The river at the bottom of the ravine continued to surge onward, the sound of rushing water echoing through the narrow valley. On the rain-soaked riverbank, flickering nterns bobbed through the dark.

  Four men were making their way through the night. Three walked at the front, cd in coarse, rain-drenched work clothes, each in their te twenties or early thirties. One hand held a gas ntern, the other a bde or club. All of them were burly, their sleeves rolled up to reveal tattoos winding along their arms.

  Trailing behind them was a man dressed far more formally. He wore a wine-red suit jacket over a dark vest and scks, shielding himself from the rain with a bck umbrel. His face was pale and narrow, his eyes sunken, with a hooked nose and short brown hair slicked down by the mist. A chill flickered behind his cold gaze.

  Fnking him on both sides were two bizarre hunting dogs. They were hairless, earless, with dark red skin stretched tight over gaunt frames. Each one stood almost to the man's knee, but their skeletal, malformed bodies made them seem anything but natural. They looked more like something dragged from a nightmare than beasts of the earth.

  This man was Edrick, better known by the people of nearby Vulcan Town as Mad Dog Ed—a name whispered more than spoken.

  He wasn’t just a bandit. No, he was the gang lord of the entire region, a ruthless and cunning tyrant who ruled the town like a kingpin. None dared oppose him. Thanks to the two unnatural beasts always by his side, Edrick had cwed his way to the top of the underworld. No one knew where the dogs had come from, only that they fought like monsters and refused to die, no matter how grievous the wounds they suffered.

  Under normal circumstances, Edrick would never have gotten involved in something as crude as ambushing a trade caravan. But this time was… different.

  There was something in that caravan he needed. Something important.

  “Boss! We see something! Lights up ahead, looks like they crashed!”

  One of the men at the front called back after scanning ahead. Edrick gave a slow, measured nod, then muttered coldly under his breath:

  “Keep moving. Let’s hope the package didn’t get swept into the river…”

  The group pressed on. Rain fell in steady sheets as their nterns danced through the darkness. Before long, they arrived at the wreckage site.

  Corpses of horses and humans alike were strewn across the bank, the shattered remains of wagons lying like driftwood. It was their doing—their ambush that had sent the convoy plunging into the ravine.

  Edrick’s gaze swept across the scene, then his lips curled slightly as he issued his order.

  “Fan out. Find the girl. White hair, around thirteen. Dead or alive—preferably alive.”

  “Yes, Boss!”

  His men immediately spread out, checking bodies and overturned wagons. Meanwhile, Edrick remained in pce beneath his umbrel, his two monstrous hounds panting quietly at his sides, their glowing eyes scanning the shadows.

  The gangsters worked quickly—though not without ulterior motives. As they moved through the wreckage, they greedily pocketed valuables from the corpses, stripping rings, snatching coins, looting whatever they could. But their greed was short-lived.

  “Forget the loot!” Edrick’s voice cracked like a whip. “Find the girl! Unless you want to be fed to the dogs tonight!”

  That was enough. The men flinched, some gncing back with resentment—until their eyes met the inhuman gazes of Edrick’s hounds. Whatever thoughts they’d had vanished in an instant.

  Everyone in the gang knew one thing: Edrick’s dogs couldn’t be resisted. They weren’t animals. They were demons.

  Chilled, the men returned to their task. Gradually, two of them reached the farthest overturned wagon. It had come to rest precariously on the sloped riverbank, its fall halted only by a taut reins still anchored to a dead horse. That horse had become wedged between two rocks, barely preventing the wagon from slipping into the current.

  The two gangsters climbed onto the wreck, peering inside—and their eyes gleamed with greed.

  Beneath the seats y a trove of coin and glittering jewelry. Far more than expected.

  One of them cast a quick gnce over his shoulder, spotting Edrick far back in the distance. Seeing that he wasn’t looking, they exchanged nods and reached in, trying to snatch the treasure for themselves. But the space was too tight—the stash just out of reach.

  Frustrated, the two began crawling into the cramped wagon interior, shoving each other in a race to grab the goods.

  Neither noticed the pair of crimson eyes watching them from just beyond the corpse of the horse.

  The white-haired girl waited, expression calm. Her breathing steady.

  The trap was set.

  She silently drew the dagger she had picked up earlier, rain trickling down her pale skin. Then, with a quick motion, she sshed downward—straight through the reins holding the wagon in pce.

  The rope had already been partially cut in advance. Now, with the final stroke—

  Snap

  “Aagh!!”

  The scream echoed out just as the wagon tipped, its weight suddenly freed.

