When they reached the town of Shroudmoor three days later, they were already too late.

“Aldiel above,” Bellara gasped.

The town was in utter disarray. Broken glass lay strewn about the cobblestone streets from shattered windows. Roofs had holes torn through them. Somewhere nearby, a fire burned or had burned—smoke was in the air. Worst of all were the human casualties of this most recent attack; some of them hobbled along, clutching their injuries, while others lay groaning in fetal positions in the street or in open doorways. It was nothing short of a warzone.

“You said the town was attracting a few imps, right?” Kendrick wondered aloud. “This is what a few imps can do?”

“This was far more than a few,” said Bellara.

“Sir, what happened?” Sahni asked one of the fallen townspeople.

He lifted his head weakly, dried blood caked around his nostrils and the corners of his lips. “I-Imp attack,” he croaked. “Imps... Yesterday... Dozens of ‘em, maybe hundreds... I got bit, but there’s others who need more help than me.” Then he added, “Are you a witch, Miss?”

Sahni crouched down next to him, examining a nasty gouge on his left arm. “Bhisalva,” she whispered, and she held her hand over his wound, drawing it up and down the length of his forearm, repeating the word every few moments. A warm light passed from the palm of her hand into the negative space of his wound and in time, the edges of the gash drew together and flesh grew in its place.

“You’re Overworld sent, my dear,” the man said with a grateful smile. He rubbed his newly healed arm. “Shroudmoor’s witch is doing all she can to heal us, but we’re a village of nigh a thousand. She’s been working nonstop without sleep. She’s only one witch.”

“Say no more,” Sahni consoled him. “I’m here to help. You try to rest and get your aura back. We’ll take care of it from here.”

The man smiled so wide that it creased the edges of his eyes. “Aldiel bless you.”

From there, the trio split up to allocate their help as they went along. Bellara explained to Kendrick that those who were bitten needed healing before anyone else, as any aura-related injury could prove fatal faster than anything else. The two of them guided the non-bitten victims back to their homes, got them water or a pillow to lay their heads down, or just consoled them after what they’d experienced. Sahni went along identifying those with imp bites and healing those wounds as quickly as she could before moving on to the next one.

“Is this our fault?” Kendrick asked. “For not being here sooner?” He thought back to their excursion to the bed and breakfast before embarking on the trip to Shroudmoor.

“Sahni and I hadn’t slept for two nights straight,” Bellara answered defensively. “It was your first day here and you hadn’t slept all night, either. You were up slaying shades. We may have magic, but we’re still only human. One, two, three!” The two of them each took up an underarm and helped a burly man back to his feet. He was covered with superficial cuts from broken glass and had a bruise on his cheek.

“I got it from here, thanks,” the man told them, limping down the street.

Bellara dusted off her hands. “My point is, we can’t solve it all overnight. We have limitations. There are going to be more people we can’t help and people we might have been able to help sooner. Hindsight is no way to judge the choices we make in the moment. We were doing the best we could with what we had available.” She trailed off after saying this and Kendrick watched her gaze drift down the street and off into the woods beyond the village. “Come on. We still have a lot left to do.”

As they worked their way deeper into the village, they saw that the town witch had already orchestrated a sort of triage system for healing those she could heal and then setting up the next patient to wait in line. A quick swipe with the aurimeter showed that this town witch had her aura frequently dipping into the mid-40s—a low but manageable number for a typical magic user in an emergency situation, said Bellara.

“Appreciate the help,” said the town witch as she and Sahni both worked on healing a husband and wife who’d had their legs bitten in multiple spots. The witch was a skinny woman with deeply tan skin, sharp cheekbones, silky black hair streaked through with gray and white, and green eyes. “Name’s Fransza. What’s yours?”

“Sahni,” the young blue-haired witch replied. “Nice to meet you.”

“Wish it was under other circumstances.” Fransza laughed nervously, focusing her eyes back on her work. She looked haggard and overtired. At her intense and firm insistence, Kendrick and Bellara were taking a short rest while her previous patients, now healed good as new, were helping to sweep up broken glass and tend to others in the village. “I owe you a pitcher of ale when this is all through, young lady. Underworld, I’ll pay tabs for the three of you at the tavern.”

