His Master's house was in shambles. The usually orderly outside, with its perfectly manicured bushes and carefully tended flowers was uprooted. Plants were scattered everywhere. Kenny actually felt a pang at the sight of his Master's prized roses thrown to one side, their roots bared to the sun and wind.
He gingerly tiptoed around the battered flower heads, their petals strewn across the dirt spackled path. Some of larger stones looked as if they'd been pried up and then carelessly let fall back into place. There were bits of creamy concrete broken everywhere.
Kenny looked up at the house itself. The door hung on one hinge, swinging slowly back and forth, issuing a discordant note that set his teeth on edge.
Caution screamed at him not to recklessly rush in. His Master was a grandmaster swordsman in addition to being a swordsmith. Kenny couldn't hear any sounds of fighting, but that might not mean much, since he was merely an apprentice.
Kenny looked around. Even the nearby trees sported broken branches and hacked at trunks. None of it made any sense.
He took a step closer to the house and nearly jumped out of his skin as a hand landed on his shoulder.
"Kenny?" Lorelai asked, cutting off the scream that threatened to climb out of his throat.
Kenny whirled, his first response dying at the concerned look on Lorelai's face. His eyes scanned her briefly, noting the smudge of soot across one high cheekbone and the pale stripes on her usually immaculate leather outfit.
It was, he belatedly realized, a sort of highly stylized armor masquerading as a casual outfit.
"Lorelai?" Kenny managed, trying to strangle down his heartbeat back to a normal rhythm.
"It looks like they hit here as well," Lorelai said, looking from him to that dangling door.
"As well?" Kenny echoed.
"I think they were Crossroaders," Lorelai said, her voice lowering to a whisper. Then she looked around a bit wildly. "They're supposed to be just a fairy tale."
"What's a Crossroader?" Kenny asked.
"Shh! You're not supposed to say it out loud, not really." Lorelai paused and gave herself a shake, letting out a harsh bark of laughter. "I must be out of my mind, because I know what I saw and fought not two hours ago."
"Gunnan got attacked?" Kenny finally grasped the one nugget of information that made sense to him.
"Yeah, and here as well. I just thought of Master Odom and hurried up here to see if he was okay." She looked around the devastation, her brow furrowing. "Looks like he was a target as well."
"And I have no clue why," Kenny said. He turned to eye the dangling door. "I haven't gone in yet."
"Then we can go in together?" Lorelai suggested.
Kenny nodded. They cautiously walked towards the swinging door.
"So, you never said what a Crossroader was," Kenny said as they walked up the now broken porch steps.
He frowned at them. It looked like someone had taken a crowbar to them and then left without trying to put them back in place.
"Crossroaders are a fairy tale parents scare children with." Lorelai said, shivering. "They're not supposed to be real."
"I've never heard of them," Kenny argued.
"Wait, really?" Lorelai jerked to a stop. Kenny wasn't going to say anything about the faint look of relief that flashed over her face. "My mom told us the stories at least every other week. 'Be good or the Crossroaders will erase you!'" She put one hand on her hip, her voice rising to a slightly higher note.
The imitation got a slight smile out of Kenny despite him telling himself not to. Lorelai's answering smile was reward enough.
He gave himself an internal shake. He didn't even know if Lorelai was an NPC or an actual player, though her story argued for the former.
"Nothing, really?" Lorelai sounded intrigued. When Kenny looked at her, she was tapping a finger against one plump lip. "So, you haven't heard any of them? I mean, honestly?" Lorelai frowned at him. "Not a single one?"
"Nope," Kenny said, gingerly poking the door to make it stop swinging. It was starting to get on his nerves.
"Well, I guess I could tell you a short one before we go in," Lorelai said.
"And what if my Master is in there, injured?" Kenny said, taking a deep breath. He boldly stuck his head inside. "I don't see anyone."
"They're Crossroaders. You wouldn't," Lorelai muttered as she followed him.
The foyer was a devastation. The wooden swords that had decorated the walls were smashed to splinters that mixed with the pried-up and similarly broken floor planks. The intricate mosaic of a compass rose was now so much trash.
Kenny felt his anger ignite. His Master had said that one of his previous disciples had done it during a period of being stuck in a bottleneck over his forging. After the mosaic was completed, she had had an epiphany and gone on to create a treasure for the stone dwarves of Eppleheim.
As far as his Master knew, she was traveling somewhere far to the north, looking for new materials.
The walls had holes in them as if someone had taken a sledgehammer to every other foot. The only thing untouched was the timbers that held up the house. They'd been exposed with the decorations in-between. Now, the creamy walls were damaged almost beyond repair.
Kenny glanced towards the living quarters and shook his head. If his Master had made a stand, then he'd be somewhere by the workshops with their connected storehouses.
Lorelai squeezed his hand. He froze, listening hard. There was a faint scratching sound.
"Elehim!" Kenny gasped, rushing towards the workshop area.
He stopped in the doorway, nearly falling as Lorelai bumped into him. The stairs were gone, leaving a four-foot drop to the floor. Nearly under his feet, Elehim, his Master's dog, huddled, his claws scratching the exposed wood. There were scratches and slashes over his smooth skin. Several crossed his skin and scored deeply on the thick leather collar he wore. The dog panted, leaning against the wall.
Kenny reached into his inventory and pulled out his ladder.
"Why do you have a ladder?" Lorelai asked, bemused.
"You never know when you might need to climb somewhere," Kenny replied, carefully maneuvering to avoid Elehim.
Elehim nuzzled at his legs, shivering. Kenny could feel the rage build. Elehim was such a gentle dog. He spent more time sleeping by the furnace than anything else. Kenny couldn't even remember him chasing squirrels.
