So large was the hole within the center of the hill that what Serena believed to be a short walk turned into an agonizing trek around its ledge. While Jo knew that Pavel and Doriyah had run to the other side, she didn’t know exactly where they were, and from their angle, they wouldn’t find out until they could see the other side of the ruined town. Despite that, Cruck’aa remained hovering around the smokestack, a brown speck in the otherwise clear sky; so long as they walked towards his general direction, they’d find them soon enough.

Jo spent the entirety of their walk on the hole’s edge, glancing at the mess that lay at the bottom, and occasionally at the smoke on the other side. Just the thought of looking back down tied Serena’s stomach into a knot, however, and thus she remained a few feet to the side of Jo, slightly down the hill. And though that helped calm the nausea somewhat, the same couldn’t be said for Werond, now leaning against Serena once more, head ducked, body trembling under the weight of what they’d seen.

She grimanced as Werond clutched her arm tighter, jerking as she choked back another sob. She reached across and laid her hand on top of Werond’s, the only comfort she could offer her at the moment.

Jo let loose a whistle. “It’s worse…”

Serena looked up as they continued around the hole, the rest of Nesme slowly coming into view. And despite desperately wishing so, she couldn’t argue with Jo’s assessment.

The other side of the city looked strikingly like what they’d already seen. But further down the hill, beyond the rings of rubble, of crushed buildings, of the scant few that still stood, much of the city’s walls were utterly destroyed. A gaping hole occupied the center, wide enough for giants to easily walk through shoulder to shoulder, Serena was sure. But in front of that smashed section of wall lay two massive trenches dug into the earth, extending out of the city and to the fields beyond, but tracing back through the rubble, and up to the base of the hill itself.

Serena narrowed her eyes. There was something familiar about those trenches, too large to be man-made. They were spaced apart so evenly too, almost like something was dragged –

“There.” Jo pointed, pulling her attention.

Further down and away from the hill, but still a few feet from the trenches, Pavel and Doriyah stood with arms crossed, facing each other over the hunched form of a small man, wringing his hands as he looked back and forth between the pair, the sun reflecting oddly off his bald head. An upturned wheelbarrow lay behind the man, almost as though he were shielding it from the two giants before him.

“Who’s that?” Serena signed, after getting Jo’s attention.

“Faintest idea,” Jo said, scratching at her ear. “saw him on the edge pushing in bodies. Sure he’s doing the burning too.”

“He looks scared.”

“Bet we’d be too, if we knew what those idiots were arguing about.”

Serena grinned, but that smile quickly died as they drew closer to the trenches. She craned her neck as they walked by, peering down their lengths. They looked impossibly wide by human standards, and they stretched so deep that Serena was sure that a fall in would be fatal. Bahamut’s Teeth, she could barely even see the earthy bottom, so long did the shadows stretch.

“Hey…” Serena signed; Jo had fallen in beside them as they walked. “are these –”

“Yes, like Bog’s Road.” Jo said. “Can that for a moment.”

Whatever argument Doriyah and Pavel had evaporated as they approached, both turning to face them as though the tiny man between them didn’t exist. He looked worse up close, haggard, with shoulders hunched, yet his eyes remained bright, and wide, as he regarded them.

“Short legs.” Doriyah said, arms still crossed.

Jo had opened her mouth to speak, but instead let it hang open as she stared at him. Werond finally pulled her head up, red, tired eyes flitting about, though she remained clutching at Serena.

“What?” Jo asked.

“Short legs. Must suck to have them.” Doriyah said.

“What in the Hells are you –”

“Took you all forever to get here,” Doriyah continued. “because you have short legs. That has to suck. I got here in a minute, considering –”

“It wasn’t a minute!” Pavel stuck his hands on his hips. “I’ve been trying to say, it couldn’t have been a minute. I counted and there’s no way –”

“How the fuck were you counting?!” Doriyah asked. “And why?!”

“Because I knew you’d say something stupid like that! And in my head!”

“Again, how? Because there’s nothing up there.”

“You can’t call me stupid,” Pavel pointed a finger. “I’ve seen you eat fish bones!”

“I like my meat extra crunchy.”

“How does that –”

“Excuse me!” Bleated a squeaky voice.

