Morning came without sleep. Stepan's face was a blank canvas as his clothes were dirty from digging the graves and the blood from his enemies. Joy of life was gone from those bright green eyes. Over six feet tall, Stepan seemed much smaller than he was. Sitting next to the graves made too many questions in his head. 

Stepan’s wife, Margo, had died five years ago and now boys joined their mother in the afterlife. He took comfort in the thought that her wife connects back to her children, but it felt like only the remnants of his heart were intact anymore. It was a torment of losing his family. He felt physical pain from all the fighting and digging, but it was nothing what was happening inside. His soul was burning and would keep on smoldering ashes until his last breath.

Paddy sat next to him and touched Stepan’s knee with his paw. The hound looked at Stepan and then laid its head on his lap. He stroked the hound’s head. Tears started falling and washing his cheeks. Stepan looked away and saw a couple of horses from the Dark Souls. He called those horses to come near him to check on the saddlebags and find any clues why they attacked him and his boys. 

Bags contained hunting knives, a leather coat, food, water, wine and letters with wax seals in place. There was a seal broken in one letter. 

Balmon,

This one is important. We need to take down any loose ends from the past and Stepan is one of those. Kill him. He knows too much. Remember, he used to be one of the Black Souls, so don’t hesitate. Just take him down when you have a chance. 

A. 

He read the paper twice, and still could not understand it. Stepan always knew his past would come back to haunt him, but wasn’t expecting that his old group would attack him. He had done a lot of things while he was riding among the Black Souls, but he crossed no one of his own. Why is he a loose end? It made no sense to him. He had always been with utmost respect with his riding companions, kept his friends alive, and never took more than his share. 

He opened two more letters and found they were for two other targets. Both his companions at Dark Souls, Mariko and Helda. Both women parted their ways from the black souls at the same time as Stepan and now they were targets as well. He needed to find them both and get some answers. His house had burned to the ground anyway, only the basement was still intact. 

He went to the basement, took out the old longsword Deliverance from the weapon rack and a pouch of Linarian gold coins stashed from the early days. Stepan headed then to a nearby river to wash off the blood and dirt from his body. Scratches on this abdomen weren't bleeding anymore, but were painful. He dressed in clothes found from the Black Souls saddlebags. It felt wrong to be dressed as a Black Soul again, but he didn't care. Dressed all in black, and pulling up the hood felt so wrong and right at the same time. Only thing that mattered was to find out why, who and where and hunt them down. 

Paddy started barking. There was a rider approaching. Stepan noticed it was the neighbor's young daughter. He pulled his hood down and raised his hand, and tried to stop her from coming any nearer. "Jiraie, don't come here now. There is nothing left here and this ain't something you need to see."  

She looked at the dead bodies and started panicking. "Where are Samu, Hector, and Kallen?" 

Stepan could offer nothing but blunt truth."They didn't make it. I buried them last night." 

Jiraie had her eyes fully open and tears started falling, as she had no words. Her whole body started trembling and Stepan had to catch her before she fell from the saddle. He walked her to what was left of the burned porch and sat next to her and let her cry. 

"I have to gather all those horses, and let's get you back home then." Paddy walked next to Jiraie. She kept crying, but the hound calmed her down. 

She was looking down and could not take eye contact with Stepan. "What happened here? Why did they die?"

Took a long time for Stepan to respond. He looked down and said, "I don't know, Jiraie." 

They spoke nothing on the way to Jiraie's home. Both wept in their own silence. Stepan for blaming himself for what happened, Jiraie for losing her friends. Paddie followed them, trailing the horses. 

Jiraie's mother, Inka, was standing on the porch when they arrived at the neighbor's house. Hearing what happened, the woman, who spent her younger years in Tolwaina evading monsters roaming the streets, didn't show any emotions. She acted fast from instinct.

"Get inside Jiraie." She did not look at Jiraie, but kept her gaze on Stepan while Jiraie walked past her inside the house. "You took a soul, didn't you, Stepan?"

He looked down and kept his voice silent. He grimaced before he admitted it to Inka "I... I did. Just... couldn't contain my rage. They took my family because of those men." 

"And the more souls you take, the closer you are to becoming a shade. You promised to end it. You promised to Margo."

"Don't bring her to this. Not now. My family is dead, no point in caring about my soul." 

"I mourn for the boys, but after I see Jiraie is asleep. I must stay strong for her, no matter how I feel. But you... You promised to my sister. I don't want to see a shade in my damn family."

Stepan looked Inka to her eyes, but said nothing. Inka saw blackness in his eyes and looked away. For a faint moment, it looked like her jaw was trembling, but she gathered herself and turned towards Stepan again. 

"You probably better go now. I know what you are going to do, and my husband has to stay out of it." 

Stepan steered into her eyes. "I'm not asking Kallan to join me. This is my path to take. And if I wanted someone to join this road from your house, you know it would not be him." She stared at him for a moment and looked away. "Go before he comes back from the field. I'm sorry Stepan, but you know me. I'm a heartless bitch."

"No, you are not. You just act like one. But I'll go. I'll leave those horses for you. More use here than for me on the road." Stepan turned away from Inka and walked to his horse. He got up to the saddle, raised his hood and turned back to Inka. "Take care of Jiraie. She saw too much there, and she needs all the help she can get." Inka stayed on the porch and said nothing, watching him and Paddy leave.

"I mourn the boys too, Stepan Komodo. Damn you and your promises," she whispered after he was gone in the distance.