Just a simple glance allowed Re’Kha to spot three different villages. And all of them were either lodged within the walls of the valley or were situated at the top of the hills. And, the village at the valley acted as a line of defence that prevented any beast from entering the valley.

And, many villages thrived using this layer of safety. Re’Kha glanced around, noticing the people of the village were able-bodied, carrying large weapons that seemed to have been a mixture of animal bones and metal.

The moment the trio arrived on the walls, a group of people arrived to welcome them immediately. Standing at their front was a man seemingly in his thirties, cupping his fists as he spoke, “My name’s Duh. I’m the head of this village.”

‘He’s young for a village head.’ Re’Gra thought as he cupped his fists in response, “We have come here to eradicate the problem with the beasts.”

“Please follow me,” The village head motioned towards his home, “We’ll talk more there.”

As the trio followed the group, they arrived before the village head’s home, a stone house with a large open space where the people of the village could assemble to hear any important announcements.

They entered the house, noticing it had a living room, a bedroom, a storage room where all the food of their village was stored, and an open kitchen that was placed next to a well. The well was wide enough and had enough depth to facilitate all of the village’s water needs.

The arrangements of the place were crude and simple but showed that they were getting by fairly well, a lot better when compared to the other villages.

There was a wooden table in the living room that was able to seat eight people. Re’Kha, Re’Gra, and Re’Dha sat on one side while the village head sat on the other. His wife quickly prepared some tea to serve them. It was something they had transacted with Burkurel City and had been saving up for occasions such as this.

Re’Kha noticed a couple of curious stares from the bedroom. They seemed to be the village head’s children. Judging by their statures, they seemed around 5-6 years in age. Re’Kha winked at them once, chuckling when they shied away and hid behind the walls.

“Usually, we won’t face more than a beast per month. And, most of the time, they would only come here to steal some of the prey we have caught or one of the animals we have reared. So, even though we faced losses, we were able to chase them away. And, if we were lucky, we had even been able to kill a couple of beasts.” The village head spoke after the trio finished drinking the tea.

He then sighed, “But recently, the number of beasts approaching our place has increased. After inquiring about them with Burkurel City, we were told they were called the Golpa. The Golpa are easily able to cross our walls and steal our prey. Recently, they even stole a couple of our children.”

He then shuddered, “But, there was something different about the Golpa that arrived a couple of days ago. Even though there were only two of them, we were unable to injure them in the least. Before, our arrows would pierce their bodies. But now, the arrows failed to pierce them. And, when we hacked their bodies with our axes, all we managed to do was inflict tiny wounds that didn’t bleed and healed immediately.”

Re’Kha made eye contact with her brothers, asking, “Have you see it after that?”

“One of our guards faced it yesterday and somehow managed to repel it. But we don’t know why, he fell unconscious after that and hasn’t woken up yet.” The village head shook his head, “We haven’t seen such a situation before.”

“Show me that guard?” Re’Kha said as she stood up.

The village head nodded as he guided them to a nearby house, one that was lodged in the side of the hill. It seemed they had dug into the hill, carved it out nicely, and filled the place with wood to create their homes.

There were many such houses. And, they created a large wooden platform that protruded from their caves, acting as the living room for every house. And, a trail of steps connected all the houses in a large network, from bottom to the top.

The house of the guard had been positioned relatively closer to the ground as they arrived in its living room, feeling like the place was cramped when four people entered at the same time.

As the trio of Harmonisers looked into the cave, they noticed that the cave was smaller than they had thought. It seemed to be meant only to sleep, as the cave was less than the height of Re’Kha. And, beds were arranged alongside. And finally placed at the very end seemed to be a storage of sorts.

The living room was the only place with enough height to stand. It was mostly an open house, with a door blocking the cave within. There seemed to be a cloth line beyond the living room, maintained at the height of its open walls, meant for the clothes to be hung.

They were meant for both the wet and dry clothes as the people of the place seemed to have a custom of not folding their clothes to be stored inside.

Currently, upon entry, the village head opened the door to head inside the cave portion, pointing at the guard that lay conscious on the bed. His wife seemed to be taking care of him. Judging by her sullen expression, she seemed to have been crying. As for their children, they were currently playing around the village, unaware of what happened to their father.

Re’Kha looked at the guard’s condition, noticing that he seemed to be healthy. Though, the moment she touched his hand, she noticed that his hand was faintly trembling. Frowning, she touched his Tikka jewellery, retracting it immediately upon noticing that it was burning.

Through her Water Qi perception, she noticed that she was hardly able to sense any Water Qi in his Tikka jewellery. And the blank space created by the other three elements seemed to have almost vanished.

Re’Kha frowned and touched her Tikka jewellery, noticing that it was slightly warmer.