We are deep in the story here. Want to start from the beginning?

---

Keira felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Eric smiling at her, with Susan looking a little uneasy a few feet behind.

“You ready?” he asked.

Keira rubbed her face. She had slept a little too deeply, and she was sure, a little too long.

“How long was I out for?” she asked, through her fingers.

Eric chuckled.

“A while. But that’s fine. Let’s get you up, have some breakfast… Then when you’re ready, because I know you have questions, Katal will tell you everything.”

“Katal?”

“Yes. She’s like our wise woman, or elder… You know. She was there when the monster first came to be.”

Keira’s eyes widened, and she looked up to Eric.

“There’s no way,” she said, shaking her head. “That monster has been here for decades. For centuries.”

Eric chuckled.

“It’s not as long as you think.”

“Are you sure about this?” Susan whispered to Eric, not very successfully. She gave Keira an awkward smile. “No hard feelings,” she said to Keira. “But no one is really supposed to know outside the village about this. And you literally arrived only yesterday. I’m sure you’re nice and all, and maybe in time we can get to know you, but this feels…” She looked back to Eric. “This feels pretty quick, Eric. We only told Jason after a decade of him loitering around.”

Eric turned to Susan and put his hands on her shoulders.

“Trust me,” he said. He turned back to Keira. “Before we tell you our story, though, we would love to hear yours.”

Keira stretched and slowly got off the mattress.

“I don’t really have much to tell you,” she said.

“But you’re here because of the monster?”

“Well, yes. It took my brother.”

Susan and Eric exchanged looks.

“What?” Keira asked.

“We never know who the monster takes,” Susan said.

“But Keira can tell us,” Eric said to Susan. “This is what I’m saying, Susan. Keira can tell us what has been happening, and then we’ll be able to figure out the pattern and finally end this.”

“End this?” Keira asked, switching between the two of them.

Eric nodded and sighed. “Let’s get you breakfast,” he said.

Once Keira was dressed and making her way down to the firepit, she couldn’t help but feel the eyes on her. The previous day, when she had arrived, no one had noticed her walking with Eric and Susan. They were all busy with their own lives and stories. But today, a different atmosphere hung in the air. She could feel them judging her. She spotted Susan, Eric, and a few others in a huddle at the fire pit. As she approached, they all hushed. Eric put on a smile and opened his arms to guide her to a seat. One of them, a person she hadn’t met before, gave her a bowl of the day’s stew. Keira ate it slowly. They all sat around her, waiting. She realised they were waiting for her to finish. She became incredibly self-conscious about how she was eating and attempted to be neater about it and take smaller mouthfuls. At one point, she choked a bit as she was trying too hard. But no one said anything. The weight of the silence sat on her shoulders. Eventually she finished her bowl and then wasn’t sure what to do with it. Susan took it and placed it on one of the benches.

“Keira,” Eric started. The others looked at him. “Keira, we need to know from you why you are here.”

“I need to find the monster,” Keira said, wiping her face. “It took my brother last week. I have no family. The villagers won’t help me. Winter is almost here, and if I don’t have help, then I’ll die in the first frost. So I might as well fight the monster and tell him what I think of him.”

“So you plan on killing him?” One of the other men asked.

“Well, I don’t think I can,” she said, looking at the floor. “It’s pretty big, and I’m, well, pretty small. But it will be weak, right? It has just fed, so it will be slow. I reckon I can do some damage before it gets the best of me.”

“Do you know if your brother hated anybody or wanted revenge?” Susan asked.

Keira flinched at the question.

“I am… I am unsure of that,” she said. “He might be annoyed with someone, I guess.”

“Are you annoyed with anybody?” Susan asked.

“Not anyone in particular…” Keira said out loud. Which was true. There wasn’t a single person that she despised. But there was her village. She hated the village. She hated that they ignored her. She hated that they didn’t help her or that they were all happy with the idea of her dying. She had been dismissed. But she didn’t want to tell them that. She didn’t want them to know that she was capable of that much hate, or that she had been thrown out. Maybe they would throw her out too, if they knew. They would reject her as everyone else in her life had. Everyone but her baby brother.

“We have a theory,” Eric said, putting his hand on Keira’s shoulder. “We believe we can subdue the monster. But we are going to need your help. And there is a little bit of conflict around here, of whether we could trust you with such a task.”

“Is that why everyone is giving us the stink eye?” Keira asked.

“No,” Susan said. “There is something else…”

The others all looked at Susan and then Keira.

“What?”

“Well, it’s just that you said you left your village on your own.”

“Yes.”

“They are coming for you,” Susan said.

“They are what?” Keira asked in disbelief.

“There are reports from the towers that there is movement in the village. They are rounding up and getting together. There is a hustle down there, and we don’t know what’s going on. But this morning, at the break of dawn, a large group of them took to the swamp.”

“Well, they’re not coming for me!” Keira said. “They don’t even know I left!”

The group all looked at each other.

“Then that settles it,” Eric said. “I believe her. Why would they send a little girl first? No. They must have decided themselves to come.”

“So you spoke to no one,” Susan asked, looking harshly at Keira.

“I went to the council,” Keira stammered. “After the monster took my brother. I went to ask for help. I said they must fight the monster. They didn’t want to. I asked if they would help me survive the winter. They didn’t want to do that either.”

Tears collected in the corner of Keira’s eyes. They felt warm and hot from her emotions.

“They are not coming for me!” she barked.

Susan stared at Keira for a few moments, and Keira held her position. Eventually, Susan nodded.

“OK, then,” Susan said, shooting a quick look at Eric. “I agree. The child must have planted a seed, but it grew on its own, without her. Perhaps they have forgotten about the girl, but the idea of coming stayed.”

“They will be here in two days,” a man with a beard grumbled.

“Then we have no time,” Eric said. “Tell Katal we are ready!”

There was a shuffle and movement as Keira watched the ripple of news spread through the people.

“Even if the girl is telling the truth,” Susan said. “They will still be here, and our secrecy will be gone.”

“They won’t find us behind the waterfall,” Eric hushed her. “They have come before and never found the way.”

A horn sounded, and Keira turned. Large doors that were embedded in the rock next to the waterfall, pouring in, opened. Keria’s eyes opened as everyone moved out of the way, and an elderly woman came in. Her hair was white and plaited with intricate styles and beads. She wore a simple yellow tunic and soft leather shoes. Despite her white hair and slight, hunched frame, her eyes were sharp, radiating an unshakeable determination. A few attempted to help and guide her, but she shooed them away, adamant to walk her own path to the firepit. As she approached, everyone stood up and bowed, then sat down once she had passed them. It caused a wave effect that Keira could only describe as respect. When the lady came closer, she felt compelled to do the same and bowed as gracefully as she could.

The woman stood by the fire pit, turned to face all of them, and then, using her arms, she gestured for everyone to sit down.

“Where is the girl?” she asked. Her voice was clear and sharp.

Keira hesitantly put her hand up.

“My dear,” Katal said, turning to her. “Welcome. You have come exactly as you were meant to.”

Keira looked around. She felt the blood drain from her body as anxiety took over. She had never had so many eyes on her. And yet, all she could think about was why the village was coming after her.