Apparently, the battle left everyone way more exhausted than they realized. It's a good thing they decided to head to the relative safety of the clinic rather than trying to head out of town like Catherine told them to, because they're out cold for the better part of a bell. So much for protecting Hilde...

One time, a man comes a little too close with his spear, and it's Hilde who protects them. He makes a show of chasing the man off, so no one gets any ideas. Then he spends some more time looking over the three of them and passing off what mana he has to spare. Their wounds didn't seem like much in the middle of the battle, but under their fur, some look pretty nasty. And without earth mana for rapid healing, some are still bleeding. He gets to work on that, slowly mixing up new colored mana for them, but it takes time.

Worried over them, Hilde grabs Beth. "U-umm," she stammers, staring down in awe at the pile of huge, unconscious magical creatures. In response, he brushes aside Avara's fur to reveal the deep puncture wound in her flank, still slowly oozing dark blood. "Oh my," Beth grimaces.

Then she gets to work. Like with Hilde, she clearly doesn't know too much, but she does her best anyway, using water to clean their bloody, filthy wounds and any ointments she has left among her supplies to try and bandage them. It's especially tricky for Avara, since Beth can't actually move her at all. Hilde manages to get her semi-conscious long enough to reposition as needed, but it's still a rough job.

What really doesn't help is when, as Beth is mostly finished up, Catherine Lundrum shows up. It looks like she's collecting her scattered men, so I guess it isn't that surprising, since a number of them are here to get their own battle wounds treated. But it's still a really bad situation. Now armored and with her monster hunting soldiers, she would hold a heavy advantage. With mana or not, the three of them are too tired to put up much of a fight.

Thankfully, the huge woman only gazes briefly from afar, watching Beth tie off a bandage around a gash in Gram's leg, before she shouts to rally her men, and marches them off to fight more monsters. Everyone relaxes.

A short while later, Myra, Gram, and Avara are feeling just recovered enough to move again. Between Frank's guards and Catherine running around the city, things are quickly beginning to wind down. Especially because most of animals are fleeing the city, back into the forest. That's what makes us realize that the enormous monster must have been what drove them all out of the forest in the first place.

They don't want to overstay their welcome and end up fighting Catherine after all, so all four bow to Beth in thanks, and head back out of town. I'm guessing the town won't be needing their help anymore, but they can stay nearby, waiting for their wounds to heal. It'll take time, but once they finish making all the mana they need, it should be a lot smoother. I will need to get some lightning mana out to them at some point though, since none of them had any left over they could use to make more.

I spend some time thinking through that while I continue helping Frank.

Time begins passing quickly, as the forces throughout the city begin to finish off the last of the animals. It looks like Catherine's already dealt with all of the monsters. The only place that's still an issue is the northwest district, since little creatures can tuck into any tiny shadow to avoid being spotted by the guards sweeping throughout the district. Still, things are definitely back under control.

I'm still sitting on the table, the garrison pretty crowded with guards, all waiting for orders. "There's..." I narrow my eyes. Chisa's really tired after flying for so long. She needs to take a break and eat something soon. "A couple deer, way up north. Two blocks west, four south," I report as Chisa scans over that bit, and a couple stray animals peak out of the cover of the jumbled buildings. They might make it out the north gate before the guards even get there, if they can find their way to it.

Frank is directing a couple guards to go deal with them while Chisa begins searching for some food-

Clack.

The distinctly non-metal sound barely catches my ear. It takes me a moment - a moment too long, to pinpoint it. I know that sound. Bone. It's coming from right outside the garrison's door. My head snaps forward as Frank is turning back to me.

Catherine!

My pulse pounds, eyes shooting wide open. My head swivels, searching for an escape. Then there's a pause at the door. The bare sliver of a few instants is just enough to spot the window and get my feet beneath me, before the creak of the door comes, and I'm flinging myself from the table. I kick out with everything I have, leaping off the shoulder of a passing guard, and turn over in midair, just barely getting the height to reach the high window. My shoulder grazes the stone window sill, then I'm through.

