Chapter 011:

The tiniest ray from the morning sun pierced Anton's closed eyes, waking him from a very long and pleasant sleep. His right arm felt a bit strange, a little numb. While his left was still at his side, his right arm was laid out along the pillow.

Oh please don't...

He knew that the other night Verona had, more than likely, slept on his arm.

When he could see and think properly a few moments later, he turned to his right.

Verona was where she was the other night, buried in the covers and mouth slightly agape. Her head was a lot closer to his arm than when she fell asleep, so she may have laid on his arm at some point.

He tried to move as quietly and delicately as he could but it was no use, she stirred at the slightest movement.

“Good-morning Anton. Good sleep?” She threw the covers off her top, sat up and rotated and stretched her arms. It appeared to be her morning ritual.

After she finished stretching, her face changed. Pain and discomfort swarmed her face. She brought her hand and touched the middle of her back. The moment she touched it she yelped in pain.

“You okay?” Anton asked, still trying to get himself out of bed.

“Not really. My back really, really hurts. All along it. Do you think I pulled a muscle the other day?”

Considering what she did, it was not impossible. During one of her fights she could have pulled a muscle.

He sat up himself and gestured for her to turn around. He placed his hand on her back, it slightly jumping as his fingers made contact, and chanted the prayer in his mind.

Mana flowed forth into Verona.

“Any better?” he asked as he removed his hands.

The moment her hands made contact she recoiled and hissed in pain.

“No!” she tried to touch her back again but it still appeared to be painful. “Why didn't your magic work?”

Anton shook his head.

“I have absolutely no idea.” He could not see anything through her clothes. “It should have worked.”

“Maybe there's a mark or something. Can you have a look?”

“Sure.”

Verona sat motionless for a moment before looking back at him.

“I can't see with your clothes still on.”

Verona glanced back at Anton, turning faintly red.

“Okay. Just...turn around please.”

He did as he was told. The sound of rustling and shuffling of clothes filled his ears. They continued for some time, his mind continuously throwing suggestive images and thoughts.

Keep focused. This isn't like that.

“I'm ready,” she said, her voice noticeably far lighter and more nervous than he had heard before.

When he turned around, he was almost stunned speechless.

She was almost completely naked. Thankfully she still faced away from him. The only things that she covered were her breasts, hugging them tightly with both arms and clasping her hands underneath her armpits. Her legs covered loosely by the nightgown.

What he could see was a well-toned back. It was quite impressive. As she breathed he could see the muscles stretch and contract underneath her skin, virtually no fat between the two. Her skin was quite light, even in the yellow morning sun. Though it, along with her face, was growing increasingly red.

Every so often she shuffled uncomfortably, adjusting her arms to stop her breasts from spilling out the sides. From Anton's perspective, it looked like she was failing. She was holding them far too tightly.

“So, where is it?” Anton asked, trying his best to not let his voice wobble.

Verona freed her right arm, quickly using her left hand to cover herself, but not before Anton caught a glimpse. They were as large as he thought.

She pointed just below her shoulder blades, along her spine.

He looked closely, his face under a foot away.

There was not a single blemish, cut, bruise or anything at all across her back. Nothing that looked like it could cause the immense pain of earlier.

Feeling a little nervous, he touched the area lightly with his hand. The skin felt unbelievably soft under his touch. It did feel a little warm, but when he moved it to the edge of her shoulder blades it felt the same. He felt the occasional quiver as he rubbed over the muscles, swearing that she moaned ever so slightly as he did so. The sound she made tickled something in his brain, he wanted to hear it again. However, he did not feel like getting slapped, beaten up or worse if she took it the wrong way. He removed his hand and took a deep breath to regain his composure.

“I can't see anything Ver. Does it still hurt?”

She nodded.

“A bit right now. When you touched it there wasn't anything. As long as I don't touch it, it won't be that bad.”

“That's good to know at least. We've got out first council meeting in a little bit, are you sure-”

“I'm going.” she snapped. “I'll be fine.”

Without saying anything she threw the covers off and stood up, giving Anton a clear look at her rear.

“Are you getting dressed yet?” she asked, turning to look at Anton, annoyance on her face.

“Yeah...”

Anton got off the bed but remembered his clothes were draped over the table, over on Verona's side. Just as he was about to say something, his clothes hit him in the back. She did not say anything.

He started to get dressed, from his old clothes to the peasant ones. Changing gave him a little time to think.

I don't think she's as fine as she says, probably just trying to push through the pain. Hopefully, that's why she seems a little off.

He was dressed relatively quickly, the sound of clothes rustling still coming from Verona.

“Are you done?” Anton asked hesitantly.

“Yeah. Just need to get my spear and armour.”

He turned and saw her rummaging through the small bag she brought, pulling out the large knife and putting it on her hip. She reached down, grabbing her amour and motioned for Anton to help her. The armour was quickly assembled. Verona took a few steps away and stretched her body, checking for problems. There appeared to be nothing wrong.