Serena jerked, torn suddenly from the pair’s theatrics; her gaze slipped down to the older, who, already short, shrunk further as he cowered under their gazes.

“Uh, erm,” He pulled at his collar, stained with sweat, and dotted with holes; his droopy, greyish mustache and the wrinkles across his square face spoke of an age far older than any of them, save perhaps Jo. “now uh, my-my apologizes to interrupt y’all, but uhm, y’all said – well, y’all,” he gestured at Serena, Jo, and Werond. “are y’all the folks who’d help?”

“What?” Jo said, looking between Doriyah and Pavel. “Help?”

“I didn’t say anything.” Doriyah said. “Can’t speak to midgets right anyways.”

“I spoke to him,” Pavel said. “and offered him our help. I figured –” He glanced at the man. “Sorry, what was your name again?”

“Hugh!” The man said. “Or Hugo!”

“Right, I figured Hugo needed some assistance, and I meant with the bodies, but then we got to talking, and I found out his family is sick!” He beamed at Serena. “So, I mentioned we had someone who could help! Figured you could whip them back into shape in no time, right?”

Serena blinked, taken aback. That was quite the promise to make, one that she wasn’t even sure she could keep, let alone to someone they’d just met. But before she could sign as much, Jo interrupted with a loud, explosive sigh.

“Exactly,” She said, looking at Hugo. “what’s wrong with your family?”

“Oh! I uhm,” Hugo said. “well you see, we got, uhm, some of ‘em upstairs – extended family, y’all know – and uh, they’re a bit, I suppose, wounded from the er, the battle. A little sick. I uh, I don’t rightly know what’s what. Did my best to bandage ‘em, ain’t no doctor though. If y’all could uhm, just, I suppose, look ‘em over, I’d – we’d be mighty appreciative!”

“That’s it? Look them over?”

“Er, yes ma’am!”

Jo squeezed her eyes shut, cocking her jaw. Serena glanced around, unwilling to speak, unsure of what to say, and found that she wasn’t alone. Pavel and Doriyah simply stared at Jo, though there did seem to be a hopeful glimmer in Pavel’s eye. Cruck’aa remained above them still, hovering close enough to intervene, but far enough way to keep himself uninvolved – something very much unlike him, she noted.

Perhaps that was for the best, else the man would’ve been dead by now.

“We,” Jo finally spoke, eyes still closed. “will make no promises. But we can look them over and see what we can do.”

“Y’all mean it?!” Hugo sputtered.

“Of course.”

“Oh! Fantastic!” Hugo hopped into the air, spinning as he did, landing away from them. “Y’all follow me then!”

And he took off, jogging parallel to the trenches, and towards the ring of rubble.

“You all saw that, right?” Doriyah asked. “He just –”

“Why?!” Jo whirled on Pavel, stepping directly into his face. “In the Nine Hells did you promise anything to that man?!”

“What?” Pavel leaned back. “Where’s this coming from?!”

“Pavel, we know nothing of the situation here, nothing of who that man is, and –”

“Are you afraid of him?” Pavel glanced back. “Jo, he’s a little old man, I think –”

“That doesn’t matter! We don’t know anything on what’s going on here –”

“So that’s an excuse not to help anyone –”

“It’s the reason why we need to be careful! Pavel –”

“Look, if you all don’t want to help him, then I’ll try. I promised –”

But Jo threw up her hands, letting loose a guttural sound of annoyance, before pushing past Pavel and walking after Hugo, now a stopped a good distance, waiting for them. Pavel shook his head but fell in after her, and without a word, the rest of them followed suit – save Cruck’aa, who remained hanging in the air.

No one spoke as they picked their way through the rubble; Hugo led them on a roundabout route, avoiding some areas of debris while going through the next. None of them questioned it, but then, no one seemed willing to. A tense quiet had fallen over their staggered line, punctuated only by the occasional crunch of glass or wood underfoot. Jo refused to look back as she trudged along, and Pavel slowed his walk deliberately, so he was always a few paces behind her, never close enough to talk. It didn’t help that Doriyah strolled between them, a mountain of fiery-maned obviousness, but that was beside the point.

