The gate had been breached. Lóthaven was unprotected. The Primalist guard that had been hiding near the ruined gate was all the proof they needed that their enemies were the same group.

They looked down on the Primalist’s body, rent almost in two after Arran’s attack.

“Was the beast a lure?” Ailith asked.

Arran frowned but said nothing.

“If it was, that’s some careful planning,” Faye said. “What are our priorities, Arran?”

“The Guild hall,” he answered. “It is the town’s fallback point. For the walls to have been breached so quickly, the Guard was overwhelmed. We assist any we see. We take the most direct route to the hall we can. Engagement range is close quarters, only.” He looked at Gavan and Faye with a serious eye. “Keep yourselves in check. If we draw too large a crowd, we won’t ever reach the others.”

Faye nodded. The worm of anger that had risen at the sight of the lesser briar in the forests around the town had ignited into something much more substantial after seeing the gates and the state of the buildings inside.

Large, monstrous veins of thorny wood had grown through the walls of some of the houses nearest the gate. The structures had not been treated well, and they were half collapsed. Sometimes, the wooden vines were the only thing keeping the rest of the walls up.

It was inside one of the half-ruined buildings the Primalist had been lying in wait.

That had not helped him defend against Arran’s blade.

They padded through the streets silently. Buildings and walls broken and strewn across the normally even roads making their pace quicken.

Faye activated [Swordfighter’s Sense] for a few moments, as she had been practising. Her skill alerted her to a small group of hostiles the next street over. Carefully, they looped left by a street and carried on. Avoiding too much conflict before they reached the Adventurer’s Guild was the fastest way to get to where they were needed.

Three more streets into town, Faye warned the group of a hostile in a building to their left. The streets they had retreated to were narrower here than the main thoroughfares, however, and unless they backtracked almost to where they took this street, they would need to pass the house.

They decided to have Ailith draw it out, and for Arran and Faye to take it down as fast as possible.

By charging past the house, Ailith drew the ire of the monster easily enough. Unfortunately, it was not what they had expected.

Thorny vines burst through the shutters on the windows and out of the door in a splintering of wood. They rapidly lurched toward the towering Guardian. Arran darted forward the moment the vines appeared, but attacking a vine just earned him a whip in the face.

Faye had held back at first, so she was not in the line of fire. Darting to the narrow gap between the houses, she pushed her way to the back of the house.

Houses in Lóthaven were not terraced, like the street Faye had lived on back home, but were almost always individual buildings that were either packed close together or more spread apart. This area preferred closer buildings, but they had been arranged with space between eight or so houses for a green garden area.

This one was no longer fit to be called a garden. Furrows of dirt had been carved along it, bushes and flowers ripped out of their beds by, Faye presumed, whatever it was that had been waiting in ambush for them in the house.

With a quick silent prayer for the safety of any families that had once lived here, Faye opened the back door of the house and looked inside.

Darkness consumed the interior, but there was a soft crimson glow that Faye knew all too well. It looked like whatever thing lurked here took up a vast space of the ground floor.

“I am not going in there,” she muttered.

Holding up her hand, she called Scorching Lance to activate and grinned as a vast chunk of her mana burnt up in the raging beam of flames, two fingers thick, that screamed forward. It lit the interior of the house with its lurid glow, including the bulk of the vine monster.

The monster did not scream, like the briars, when attacked with the condensed beam of flames, but it certainly reacted. Crashing through the house were multiple thick tentacles of thorny vines, each writhing and searching for its attacker.

Stepping back, away from the door, Faye launched a few Fire Darts into the opening.

The monster’s vines slammed against the back door.

Faye hesitated. The buildings here were tightly packed. If her spells set the whole thing ablaze…

The house’s roof split with a loud crack, and the vines looked like they were trying to escape. Some of them were smouldering, and others were licked with small eddies of flame.

But now that the monster was no longer fully protected by a roof, Gavan’s typical ice shards materialised in the air above and slammed down.

Congratulations! Your group has defeated a level 15 [Awakened Trapping Vine].

Experience awarded.