She grasped his hand as she walked up to him, and pulled down sharply. It was not enough to cause him any pain, but it did force him to bend over. In an instant, she had released his hand and brought both of hers onto his face.

For a horrific moment, he thought that she was about to stab him in the throat.

Instead, she jumped and hugged him tightly, nuzzling into his neck. He felt a light kiss planted on his neck as Verona let go.

Anton was stunned for a moment, before standing up straight again.

Verona turned a shade of red he had not seen before and appeared to be continuing to go deeper. She tried to hide her embarrassment by smiling and chuckling, but she said nothing to explain herself before turning and leaving the room, nearly skipping as she left the room.

He stood there in stunned silence. The kiss was still hot on his cheek. It had been some time since he had kissed, even if it was just on the cheek. Regardless, he would not find anything outstanding alone in his room.

That...that was different. I wonder where this will go. This is the most fun I've had in a long time.

---[]---

The council, as it was, had agreed to meet at the first light in the main hall. Verona was waiting outside one of the doors at the front, her face still retaining a tinge of redness. She waited until he was almost there before opening the door for him, saying nothing of what she had just done.

Inside the large room, a table had been placed in the centre, with five chairs placed evenly around it. Everyone else, except Jonathan and Zac, had already arrived and taken their seat. Avery was also there, standing behind Jeff, seemingly as his new offsider.

Their eyes locked for a moment, Avery's usual cold and distant demeanour disappeared for a moment. He gave a slight smile and a nod of respect, that Anton returned, before returning to his usual self.

Bertram finished talking with his son and motioned for Anton to take a seat.

“Anywhere in particular?” Anton asked.

Bertram shook his head.

“I don't think there's any need for that.”

Anton took the seat next to him. Verona followed, standing on the side opposite of Bertram. She looked a little uncomfortable, twisting her back as subtly as she could.

He turned to look at her.

She mouthed 'I'm fine', so as to not let the others know.

Anton lent back into the chair.

Bertram lent towards Anton. He felt Verona tense ever so slightly as Bertram got closer.

“I was surprised that you decided to go this way, getting everyone to work together.”

Perhaps this is a time to let slip some more 'recovered memories'.

“I remember something like this. A government...I just know that it worked, so long as everyone worked for the betterment of their fellow humans. It stopped working well after a time. I think we can do better than that though.”

“Let's hope we don't become like your memories. Any idea where you came from originally?”

“None yet.”

Bertram pursed his lips, nodded and lent back into his chair.

A few moments later the door opened again. Zac, Jonathan and his children came in.

“Sorry we're late.” Jonathan apologized. “Getting these two up so early is a bit of a challenge, and I don't want to leave them on their own. Especially after yesterday.”

Anton felt a bit sick in his stomach, knowing that Jeffrey and his cronies were still out there.

“That will be one of the points for discussion today,” Bertram said, motioning for both to take a seat.

Jonathan's kids sat on his lap. Both waved when they saw Anton, which he returned.

Bertram looked at each of them.

“Let us begin then.” He pulled out several sheets of paper.

“First item: Resources and weapons.”

Bertram handed a sheet to Jeff, who glanced at it, then passed it around. When it made it to Zac he passed it straight back to Bertram. Everyone here must have known that both of them cannot read. Verona seemed a bit miffed, though her face showed understanding.

“For the benefit of myself, is there anything that needs attention?”

“Provided that we don't have any more fire-storms, we should be good until spring,” Bertram answered.

“What are the winters like here? Just cold or does it snow?”

“Snow, lots snow. Almost up to your knees on a bad one. Still some time away, we're barely in Summer at the moment.”

Anton was thankful that he did not have the cold and whatever nasties came out during that time.

“Anything else?” Anton asked.

Jonathan raised his hand.

“If I am entirely honest, I have just about run out of coal for the forge. We used to get them from a town to the south....but they are not here anymore.”

“Can you use wood?” Anton asked, not knowing what could be used for fuel here.

“I guess we could,” Jonathan answered while scratching the back of his head, “I would need quite a bit and I do not want to have the trees around the village cut down.”

“There's that forest to the west.” Anton chimed in.

Zac grunted and shook his head.

“It would take nearly a day to get there and back. And we would need to use one of the carts to get enough wood and people to cut down enough tree and dry them. That would slow the stone collection too.”

“So, how much have you got?” Bertram asked.

“About a seven to eight days worth, if I use everything I can. Then I will be out.”

“I think we should continue as normal,” Anton said. “This whole thing will probably not last a week....seven days.”

Everyone went silent. This council must have given them a distraction from the reality pushing down from the north.

“I agree,” Bertram continued where Anton had finished, “I think, Jonathan, you should continue as normal. Also, use the scrap ore that we recovered as best you can.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Jonathan reached into his pocket and pulled out a long thin piece of grey rock wrapped tightly in some leaves. It turned out to be a crude pencil. He wrote something on a piece of paper and placed it back in front of him.

