When Nym returned to the clinic, she looked in the direction of the bed her one and only patient was supposed to be resting on, but she found two people lying there instead. Seeing Berla clinging to Tomar, she feared the worst and quickly approached the two, at which point she could also make out that Berla had cried. Standing over them, she could see his shallow breaths, however.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Hmhm,” Berla confirmed, but she didn’t move.

Nym walked around to the other side and checked Tomar’s pulse on his free arm.

“A bit young for you, isn’t he?” she asked curiously.

“Heh,” Berla chuckled. “Quite the contrary.”

This unexpected response elicited a bewildered expression from Nym as she tried to glean its meaning, but she quickly brushed it off as some sort of inside joke, while setting Tomar’s arm back down.

“Hm. Seems like there hasn’t been any changes. Did anything happen while I was away?”

“He came to for a few minutes, but he was very weak... I think it will take a little longer until he recovers.”

“I asked you to come get me, did I not?” Nym sighed. “But it sounds like you know what’s happening with him now.”

“Maybe... We still aren’t sure.”

“What about Shadi? Will she be able to help?”

“Oh... No, that’s unlikely. This is actually... natural. In a way.”

“Is that so?” Nym wondered. “I hope you will tell me more about it at some point. I can stomach not being able to help my patients, but not even knowing what’s wrong with them is bothering me.”

“I understand.”

Nym disappeared from her view, but the sound of glass containers clinking against each other and concoctions getting churned, scraped, and poured were a constant reminder of her presence. Despite what she had said to Miles, her current position was starting to feel a little awkward, and she eventually sat back up. She watched Nym work from afar for a moment, when the doctor noticed her gaze and broke the silence.

“How are you doing with your leg?” she asked, raising her voice slightly.

“Huh?” Berla was surprised by the sudden topic shift. She looked down at her legs—one healthy, and one shortened to just above her former knee. “Oh. I’m okay.”

It was the first time anyone but her friends had actively asked about her leg. The few other people she had interacted with either didn’t care enough, felt uncomfortable, or looked down on her.

“That’s good,” Nym said, walking over with a small jar in hand. “I’ve seen you running around, and I’m sure your Calling healed the wound very well, but do you mind if I take a look at it?”

“Uhm, okay.”

Scooting around, Berla sat on the bed’s edge, letting her leg dangle from it, while undoing the string around her left pant leg that closed the open hole. Nym crouched down in front of her and examined the leg once it was exposed, stroking over the naked skin and prodding it. It was perfectly smooth, looking like nothing had ever been attached to it.

“Hm. It’s not every day that you get to see a perfectly healed, amputated limb. When did this happen?”

“It’s been... about two months,” Berla said after a moment of thought. The day I met them.

“Remarkable. Fighters are something else. And this walking aid?” she asked, glancing at the crutches. “Did you come up with it?”

“No. It was him... actually,” Berla said, gesturing behind her with her head.

“Very interesting. I’ve had to send people away because of missing legs before, or because they were failing their owners. But I suppose this will be a thing of the past now, based on what he told me earlier. This invention might prove useful then... Do you think he would mind if I copied it for potential patients?”

“No,” Berla smiled. “He would feel proud.”

“That’s a noteworthy attitude. Most would rather sell the rights to some workshop. Though I guess money won’t be an issue for him.”

“That’s not it. He doesn’t care about money.”

“Is that so? He’s an interesting one, isn’t he?”

“Very.”

Nym kept feeling Berla’s leg until she nodded in satisfaction. “Everything appears to be in order. Do you experience any discomforts at all?”

“Well, it’s a little itchy at times. But it’s fine.”

“I figured as much. This might help with that,” Nym said, picking up the jar she had brought and handing it to Berla. Opening the lid revealed a light blue creme inside. “It’s something new we’re testing, it alleviates soreness and itchiness to a degree. I would appreciate it if you could test it and come back to me with feedback whether it helped you.”

Berla was surprised. Looking over to where Nym had worked, she realized this must have been what she was cooking up over there the entire time. She had correctly guessed Berla’s current condition, made the effort to check on her, and even prepared something to help her.

“Thank you, I’ll give it a try,” she said.

Nym shook her head. “Thank you. I will benefit from your report after all,” she said. Getting up, her eyes fell on Tomar. “If only I could whip up something that aids mental ailments. Or mana. Whatever it is.”

“Funnily enough... It’s a bit of both I guess.”

“Well, I’m squarely out of my league then,” Nym said with a frown and turned around, walking back to her work space. Clanking and clinking filled the room as she started to clean up.

Just like her, Berla was frustrated she could only wait. And unlike Riala, there wasn’t anything she could really do to help in the meantime. Maybe she could’ve tried shuffling some papers, but they had Hayla for that now, who was much more qualified for the job. She wasn’t fit to tail people anymore either, and there weren’t any beasts to kill.

It doesn’t even matter whether I’m still able to fight. There is nothing to fight! I really am useless right now...

She had enjoyed not doing anything for a little while, but it was starting to grate on her. And while she didn’t want to leave Tomar and Miles alone, Riala’s words kept ringing in her head.

