Thanks to Scales, I had enough warning to pull The Hero out of the spell's path, if only barely. I had hoped that nothing would occur today. I wasn't sure things would work out with how little rest I had if it came down to an open confrontation.

Whoever fired the spell was nowhere near the parade itself; residual mana in the area told me it was a powerful long-distance attack. But, I was under no illusion that the sniper was the only assailant.

"I was on that." The Hero said, likely shell shocked. "Someone tried to kill me." The Hero continued, still sounding stunned. "Someone tried to kill me." The Hero repeated, slipping into a much colder tone than I expected. "Did you see where the attack came from, Mask?" The Hero asked me, in an angered tone.

"East, But we wouldn't make it to them before they had the chance to run, too far out. We should worry more about..."

BOOM DOOOM DOOOM BOOM BOOOOOOM

My writing was stopped halfway by a series of explosions across the city. "That." I wrote in reference to the rising pillars of smoke in the distance.

The crowd that had previously been stunned by the attack on The Hero now moved into a panicked state in reaction to the explosions in the distance. Many were running away from the main road and into buildings. Others collapsed to the ground in fear. Children began crying as more explosions rocked the stone beneath my feet, parents calling names I didn't know. The city's mood transformed quickly from a festive sendoff to a terror-filled reaction to an unknown assailant.

"We should get the other's, work out a course of action." I wrote for The Hero to see.

"Right." She agreed with me and began moving through the panic masses towards one of the still intact carriages to gather our teammates.

It didn't take long for everyone in The Hero's party to come together, but that didn't pause the attack's in other parts of the city. To the credit of everyone else in the party, they showed quite a bit more composure than I anticipated based on the conversation they had the day I met them. Clearly, they had more training than they let on.

Even if they were more composed than I expected, the cracks one must fill with experience were still visible in each of them.

The Shieldbearer looked towards the same direction with concern every time the sound of an explosion rocked my body. His line of sight took a moment to return to the party. Likely he was waiting to see if a smokestack arose in the direction he was facing.

The Mage visibly winced every time an explosion occurred. I would hope someone focused on attack magic would be more familiar with the sound of explosions, but that didn't seem to be the case.

I could see The Preistess's eyes darting around the crowd. Perhaps she wanted to assist them or try to assuage their fear, but whatever she wanted to do, she clearly couldn't decide a course of action to achieve it.

The Hero and Ther Archer showed very similar reactions, both their faces growing distinctly darker with each explosion. These two were the most composed, but also the most likely to become unpredictable if this wasn't resolved soon.

"What is our course of action?" The Mage asked

Luna didn't know what to do. Everyone was looking at here for some reason, and the only thing she could think about was how angry she was that someone had tried to kill her and that now they were assaulting random people because they had failed. She wasn't a leader. She didn't know what to do.

A hand landed on Luna's shoulder. And somehow with it, a lot of the confusion she was trying to hid washed away. When she looked, she saw the person who had clapped her on the shoulder was Mask, displaying a message for her to read.

"It's unfortunate that this is your first real challenge, but we will act on whatever orders you give, at least I will." The golden letters floated into existence at a steady pace, the appearance of them calming Luna even further.

>He expects us to advise her. >Let's see what do we need to accomplish? And what do we want to achieve on top of that?

The moment seemed to stretch, allowing Luna far more time to think than she felt she should. Everything around her slowed, the contortion of her companions' faces, the terror on the faces of the chaotic crowd, all if it slowed to allow Luna to take it all in.

>We need to do something about the attack. >Well, that's real general, ain't it. Break it up more.

>We need to deal with the attacker.

>Well, for a first step, it ain't bad. >The attacker has already achieved part of their goal, chaos. Think about that, dear.

>Chaos?Chaos.Tthe crowd, people. We need to get the people to safety.

>Ding. But something is gonna stop that. What would that be?

Luna didn't need to think about this one for more than a moment. >The attacks are mostly random now. We can't evacuate anyone to safety without first having somewhere to be that safety.Why are they random, though?

None of the common voices responded, and as time crawled on, Luna thought that she was expected to answer the question purely on her own. Something that, surprisingly, terrified her and excited her at the same time. When she began thinking about everything she'd seen, she came to a simple conclusion to answer the question. >I was the target, and from what Mask wrote, I can venture they're far away, far enough to see all of the city at once. They're trying to draw me out of the crowd for another clean shot.