Taking a wider alley to her left, Faye emerged onto the street to see Ailith and the others slowly walking her way.

“Good job attacking from the rear,” Arran said, with a smile. “It distracted it enough to make it much easier to handle on our end.”

“I uh, did use fire on it, though,” she said with a grimace. “Kinda forgot about the whole ‘fire burns houses’ thing for a while.”

They looked back at the building. It was a ruin, but it was not a burnt ruin.

“I don’t think the owners will mind, either way.”

“Aye, and with that thing rotting in the house they might want it burnt anyway.”

“Let’s go,” Arran said, “we can debate the merits of Faye burning the town down later.”

The group approached the Adventurer’s Guild from an angle Faye had not used before, so it was with surprise that they turned a corner to come face to face with some shocked defenders.

“H-halt!” one of them stammered. “Who goes there?!”

“Well, they’re not monsters, are they, ye idiot?” his companion remarked, already setting his spear at ease. “Sorry about that, Koe here’s not used to all this, yet.”

Arran nodded and walked forward with a smile. “That’s quite alright, it’s a lot for anyone. Especially those not used to the work.”

The second guard who had spoken, though now that Faye looked closer, she realised they weren’t Guards, they were some kind of militia perhaps, suddenly stood straighter as Arran walked closer.

“Ah, Arran, I wasn’t sure it was you!”

“The adventurers?” Koe asked. “I thought they were supposed to be days away.”

“Doesn’t matter about that,” the second one said, “the Administrator’s probably gonna want to speak to you. She’s through there, you won’t miss her.”

Arran thanked the men and led the team through the winding alleyway that the townsfolk had prepared into defensive formations. Boxes, temporary walls, and a path that wound left and right were signs that the townsfolk had not been completely taken by surprise.

They emerged from the alley into the square in front of the Guild hall. The hall was on their left, and the main street into the square ahead and to the right.

“Oh, of course, we came into town from the north…” she muttered.

“Everything okay, Faye?”

“Yeah, just getting my bearings.”

They had no more time to chat, because they had been noticed. A few things happened. The Guild workers that recognised them all scattered, a few came directly toward them, others went in various directions as if to spread the news of the adventurer’s return.

“Oh, thank the gods,” called one attendant as she approached. “We weren’t expecting you back for days.”

“We’re here now,” Arran responded. “Where are we needed?”

“Try everywhere,” the woman replied, with a grimace. “Sorry, I know that’s not useful. The Administrator will know best, she will be— here now, actually!”

The Administrator strode out of the open doors of the Guild hall. She wore a shining steel breastplate over her usual uniform of a dress and robe-like top. It made her look like a medieval librarian. Faye approved.

“Arran, I need you to go to the Guard’s headquarters. They sent a runner hours ago, they’re basically besieged. I have no idea how the runner got out. Ailith, you are to inspect and shore up our defences here. The militia are doing their best, but, well, your help will be greatly appreciated. Gavan! Inside the hall, there are wounded. And Faye… you’ve levelled substantially, congratulations.” Here, the Administrator paused her commands to bow her head a little, which Faye returned with a smile. “I need you to visit the Schoolmaster and bring him here.”

“Taveon’s not here?” she said, a thread of worry in her voice.

“No,” the Administrator said, strain showing in her voice too. “Neither are the children he’s protecting.”

“Where are they?” she asked. The thread of worry balling into a dense knot in her belly.

“At his home, I believe,” the Administrator said. “Protocol places the children on his side of the town under his care. In a case of emergency, they go to him, first, and then he funnels them here when he can. He has not arrived, and the first person I sent to escort him back has not returned, either.”

Faye nodded. “I’ll find them.”

“Good. I expect you back soon. But the children’s safety is your priority. If that means hunkering in Taveon’s house with them, then that is what you do.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Oh, and Faye? The town can be repaired. Our people cannot. Do anything you have to, to protect them. I wish we had already had chance to go through all our protocols for a situation like this, but I trust that you’ll do what you think is best.”