“That brings us to issue number 2; the Yellow Goblins. Our scouting failed, so-”

“Let's not provoke them just yet,” Anton said, interrupting Bertram. “We should keep an eye out along the first two ridges as an early warning.”

“When will we attack then?” Jeff asked. Before he looked fairly disinterested, but now he held a fire in his eyes.

“Our strength is our walls and defences, and that will only get stronger with time,” Anton answered, “Now that we know they can use arrows...we would be torn apart on the plains.”

Jeff did not look that happy.

“We aren't just going to leave them alone to do as they please. We will make them come to us on our terms. Let them break themselves upon us, then we can destroy where they live. A few flame pillars in the mountain will be a good start at getting back at them.” Anton answered. Somehow he knew that Verona was smiling.

“Yes, but when?” Jeff asked, leaning forward.

“If I may,” Jeff did not oppose Anton, “Not for at least a week. That way the walls should be far taller and stronger, and you'll have whipped the villagers into shape. And we'll have all the weapons we can get. How many soldiers do we have by the way?”

Jeff seemed satisfied and lent back. He looked at Avery, who lent and whispered something into his ear.

“After the attack, we've had more people talking about starting to join the defences. We've got almost five hundred people, which is pretty darn good. Another two hundred will train for defence only...just like Zac here.”

Jeff looked at Zac, trying to get a reaction out of him, but got nothing.

“I'm doing my bit,” Zac said, keeping his arms folded. “By the way, everything's fine with the wall, not that you asked. The people working there won't need to do training, they'll get enough exercise. We're also working on fixing the houses, but we're going to need new timber soon. Only so much we can do with reclaimed stuff.”

Everyone took that as the end of that issue. Bertram shuffled uncomfortably.

“Since that seems to be the end of that, onto issue 3...internal issues.”

Jeff and Bertram appeared to look uncomfortable while Jonathan and Zac wore a look of determination. Everyone knew what that meant.

I wonder what they would say if they knew I was almost killed by a cultist. Let's see how this pans out first.

Bertram was the first one to speak.

“We can't just kill him,” he said, “like some sort of animal.”

“Why not?” Zac replied, his voice cold and without emotion.

“He is hardly a good person,” Jonathan added, hugging his children close.

Hardly a good first reaction when his name is mentioned.

Jeff remained silent. He obviously was regretting his choice in friends.

At least Jeff served his purpose of finding out those closest to me feel about something so dramatic.

“I don't think we should do something like that.” Anton chimed in. The others, who looked as if they were about to start a fight, stopped and looked confusingly at him.

“The other day, when they tried to start something, most people looked like they just wanted them gone. We could go into the little enclave in the south, swords and spears raised, or with myself and burn it to the ground. I personally would like to do that...but...it would not make much of an impression with the people, sending the message that everything that opposes this council will be utterly destroyed. Which could work...but not for the long term.”

Everyone looked down in thought.

Verona leaned in, her breath hot in his ear.

“What about Cara then?” she whispered.

Anton shook his head and turned to her.

“Can't yet. Hopefully, it doesn't come up. But thanks for reminding me.”

She smiled sweetly and straightened back up, looking quite happy with herself.

“So what do we do then?” Bertram asked.

“Nothing yet. Keep them contained for now, which I presume is what we're currently doing?”

Jeff and Avery nodded.

“Around eight houses or so around his,” Avery explained, “Got a dozen people watching them, making sure they don't leave.”

“Good. We'll keep them there for now. Unless there's a better idea, other than charging in there and killing them all?”

None appeared to have any suggestions.

“Anything else?” Anton asked. “Wait, how much money did we end up with?”

Zac chuckled.

“We said we would have several gold coins, not so much. Probably worth a single gold coin if you haggled really well.”

“And, that's enough to buy?”

“A small mansion and a decent estate,” Bertram answered.

Anton nodded. At least finance would be secured for the future if they ever get the chance to spend it.

Bertram looked at the papers.

“I think that covers everything important. Just a few minor things left with accurate numbering.” Bertram turned and looked out one of the wooden windows. “Everyone's already getting to work outside. If that's everything, I call the first council meeting to an end.”

“Actually,” Anton interrupted, “We need to address the injured people. I can heal some, but not everyone and especially not if I'm gone.”

“Do you have an idea?” Jeff asked.

“Yes. It's just a thought at the moment. It'll give me something to do today.”

Anton did not go into further detail, everyone else taking this as the end to the meeting.

Bertram and everyone else began to get out of their chairs except Anton.

“Actually,” he began, “I need to ask Jonathan, and your kids, something before you go.”

Bertram, Jeff, Avery and Zac chatted as they left, leaving the five of them alone.

“What's the matter?” Jonathan asked, bringing his children closer to his chest. “Have they done something?”

“No. No. Nothing bad. It's actually about an issue that doesn't need to worry the others.”

Jonathan did not look convinced.

“It was when you were sick. Your kids brought baskets back full of things that looked like leaves and special looking herbs.”

Both children nodded, Jonathan frowned.

