Nevermore had the feeling of cool, smooth stone felt more welcome under Vance's feet. He and Nicholas arrived back in the city streets of Vereece after having been on the move for about fifteen minutes, total. A few minutes ago, Vance had stopped feeling the leftovers from the battle they were fleeing. Either he was too far away, or it was over.

Vance's body had been giving him clues for a while now, but with this new rush of relief, he received the message loud and clear. His legs wobbled underneath him and the remaining dregs of adrenaline fled his system entirely. Even now, he still had moments where he could use his mana sense, but they were fleeting. In one such flash, he found the closest solid-seeming wall-like thing he could, pressed his back up against it and slumped down to the ground, where he gently, but quite awkwardly, placed his charge on the ground next to him.

Thanks to some quick exposition from Nicholas on the way, Vance now knew for a fact that it was Leslie Sellanion that he'd been carrying. He also confirmed that the other person from the cave was Nicholas' son, Niall. Other than these tidbits of information, the two hadn't spoken too much. Vance gave up entirely on maintaining his mana sense and let his head rest against the wooden wall behind him. Faintly, he could hear the shuffling of something on the other side of the wall, following by the distinct sound of what was probably a particularly pouty horse snorting at somebody.

Other than that, he could hear that Nicholas was talking with some of the guards stationed at the gate. He wasn't sure if Nicholas would have a harder time explaining the unconscious girl, Vance's half-dressed state, or their injuries. Frankly, Vance couldn't bring himself to care much about the details for now. He could feel his body 'gently' suggesting that he should close his eyes and have a quick snooze against the wall. It sounded like a truly wonderful idea.

What seemed like an instant later, Vance jumped as he was brought back to the waking world by the sound of Nicholas' voice. A pity, he was looking forward to some rest.

"Are you alright, Vance? Can you walk?"

Vance stammered for a moment over his words and coaxed himself back onto his feet. Without Leslie to carry, he seemed to be able to manage that much.

"Yeah, but I can't carry her, too."

"No problem, that's what Villie over here is for. He was kind enough to volunteer to help." Vance did notice that Nicholas messed with the word 'volunteer' a little, but once again, couldn't bring himself to care very much.

"Thanks, Villie," Vance said out to the open air, trusting that somebody was nearby by that name. He hadn't checked and didn't want to risk overdoing it with his mana sense any more than he already had.

"Sure." A gruff, male voice answered his call and Vance heard the man collect Leslie from the ground.

They only had to travel on foot for a few minutes before they located a carriage which Nicholas quickly commandeered. The carriage brought them back to the McKinnley household.

"We all agreed to meet back here after if something went wrong," Nicholas explained as he pulled the still unconscious, fidgeting form of his son out of the carriage and carried him into the home. Vance didn't offer much of a reply but a nod.

"Will they be alright? If one of the demons came after us, then..."

"Relax, they'll be fine. I wouldn't underestimate those three, the one that came after us was a part of our plan if the larger of the three demons was too much for Nathaniel to guarantee a kill."

"When did you have time to make a plan?" Vance asked, a little taken aback.

"You think we've just been idle this whole time? We might not have been able to find the demon, but you'd better believe we'd planned for the different possibilities. One demon, multiple demons, greater demons, Arcanist interference, regardless. It doesn't do for Arcanists to be unprepared at a time like this. Granted, we didn't account for you disappearing on us in the middle of the night."

The door flung open before they even made it up the stairs leading up to the house and Maddison practically teleported in front of Vance and began flinging worried words at him by the dozen. He wasn't precisely sure what she said, but there were about forty-five questions compressed into the space of about three seconds, and she was fussing over him with what seemed like more hands than he thought she had. It was a little overbearing, but it did make Vance feel a lot better, safer.

Maddison was usually the more composed member of the household. Seeing this particular brand of panic on her was new for Vance. She only broke out of her barrage of check-ups when she noticed the two unconscious figures that were with them.

"Oh. Nick, can you explain?" Just like that, Maddison was back to normal and she began ushering everyone inside. Villie and Nicholas set down the two unconscious members of their party and Villie excused himself, their newest conscript having been instructed to go and gather Leslie's family.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Nicholas began filling Maddison in on the details. She seemed worried, but not too much. Everyone around here seemed to have more faith in Nathaniel and the others than Vance did, which did make him feel a little better. Vance was idly listening to the conversation between Nick and Maddison when a certain portion of it caused him to perk up.

"He's still under the effects of dark mana. We'll have to wait for Nathaniel to get back, I can't do a light shift." Nicholas was talking quietly, but not quite enough to evade Vance's notice. He sounded pained, and Vance knew why. Every moment spent under the influence of dark mana dreams, or whatever they were, could be another moment spent in awful torment. There was no real way to tell for sure, but it was a safe bet.