The Administrator nodded, then gave Faye a tight smile before turning and stalking away. She was immediately inundated with attendants that needed one thing or another.

Faye took a deep breath, found an attendant who was handing out water, and then left her backpack with another.

She did not need the added weight.

Faye ran through the streets of Lóthaven, taking a direct route through them to the other side of the town. The Guild hall was in the north, northeast portion of the town. The town itself was somewhat oval shaped. The adventurers’ house was closer to the centre, but across the midline from the Guild. Taveon’s house, on the other hand, was in the southeast portion of the town.

Normally, it was a simple enough route to go from the Guild to the central square, and then back out along one of the ‘spokes’ of the main roads in the town towards his house, taking the smaller streets as she got closer.

It was far from normal times, though.

Appearances were deceiving. The streets of Lóthaven were as quaint as any historical market town, generally. Sometimes, Faye had found that pockets of the town had transformed into a more industrial feel, despite the lack of red brick that reminded her of industrial Britain, but these areas were hidden away amongst many country-side buildings.

Thatched roofs were mixed against tiled, the wooden shutters on windows were often painted bright colours, and though the streets were not clear by modern standards, they were not disgusting by any stretch of the imagination.

Which made the scuttling forms of monsters so much more incongruous.

Faye had ducked into an alleyway between two houses along a side street. The main roads had been too open and stepping foot on one earlier had almost meant fighting an entire swarm alone.

Right now, she was watching as a trio of some kind of briar attacked the door of a small house. Their thorny vines whipped around with speed, but ultimately little power.

The wood of the door resisted everything they were doing. For now.

Distracted as they were, Faye thought back to what Arran had asked her to focus on with the monsters. Sensing something about them.

Okay, I can’t remember exactly what he said, she thought, but now’s as good a time as any.

Relying on [Swordfighter’s Sense] to protect her as she concentrated, Faye let her eyes drift closed. The sounds of the briars attacking the door was a rapid drum beat that she tried to let wash over her. There was a pattern, of sorts, there. Following it with her mind, she repeated it over and over.

Subtly, something changed in the air. Faye felt it first as a pressure. It leant against the skin of her face and body like a blanket. As soon as that blanketing sensation touched her, and she switched her focus to it, it was like some kind of link snapped into place.

At least one of the briars was at least half as strong as she was.

Strong? No, that’s the wrong word.

Half as present? That did not make much sense, but as soon as Faye tried to think about the right word, the linked sensation broke.

Her eyes blinked open.

“Okay, weird.”

With another quick check with an active pulse of her [Swordfighter’s Sense], Faye realised that if she did not move on, she was leaving Taveon and the children alone for longer. But there was something there with this link, she was certain.

Trying to get the link back was not easy but focusing on the monsters was simpler the second time around. Her mind knew what she wanted so she was simply visiting that place again, rather than forging a new path.

This time, as she felt the burgeoning sensation touch her skin, Faye flung forward a hand and used Fire Dart, pushing extra mana into it to encourage accuracy.

The dart screamed forward, its trail of smoke heading into the midst of the three briars. It hit one and exploded into a burst of force and fire, a good hit.

The briar that Faye had targeted spun around, though without real facial features it was difficult to tell, and it started a rapid rolling approach. Each of its vine appendages grabbed onto everything nearby to pull it forward. Its core shone crimson, though it was harder to see in the daylight.

Concentrating, Faye launched another two darts in quick succession. These also hit with good accuracy, and on the third the briar ignited and rolled to a stop against the wall of a house.

Congratulations! You have defeated a level six [Whipping Briar].

Experience awarded.

As the experience from the kill appeared in her notification, Faye’s ability to connect with the briars in front of her leaped upwards dramatically. She realised that each of the remaining Whipping Briars were different levels, and the one on the left was dramatically weaker — possibly the one she had already connected with.

Holding out her hand, aiming for the weaker briar, Faye activated her more powerful spell, Scorching Lance. In the daytime, the red-orange glow of the thick bar of flames was much less dramatic, bathing the houses on either side of the small street with a faint wash rather than a bright colour change.