“I asked both of them to get help when they got those things,” Jonathan replied.

“What were they?”

“Just a few things that help with wounds; Spring-Blossom, White-leaf and Shimmer Soral. If they're ground up into a paste and put onto a wound, it heals them very quickly. Though, probably not what I had.”

Jonathan smiled and looked relieved at Anton. He brought his children closer again, both smiling that they knew their father was still alive.

“I take it's not too far?”

Jonathan shook his head.

“Most of them are in a little depression just past the bone-yards. They can grow anywhere that's relatively wet, but they are all there in one place. You could not miss it, everything else just looks like grass. Is this what you are going to do?”

“Yes. I think that myself and Verona if she wants to come, should be enough.”

He turned and looked at Verona, she seemed quite enthusiastic.

Anton moved to stand up. Jonathan raised his hand to object.

“That will send you pretty close to Jeffrey and his friends.” He seemed honestly worried. Verona seemed to tense slightly.

“We'll take the longer route. Just need to get a few baskets from Sybil.”

“Right. I am off to keep working then.”

They both left without saying anything else.

---[]---

Sybil had been more than happy to give Anton several large baskets, made from a reed like substance. She held back Verona, when they were leaving, for a few moments before allowing her to rejoin Anton. Neither spoke about it, but Verona still seemed quite happy.

As the site was to the south of Atros, past Jeffrey's hide-out and the bone-yard. It meant that they would have to go around by quite a far margin.

“Which way are we going then?” Verona asked, carrying two baskets in her spare hand.

“We'll head west until we hit the wall, and then head south. That should keep us far away from them.”

They began walking into the sun. Anton's shoes thumped loudly on the stone while Verona's bare feet barely made a sound. There had been no complaints about her lack of footwear but it was becoming an issue. He had no idea of what sort of thorns or burs may be just outside the village.

Verona still did not seem happy. As they passed the second row of houses outside of the main plaza she finally voiced her concerns.

“Is it alright to do nothing?” she asked, “I mean, they...she tried to kill you.”

“And she's dead. Besides, people like that will need to keep performing ever larger acts of violence to keep themselves together.”

“But, all that anger is at you.”

“True.” Anton looked down.

Verona frowned and pouted, not accepting the answer. He rubbed her head and pulled her close.

“I'm not that worried. You saved me last time and I know you can do it again.”

“I did say that, didn't I?” She stopped for a moment. “I still don't get what you're trying to do...but I'll follow you no matter what.”

The flush on her face grew, but neither said anything.

They walked in silence until they reached the western edge of Atros. A small part of the wall had extended this far. It would have done little to stop the Yellow Goblins in the last attack, only being a meter high in most places. Luckily it appeared that they left a gap along the established road to the west for a gate.

A few villagers were on duty, keeping a lookout while others were continuing to build the wall. When they saw Anton some performed some sort of salute while the rest nodded as their greeting. He returned a wave and continued south, following the curve of the wall as it continued to get smaller and smaller. Eventually, it ceased halfway around to the south.

Both walked straight towards the bone-yard pit.

Anton took glances towards the south of Atros as he walked past. He could see a few armed villagers blocking passageways to the centre of the village. A few people, one looking just like one of the instigators from the day before, were trying to accost them, but the armed villagers paid them no heed.

As they passed, someone noticed him. They pointed and talked, quickly gathered the attention of Jeffrey's cultists. Others emerged from the houses, men and women, to gawk and give rude gestures.

Anton waved back. Most of the villagers looking stumped before returning to their homes.

“Why did you do that?” Verona asked.

“Just stirring the pot,” Anton replied.

She looked confused at him but did not press it.

A minute later they passed the bone-yards. Most of the bodies had only just started to decompose, the acrid and nauseating smell burning his nose. He was thankful that the wind never blew north. It was a poignant reminder of what they were fighting.

“Any idea where those plants are?” Verona asked, trying to suppress a gag.

Anton scanned the south, but everything looked like the depressions, just without the bodies.

I should have asked for a description. One was called 'White-leaf', so it should have white leaves. Hopefully.

“Let's keep heading south. The smell here is terrible.” Anton trying to suppress his gag reflexes.

Verona nodded in agreement and started walking, Anton following.

She started to walk quickly, scampering between depressions checking for the plants, but there only seemed to be grass and things that looked like poisonous bushes.

He could not help but notice that she walked with a slight gait, more pronounced when she slowed down.

“Is your back still hurting?”

“Only when I touch it.” She stopped and stretched her back, swinging her arms left and right. “It's not too bad when my clothes rub against it.”

Anton still wanted to know what was causing the pain. He hoped that it may have just been a pinched nerve during her sleep, but the fact that the prayer power did not work did not make him feel confident about her future. Already, she was an important person to him.

“Hang on!” Verona exclaimed, “I think I've found it.”

She was pointing to a depression in the immediate distance, a small roughly star-shaped sunken area with darker coloured grass. Small white leaves decorated the edge.

