Derrin's Hollow, a self sufficient farm town that sat along the banks of the Arondy River, on the southern foothills of the Ruby Range, named so for its bright red glow at sunset, caused by millions of exposed quartz points refracting and reflecting the last rays of the day.

  It was a mostly peaceful town with the occasional monster attack, nothing thier militia couldn't handle though. A few locals fancied themselves monster hunters, but they were little more than men with spear or swords, unlike Guild Hunters.

  The monsters, while fairly dangerous, we're actually a boon to the town. It allowed it to gather a source of meat and resources without the need for large tracts of land to raise it. "Free ranged 'beef'" as a lot of the locals liked to call it.

  The market sat dead center of the town, protected on all sides by various houses, shops, administrative buildings, a tavern for wanderers, and on the north end, the Mayor's Manor, the only building in town made of brick as opposed to river stone and mortar.

  The militia barracks was built into thier meager wall and made up half of the north section itself, sitting just behind the Mayor's Manor. It allowed for quick access to the top where they could rain arrows and throw spears down on the beasts. Rarely, something too armored would show up and need to be dealt with in melee.

  There were two gates leading into the town, one to the east towards the river, and one west, toward Guild Territory, about 30 miles out. Most people lived inside the walls, leaving to tend thier fields during the day time and returning home to clean up and have a meal before going to sleep and doing it all again the next day.

  It wasn't a very technology heavy town, most people relied on the old ways to get things done. Because of this, there was no Rail Runner or any tracks remotely close to Derrin's Hollow and the economy was strictly local, no outside trading. Not by any law, just by the nature of things.

  Marrick Halveth was pulling the family cart through the west gate as the warning sirens began to ring across the city and the fields. The gates were closed most of the way, only staying open enough to allow people into them single file. The Watcher, whoever the militia put on tower duty that day, came over the speakers.

  "INCOMING MONSTER ATTACK. SHELTER IN PLACE. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR HOMES. ANYONE IN THE FIELDS, RETURN IMMEDIATELY TO THE CITY WALLS. GATES CLOSE IN THREE MINUTES. IF YOU CAN NOT MAKE IT, HEAD TO THE NEAREST BUILDING AND TAKE SHELTER."

  The warning repeated over and over again until the three minutes had Elapsed and the gates swung shut. Nobody was in a panic, as this was a semi normal occurance, but they did move with an urgency. They were still monsters after all.

  "THE GATES ARE NOW CLOSED. PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY INTO THE NEAREST BUILDING AND SHELTER IN PLACE."

  Merrick pushed the cart along the wall and abandoned it, jogging through the market to get to the family home. He could see the militiamen filing out over the walls, mismatched leather armors and wooden bows equipped as they took thier place. Suddenly a large fireball, solid with molten rock at its core, slammed into the wall, tearing it apart and taking out several militiamen in the process.

  "WARNING! WARNING! ABNORMALLY STRON- WHAT THE HELL IS TH-?!" The watchtower itself burst into molten slag and debris as another fiery ball of earth slammed into it. Some rubble rained down over Marrick as the force of the blast sent him to the ground.

  He scrambled to his feet, the earth beneath him began to quake. Suddenly something large shoved it's way out of the ground. It had thick dark bristles like the back of a boar and a thick plating along its back and sides that articulated. It's massive forearms ended in long curved claws with a shovel like shape.

  As it exited the ground, it was shoveling the dirt and rock into its mouth. It sat up on its hind legs, a loud rumbling in its gut before it doubled over, claws interlaced below its mouth.

  It regurgitated the earth into its claws, now a compacted molten ball. It then hurled it into several market stalls, flattening them and catching fire as it rolled. As the ball cooled began to break into pieces. The creature fell back onto all fours, crawling wildly through the town, smashing what it could with its claws.

  Marrick backed away from it as quickly as he could, absolutely terrified of the creature. He had never seen anything like it. Sure they had monster attacks, Brayhorn, Cracklewings and the like, but they were mostly harmless to the wall. This thing came in like it was nothing.

  The beast flailed around wildly, eagerly thrashing market stalls and hungrily devouring more earth. It paused and sniffed the air. It's nose was long and it flared at the end with multiple fingerlike protrusions.