The moment I'm in the clear, I tuck in and brace myself. It helps, but the heavy crash onto the road-

"Argh!" I'm crying when my senses return. I think I blacked out, landing flat on my back with my ribs already broken. With metal disks tied onto my back... A few tears run down my cheek, and I lie in the street, dazed and heaving agonizing breaths. Whatever stopped Catherine there, it saved me...

Through Riko and the window above, I hear raised voices while fighting through the pain. "Ca- Dame Catherine Lundrum!" comes Frank's. It's followed immediately by the loud clash of metal, the entire guard saluting respectfully. Riko slinks back, ducking under a bench, out of the way. The pain is starting to steady somewhat, allowing me to move again, so I carefully work on sitting up, trying not to break myself any worse in the process.

Inside, Catherine gets straight to the point. "We're here for a report. How are things looking in town?" Duh, I berate myself. Of course with the danger winding down, she'd visit the guards who protected the entire city...

Frank responds with his head lowered, in a formal tone I don't hear from him often. "Very good, My Lady. All districts except the northwest appear to be clear of danger."

"And why is that?" she asks.

"The layout of the district makes it more difficult to search. We have patrols all over the area, checking every nook and cranny. It's just a matter of time."

"Mm." The grunt doesn't sound particularly pleased, but she doesn't reprimand him either. "I'll inform the government." Without another word, she turns to leave, the clash of their magical bone armor through the otherwise silent room. With another jolt of panic, I haul myself back to my feet and rush around the corner of the building. Back pressed to the wall, I listen closely, to the door opening and her group moving past the cross street, where I was just before. The sound slowly disappears, back into the city. I slide down, sitting against the wall and panting heavily.

"Everything hurts..." I complain, head thumping against the wall at my back. I have to stop moving or I'm just going to keep making it all worse...

After some time, I drag myself up from the ground. I'm still considering what to do - go back to the garrison, or to Beth, or Emily maybe - when I start to pick up on a number of voices. They're far away, but extremely loud. It's a bit hard to make out at first, but as they come closer, it gets easier.

"Central... Central plaza?" I mutter as I begin to pick up the words. I squint and focus harder.

"All citizens, to the central plaza! Assemble in the central plaza!" Why are they calling everyone there? Just to address everyone after the attack? Since I'm close by, I limp over that way. I'm still on alert for Catherine, since she'll probably show up too. So I circle slowly around the outskirts of the plaza as tons of other people rapidly begin to flow to its center.

"There," I mutter when I find a good spot, toward the northeast end of the plaza. On the side of one multi-family house, the stairs to the second and third floors are on the side of the building facing mostly away, so the building should provide good cover. I climb all the way up on my hands and knees, sitting down right outside someone's door, and lean through the wooden pieces holding up the railing. That just gets me a view around the corner of the building, so I can see most of the plaza.

I'm maybe a bit further away than I'd like, but this was the best place I can think of. They'll probably shout really loudly for everyone to hear anyway. And if I really have to, I can make some more water mana. I'd have brought Riko with me, but she's still keeping an eye on the garrison, where Frank and a few of the other guards are the only ones ignoring the city-wide call. Understandably.

I underestimated how many people live here. As more and more people arrive, that becomes extremely apparent. Thousands of them. Tens of thousands. Twenty? Fifty? One hundred? I can't even guess. They pack together, all covered in blood and battle wounds, everyone agitated and afraid. Actually, it's probably not a good idea to have them all so packed in like this when they're already scared...

With the entire town showing up in one place, the plaza immediately overflows into the surrounding districts, the roads completely clogged. Other people wind up searching for places where they can see and hear, and even the little third floor overhang balcony I'm on winds up completely crowded too. I hang tight to the railing so their legs don't push me off or something. Maybe I should have tried to get on the roof instead? "Too late for that now," I mutter.

Soon enough, the nobility arrive. They're standing atop a cart, pulled and protected on all sides by the castle guard. They drive a wedge through the crowd, forcing the already packed in masses to move aside, even when there's nowhere to move. Waves of movement go through the crowd, lots of people jostling each other loudly as space is made for the nobility... somehow.