“Fantastic work,” Anton said as they both jogged to the edge.

In the depression, near the bottom, were two plants that Anton hoped were the ones they were looking for.

“Those small ones,” began Verona, “With the pink berries are the Spring-Blossoms and those ones with the almost see through leave are Shimmer Soral.”

“How do you know that?” Anton asked. Verona looked quite proud with herself.

“I told you that I would get smarter,” Verona replied as she bent down and started to pick the White-leaf.

Instead of just ripping them out of the ground she grabbed the knife from her hip and cut just beneath the leaf, leaving the stem intact.

“Make sure you don't get the sap from any of the Spring-Blossom on your hand. Apparently, it burns for some time.”

Anton knelt down, using his hands as best he could and began to remove the leaves.

---[]---

The sun was halfway into the sky, probably about 10 o'clock back on Earth, when they had finally finished. The baskets were overflowing with leaves of all types. They had travelled to a number of depressions before they were full, travelling quite a fair distance further south.

Anton was still quite impressed with Verona. He suspected that she got the information from Sybil, he had not thought to do that. She was trying and exceeding on what she had said the other day about becoming stronger and smarter.

After nearly an hour they were both ready to go home, judging by the way the sweat was beginning to drip off their faces.

Verona hurried out of the depression and waited for Anton to join her.

“So what do you want to do now?” she asked.

Honestly? Get out of this sun, have a cold shower and having some of that liquid fire that Zac drinks.

“Let's just go home for now. Once we get this back, I think that we should try and start to learn how to read and write.”

She squirmed as she looked over towards the village.

“I'll be there too.” Anton teasingly said as he bumped her shoulders.

He lent around to see her face, but she turned away and pouted. It did not last long.

“Alright,” resignation clear in her voice and face. Her face softened to a smile. “The other-”

She stopped mid-sentence. A low groan carried through the air and the ground, emanating from behind them.

Verona snapped her head backwards, dropping the basket onto the ground and grasping her spear with both hands. Anton turned as quickly as he could to find the source.

Out of one of the depressions, almost one hundred meters away, something grey moved. They both glanced at each other as the grey mass continued to grow.

The daylight's rays shone brilliantly against it, revealing it to be thick grey fur. A giant paw erupted from the mass, then another, dragging its mass out into the open.

Anton was shocked by what he saw, and after glancing again at Verona, so was she.

The mass of grey fur, now half the size of an elephant, had a face and body, just like a giant rabbit. Instead of two long teeth and a small twitching nose, this monster had a large snorting bull-like nose with large protruding teeth, that were more appropriate in a tiger. Strangely, the creature had retained its large ears. They hung either side of its head, large torn chunks of missing from not only the ears but the rest of the body.

It was a monster from a bizarre and horrific nightmare.

Slowly the creature moved closer, keeping its head low and using its powerful hind legs to lurch forward.

“What in the name of the gods is that?” Verona hissed at Anton, slowly retreating.

Anton leant down and picked up both baskets that Verona dropped, keeping an eye on the approaching monster. It had already moved over twenty meters in the short time.

“I think that's a Thumper, maybe. A male thumper, at that?”

Verona looked at him quizzically. He motioned with his head towards the male Thumper. Her face went bright red as she figured out what he meant.

She started backing up faster.

“So what does it want?” an element of fear in her voice.

“Judging by how big and scarred it is, it's probably the alpha male of this area. And we're in its territory.”

“So, run?”

“I honestly have no idea.”

The Alpha Thumper stopped with thirty meters between them. From this distance, the drool, and even mist from its breath could be seen with horrifying detail. Its blue eyes began darting between the two.

We're leaving. Just let us go and there'll be nothing to worry about.

Anton grabbed the back of Verona's shirt and pulled harder. He wanted to make it clear they were leaving.

Its head lowered even further, pulling its large body into its powerful hind legs.

Well, that didn't work.

“Verona, get ready!” Anton yelled, preparing five lightning bombs.

The Alpha Thumper leapt with a bestial fury. Claw erupted from its front paws, each as long as a forearm.

He flung the lightning bombs straight into the Alpha Thumper's face in mid-leap. All hit the face, obscuring the beast in a cloud of blinding light.

The beast fumbled in the air, landing ten meters away.

Verona took a step forward but Anton grabbed her shoulder. It was not dead yet.

The thumper brought a paw and clawed at its face, removing huge chunks of burned fur. Its face was otherwise undamaged.

That many should have blown it apart...Are some things in this world resistant to magic?

After another swipe, the burned flesh had been removed revealing a few places where its skull showed through. It snarled, the whites of the blue eyes turning red in anger.

Verona stood in-front of Anton as he prepared a dozen fireballs. He hoped that the fur would catch fire.

The Alpha Thumper lent back, readying itself to leap again. Anton pushed the fireballs as hard as he could, but they travelled slower than the lightning bombs, colliding with the left side of the beast's neck in mid-jump. The fiery explosion licked around its neck and rapidly spread along its body.

