribbled down the names and possible revenge ideas between each victim. Tobias was going to call a meeting that day to take his idea to the council, but she knew they wouldn’t give in on a whim. They would need hard evidence. His whole motive was to get them to agree to go to the monster. That it would be weak after the small boy it took. But she wanted to understand the emotional side more. It truly was revenge; then there could be another way to destroy it. She needed more time than what they were given her. If the council approved Tobias’s plan, and they probably would, as he had a lot of authority, then they would probably start making plans immediately. To be honest, Tobias could tell the council that they all had to eat bananas for a week and they would do it. It was so unusual for him to request anything that they would go into it blindly. Not to mention that almost everybody owed him a favour, because he very rarely cashed in. Even when his son was taken and his wife… well. Tobias was a man who had suffered more than most, and he never asked for a hand during that time.

Sandy closed the book. The sun was starting to rise high now, and the meeting Tobias had called was going to start soon. She couldn’t believe she had spent all this time in the hall. She grabbed the notes she had made and left the hall. It was going to be an interesting afternoon.