Granted, the squirrels around his Master's house shot fire and ice when provoked, but still. Most dogs he knew chased them, at least the ones roaming around Gunnan.
"It's okay, boy. It's going to be okay," Kenny said, gingerly petting the dog's head. He kept his expression from changing at the feel of a thin metal strip encircling Elehim's collar. "Where's Master, Elehim? Take me to him."
Elehim looked from Kenny to Lorelai and then lowered his head. He slowly limped towards the main workroom.
Kenny felt his heart seize at the sight. Elehim had a long, oozing slash across his withers that dripped blood with every step. Plus, the workroom doorway was dark. He was used to it being lit a dull orange from the main furnace.
"Be careful," Lorelai warned, catching his arm.
Kenny nodded once before slowly walking into the main workroom.
It was as destroyed as the rest of the house. Unlike the main house, there were signs of fighting everywhere. Broken swords littered the floor, ripped from their places against the wall.
Kenny clenched his jaw. Most of the swords that hung on the wall were student work, made by himself and his fellow disciples, but some of them were actual weapons made by his Master.
He winced as he stepped over one broken sword, its halves overly engraved. The elaborate swirls and lines were actually runes, an experiment his oldest brother disciple had done for his journeyman project. It was useless in a close-up fight, but could fire a stream of lightning for a few precious seconds.
He could remember his Master laughing as he pointed it out in its place on the wall. It was a mage's sword, meant for those who fancied themselves swordsmen despite a life spend in sedentary research.
He followed the trail of swords and blood drops around the main furnace and stopped, appalled.
His Master was propped against the wall in the small space between it and the furnace. His face was bloody and air bubbles formed in the blood with every labored breath he took. He held a gleaming longsword in one trembling hand, pointed at the entrance to the small opening.
"Kenny?" Master Odom breathed out.
"Oh!" Lorelai gasped out, turning away.
Kenny felt just a little bit better at the gleam of tears in her eyes. He slowly approached, stopping as Elehim laid his head gently on Master Odom's lap.
"They came for it, but didn't find anything," Master Odom said, his voice a soft raspy murmur.
"Came for what?" Kenny asked, bewildered. He slowly reached out and pressed the point of the sword down. "I don't understand. Who did this?"
"Crossroaders," Lorelai hissed behind him, the venom in her voice surprising Kenny.
"Hmm," Master Odom agreed, closing his slitted eyes. "Your sword is good, boy."
"Don't speak, Master," Kenny urged. He frantically scanned the contents of his inventory, searching for a healing potion.
"Take care of Elehim for me," Master Odom said. He dropped the sword and slowly raised the empty hand to heavily pat Elehim's head.
"Just a moment, Master," Kenny muttered. He finally located the potion at the very end of his inventory, a sole item occupying just a quarter of the slot it was in. He pulled it out. "This should help."
"Got corroded." Master Odom slowly shook his head and raised his other arm. It had been hidden in the dark niche's shadows.
Lorelai gasped and hauled Kenny backwards. Caught off guard, he nearly dropped the potion. Elehim followed him, whimpering slightly.
Kenny stared at his Master's arm. The hand was gone, and black shadows were crawling up it, flaking off into nothingness.
"He's been Touched," Lorelai gasped, the venom turned to fright.
"What? What does that mean? We can fix it, right?" Kenny asked, shrugging himself free.
"Nothing can fix it," Lorelai said. "What were they looking for?" She looked around the shambles of the workroom. "It's just like it was in Gunnan."
"I don't know," Kenny admitted. His fingers clenched around the slender neck of the potion's bottle. "What do you mean that it can't be fixed?"
"He's corroded. He's going to vanish, just like my Master and Master Kern," she added bitterly.
"Go to your elder brother," Master Odom whispered. "He'll know what to do."
Kenny nodded, his thumb popping the cap off the potion. He poured it on Elehim, feeling slightly better when the dog's wounds started closing. He felt lost as Elehim leaned against his legs, his thin tail slowly wagging.
"Master Odom," Kenny began.
"Take the notebooks. They're still safe," Master Odom managed. The shadows had nearly reached his shoulder. "I don't want you to watch, Kenny. My last disciple," his lips slowly quirked. "Had so much left to teach."
"Let's go," Lorelai said, tugging Kenny away. "He wouldn't want you to see. My Master didn't want me to watch, either."
Kenny turned towards Lorelai, his brow furrowing. Then he lunged back to the niche, scooping up the longsword Master Odom had been holding. Despite the blood, 'Kenny' was still etched on its hilt.
It sparked an unwilling smile. Master Odom had never used Kenny's game name whenever he gave him anything. He'd demanded Kenny's real name and used that instead.
Though to be fair, Kenny himself hadn't really used it since leaving the beginner areas.
He tossed the sword into his inventory and grasped Elehim's collar.
"Come on, boy. Let's go see what we can find," he murmured to the dog.
Beside him, Lorelai looked lost.
"I thought for sure that Master Odom would be able to fight them off," she said, following Kenny. "He's so strong that I just thought…"
"It's okay," Kenny said, his eyes scanning the workroom. "Let's check out the storerooms to see what they took."
"Probably nothing. They didn't take anything in Gunnan. They just set fire to everything after trashing it." Lorelai rubbed her hands over her arms as if she was cold. "Master Kern and my Master, Master Brem were the only ones who stood against them. I don't know if anyone else remembered the stories in time."
"Maybe you can tell me one? I have no clue what you mean when you say 'Crossroader' after all." Kenny asked. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye.
Lorelai's lost expression cleared just a little.
"I can do that," she said. "I guess I'll have to think about which one to start with."
"Since I've never heard them, any one would do?" Kenny suggested as they left the main workroom and headed towards the storerooms.