It screamed in pain, digging its feet into the ground as it landed a few meters away, and rolled across the ground to try and put the fire out. The fire was burned through its fur and into its flesh. With each spin the fire died out, little by little.

Anton formed another dozen fire-balls and flung them at the struggling creature. As each connected with its left side it roared in pain. It tried to leap away but could not, it's left side rendered useless by the fire. After the eighth, it no longer tried to escape, now just whimpering and trying to cover its burning side.

Verona quickly advanced on the struggling creature, spear raised over her head.

The Alpha Thumper looked at her, its rage replaced by fear. Its entire left side was charred and useless. A few patches of fur were still burning, but it did not seem to care.

With a warrior's cry, Verona jumped and brought the spear into the back of its neck. It barely made a whimper as the spear punctured its skin, spine and throat. A paw tried to swipe at her, three claws slicing her cheek from back to front. She said nothing as she stood on its head, twisting the spear and opening the wound.

After a final weak and blood filled cough, the monster quivered and died.

Verona stood upon its head for some time, not worrying about the blood was pouring down her face. She ripped the spear from the Alpha Thumper's neck and hopped down next to him.

“Why did the lightning not work?” she asked, using a spare hand to cover her wound.

“Maybe it has some sort of resistance to magic, or lightning at least,” Anton replied as he placed his hand over her wounded face. “I'll just patch that up.”

The mana flowed through him and into Verona. He could feel the wound close underneath his hand. Just like in the morning, it felt like every other time, perhaps requiring a bit more than he expected.

When he removed his hand she brought her own up and touched her face. She smiled, seemingly glad that she would not have a massive scar.

“Does your back still hurt?”

She nodded furiously.

“Quite allot right now, probably like when I first touched it.”

Verona poked the head of the Alpha Thumper with the point of her spear.

“Does your magic no longer work?”

She wore her usual grin. He knew she was teasing but there was still some truth to it.

“Can you hand me your knife?”

He grabbed the knife and knelt down in front of its face. The lightning bombs that would have blown apart a Yellow Goblin made some deep injuries to its face, some deep enough to tear apart the muscles and expose the bone, but not damage or break it. The fire had followed the same pattern, causing some damage but not enough to kill it instantly.

Using the knife, he carved into damaged the flesh around the neck. It was stronger than the Yellow Goblin's but not considerably more so. The flesh looked normal as well.

Verona walked back and began to put the leaves into the baskets.

Just as was about to lose interest, something caught his eye as he continued to carve into the flesh, It was not noticeable in the damaged sections, but he could see thin purple layers within the muscle. There were only three, evenly spread throughout the flesh and easily damaged.

Generating a small flame in his hand, he tried to burn it. The regular flesh withered and roasted easily but this did not. It slowly deformed, but nowhere as quickly.

A small strand hung of an end of the chunk of flesh. It tore like wet paper when he tried to get grab some with his hands. Eventually, he settled on carving out a large chunk of flesh, about the size of his fist, to take back for study. The blood was warm and oozed onto his hand.

Verona had finished collecting the materials and looked quite bemused by Anton's actions.

“You got something?”

He stood up and showed Verona the thin purple layers.

“And they are?”

“Something that seems to slow and inhibit my magic. It doesn't seem to stop it and is extremely fragile.” He proved this by damaging the flesh by brushing against it.

She still looked confused.

“Maybe we can put this under a shield for magic armour.”

Verona looked down in thought, quickly looking up and smiling. She seemed to understand.

“It's just...”Anton looked back at the dead creature, “Why would it need this. It's not something you just have for no good reason.”

He looked out past the Alpha thumper. There were more depressions, some looking like they may hold more Thumpers. Beyond that was an open grassland with some small shrubs, merging with forest wall that ran along the western side of Atros and beyond sight to the south.

“We should probably go and see if we can preserve this somehow. I don't want to come back here any-time soon. How those kids made it here and back is a mystery.”

He grabbed some of the larger leaves still on the ground and wrapped the flesh in it as best he could. They both turned and started to walk back to the village.

“Maybe they don't like it when you stay too long. We were there for some time...and we collected quite a lot of leaves.”

Verona's explanation seemed a good guess to Anton. He nodded in agreement, both smiling at each other.

---[]---

When they made it back to the main plaza, Sybil was waiting outside the main hall with several of the older women. The moment that Verona came into view, she stopped talking and ran towards them both as quickly as she could.

“Verona dear, what happened to you?” she asked, her sweet older voice so much more pleasant than the one from the other day.

Verona looked briefly at Anton, before looking over herself. Her hand made contact with the collar of her shirt, the same side as the gash on her cheek. The blood had dried but it was still looked somewhat fresh. More importantly, she did not have the blood when she left.

“Oh, this? We...had an incident with a massive Thumper. Tried to kill us so...” Verona left it at that.

“Those creatures are usually so peaceful,” Sybil looked towards Anton and frowned, “What did you do to make it angry?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “We took on a massive male. I think we were in its territory for far too long. I take it that the young and females are the flighty ones?”