The silence was only made worse by Serena’s own thoughts, as she saw reason in both of her friends’ shouted words. Yes, they shouldn’t just blindly promise to help someone without knowing anything, but at the same time, Hugo looked too old, too…well, cute, to do them any harm. She was sure she’d help him as well, had she met him first, but that didn’t excuse making promises she wasn’t sure she could keep. But thanks to Pavel, that had already been done for her. But then again if they could actually help…

Serena sighed; this would pass soon, and then they could leave. All would be fine in a few hours, she was sure of it. No point in worrying when other issues demanded her attention.

She glanced over at Werond as the thought crossed her mind. Thankfully, she seemed better, her amber eyes losing their redness as she walked now with shoulders straightened. Yet she’d remained clutching Serena’s arm and gave only the tiniest of nods when Serena asked if she was okay. She would have pushed the issue, despite the grimace on her face, had they not arrived at Hugo’s house.

He’d lead them all the way to the walls, some distance away from the gaping hole, now impossibly large up close, to a section that still towered so many stories above them. Almost shoved against the stone was one of the few remaining houses in the area, alone in a sea of rubble. Only two stories tall, it looked just like the ones in Waterdeep, with its square windows and pointed wooden roof, so much so that Serena could have sworn she’d seen the design before, perhaps when she and Werond had…

She shook her head as those memories came trickling back, once pleasant thoughts, now reminders of what she no longer had. It’d do her no good to get lost in them now, despite the pang in her chest urging her to do so.

“Now, uhm,” Hugo flipped around to face them, almost walking backwards into the door. “why don’t y’all let me uhm, go in first and tell everyone y’all are friendly. We’ve uh, had too many run-ins and uhm, well uh, I know y’all are fine but they –”

“That’s alright,” Pavel said, as they fanned out around the front of the house; Serena could just barely make out muffled voices from within. “Take your time. We’re not going anywhere.”

“Right, uhm – right!”

Hugo gave them a nod, before cracking the door just enough for him to slip through, closing it behind him.

“So,” Pavel said, immediately turning on Serena. “I didn’t catch any specifics, just that the family is sick, but after you heal them up –”

“Pavel,” Serena signed, untangling herself from Werond. “I can’t help them if they’re sick. I can heal wounds but…if they have something, I can’t do much.”

“What?” Pavel raised a brow. “That doesn’t – you’ve never said that before!”

“Because it’s never been an issue…that magic uses different spells, and I never learned how to cast them. They’re…more complicated than just closing a wound.”

“What? But healing is healing, how’d you never learn them?”

Serena bristled. “I just didn’t, okay? Didn’t think I needed them, and honestly, I haven’t until now.”

“Well…Nine Hells Serena, I wish I’d known that.”

“Maybe you should have asked me then, before you went around making promises.”

“I mean, sure, but I thought –”

“No,” Jo said, glaring daggers at Pavel. “you didn’t. Haven’t been thinking since we got here. Should have left by now.”

“Left?!” Pavel sputtered. “Why would we leave? These people need help and –”

“And we have to be the ones to offer it?” Jo shook her head. “Barely pulled ourselves out of the swamp, have no idea what in the Hells is happening to these towns, and you just offer us up to the first people we meet. Don’t have time for any of this.”

“Jo, what are we even doing?!” Pavel threw up his hands. “We’re –”

“Going to Silverymoon,” Jo said. “and figuring how what the fuck is going on.”

“And we can’t help people on the way?! What’s the harm?!”

“They,” Jo nodded to Serena and Werond. “found another body, like the ones on the road.”

“Here?!”

“Inside one of the buildings. A good enough reason to leave, but you’ve tied us down.”

Pavel blinked, staring at them with a wide-eyed expression. As he opened his mouth to speak, however, the door opened, and Hugo stuck his head through, eyes equally wide.

“Uhm, so, uh,” He swallowed. “no offense, but could the healer come in by herself? We uh, don’t mind but uh, we’ve got uh, some folks in here who uh, might not take kindly to a uh, a a tiny fire giant.”

“Who the fuck you calling tiny?” Doriyah growled, pulling a squeak out of Hugo.

Serena rolled her eyes but stepped towards the door regardless. Halfway there, however, Jo grabbed her shoulder, holding her in place.

“Not sending in one of our own like that.” Jo said, as Serena glanced at her. “I’ll come with her.”