“Don’t mention it,” Sahni told her. “We’re going from place to place trying to help whomever we can. The Redrune Academy asked all former students to lend a hand, so that’s what my friend Bellara and I have been doing.”

“And who’s the gentleman?” Fransza grinned, whispering another bhisalva and keeping her hands moving. “He your boyfriend?”

“Oh,” Sahni answered nervously, her face flushing pink. “Him? No. He’s... He... Well, truthfully... Um...”

“We only just met him a few days ago,” Bellara interjected. “But he joined up with us and he’s helping where he can. Not a wizard, but he’s not bad in a fight. Doesn’t he just ooze brawn and bravado?” She leaned over and put her arm around him, and with surprising force, pulled him closer.

“Y-,” Kendrick started to say before choking and coughing suddenly. “Sorry,” he said, clearing his throat, “I breathed in when I started talking and accidentally inhaled my own spit... ahem. That’s better.” Fransza just gave him a polite smile, nodded, and then went about her work.

Bellara stood up. “All right. We’ve had plenty of rest. Let’s get back to it and get this place cleaned up, shall we? It’s midday already. Dark will be here before we know it.”

“Do you think the imps will come back?”

“I would say no...” She glanced at him, then looked around at the mess of Shroudmoor. “...but then, I thought they were just a small nuisance before we got here. No way to tell what the future will bring. Let’s go.”

***

By dusk, most of the serious wreckage in Shroudmoor had been cleaned up, the shattered glass swept, the broken doors reattached to their hinges, and each and every imp bite of their nearly thousand residents was healed thanks either to Fransza or Sahni. There was still a great deal of property damage that would need to be repaired in the coming days. For the more serious physical injuries, Fransza was devoting her healing powers to finishing up for the day, with the less severe ones either being treated with conventional means or postponed for the following morning. “You have to take care of yourself, too,” Bellara told Fransza, urging her to get some sleep.

“I’ll call it a day soon,” the town witch refused her gently. “You three go ahead and rest at the tavern. Three strangers who came to a town you’ve never seen and did all you’ve done... By the Overworld, you deserve a rest. If you burn off too much of your own aura without letting it recharge, you’ll need healing, too. Run along now.” Kendrick felt the urge to argue politely with Franzsa, to insist on doing more to help, but the town witch looked even more exhausted than ever, and he got the impression she really meant what she said, that an argument might just sour the good will she was trying to repay them. He followed Bellara’s lead as she guided them down the street to the place where they’d spend the night.

At the local tavern, Kendrick enjoyed his first alcoholic beverage in the Ecumene, a shockingly bitter ale with only a slightly fruity aftertaste. Tavern-goers timidly sipped at beverages, taking the edge off their recent crisis with drink. A cool breeze blew in through a broken window.

“Is it growing on you?” Bellara asked him.

He took another sip, smacking his lips and wincing. “Maybe a little.”

“What, you never had drinks like this in your world? Were you too young or something?”

“No, I did. And I was... 18, I think. I am 18. As far as I remember, at least. And I don’t remember if I was supposed to be drinking stuff like this, but I did anyway.” He took another bitter swallow. “Come to think of it, how old are you two?”

Sahni opened her mouth to say “I’m eightee—”

Bellara slapped a hand over Sahni’s mouth and interrupted, “Eighty thousand years old,” with an exceedingly straight face. “We both are. Not bad, eh?” Sahni fought to wriggle free. “We’re actually two old crones who’ve mastered the art of eternal youth by—”

“18,” Sahni blurted out, covering Bell’s mouth this time. “She’s 19.”

Bellara let out a sigh. “Boring. I had a whole backstory planned for us...” The redheaded witch downed the rest of her ale and belched before stretching out her limbs and sinking deeper into her seat at the booth.

“Busy day today,” said Kendrick. “Most of all for you, Sahni. That was pretty impressive how you helped all those people. You’re a natural at this healing stuff. What made you want to specialize in healing in the first place?”

She smiled and sipped at her drink. “I’ve just always felt like it was my calling, I guess. Helping people feel better. My mother taught me my first healing spell when I was a little girl.” Her gaze lowered for a moment, but then she brightened up again. “I love it. It’s nice to feel needed, and to see the smile on people’s faces when they feel better again.”