The cart is pulled directly to the center of the plaza, where I squint at the faces. Unsurprisingly, one of them is Catherine Lundrum. Which is why I'm way over here instead of anywhere near the plaza, where she might see me. She's cleaner than before. Probably took a few moments to splash some water on herself to get the worst of the gore off, I think. She has her massive sword planted, tip down at her side. I don't see her soldiers though.

Besides her, there are two men in the cart. Just looking at their clothes, perfectly clean as they are, there's no way they were involved in any of the fighting. The younger one is maybe sixteen, with light brown hair, and standing shoulder to shoulder with Catherine - sort of. He's way shorter than her, so it kind of looks like she's standing above him. He's wearing just a few pieces of armor around his shoulders and upper torso, and a few more alongside the sword sheathed at his hip. The gear doesn't remotely effective for battle, though, not protecting his vulnerable stomach or sides like it should. It is extremely shiny though...

In any case, the second man stands in front, and is obviously supposed to be the most important, just from their positions. He has short brown hair and tanned skin, just about the same color as Noria's. He's a bit older, maybe in his mid-thirties. About the same age as Catherine, I think. Strangely, he's also really tall, but still shorter than the woman behind him. The two of them make the younger man in his useless armor look tiny and and silly by comparison. Even though he's probably pretty average...

Dressed in some kind of deep, draping purple clothing, the older man even has a bright blue cape around his shoulders, clasped together with a gleaming gold chain. The colors alone are visibly more fancy than any noble's clothes I've seen. And that's before all of the red and blue decoration covering every bit of it. I can't make out the details at this distance, but the show of wealth impossible to miss.

His clothing says he's on the level of a count at least. Maybe someone from the duke's family? Once the cart has arrived at the very center of the plaza, Catherine shouts for quiet, and silence falls instantly. Even at this distance, her voice makes me wince. How does she do that...?

The man speaks. "Good people of Brenton!" Eyes widening, his deep, powerful voice immediately tells me who he is. Roger Brennen. It's the duke himself. I finally know what he looks like. I shake my head and refocus when he continues speaking. "We've suffered another unprecedented attack today. On the day of our annual harvest festival no less. But we still stand!" With his words, Roger throws his arms out wide, expression proud. Victorious, even.

"With the hard work of every person of our city, we have overcome this trial, and come out even stronger. Look around you and see! A windfall of food!" I blink at the exclamation, and even the stunned crowd turns, looking at the animals, still spread here and there over the crowded plaza, creating tiny pockets even among the press of bodies, the townspeople clearly not willing to stand on top of corpses.

He means the animals that attacked. Now that we killed them, we're going to eat them...?

"We have paid for it in blood, but remember, today is our great harvest festival! Tomorrow we will rebuild, but for today, we feast victoriously!" With one fist thrust to the sky, the crowd finally responds to the speech. There's cheering, jeering, crying, and screaming. I can't even tell the overall reaction, it's just so... mixed. Even so, the duke eventually waves a hand to bring the masses back to order. When that doesn't work, he has Catherine shout to quiet them again. I can see the man nearly fall over under the force of her voice though. The younger man does crumple and has to catch himself on the edge of the cart.

Pushing through it, Roger goes on. "Now, my good people, go and gather the food you have fought so hard for, and bring it back here. We will cook, and eat, and preserve it today. Your families will eat well this winter! Now go!" With one last thrust of his hand over the surroundings, the duke gets the crowd to begin dispersing. I have no idea how many people are actually on-board with this crazy plan, turning the aftermath of the battle into some kind of celebration, but clearly some are, because as he instructed, the nearest animals are soon gathered up and brought toward the center of the plaza.

I just sit and watch, kind of dumbfounded. People of all sorts approach the castle guard ringing the wagon the duke stands atop, awkwardly presenting any animals they've gathered up. Everyone from bloody peasants to high class merchants, their foreheads smeared with something black, like soot. I don't really understand why, but it's obvious, even at a distance. The duke begins waving and gesturing, but there's no way for me to hear him from this distance when he isn't shouting at the top of his lungs. And when a crowd this size is making any kind of noise. It does look like a bunch of people are starting to set things up, using the piles of wood still scattered all about, from the plaza's original festival stands, and carts, damaged buildings... Is that someone's broken front door...?