Another hand fell on her other shoulder, and Serena was surprised to see Werond standing beside her, doing her best not to look nervous. They met each other’s eyes, but she quickly glanced away.

“My associate will also be coming.” Jo said, without missing a beat.

“I uhm, well,” Hugo said. “that’s a mighty lot of y’all, uh –”

“We’re women. How much trouble can we cause?”

“Ah! Fair point ma’am.” Hugo opened the door and gestured for them to come in. Before Serena could ask Jo what in the Nine Hells that was about, she shoved Werond and her forward.

It took a moment for Serena’s eyes to adjust as they stepped in, Hugo pulling the door shut behind them. The windows had been drawn down tightly, the only light being a few candles burning beneath them. The room itself was bare, save for a large wooden table in the middle, the benches on either side filled with children and a single woman, all staring up at them as they entered, snatches of parchment and charcoal sticks between them. A few cabinets lined the walls to their right, along with an ancient looking stove, and on the other side of the room, sitting on the first step of a flight of wooden stairs curving upward, was a boy with a short sword laid across his lap. He looked older than the children at the table but couldn’t have been more than fifteen.

The children, tiny and clustered around the woman, perked up as they entered, their voices rising to a questioning chorus, quickly shushed. All wore the ratted clothing of survivors, and despite the wonder in their eyes, each looked as lean and haggard as Hugo was.

“Ah, uhm, everyone,” Hugo said, standing beside them. “these are, uhm, some of the folks that I uh, met outside. They said they uh, could heal ‘em. Uh…” He paused. “I don’t think, uh, that I ever got ya’ll names. Or uhm, who between y’all is the healer?”

“I am,” Serena signed. “Serena. And that’s Jo and Werond.”

Jo shot a glare at Serena as Hugo and the woman flinched; Serena cringed, forgetting, for once, about her signs, but that embarrassment was drowned out by the children, their voices shouting in awe.

“She’s in my head!”

“Woah!”

“She’s a mind reader!”

“Do it again!”

Heat ignited across Serena’s chest, rising to her cheeks as the woman shushed them once more, shooting a glare at her.

“Oh, uhm sorry!” Serena couldn’t help but smile as the children’s voices rose again “That’s not – I’m not a mind reader, I –”

“Hugo,” Jo cut in. “best if you showed my associates to the injured. Before –”

“Uhm! Right, right!” He could barely speak over the chatter of the children, the woman shushing them in vain. “Er, Baron? Would you kindly lead ‘em upstairs please?”

He looked at the boy on the stairs, who glared daggers back. After a long moment, punctuated by shouting and shushing, Baron stood and tromped up the stairs, sword clutched tight.

“Ya’ll will have to excuse him.” Hugo said, wringing his hands. “Baron’s been mighty suspicious of uh…everyone, these days.”

“For good reason.” The woman at the table raised her voice over the children’s.

“Of course.” Jo jerked her head toward the stairs. “Be safe.”

“Are you staying here?” Serena asked, then immediately regretted it as the chorus of little voices rose again.

Jo nodded curtly. “Need to talk to Hugo.”

Serena nodded as the man jumped, and moved towards the stairs, Werond hot on her heels. She did not look at the legion of wide, curious eyes that followed her, their little voices falling to an awed hush as she walked by. From the way the woman glared at her, it seemed best to avoid riling up the children anymore than they already were.

The wooden stairs creaked underfoot, their worn surfaces showcasing a comfortable age to the house. They went up, flipped around, and deposited them on a wide, but narrow landing. A table and set of chairs standing on one end below a window, where ample sunlight poured in, illuminating the otherwise dark space. In the middle of the landing, a hallway spanned the length of the house, just as narrow, with a few doors spaced apart on both the walls. It looked almost like the taverns she’d seen on her travels up the coast, an odd design for such a large family.

Baron glared at them from the threshold of that hallway as they approached, sword at his side. He stepped forward to meet them, eyes flicking between them; they lingered on Serena as Werond stepped back, and he gestured at her with the sword.

“Now y’all both listen here,” He said. “I don’t want no funny business. I see anything, I’ll stick y’all. Make myself clear?”

Serena cocked a brow.

“Now I mean it!” Baron’s voice cracked, and he waved the sword under her nose. “Anything funny and I’ll gut y’all first and ask questions later!”