  The wagon, now freed from its reins, slid down the slick riverbank and plunged into the churning waters below. The two gangsters still scrambling inside had no time to react. With a panicked scream, they were dragged into the river along with the wagon—and the glittering treasure Dorothy had pced inside as bait.

  Men die for wealth. There's no way a bunch of thugs wouldn’t be tempted by that much money.

  “Baker! Wood!”

  The desperate cries from the drowning gangsters drew the attention of the others. One of them dashed to the riverbank, hoping to rescue his comrades—but that was exactly the moment Dorothy had been waiting for.

  “Hey!”

  Without hesitation, she charged out from cover, sprinting up behind the unsuspecting thug and smming her shoulder into his back with all her strength. She wasn’t fully grown yet, but the force of an unguarded strike was enough to unbance a man.

  “Aagh!”

  Another scream rang out as the gangster toppled over, crashing headfirst into the river. The current quickly swept him away to join the others. Dorothy stumbled, barely managing to stay upright herself.

  ‘Three down... Now for the rest…’

  She struggled to suppress the frantic pounding in her chest and turned her eyes toward the distance. There, on the riverbank, stood Edrick—his face twisted in rage and disbelief at the sudden turn of events.

  “Where did this damn brat come from— How dare—”

  Snarling, Edrick reached for the revolver at his waist and raised it toward the girl less than ten meters away. But just as his finger tensed on the trigger, the flickering mplight caught her features.

  “A white-haired girl…”

  He froze. The description matched.

  He couldn’t risk killing her now.

  Instead, he barked an order:

  “Restrain her! Don’t kill her—just bring her down!”

  With a feral growl, the two monstrous hounds lunged forward, baring jagged teeth as they charged through the rain. Their deformed bodies blurred into motion, water spshing beneath their feet as they closed the distance with terrifying speed.

  But Dorothy didn’t run.

  She stood still, back straight, eyes locked on the oncoming beasts.

  Drawing in a breath, she spoke—not in a scream, but in a low, resonant tone that cut through the storm like a drumbeat of war:

  “—Fus—”

  At that moment, the word erupted from her lips like a divine command.

  The air trembled. The rain halted in midair. A shockwave bsted outward from her small frame, warping the very fabric of sound around her. The ancient sylble carried the weight of a thousand battles and the fury of dragonfire.

  The force hit the charging hounds like a battering ram. Both creatures were flung through the air, yelping as they crashed into the mud.

  Even Edrick, standing further back, was caught in the bst. The shockwave knocked him off his feet, sending him sprawling into the dirt. His revolver flew from his hand, skidding across the ground.

  Seizing her chance, Dorothy lunged forward and snatched the fallen weapon. She gripped it tightly in both hands, her arms trembling as she pointed the barrel at the struggling gang boss.

  Edrick looked up—and found himself staring into the mouth of a gun.

  Panic flickered in his cold eyes. The predator was now prey.

  “Wait! I-I didn’t—”

  Bang!

  She didn’t let him finish.

  The cylinder turned, the hammer fell, and fire burst from the muzzle. The bullet tore through the air and punched into Edrick’s chest at point-bnk range.

  His eyes widened.

  Then he fell—silent, still, dead.

  The mighty gang lord of Vulcan Town had met his end in a way he never would’ve imagined: brought down by a girl he underestimated.

  “Hah… hah…”

  Dorothy colpsed to the ground, the recoil knocking her backward. She sat there, gasping, the gun still shaking in her hands. Her whole body trembled—not from cold, but from what she had just done.

  Her first shot.

  Her first kill.

  No matter the circumstances, no one could adapt to that instantly.

  ‘He and his men killed everyone in that caravan… They killed Dorothy… He deserved to die…’

  She tried to comfort herself with those thoughts as she forced her shaking legs to stand. One hand reached for her throat, recalling the strange, ancient word that had just erupted from her mouth like thunder.

  That word…

  She knew exactly what it was.

  It was Thu’um—the Dragon Shout. A mystical power from a game she had once pyed long ago, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. A tongue of power, spoken only by dragons, gods, and a chosen few.

  The shout she had just used was the first word of the iconic Unrelenting Force: "Fus", meaning “Force.”

  A single sylble—yet its power had scattered monsters and thrown a grown man off his feet.

  In the world of Skyrim, such nguage was the domain of dragons. Mortal use required immense training—or a rare gift, the blood of dragons themselves.

  To speak even one word of it demanded a great price.

  And now Dorothy understood.

  That price… was knowledge for knowledge.

  Exchange the knowledge of this world… for the knowledge of another.

  Zaztra_Vandesh