For the next bell or so, I just rest, working up the energy to get up while watching the downright absurd festival preparations charging ahead, directly alongside the wails of people who lost loved ones, their bodies collected separately from the animals and monsters. I do narrow my eyes at the remains of any monsters. Those might still be dangerous... Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do about them now.

Well, Catherine is right there, and she's clearly capable enough if anything else goes wrong. So I just watch for a while longer. As I do, a new trend becomes clear. Almost every man I see still armed with a spear is heading south, a few people shouting and pointing that way, though I can't hear what they're saying. At the same time, men are coming from the south, unarmed, but with that same black smear on their forehead I noticed earlier. Some kind of indication they've done their duty as part of the draft...? I don't see a single woman with anything similar, so that's my best guess.

Over time, little makeshift buildings are set up, alongside big piles of wood, and fires are started, up and down Main Street, from east to west. Whole groups dress and skin animals, one after another, while others chop them up in to all sorts of cuts of meat, salt them, throw them over fire to roast, or do other stuff with them, which I'm not familiar with. It's a massive production, with hundreds of people all chipping in, working together for the sake of the city as a whole. Like the draft, it's kind of incredible to watch the controlled chaos of so many people working together...

They even wind up bringing out all of the non-meat food that was supposed to be the focus of the harvest festival originally, filling whole crates with some kinds, cooking others, people talking loudly at tiny makeshift food stands. Crowds move in every direction, and soon the smell of food spreads all throughout the streets.

And with it, people begin to eat. Laughing, crying, covered in blood, soot, or both, everyone begins to stand where they are, or sit, or even walk around, and eat. For the first time, the lines drawn between the upper classes and lower classes begin to blur. There are still small gaps of awkward air around anyone dressed clearly as nobility, but even then, they're actually present. Not locked away in the noble district, out of sight of the rest of the population. It's... alien, honestly.

Even the duke, standing atop his cart at the center of the chaos all the while, is speaking to people of all sorts while they stand outside his line of guards, the man gesturing around energetically with his every word. He looks so strangely confident, nearly everyone who approaches takes on the same victorious air. It's actually comforting to see in the aftermath of what, honestly, is an even bigger disaster than the rail unit attack. And yet the energy in town is completely different...

Pulling myself up using the railing, I finally get back to my feet. As amazing as it is, watching the festivities, I really have to get up. I have to find Beth, and Emily. Thanks to Chisa, who got enough rest to do a once over of town to get me an idea of the situation, I know that besides the area near the center of the city where the festival is taking place, there's a big 'field hospital' as they called it, set up in the southern district. It mostly runs down South Main Street, and stretches out into the surrounding roads in some places. They should be there.

Holding my sides, I work my way ever so slowly down the stairs. Gods, everything hurts... The moment I make it back to street level, a nearby woman gasps and scoops me up in her arms. I flail, panicking a little, but that just makes it hurt worse, like spears jammed through me. I grit my teeth and wince to endure it, while the woman frantically tells me to hold still, cradling me in her arms, and begins running southward. Wow, she's so gentle...

She cuts across the edge of the plaza, and I tuck myself closer against her, making myself as small as possible despite the throb of pain from moving. Catherine is still standing with Roger Brennen at the center of the plaza. I'd have avoided it area entirely myself to be safe, but that's not really an option here. Still, it's total chaos, with people moving everywhere, so we easily make it by without being noticed. Soon enough, we arrive at the field hospital, the woman looking back and forth for a doctor to treat my wounds.

Before I know it, I'm passed off to some tall, skinny man with a kind face, but these thin, odd looking fingers. He sets me down and begins to treat me, but as soon as he moves to take off my cloak and the bandages already wrapped around my hands to get a better look at my injuries, I freeze up. I might have slipped through with the guards thanks to Frank, but, these are not the kind of wounds that humans are expected to survive. Not to mention, I still have a bunch of metal disks tied to my back. While that wouldn't mean anything to a human, it's downright weird, and would be super suspicious...