Vance pulled himself into an upright sitting position from the folded napkin-esque position he'd found himself in on one of the armchairs. He reached out for his mana sense and found it lacking. He wanted to offer to help, after all, he might be able to pull that dark mana out of Niall and then, perhaps he could-

Before he finished his thought, the door crashed open again, this time with no assistance from mother-bear Maddison. A blood-soaked Nathaniel stormed into the room. Vance could smell the blood and oil from here. Even without his eyes, Vance could feel the fury that radiated off of the man. He wasn't actively reaching for mana but it was like all of the mana around him was alive, boiling and sharp. The thing that walked through the door just now wasn't a man, it was a storm.

Then, just like that, as soon as Nathaniel entered the living room proper and laid eyes on his family, Vance felt the surrounding mana calm, the raging torrents returning to a calm, gentle current. Vance heard two more sets of footfalls behind him, though one set sounded to be at a strange rhythm.

"More injuries, no doubt." Vance thought to himself.

"James?" Nathaniel asked, first and foremost.

"Out. Looking for Vance and their friends. They were going to check if he'd ran off somewhere," Maddison's voice was calm, purposefully so. She quickly made her way over and relieved her husband of his sword, which he held in a grip so tight that it took a conscious moment for him to relinquish it.

"Nat, over here, these two need light mana."

"What about you?" Nathaniel asked as he got to work, shifting light mana as he spoke. Vance forcefully shut down his mana sense in its entirety when Nathaniel started creating light mana, he didn't need nausea right now.

"Just surface wounds, Vance took care of it." Nicholas patted Vance on the shoulder as he spoke, shaking him very gently in approval. A few minutes passed of Nathaniel performing his work. After, he stood and let out a loud, long-held breath.

"Well?" Nicholas asked, impatient.

"They'll be fine, physically, though I expect some long conversations after this. I think they've been under for a while." Nathaniel's voice was solemn. The silence afterwards was enough to convey the severity of his meaning.

"Thank you." Nicholas sounded somewhere between relieved and terrified, but his gratitude was clear.

"Niall is a tough kid, he'll get through it. Leslie on the other hand..." Nathaniel trailed off for a moment, thinking.

"There was a lot more dark mana in her. What it was up to, I couldn't say. Our current theory suggests that she was the summoner, so maybe it treated her differently. We'll only know after her testimony if she gives it." Nathaniel was all business right now. His analysis was cold, quick.

"I'm going to go and intercept the Sellanions, best they hear this from me before they get into the house," He continued.

"I already sent a runner, so they won't be far," Nicholas advised.

"Good, see you soon." Nathaniel stormed his way towards the entrance, gathering his comrades with him.

"Wait, Nathaniel!" Vance piped up out of nowhere, Nathaniel stopped dead in his tracks. Had he not even noticed Vance was here? Vance couldn't exactly blame him, he hadn't spoken or anything.

"The demons?" Vance asked.

"Dealt with. I'll explain in detail later, alright?" The fatherly tone Vance was more familiar with shone through for a moment before Nathaniel was out the door the next. Vance could hear Nathaniel suggesting to one of his companions that they should get to a doctor for their leg, though he wasn't sure which of the two was injured, so he asked and found out it was Noelle.

Nicholas took Niall and Leslie and deposited them in guest rooms. Vance didn't get involved when the Sellanions turned up, guided by Nathaniel and Nick to the room where their daughter was staying. Vance had opted to try and take a nap on the armchair in the living room, mostly out of a desire not to continue moving. He was faintly aware that Nathaniel and Kaine were arguing, but sleep took him nonetheless.

Vance felt himself drifting, floating. It was like what he'd experienced back at home when he'd first learned to sense mana. It was comfortable, in that it lacked discomfort, but was otherwise simply nothing. He wasn't sure if it was a dream or just the lack of one. Either way, it felt real, and time passed. In this lucid dreamscape, his mind wandered from the events of the day, straying from the path of despair he'd spent the last god knows how many hours on. Instead, he felt a surge of pride and victory. It hadn't been flawless, it hadn't really even been intentional but he'd succeeded. He'd made progress, he'd even contributed to the saving of lives. Plus, he'd battled that cursed thing. He only regretted not killing it himself. It was a strong feeling of hatred, loathing, and anger. Amongst the nothingness, it made his blood boil. For a moment, he knew what Nathaniel felt when he spoke of demons, and it felt right.

"Vance!"

For what felt like the millionth time today, he was awoken suddenly from his slumber. Vance shot upright in response to James' voice, which was accompanied by the creaking of a door and a lot of quick footsteps. Truth be told, he was just happy that he wasn't falling.

Vance learned of Thomas' presence by his voice, Brad's by his heavy footfalls and Mariah's by the sudden impact and a faceful of hair. He was surprised, and about to say something when Mariah suddenly pulled a little back from the embrace, pulling her hands free from him. He expected fussing, but instead, she asked a peculiar question.

"Why're you so hot?!"