Sybil nodded.

“How long did you stay there?” One of the other women asked.

“Pretty much as long as we were gone, apart from getting there and back.”

“That would do it. Nasty teeth.” The other woman continued.

Anton agreed. Sybil and the other women did not look to happy but did not press further.

Their attention turned to the baskets.

“Oh, you got them,” Sybil said excitedly, inspecting the baskets. “All three. Thank-you, both of you. I'll get these to the sick.”

“And you need to get a change of clothes.” She pointed at Verona then at Anton. “And you need to look after her better.”

“I am,” Anton replied, somewhat insulted. He softened his face before speaking again. “Actually, we could use some help from you.”

Sybil raised an eyebrow but remained quiet.

“I need to learn how to read and write in this world, and so does this one.” Anton nudged Verona. She looked away in embarrassment.

“I can help with that, but let's get these to the people who need it first. I'll show you how to make these healing salves. Always good to know how to make this stuff, can't all have magic.”

Sybil and the other woman grabbed the baskets and headed over to one of the large barns. The barn door was open and he could see villagers lying inside. They were covered in bandages and some still had bloody wounds.

Anton raised the leafy packet.

“Let me just put this in the room for now. I want to have a look at it properly later.”

Verona nodded and followed Sybil, Anton hurrying to join both of them.

---[]---

Meanwhile, in the south of Atros, Jeffrey was in the middle in welcoming his new followers. The previous night he just got them settled in. Now, he wanted to properly greet them. Out of the forty plus people that had lost someone, only fifteen had decided to listen to him.

Nonetheless, he was glad.

More people are seeing the correct path, the one where I will save them from this disaster. About time, still not enough.

All of those that would listen, almost forty of his followers, had gathered in his house. It was a tight squeeze, but they managed. Jeffrey stood upon a chair, to elevate him in stature and authority to those around him and began again.

“I cannot express how...deeply moved I am by your pain. Your loss. Your suffering. All because of one twisted and vile man...who used your lost ones as a human shield.”

He paused for a moment, letting the imagery sink in.

“But, through such a tragic time, we have come together. Together, against a man that puts those that you love in front of him, like a shield of bodies. Here, today, we will begin to take back our homes and our fellow people from the hands of that devious mage and those that follow him. For those we have lost!”

A cheer erupted throughout the crowd.

“How?” asked a tall and willowy woman.

“He's a mage, and nearly everyone else follows his word.”

You aren't one of mine...I'll be sure to 'thank' you later. You look familiar though...

Jeffrey shook his hands.

“They may 'follow' him, but only because of his 'ability' to twist their minds.”

She and others looked confused.

“You've seen it, haven't you. Those that you know were strong of heart and mind, ones that would not bow to anyone, all of a sudden taking his orders and doing everything he beckons. Do you think that's natural? Do you think that's right?!”

“No!” cried the woman, as did several others.

“I have a plan,” Jeffrey triumphantly proclaimed, throwing both hands into the air and touching the wooden roof.

“What we need to do, is turn everyone against him, so he stands alone. So much so that not even his mind tricks can save him. Then we can get this village back under control.”

“And how do we do that?” another person asked.

“Hunger,” Jeffrey said triumphantly. “Not even the best tricks will work on someone that's starving. That's how we take his little kingdom away from him.”

Everyone looked like they agreed with him. The woman raised her hand.

“But...they've got people watching us all time. And, I know that there are quite a number of guards...all that follow that mage.”

Jeffrey stepped down and approached the woman, lightly grabbing her arms.

“Who did you lose?”

Tears welled in her eyes.

“My sister Cara, during the attack. I asked the guards about her but they say she must be dead. No one has seen anything.”

She could barely hold back her tears. He embraced her, her body quivering before exploding in tears.

You people are so easy...

“It's okay,” he said, lightly stroking her back. “They will pay for your pain.”

He turned to face the others.

“But tonight, we should celebrate. Get ready to do what we need to do tomorrow.”

A few of his original followers brought out mugs of alcohol, quickly handing them out.

He was about to join in when someone tapped him on the shoulder. It was the young man that worked with him at the beginning.

I should probably try to learn your name.

“Forgive me,” Jeffrey tried with as much humility as he could muster, “What was your name again?”

“Charles.” the man replied. “I have more information on what Anton has been up to.”

Jeffrey looked around. The people appeared to be enjoying the drink, even the woman with the sister. They quickly started chatting, some laughing.

“They look they'll be able to take care of themselves for now. Let's take this in the other room.”

Both entered a small storage room and closed the door.

“What have you got to report, especially about my little 'concern'.”

Charles scratched his arm uncomfortably. He was a small man, at least compared to Jeffrey.

He detailed everything that he knew about Verona's actions and movements.

As he continued explaining, Jeffrey's face lost its colour. It turned completely pale when he described Anton and Verona walking back together from the south. He had seen them walking together, chatting and laughing.