  "That can't be good," Marrick thought as he stood to run away. It turned and looked directly at him. Or it would be looking if it had eyes. It sat up on its hind legs. Marrick began to run, trying to escape the inevitable ball of molten rock, but it didn't come. Something worse did.

  It projectile vomited the molten slag in a line across his path, blocking his escape. He turned to run the opposite direction but it cut off his path there too. Now stuck in a cone of lava, it was just him and whatever that thing was.

  "Whelp. Better to go down fighting I suppose." There was a pole from a market stall used to hold up an awning, several inches thick and sharp on the broken end. Grabbing it, he held it before himself.

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  Marrick had never fought a monster before and he was shaking from head to toe, his toughness mostly a facade he was using to try to get through this ordeal.

  It dropped back onto all fours and began to move close. Marrick was backed against a wall, makeshift spear in hand. Closing the distance, the creature swiped it's large claw at Marrick. Had he not dropped his spear and thrown himself to the ground, he would be a smear against the wall.

  Instead the claws etched deep marks through the stone building,dislodging river stone and sending it flying. Marrick rolled to the side and grabbed his spear, thrusting it hard into the beasts hand. It howled in pain, but it only seemed to anger it.

  The beast rose up, lifting both claws to slam down on Marrick, who braced his spear at the corner of the wall and the ground. This was probably the end for him, but he'd be damned if he wasn't going to make it hurt. "Guess fairs fair, how much monster meat have I eaten in my lifetime?"

  Before the creature could finish the job, something hit the side of the beast. A lot of somethings. Arrows, but instead of the typical cutting edge, they had small vials tied to them.

  They slammed into the creatures back and sides, ice coating the left half of its body. Stunned, Marrick looked at his savior. Or he hoped they were going to save him.

  A tall woman in leather that had a golden sheen to it stood crouched, a matching golden bow in hand. She loosed another volley of arrows into the armor, but this time they had rounded tips.

  The arrows flew so fast , there were small sonic booms as each arrow left the string. They impacted hard against the creatures armor, weblike cracks formed at every point they hit, compromising the armor.

  The molten lines of lava that surrounded Marrick had cooled enough that he could step over the top if he was quick. If he wasn't, he'd likely break the crust and have a very bad time on his hands. Or feet rather.

  While it was distracted, Marrick grabbed his spear and hopped across the lines. A man in thick black metal armor and a war hammer the size of a large dog lept from behind the archer, slamming the head into the cracked carapace. It shattered.

  The creature squeeled a high pitch noise. Marricks vision went blurry as he lost his balance and fell into a kneeling position. The

  world around him was swimming.

  The man swung again and again, crushing in the side of the monster, beating it down to the ground. It swept it's large claws across, catching the armored man in the ribs and knocking him full to the ground.

  It was clearly having a hard time moving now, with its armor gone and it's side gravely wounded. It clawed and scooped as much as it could reach before standing on its hind legs, hunched to the wounded side a little. Marrick knew what was coming and it didn't look like the Hunter was going to move in time. He rolled beneath the creature and stabbed upward, aiming for a break in the armor near where he hoped it's heart would be.

  With another squeel, the creature dropped, pushing the spear deeply into itself. Marrick tried to dive out of the way but one of his legs was caught beneath the metal shielding. The pain was agony.

  The man in armor stood up. "Damn kid, look at the chops on you! You'd make a fantastic Hunter. I guess we'll see soon enough!" He said with a knowing laugh. "Here!" He tossed a green vial at Marrick and moved to where he laid.

  He lifted the beast off his leg, which hurt as much as when it fell. His calf was completely crushed, the meat pushed from the skin and bone, which was visibly splintered.

  "Yikes. Uh. You might want to drink that sooner than later. I'll get a healer over here. MEDIC!" the man started to walk off, calling for aid. Marrick unstoppered the bottle and chugged the contents.

  It was bitter and hot for some reason, burning Marricks insides as it went down. The sensation stopped a moment later and the pain in his leg was gone.

  A second later another person had shown up. They wore simple green clothing with a green cloak and hood, along with a black mask. He knelt and began silently working on Marricks leg. He shuffled bone around and poured a yellow liquid over the leg. The bones seemed to hold in place though Marrick could still see the cracking. They then cut off chunks of flesh and put back what the could, sewing in together. He poured more of the yellow liquid over the leg and handed him another vial of green potion.