“Of course.” Serena signed.

She wasn’t in the habit of being threatened by children playing with weapons they didn’t know how to use, but at the same time, she couldn’t help but understand the boy’s terror, evident in his wide eyes. To ask complete strangers to help who she could only assume was family would be frightening in its own right.

Baron nodded, then turned down the hallway, leading them to the farthest door on the left, the wood still creaking underfoot. As they reached it, however, he leaned against it, the bite in his voice disappearing as he regarded Serena.

“Don’t know what’s wrong with them.” He said, voice low. “They got hit, bunch of swords and axes, and they was fine until…they got sick. Now they…don’t really move much.”

“I’m sorry.” Serena said. “I’ll do what I can for their wounds, but if they’re sick with something…I can’t make any promises.”

The boy grimanced, teeth grinding as she spoke.

“Can’t you just talk normal?” He demanded. “Stuff like that is why I don’t trust y’all.”

“I would if I could. I’m not…doing anything, if that’s what you’re thinking. Just talking.”

“Keep it that way.”

And he shoved into the room. Serena glanced back at Werond, who glared over her shoulder at Baron; she shook her head, then ushered her in.

Four beds had been crammed into a room that should have only held one; arranged in twos, they stuck out from the walls, creating a narrow walkway between them, the floor lined with what looked to be fur rugs. Aside from the dresser at end of the room, beneath an open window where Baron now sat, the place was depressingly bare, as though it wasn’t meant to be lived in for very long.

Though perhaps she shouldn’t have thought that.

All the beds were occupied, three with men, and one with an older woman. Each lay in various states of undress, shirts unbuttoned and pulled open, pant legs torn or removed entirely. Swathes of bandages covered almost every visible section of their bodies, all in various shades of white, yellow, and red, and the poor woman near the back had a few covering her face, over one eye. How long those bandages had remained, Serena couldn’t tell, but from their color and general stench of sick that hung in the air, they’d must have been up here for quite some time.

None of them stirred when Werond shut the door behind them, and for a moment, all Serena could do was stare.

“What happened?” She asked.

“Fucking –” Baron grimanced and lowered his voice, sword across his lap. “those fucking god damned barbs. Giants came, then them, then this.”

“Wait,” Serena said, heart in her throat. “what –”

“Y’all gonna help them or not?!”

She glared at him, and that brave façade crumbled in an instant; he glanced away, mumbling something, before beginning to tap the flat of the sword against his thighs. She’d have to ask afterwards.

Serena glanced back at Werond, who stood now with her back against the door. She quickly sign, “W – A – T – C – H”, pointed at herself, then to Baron. Feeling somewhat relieved, Serena set to work.

In truth, however, there wasn’t much work to be done. None of the men reacted to her presence, nor when she peeled away the disgusting bandages, revealing festering wounds of yellow pus and angry red, throbbing skin. Each burned away under her silver light, the sizzling of flesh filling the air as she healed and closed every wound, no matter the size. Baron took offense at the noise, but a quick wave of her hand, bathed in light, shooed him away once he saw her work, wounds now nothing more than fresh scars.

And yet, through it all, none of the men stirred, none of the men awoke from what Serena knew to be painful. They simply laid there as their flesh reknit, muttering, and sweating as though locked in some terrible dream, one where no amount of prodding could wake them. Expect for the last, the woman, who was already awake when Serena reached her, sweaty and exhausted. But only just.

She looked like a mirror image of the woman downstairs, peering at Serena beneath a half-lidded eye, the other wrapped in somewhat cleaner bandages than the ones across her chest. She sucked in a breath when Serena leaned over her, hands hovering above her.

“And where did y’all come from?” The woman croaked.

“Uhm…that’s a long story.” Serena signed. “But I’m here to heal you, best I can, if you’ll let me.”

“Of course…” The woman grunted, struggling to even talk. “Glad…you’re not with the barbs.”

Serena paused unwrapping the woman’s bandages, glancing up at her, then at Baron, watching her intently.

“What happened?” She asked, pulling her hands up. “If you…don’t mind me asking. Baron talked about the…barbs?... too.”

“Raiders.” The woman croaked, as Baron made some noise of irritation. “Came in, after them giants. Just a…few days.”