>So, if I act at bait in one area, other places will become safe enough to use as evacuation points.

>That will do for now. Who are you taking with you for that, dear?

The question caught Luna off guard. She'd assumed she'd take her entire party for whatever was to come of acting as bait, but the voice sounded as if that wasn't the right choice. >All of them?

>No good, no good.

>Why is that? Luna asked.

>Well, in simple terms, girly. Image.People need to see your team helping in times of crisis. If all of you act as bait, no one will see you, assuming people go where you need them to without someone to guide them there.

>So I need to split our group, alright. With six peo- >Three. >Huh?

Luna was forced to focus on small details in her teammates' actions that she'd witnessed but mostly ignored. The way Roxy was terrified by the explosions in the distance. How Emilia was watching the crowd the entire time, the party was together—often reaching out to help someone to their feet if they were close enough. And, most of all, How Deven seemed entranced by a particular location in the distance every time a new wave of destruction echoed across the city.

>These three will not obey you without question. You will need to move them according to their desire and fear for them to obey. The other two will move in whatever way you command.

Luna wanted to ask the voices more questions. But, the world around her was beginning to accelerate once more. More than likely, she needed to decide their course of action swiftly and on her own.

I was almost out of mana, having channeled all into a spell to accelerate the perception of The Hero. In hopes, she would formulate a passable course of action.

As the last remnants of my spell faded away, leaving me with barely enough mana to form short sentences, I saw a light of inspiration spark behind The Hero's eyes. Whatever plan she'd come up with, it was her own, not Theirs.

"Everyone, I have a plan." The Hero said with confidence. "Mask, Shu-Na, you two are coming with me to the east to draw the attacks to away from the people." The Hero issued her order's to The Archer and me, moving on to the rest of the party without waiting to see if we accepted.

"Emilia, I want you to work to evacuate the people to the northwest." In response to the order, The Priestess' face had a brief spark of two emotions I recognized well, gratitude and admiration, before returning to a more passive appearance. "Roxy, go with her, make sure everyone can know where to go." The Mage looked distinctly relieved at the command, likely wishing to avoid direct conflict.

The Hero turned her eyes upon the Shieldbearer with a look I couldn't quite place without knowing her better. "Deven. Whatever you need to deal with, make it quick. Then, get help with the evacuation, alright?" The Hero looked upon The Shieldbearer with a conviction to wait for his response no matter how long it took.

The Shieldbearer did not make us wait long, showing his gratitude and understanding with a simple nod.

"Alright. I expect to see you all again when this is over. Now, GET TO WORK." With The Hero's shout, all of us burst into action, running to complete our objectives.

"Now, Boy, let's talk about that spell you found, as I can assume the circumstances around it are what lead to you wishing to assault me." The Husk rasping voice contained none of the pressure it had outside, nor did it convey anything else to the two others in the room.

"As I said, I found it in a book. Stop avoiding my question. How many people have you..." The Man was cut off by The Husk holding a hand up in the air.

"How people have I brought here to die, it's an exciting question. I can answer the question in two remarkably similar ways, but one is a lie, the other is entirely true. " The Husk Rasped. Before The Man could regain his irritation about The Husk once again raised its hand.

"I will begin with the lie. Mind you, this is a lesson for both of you, so pay attention." The Husk's voice seemed to silence the sound of the fire in the hearth. As if even the elements waited on bated breath for what was to be said.

"I have only ever brought you two to this tower." The Husk said.

In one quick motion, the tip of The Man's staff was once again level upon The Husk. Simultaneously, a blade, held by The Woman, appeared at The Man's throat.

In response to both these actions, The Husk remained motionless, opting instead to speak once more. "Would you like to hear the truth? If so, put that thing down." The Husk rasped.

It didn't take long for The Man to lower his staff, and when he did, the blade on his neck vanished back into its sheath.

"Verry well. The other answer, as I mentioned, will sound incredibly similar. But, unlike the first, it will be wholly true." Once again, the fire stilled. The air became stagnant in but a moment and the light in the room faded only to illuminate a small area around the occupants.

"Since I first walked upon these lands in this form, I have only ever brought two souls to this tower, and that is you two." The Husk's words resonated with something in The Man's chest. Telling him that no matter how much he doubted them, the words spoke, by The Husk, were the irrefutable truth.