Strangely, this time she felt the heat of the spell reflected back on her, and beads of sweat broke out across her forehead.

Trying to ignore these minor facts, Faye flicked her hand to the right as the spell speared the weaker briar.

The scorching beam cut a swathe across the wall of the house the briars were interested in, but she hit both of them with the same casting.

Congratulations! You have defeated multiple [Whipping Briar]s.

Experience awarded.

As the two monsters ignited and toppled into piles of burning kindling, Faye realised that her strange ability to sense their strength, or power, or whatever it was — their level!

Duh, Faye, come on! It’s their level, not how strong they are or whatever. That makes sense.

Bringing her thoughts back on track, her sense of the briar’s level was still active, somehow. But the connection was strangely weak.

She moved forward and got to the door the briars had been attacking. Despite their ineffective strikes, the door did bear signs of their scratches.

Holding up a hand, she knocked in the familiar pattern of Shave and a haircut.

Doubt they’ll know how to respond… but I hope they recognise—

She heard movement inside.

Stepping back and aside from the doorway a little so that any over-protective attack would probably not hit her, Faye waited to see if the inhabitants would emerge on their own.

After a half-minute of standing still, she sighed and moved closer to the door.

“Hey, people in the house! The briars are dead. Everyone okay inside?”

She pitched her voice low; she did not want other wandering monsters to hear, and this time the unmistakable sound of a bar being removed on the door preceded it creaking open.

The man’s face was streaked with dirt and grime, rivulets ran down his face where his tears had fallen.

“Thank you,” he whispered. His hand shook as he held it out.

Faye reached out and grabbed his fingers, giving him a grim smile.

“Is there anyone else?” she asked.

“My—my family, yes.”

“Are they hurt?”

“No. No, thank the gods. Just, scared and… well, scared, mostly.”

She nodded. Activating [Swordfighter’s Sense] revealed nothing hostile nearby.

“The Guild hall is where people are gathering—,” she started, but he interrupted her.

“My daughter can’t move quickly, we’re staying here.”

Faye frowned. “I thought you said no one was hurt?”

The man shook his head. “Not an injury, she was born this way.”

“Oh, my God, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to offend.”

He smiled at Faye, oddly. “You weren’t to know. But we will stay here. I will bar the door again.”

“I’m not sure how those briars found you,” Faye said, “but I suppose you will be okay as long as nothing bigger comes along. Or no humans.”

The man’s eyes widened. “Humans? This is a monster swarm, is it not?”

Faye chastised herself mentally. Probably not the best thing to be spreading among people right now.

“I’ve… seen one or two. Not many. You should be safe. If anything does get inside, they hate fire, okay?”

The man looked at the burning remains of the three briars that had been attempting to break down his door and nodded.

“Fire. Thank you.”

“Thank me by keeping your little girl alive. Get inside. Bar the door. We’ll handle this.”

He nodded, shutting the door after a final glance and a timid smile her way. She heard the bar drop on the other side of the door and placed a hand on the wood. It felt solid, even from a gentle pressure. That was good. She did not have the time to protect this family further, nor escort them to the Guild if they were unwilling.

Shaking her head, Faye moved on.

Approaching Taveon’s house, Faye realised that the reason she had not seen as many monsters as she had expected was because they were congregating in groups.

Taveon’s house was situated on a larger road, set back from the main thoroughfare with a small patch of garden. That garden was now a ruined mess of soil and torn up weeds.

This group of briars were headed by an Awakened.

In the daylight, there was something more threatening about a six-foot tall mass of briars, with thorns as long as her fingers and a physique somewhere between silver-back gorilla and a golem. It stood in the centre of the road, staring at Taveon’s house.

The lesser briars coated the ground in a living carpet. They creaked and rustled across one another as they moved. Their comparatively small forms still concerned Faye. There were perhaps two dozen of them.

I am not getting through them. But what if Taveon’s holed up inside still?

She had no more time to ponder it, however, because she heard a scream of frustration and anger echo out of the streets nearby. With another look at Taveon’s currently unbreached home, Faye turned and ran toward the scream.