“You do valuable work,” Bell conceded, “but I’ve always preferred flashier magic.”

“Killing things?” Kendrick grinned at her.

“Battle magic. Aurally enhanced hand-to-hand combat. Shooting fireballs and searing beams of light.” She cracked her knuckles. “I studied battle magic my first year at Redrune Academy. After that, though, I took an interest in portal magic after seeing a demonstration in the courtyard. I was hooked.”

“And now here I am.” Kendrick took a big swig of ale and turned away from the table to burp. “’Scuse me. Man, this stuff is starting to get to me.” His face tingled and he felt smiley all of a sudden. In a fantastic new world with two awesome companions, having adventures, doing magic... I don’t know how I ended up here, but maybe it isn’t so bad after all, he thought. They’re both pretty spectacular. I wonder what they think of me... Whoa... What am I thinking? Don’t make it weird. I’m here for a reason. An important reason... Is that my calling? To fight? Would that still have been my calling if it weren’t for them?

Across the tavern, an orc that looked nearly as wide as he was tall stood up and cupped his blistered hands around his mouth. “Last one to finish their drink buys next round for the tavern!”

“Hey!” “Down the hatch!” “Let’s go!” Other tavern-goers all exclaimed in excitement at the challenge.

“Crap,” Kendrick snickered, starting to gulp down his drink. I guess they have drinking games here, too.

“Chug, chug, chug,” Bellara chanted next to him. “Chug, chug—you’ll have to be quicker than that!” Suddenly he felt her tipping the bottom of his mug upward so that more of the ale flowed out faster—he struggled to guzzle to keep up with it.

“Did I win?” he asked when his drink was gone. An effervescent burn bubbled up in his throat. A moment of silence, and then a human laughed uproariously.

“Who would have thought the elf would be a lightweight?” the same human male shouted drunkenly.

Down the aisle, a flamboyant elf stomped his boot, swaying on his feet. “You--hic—baztards! Ah, lemme... get... m’coins.”

Uproarious laughter traveled through the tavern and eventually died down as everyone returned to their respective conversations.

“Sahni, you finished yours, right?” Bellara asked.

Sahni, growing pink and sweaty with inebriation, burped loudly and immediately covered her mouth while cringing. “I’m so sorry,” she murmured between her fingers.

“Barkeep?” Kendrick called out, feeling alcoholically emboldened all of a sudden. “Can we get that next round on the elf?”

***

By the time the three of them retired to their shared room in the upstairs floor above the tavern—there was only one small bed, which Sahni and Bellara shared, while Kendrick slept on a rigid, rickety couch of sorts—sleep was akin to gravity. Despite the terrible accommodations, Kendrick’s body felt like it was made of lead, and he was unconscious a moment after resting his head on a rough pillow.

He awoke some indeterminate time later. It could have been moments or hours. When he opened his eyes, he saw the faint early light of dawn tinging the world blue. Sahni and Bellara were in different sleeping positions now, the former curled up into a ball, and the latter’s limbs splayed out with an arm and a leg dangling off the edge of the bed.

It was then that he realized he’d awoken to someone screaming outside.

“Hey,” he slurred. “Hey. W’k up...” He rolled off of the couch-like piece of furniture and landed on the hardwood floor with a thud. “Ow.”

“Who’s there?” Bellara asked, sitting bolt upright. “Oh, Aldiel’s bane... My head hurts...”

“Shh,” Kendrick shushed her. “Listen. Hear that?”

The three of them gathered their bearings and ran outside of the tavern. A wearied, disheveled man hobbled down the empty street, calling out to anyone who would listen, but only a few onlookers came to their doors to investigate the commotion. “Help!” he cried out. “Help! Any witches? Any healers? I ran... ran all the way here...”

Bellara waved her arm to get his attention. “Hey, you. What is it? What’s wrong?”

“Demon attack...” Kendrick’s stomach sank. “Demon attack in Timberford... I ran here all night.” The man rested his hands on his knees to catch his breath and looked unsteady on his feet. “Please, are any of you healers?”

Sahni looked at Kendrick and then to Bellara. “You said it was a demon attack. Is it still there?”