“Miles wouldn’t sit around doing nothing...” No, he would most certainly not. He would say it’s a waste of time.

Berla made up her mind, deciding to go do something. Anything. And be it just helping Riala read complicated words or learning herself, for her own future.

“Nym,” she said as she hopped off the bed, “can I leave him in your care?”

“Of course. I will monitor him. What about Shadi?”

Bren hadn’t returned yet, but that was to be expected. It hadn’t even been half an hour since he left to fetch her. Given the information Berla currently had, it didn’t seem like a healer would be able to do anything though. And thinking about it some more, she wasn’t happy about the idea of letting Shadi tinker with Tomar without qualified overwatch. Not if it wasn’t absolutely necessary. Miles would’ve asked for her if he thought that would be an option.

“Tell her we’re sorry for dragging her here, but that she can’t do anything after all. I’ll come back later, okay?”

“Very well,” Nym said.

Berla left the doctor’s office with a slight spring in her hops and swings. Outside, she asked Brie to stay behind in case anything happened, and went on her way to the staircase that led up to the third floor. She didn’t even make it across the next corner before her ears picked something up that made her stop dead in her tracks.

Gong. Gong-gong. Gong. Gong-gong.

“What?” she said in a daze, listening to the familiar, yet very unexpected sound of bells warning the citizens about beasts having appeared.

“Berla!” Brie shouted, coming up from behind her. “The alarm... Did the blessings fail? Or is it... the cat ten?” she asked, deeply worried.

“I don’t know,” Berla said and mulled over their options.

Lilana is gone... Tomar and Miles are unconscious... If it’s just a few weak beasts, Grym will manage, but if it’s anything stronger...

“Let’s go! We’ll get Riala and Hati and then we’ll figure out what’s going on!”

She started running, the only thing on her mind being admonishing herself. That’s what I get for wishing I had something to do!

***

When Berla and the other three arrived at the northern gate, from where the alarm was sounding, they briefly saw two squads of guards rush outside, before the gate closed after them. Left behind was a young guard they had met once before, who hurried towards a tower set into the wall, with stairs leading to the top inside.

“Hey!” Berla shouted. “What happened?”

Glancing their way, the woman slowed, but didn’t stop. “Beasts are appearing out of nothing in the middle of the fields! Speak to the captain, he’s on the wall!” Emeryn summarized and took off once more, disappearing into the tower.

Out of nothing? Berla thought, her mouth agape. No... That’s impossible!

The group ran after the guard, with Riala and Brie leading the way. Berla wanted to let the others go first, because she would be the slowest, but when Hati approached the door and stuck his head inside, the two of them realized that he wouldn’t be able to fit his large frame up this narrow stairway.

“This won’t work...” Hati said sadly.

“Stay here,” Berla instructed. “And don’t try to jump up, that will only create confusion!”

“Okay.”

Berla kept going, hopping up one stair at a time as fast as she could. It took much longer than she would’ve liked, and it was arduous, to the point where the stairs started to feel endless, but she knew she was close to the top when she heard Grym’s typical, displeased voice booming through the air.

“What do you mean he can’t come!?”

A much younger and higher voice yelled back, “It means that he can’t come!”

The end of the spiral staircase finally came into view and Berla arrived inside a guard tower with two doorways leading out onto the wall on either side, where Grym and Riala stood, staring each other down. She ignored them, however, and instead followed Brie’s slack-jawed gaze.

Just like Emeryn had said, beasts had appeared not far outside town, in the middle of the farming fields. It hadn’t quite been out of nothing though. Five beasts stood in front of a large gate, seemingly made of a wavering, pitch-black substance. An array of red crystals were set into the outer archway, too many to quickly count them from a distance.

The beasts that appeared to have come out of the gateway were surrounded by four squads of guards who kept them in check and tried to pick them off one by one. The strategy seemed to work, as Berla didn’t see any human casualties—only beast corpses were scattered around the fields. Concerningly, she didn’t recognize any of these beast types.

“What is that? And what are they?” Brie asked, her voice quivering.

Berla didn’t respond. She had a concrete idea, but she didn’t want to spell it out, out of fear that it might be true.

“Look at that, girl!” Grym spat, holding Riala up by the collar and showing her the gate. “If you don’t know how to deal with that, I would really appreciate it if someone could get me Tomar or Lilly! They keep on coming!”

They were faced with something that seemed out of this world. No protocols on how to handle it existed, but they had new experts for the supernatural, and he hoped that they might know more.

“Lilly isn’t back yet, and Tomar has fallen ill,” Berla said, not taking her eyes off the gate. “If you want a Sourcerer here, she’s the only one we have right now.”

He lowered his arm and let Riala fall to the ground as he clicked his tongue. “Tsk. That’s just great. First they promise you no more beasts, and when ancient horror stories come true, they’re nowhere to be seen!”

Berla’s head snapped in his direction. “You know the story?”

“Of course I know it,” he grumbled. “Gates that appear out of nowhere, beasts streaming out of them... and many more waiting inside. But these things shouldn’t actually exist!”

“What is it?” Riala asked curiously, stretching herself, to just barely peak over the parapet wall.

Berla was tense as she recalled the name she heard before. “A dungeon...”