Jeffrey lost it.

“Why?!” he screamed over and over while smashing everything he could.

“Why does she listen to him? I even got those three idiots to point out the truth...and she did nothing.”

“Why didn't you do it?” Charles asked.

Jeffrey froze.

“I...I would have...but going against a mage in a crowd full of his crazed supporters isn't going to keep me alive...or get what I need to get done.”

“I thought they were being controlled somehow?”

Jeffrey grabbed Charles by the shoulder and throat.

“Don't ever question me.” He growled at Charles.

Charles whimpered and nodded furiously.

“Good.” Jeffrey released his grip. “Anything else?”

“No.”

“Then go out there and have a drink.”

“I think I'll just get some sleep if it's all the same to you.”

Charles pushed past Jeffrey and dived through the revelling crowd. Most appeared to be quite drunk and some appeared to be getting very friendly.

I should probably get out there myself. It was a pity that...what was her name...Cara failed. Oh well, there's that new woman.

He found her alone in a corner, slowly sipping on the drink. Her eyes seemed misty, mouth slightly agape and her face was starting to go red.

Perfect. Putting in a little bit of River-Rush certainly did the trick. Time to introduce her to myself personally.

As he made his way to her, he knew this would be a good day.

---[]---

Night had descended over Atros. Activity on both fronts had been extremely quiet. That had allowed Anton and Verona to focus on their studies.

Sybil had finished teaching Anton and Verona as much as she could for one night. She had left them alone after spending most of the afternoon and night teaching both of them.

Preparing the salves was incredibly easy, basically grinding the leaves into a paste and then applying it to the wound. While it did not heal like the prayer magic, after a few hours there was a noticeable improvement. Anton was quite impressed.

Later on, she started to teach them the written language. It seemed to be fairly simple, almost identical structurally the same to English. Anton had been told to try reading while helping Verona as best he could. She was learning very quickly, already having learned a few letters. She did not seem to like doing it though.

Anton closed the book he was reading. From what he could tell it was some sort of children’s fairy-tale, involving a prince and some sort of heroic quest. It seemed like the usual sort of inspiring tale, though Anton was more impressed that he could understand some of it. He laid on the bed while Verona sat on the table.

The parcel of flesh remained on the table a foot away from her. The leaves had leaked a little blood. Anton had wrapped it up again with some spare rags. His plan was to try prying it apart tomorrow when he had more energy and attention.

Verona did not seem to mind, though she fidgeted in her chair.

“Mmmm!”

She was still trying hard to learn how to read.

“This is so hard!”

“You aren't going to learn it in a day.” Anton reminded her.

She turned and looked angrily at him.

“You did...so why can't I.”

The temptation to take a jab at her was immense, but Anton held it back.

“I can already read and write, just not in this language.”

She still looked annoyed. “Well, I can read numbers at least. They make sense.”

She closed the book and stood up and stretched, letting out a sigh of relief when she was done. Without saying anything she walked over to her side of the bed and began to remove her villager clothes.

“You could at least say something.” Anton blurted out as he turned away.

“I'm tired.” Verona stifling a yawn, “Especially after today. Fighting that thumper took it out of me.”

“You only got in one hit.”

“And I killed it.”

“Did fighting really take it out of you?” Anton asked sincerely.

There was a silence for a moment.

“Okay, I'm done.”

Anton turned to look at her, she was wearing the same clothes that she slept in last night. She flopped into the bed next to him, the bed creaking quite loudly.

“It did,” Verona continued, looking at him sincerely, “The other day, when the Yellow Goblins attacked, I felt fine for the whole day. I didn't want to say anything, but even walking to get those herbs took it out of me.”

She opened up and wriggled underneath the skin cover, turning towards him. “Hopefully I'll be better in the morning.”

A small hopeful smile graced her face. Right now she looked incredibly vulnerable, in all manner of the word.

He placed his hand on her shoulder and poured as much prayer magic as he could.

This time he tried his best to feel through the mana connection. Everything felt as it should, at least that what the connection was telling him. He searched through her body, checking every part he could find. In her back, just below her shoulder blades, he felt something. It felt odd, different from anything else he felt before, like a single grain of sand. Just as he reached out to grab it, it disappeared, melting back into the rest of her body. No matter how much he searched for it he could not find it again.

His mana started to run out, so he withdrew his hand.

“Oh, that was interesting,” Verona said smugly.

“You could feel it?” he asked gingerly.

“Yeah, it was really strange,” she smirked and nuzzled into the pillow, “It wasn't unpleasant, though.”

“Well, I couldn't find anything still. Your back still hurting?”

She moved about, nodding as she winced in pain.

“Let's hope it's better in the morning.”

He closed the book he was trying to read, placing it on the floor and got underneath the covers himself.

“Goodnight Verona.”

“Goodnight.” came a sleepy reply.

By the time Anton turned his head to look at her, she was already asleep. He turned and looked up at the ceiling.

I don't like the feeling of that thing. I just hope it's nothing bad.