  "You'll have a nasty scar, but you'll make a full and fast recovery. You'll want to drink that in exactly 6 hours from the last one. You'll know if you're late.

  The man walked and stood with the others, who turned thier back on him. Another man, tall in silver armor with a large crest painted on it, the crest of The Concord of Blades, the guild that ruled over the Accorded Lands.

  "Take me to your leaders." Was all he said.

  ———

  People began to shuffle out of thier homes now that the action had died down. They whispered about the sudden arrival of the guild members, just in time to save the day. The Mayor of the town, wearing leather armor himself and covered in soot, flecks of blood from stone shrapnel that hit him, came to greet the most welcomed saviors of the town.

  A cart had arrived with several people inside. They filed out and quickly began to work on carving up the beast, separating meat and collecting shards of its armor, making neat piles over burlap tarps.

  The meat was carved, cooked and offered to the locals while the other valuable parts, the armor, the claws, the lining of its stomach and its bristles, were loaded into the cart.

  Two chairs and a small table was produced and the man in silver sat with the Mayor. "FurnaceBorer. Nasty little things. Thier nature makes the plating on thier backs soft enough to absorb blows, but if you freeze it, it becomes very hard, very brittle."

  A woman brought over a tea set and sat cups in front of them, pouring the steamy liquid. The man continued. "My name is Rowen Asche, I'm tasked with bringing fringe settlements into the folds of The Concord of Blades and into the Accorded Lands. We were on our way

  speak to you. It appears we arrived just in time. A lucky coincidence." Rowan Asche finished with a smile.

  The Mayor looked at the man sternly. "Lucky indeed, and most appreciated. I doubt we could have handled that thing, the FurnaceBorer, as you call it. But we have always been an independent town and able to take care of ourselves."

  Rowan turned his head towards the carcass of the monster and the now destroyed section of wall. "Right. Well not anymore it would seem."

  "Something like this has never happened before," the Mayor countered, "And I do not believe it will happen again. This was a freak accident.

  "At least hear what we have to offer?" Rowan leaned over the table towards the Mayor. " I can assure your town safety from most threats, anything class B and below. We will station 3 class B Hunters here and rebuild your wall, all of it, with defenses you currently lack. Grounding rods to prevent Cracklewing swarms, pulse poles to deter anything from digging under. And it will be thick enough to withstand anything found in this region. We will also provide necessary services, like food.

  The Mayor understood that this was a negotiation and nothing came free. "And in exchange?"

  " You'll have to open trade through the guilds channels. This includes a Marketing and Trades Commission Office, which will also be built on our dime. We will also build a Runner Rail, connecting you to our network. You will enjoy the ability to quickly travel to other cities within the Accorded Lands as well as quick trade and profits.

  Any unlicensed technology, beast-tech, must be surrendered to the Guild. Anyone not registered as a Hunter within the Guild in possession of unauthorised beast-tech will be subject to severe punishment."

  Rowan passed here a moment, before continuing. The next two clauses were a pretty hard sell, even with the guarantee of protection and trade.

  " All able bodied men between the ages of 16-35 MUST register with the Guild and recieve basic training under the Guilds guidance. Able bodied women between 20-30 may elect to join, if they wish."

  "And?" The Mayor asked, sure there would be more.

  "And you will need to abdicate your position. A Guild Warden will assume control of the town. To insure Guild standards of course."

  "Of course." The Mayor seethed. "We have always been a free city, we've always elected our officials to run it. We are self sufficient and do not require the aid of the Guild. As I said, this was a freak situation, completely unprecedented."

  "I understand Mayor, but the monsters have seemed more aggressive of late. They're wandering further from thier traditional lands. Are you really going to put the safety of all these people at risk? For the chance that it won't happen again? Because I can assure you, it most certainly will. We can protect them, together, with your approval."

  The Mayor slowly stood and looked around at the destruction, at the people crowded around, listening in on thier conversation. Rowan sat and stirred sugar into his tea, sipping from the cup, allowing it all to sink in.

  "I'll give you time to think it over. Say, three days? I'll leave these three here," he motioned to the archer, the man with the hammer and the man who had healed Marrick, " just in case." Without waiting for a response, Rowan Asche stood, turned on his heel and marched toward the town gate.