The scouts had returned with bad news. The wall of flowers has been breached, and it was quite close to this town. But the druids were quick to act and made a temporary smaller barrier to contain the breach. It wouldn’t last long, probably only a week.

They needed reinforcements as there was no word from the churches offering support. Everyone was suspicious, usually the church would step in when something like this happened, or they would lose all their followers. Yet this time was different, only silence greeted the masses.

But the silence of the churches did little more than upset the military officers; they had already made plans for when the churches failed them. They had a special unit of warlocks and druids trained to battle against the Wraiths; they just needed some strong physical fighters to protect the squishy unit.

“And that is where we come in.” The mayor of the town finished as he stared at the ‘strongest’ in the room. The mayor was a seasoned veteran, and had been through mortal wars and on the frontlines against the Wraiths. Most in this meeting room had been on the frontlines against the Wraiths.

“I’m sorry but I’m retired, I’m only here to give the wisdom of a veteran.” Lynn spoke, leaning back in her chair, as she noticed the mayor staring at her. “And in any case, we need to push back the barrier in the woods near us; it’s too close for the hunters to safely hunt.”

This caught their attention. No one goes too deep in the forest as there are quite a few dangerous beasts using it as their home. If hunting was not safe, it meant the beasts had approached closer to the edge of the forest, fleeing the approaching Wraiths.

Almost everyone agreed with Lynn. If they went to reinforce the weakened defences then they would leave their families without a safe way to gather food. And if the speed of decay sped up, then their families could be in true danger, without even involving the Wraiths, as the beasts would enter the area controlled by the town.

The mayor nodded his head, dismissing everyone. He would need to think up a way to support the frontlines and ensure the safety of their families. And as Lynn had said, most here are, just like her, retired. None of them had any desire to fight on the frontlines, in this life, or the next.

Lynn sighed as she laid her head on Enna’s lap. “Are we going to have to fight, again?”

“Probably. But it would be for the safety of our family.” Enna stroked Lynn’s hair, the soft feeling calming her nerves. They haven’t been in a battle for a few years now; she didn’t know how rusty she was. She knew Lynn had the obvious advantage with battling being in her blood, an instinct of sorts. Even when she was baking bread, she was training her battle skills, even if she herself did not notice.

Lynn stared into her wife’s eyes. “Are you saying what I think you are?”

Enna nodded. “I would like to do it, as soon as we can assure our own safety.”

Lynn smiled brightly before it turned into a sly grin as she pounced on Enna, pushing her down. “You probably shouldn’t have said that.” She carried her prey to her lair.

Enna was exasperated. When had she lost control of their bedroom activities? Where had her shy wife gone? She could only fume for a few seconds before a smile leaked out.