Raine was almost home when he spotted Anna, the girl next door, waiting in the chilly autumn wind. Her clothes were thin, and she held a small basket in both hands.

At the sound of his footsteps, she looked up. The moment she recognized him, her face brightened, revealing a pair of sweet dimples.

She came forward and held out the basket.

"Raine, I made these pies with the wild blueberries and hazelnuts you gave me. I wanted to bring them over sooner, but Mint said you were away training as a page boy and only came home on Saturday nights."

Something tightened in Raine's chest.

Fate had treated Anna cruelly, yet she had held on to her kindness and gratitude.

All he had done was ask Mint to give her some wild fruit he had gathered. Anna, however, had remembered the favor and searched for a way to repay him.

It was late autumn, and the wind turned bitter after sunset. Yet this thinly dressed girl had waited outside for him in the cold.

Raine stared at the five neatly arranged pies and found himself at a loss for words.

After a long pause, he managed, "If you give all of them to me, what will you eat?"

"I kept a few. I have enough."

Once Raine accepted the basket, Anna smiled again and walked away with a lightness in her step.

He watched her leave, then realized he had forgotten even to thank her.

When Raine entered the house, Mint's large eyes fixed on the basket and lit up.

"Brother, is that for me?"

Raine smiled and rubbed her head. "Your Sister Anna made them."

"Sister Anna? No wonder she hasn't played with me these past few days. She said she was helping Aunt Mary."

"Helping her?"

"Yes. Hardly anyone in town will hire Sister Anna, but Aunt Mary sometimes gives her a little work. Sister Anna is very poor, and pies need flour. Flour is expensive, so she had to work until she earned enough to buy some."

Mint looked up at Raine with wide, innocent eyes and explained everything with childish frankness.

Raine gazed at the pies in silence.

After dinner, he retired to his room early and lay down, but sleep refused to come. He tossed and turned until a faint cry reached him from next door, followed by the thud of something heavy striking the floor.

*Anna's house?*

Raine's eyes sharpened.

He immediately thought of the recent child disappearances.

Had the criminals targeted Anna?

Blood rushed to his head. He sprang out of bed, snatched a carpenter's hammer from the storage room, and slipped out of the house with the speed and silence of a shadowcat.

As he approached Anna's door, the indistinct voices inside became clear.

"This girl has some fight in her. Boss, once you're done, let me have a turn. She lives here alone, so relax. We've got the whole night. Heh."

"Damn, it's been a long time since I found one this young. Tonight's going to be fun."

"I'll give you this, Scarface—you picked a good target. She's skinny, but she's pretty," said another man, the one they called Boss. "After we're finished, we can sell her to the Brotherhood of the Wilds. They've raised their prices again, so she should fetch us a tidy sum."

"You can trust my scouting, Boss. I pushed my cart all over the south side of Goldflash Town these past two days."

"Mmff..."

Anna's muffled sobbing came from inside.

An ordinary person would never have made out the words from this distance, but Raine's body had improved greatly of late. He heard every syllable.

Clatter!

Crash!

The sounds grew louder as pottery fell and shattered.

Then came the unmistakable rip of linen.

Raine stood outside Anna's door, his heart pounding with urgency. He wanted to charge in and save her, but there were at least two men in the room.

If he rushed in and failed, both he and Anna would die.

The cold night wind washed over him and cooled his head.

Call for the Night Watchmen?

That would make too much noise, and there wasn't enough time. If the criminals realized they were cornered, they might kill Anna outright.

Ask his father for help?

He pictured his father's aged face and stooped back, then shook his head and discarded the idea.

He looked down at the carpenter's hammer. One end was pointed, the other rounded. His father used it to repair the family's worn furniture. It was old but carefully maintained.

Raine turned the pointed end upward, concealed the hammer inside his loose sleeve, and stepped up to the door.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Anna? Are you home?"

The room went silent.

Faint whispers followed, too quiet for anyone with ordinary hearing to catch.

"Boss, I'll take a look. Sounds like a brat. Want me to grab him too?"

"Scarface, get rid of him quickly. We still have our fun waiting. Don't make a scene."

"Damn it, this little bitch is stronger than she looks."

Heavy footsteps approached. Someone peered through the crack in the door, and after confirming that only a young boy stood outside, opened it with a creak.

An unfamiliar face appeared before Raine.

There was no scar on it, so Raine had no idea where the man's nickname had come from.

He had curly yellow hair and a tall, powerfully built frame that loomed over Raine. One hand remained on the hilt of the sword at his waist, and his expression was wary.

"What do you want, brat?"

His hard eyes swept over the short, thin boy. Once he was certain Raine posed no threat, his posture loosened.

"Who... who are you? I came to see Anna. Isn't this her house?"

Raine hunched his shoulders and put fear into his voice.

"I'm Anna's uncle. She and her aunt have left Goldflash Town, and the house belongs to me now. You don't need to come back."

Scarface forced out a smile and improvised the sort of lie an unsavory uncle might use to fool a child.

"Why did Anna leave so suddenly? She didn't even say goodbye."

Raine lowered his head and clenched his fists, playing the part of a boy whose first innocent romance had ended before it began.

At any other time, Scarface might have teased him. Tonight, he had more pressing entertainment waiting inside and no patience for a child.

"All right, get lost."

Scarface scratched at his crotch and waved him away.

"Oh... all right. But, Uncle, could you give Anna a small present for me?"

"Hm? Fine. Hand it over."

Scarface hesitated, then held out a hand without thinking much of it. He only wanted the bothersome brat gone.

The small iron hammer slid from Raine's sleeve into his palm. His fingers closed around it.

Keeping his face calm, Raine said, "I made something for Anna..."

Scarface bent slightly, curious to see what the boy had brought.

His vision blurred.

The child's hands vanished from sight.

In the next instant, Scarface's heart lurched and his scalp prickled. A violent rush of air struck his face, tossing his curly yellow hair.

A black speck appeared at the center of his vision and swelled with terrifying speed.

The pointed head of a small iron hammer.