Her eye fluttered for a moment, before regaining focus on her, almost boring a hole through Serena.

“Put them stuff on them blades…” She muttered. “Make us…like this…”

Serena cocked her head and began to sign, only for the woman to quickly slip into unconsciousness. She did not rouse when she pressed her fingers against her neck, nor when she removed the bandages and healed her wounds. She left the clothes on her face, however, after snapping them clean; there wasn’t much Serena could do to fix a missing body part.

“So?” Baron asked as Serena straightened up, her back popping, worry gnawing at the back of her mind.

“They should all be fine,” Serena said, facing him and snapping her hands clean. “but there’s…I don’t know, I don’t think they’re sick, but there’s something wrong with them. They’re all…extremely tired, I guess. I don’t really know the spells to identify what that would be…sorry.”

“Well, what good are y’all then?!” Baron snapped, leaping off the dresser, brandishing his sword. “Y’all didn’t fix them! Y’all were supposed –”

“I heal their wounds,” Serena snapped. “so they won’t die from them. They won’t die from being tired, but from their wounds, they would have. When was the last time you changed their bandages?”

“Change ‘em?!” Baron yelled. “How am I supposed to know to change ‘em?”

“Nine Hells, you’re lucky I came then! They would have died from infection if I hadn’t!”

“Y’all don’t mean that!”

“How would you know?”

The boy opened his mouth to argue, then snapped it closed, huffing as he did.

“I don’t.” He grumbled. “And I suppose y’all be want payment then.”

“Ah,” Serena signed; she hadn’t thought of that. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

“Nah, I need to give y’all something.” Baron grumbled. “Pa’ll will insist if we don’t, and I don’t wanna be in y’alls debt!”

“I mean it, I don’t really…”

Her fingers trailed off; behind him on the dresser – he must have sat on it – was a small stack of parchment, bound at the top by a strip of leather, a stick of charcoal beside it. From the angle, Serena could just barely make out a few scratches of Common, but the stack still looked full, as though unused.

“Are you using that?” She asked, pointing; Baron followed her finger, then scoffed.

“Nah, why’d I’d be using –”

“I’ll take that as payment.”

“What?! It’s just a –”

“Good reward for my services, yes.”

The boy stared at her, mouth working, eyes narrowed, as though he were trying to uncover her game. She didn’t have one, but if she got that parchment and charcoal, well…maybe she could heal a body part, if only temporary.

“Fine then.” Baron said, grabbing the parchment and charcoal, ripping off the top sheet. “But then y’all don’t’ ask for nothing from Pa once y’all leave. Y’all got payment.”

“Deal.” Serena said, reaching out.

Baron handed them over without issue; Serena spun on her heel and marched towards the door, meeting Werond’s narrowed, confused gaze. She grinned, then offered the parchment and stick to her.

“It’s not your tongue,” Serena signed when she took them. “but it’s something.”

Werond’s eyes flew open, and she looked down at the stuff in her hands. When she regarded Serena again, it was with an expression somewhere between happiness, and what she took to be pride. Serena couldn’t help but beam.

They made their way out of the room and downstairs without incident. It didn’t seem like anyone had moved, the woman and children still at the table, Jo and Hugo by the door. The children continued to talk in hushed voices, despite the efforts of the woman, while Hugo still stood wringing his hands, nervous about, if Serena could guess, how grim Jo looked, with her arms crossed and head down.

Her gaze snapped towards them as Serena and Werond walked into the room. “Good?” She asked as they approached.

“I think so. I healed their wounds but…” Serena glanced at Hugo. “I don’t know what else is wrong with them. They just seem…tired, I guess. Maybe now that they’re healed, it’ll pass but…I’m not too sure. I’m sorry.”

“Ah, uhm, that’s quite alright ma’am,” Hugo said, a wobbly grin plastered on his face. “y’all did what y’all could. We appreciate it. Now uhm, payment wise –”

“Baron already helped us with that.” Serena signed, pointing at the parchment in Werond’s hands.

“Oh! Well, good! Will uhm,” He stammered as Jo moved towards the door. “will y’all be needing a place to stay then? Ya’ll –”

“Don’t know,” Jo shoved open the door, jerking her head at Serena and Werond. “Come on. We all need to talk.”