"U-umm!" I start, tugging my cloak close around me and searching around for some way out of this. Against all my expectations, I find one. And not at all the one I would ever think of. It's Effy, being looked over similarly by another doctor, just a short distance away. "E-Effy!" I shout in her direction. It's loud with so many people here, but she hears me anyway. She brushes aside the confused doctor who was working on her and comes straight over my way.

"Come on, little one," the doctor prods me, softly but sternly as he pulls at my cloak again. "You're hurt. Be a good girl, now..." Then Effy grabs the man's shoulder, drawing his attention.

She looks him straight in the eye. "I'll take care of her." Her tone's a bit flat, but there's an intense force behind the words that makes the man stumble for a moment. In that time, I grab Effy, wrapping myself, arms and legs around her entire torso, to cling to her. "Who are you?" the man asks, but it's in more of a mumble, which Effy ignores, putting a hand to my back to hold me against her as she turns and begins to walk away.

The dumbfounded doctor soon falls behind, and we continue moving south together, past tons of other people in the middle of being treated. As soon as I can, I release her, letting her shift her arms to carry me. Every last muscle is screaming from the effort that went into clinging to her like that...

After a few pants, and swallowing the pain down, I force my grimace into a smile. "Thanks, Effy. You really saved me there. Can you keep going? I'm looking for someone."

"Sure."

We continue on. A few ticks later, I realize that meeting Effy here, of all places, makes way more sense than I thought. She's hurt too, so she would have been dragged here the moment someone saw her, exactly like I was. Of course she'd be here...

"What happened?" Effy asks after we've gone a little ways.

"Animals and monsters attacked. Did you just get back to town?"

"Yeah," she confirms with a small nod. She doesn't ask, but I remember to explain what animals and monsters even are a bit afterward.

We keep going as I speak, and she looks side to side, at all of the injured men around. There are a much smaller number of women, and even a few children, none of them looking good. Still not as bad as the men though. A large number of militiamen are moving the same direction we are, southward. Then all at once, they split off, into one large plaza directly to the east, with a few uniquely large buildings circling it. As I noticed earlier, another big group of men are returning from there, unarmed and marked with sooty foreheads. I look up past them, making out 'warrior's guild' written in big letters on the front of one building. That makes sense, they're the ones who actually run the draft...

We pass the plaza by, and the crowd massively thins. It makes it much easier to search for Beth, who we find just a little ways further on. "Miss Beth!" I call, getting her to turn from the man she's bandaging. As soon as we get a little closer, Emily rushes out of the crowd, right up to Effy.

"Aria!" she calls, beaming up at me, a tiny shine in the corners of her eyes, like she's holding back tears. "You're alright!"

I chuckle a little, ignoring the stab of my ribs it brings. "Of course I am," I respond. She already knew that. Effy sets me down gently, and before Emily can wrap me in a hug, I wave my hands to hold her off.

"Wait wait wait, I'm hurt!" I warn her.

That draws a big smile, before she throws her arms around me in a gentle embrace instead. I hug her back, and take a few big, relieved breaths. Though... I can feel Effy staring hole in the back of my head...

Soon after, Beth finishes wrapping the man's arm in bandages and sends him on his way, then comes over and kneels down. "Aria," she sighs happily. She doesn't need to say anything beyond that, really. All the relief that I'm fine, the care and love, she says it all loud and clear with a single look. Then her gaze is drawn up, to Effy behind me. "Don't worry, Miss, she'll be fine. I'm a doctor. I'll take good care of her."

I turn partway around. Effy stares back, mouth partially opening like she wants to say something, but she hesitates. I have a momentary urge to introduce them, before I wince. That's right, both of them would hate Effy, wouldn't they? Should I... I don't know, send her away now that I'm with Beth?

No no no, that would be terrible! There's no way I could hurt Effy like that!

Then, maybe just Beth since she isn't terrified of monsters like Emily is? No, that won't work either! I can't tell any one of them to go away right now! Not without explaining anything! I lower my head and sigh. Now is not a good time for this discussion, but I don't have a choice, do I...?