They walked over to the inn in silence, their steps heavy with the weight of new information.

Silva's accident report had turned into something even more ominous, a chilling account of the situation outside their city. Pat had described the shortage as a long-running situation- for months, maybe even years in the making.

So why had there been no news of this in Valle, no sense of crisis? Their isolation, usually a sense of comfort, had backfired in a catastrophic way. Silva didn't know how accurate Pat's information was, but it was true: they hadn't run into a single spirit since leaving Valle.

Hannah broke the silence.

"He didn't seem to be too concerned about the attack."

"I think he was concerned," Silva said, "just not surprised. I bet the town's hoping that if they stay out of the way, the thing will move on to new territory."

"If these merchants keep going into the mountains on foot, then there's no reason for it to leave." There was an uncharacteristic edge in his voice.

Silva gently cut her off. "There's more to think about here than some wild animal. Valle has always been left to its own devices, but to think there's been droughts for this long... how could we have not noticed?"

"Maybe the mail couriers haven't been out far enough?"

Silva gave Basil a pointed look. "We've been on the road for barely a day, and it took no time at all for us to hear about it."

Hannah shot back. "Rube said he hadn't been past the outposts in a while, and he didn't seem worried! Maybe the constable was just being dramatic."

"None of it makes sense, Hannah." Silva said, sighing. This is a job for folks like Valle, those responsible for the land and its people." 

There was a pause as Silva thought. "Maybe there's no urgency because the world out there has just gotten used to it, accepted things. Or maybe it's something else. But out here in the mountains, we Vallenites don't just roll over." She laughed bitterly, "I guess it's been left to us to clean things up."