During the battle, everyone in the village is awoken by sudden pressure. At first, it is just a shortness of breath that causes everyone to wake up. But before they can even panic, their whole body down to their cells begin to shake. The soul is threatening to shatter apart from within.

  Donna wakes up with a shock as the sensation of being squashed consumes her. She rolls off the bed gasping for breath tears fill her eyes as she falls to the ground. Donna reaches out towards her dad's bed with a quivering hand. “D chg,” She can’t even call out for help or cry out in pain.

  Wilbur also wakes up with a start. Noticing something is wrong, he tries to sit up to check on his daughter. As Wilbur begins to sit up, he’s slammed back down onto the bed. He strains to look over at his daughter. As Wilbur turns his head, he sees his daughter writhing on the floor. Donna’s eyes have tears flooding down her face, her nose draining as well. She gasps for breath as drool falls down her chin.

  Wilbur's chest compresses as he tries to call out. His arms feel like iron that has been poorly quenched, ready to shatter at any moment. ‘Not my daughter!’ he screams in his mind. He strains his body with all his might, but not one cell in his body is willing to listen.

  In Anna’s place, they experience the same phenomenon. As they lay in bed, they are suddenly crushed. Arron gulps in shock. He tries to reach out for Anna with his hand. Yet he can’t move it at all. Not even a finger willing to reach out. Across the room, he hears Franklin gasping for breath as he endures the same attack.

  Arron strains with all his might to look over at Anna. Ever so slowly, gravity takes effect, and his head rolls over towards Anna. As his eyes focus on his love, he sees a stoic face gazing up at the ceiling. Anna’s eyes don’t show fear or anguish. Just the beads of sweat falling down her forehead show that she’s under the same strain.

  In Laurel’s home, Mellisa has refused to let Laurel sleep alone. Mellisa clings on to her daughter all night, fearing she’ll be whisked away in the night. When the pressure emerges, they too wake up in a start. Mellisa feels her arms go stiff as she tries with all her might not to release her daughter. It is to no avail, though, as her arms slacken.

  Laurel coughs as the pressure crushes her. Not understanding what’s going on, Laurel tries to cling to her mom, but instead, she feels her mom’s grip slacken. In terror, her eyes flash up to her mom's face. Laurel sees the tears and love in her mother's eyes as she shudders from the pressure. ‘My mom doesn’t train; she’s not strong. Someone help her!’ Laurel wants to scream, but all that comes out is a gurgle.

  Each second seems like an eternity in this state. Laurel’s mind races as she tries to think of something. Since she’s gained the Diviner eye’s Laurel is often thrown into mysterious circumstances. ‘No one will come,’ she feels as she sees the terror in her mom’s eyes. ‘I need to! I need to do something,’ she concludes.

  ‘Move, move, move, move,’ Laurel begs. She strains with all her might, not willing to give in. As Laurel struggles, she remembers the technique John taught, “Force all your energy into your arm and strike out.” But the foundation energy inside her is crushed just like her. Its movement is sluggish. “You must integrate everything into your dance,” Laurel remembers Elanor saying only this morning.

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  ‘I don’t understand! Why is everything so hard,’ Laurel complains. ‘I can’t even dance. The advice is no good,’ she concludes. As Laurel gives up, she hears her heartbeat thrumming in her ears.

  Thump, Thump, Thump. As Laurel focuses on herself, she starts to feel the beat of her life force. Like her own song playing inside her. She unconsciously starts to move her foundation energy with the beat. Slowly it begins to circulate once again as she bottles it up in her arm. Laurel’s right arm, covered by a curling chain that lays limply on her mother, begins to twitch. A light yellowish glow shines from her arm. Slowly almost imperceptibly, Laurel’s fingers grip onto her mother’s back.

  Upon the hill, A bush shakes as the sudden pressure also crushes it. Yet, for John, it’s just a vague feeling as he floats quietly in the darkness. For Joe, on the other hand, he’s being tormented by the power. Unlike the villagers, he’s not entirely incapacitated. Though his muscles ache and his blood is sluggish, he’s a demonic beast at the Contaminated stage after all.

  Joe, not understanding what is attacking him, rages at the sky. “Mooroh!” he howls. Joe’s eyes turn red as he looks for the attacker. Since none show themselves, Joe begins to rampages tearing up the dirt and snow with his hooves. As his head swings back and forth, he looks out into the forest and charges trying to destroy the unseen attacker. He smashes trees with his large horns and tramples anything unlucky enough to be in his way.

  Just as sudden as the calamity began, it ends. Even though they are exhausted by the ordeal, families cling to each other and cry, comforting each other throughout the night. Even when the morning arrives, no one has the energy to get up. It’s not until well into the afternoon that they begin to congregate after the disaster.

  Gregory sighs and asks, ”What do you guys think?”

  Anna shakes her head, “I have no idea.”

  Arron frowns, “we already talked, and there are only two people who might have a guess.”

  “One is asleep for the winter, and the other is nowhere to be seen,” Gregory surmises.

  Anna shrugs, adding, “It may even be Elanor who brought on this attack. Or it’s just something that happens in the Unbroken lands.”

  Gregory looks around at the mix of fearful faces. ‘Only a few of us can handle this kind of stress,’ he concludes. “Alright, everyone. We’ve been here for quite some time, so I think we should be fine,” Gregory announces. Gregory then turns to Wilbur, “How goes the plan? Are the axes and saws done?”

  Wilbur shakes his head while holding Donna in his right arm. “Almost, but,” he replies while squeezing his daughter.

  “I understand you're worried about your daughter, but we need those tools. We need to start building more permanent homes and looking towards the future,” Gregory reminds everyone.

  Wilbur harrumphs making his black beard flutter. “I’ll do it tomorrow.”

  Gregory nods, “Fine. We’ll rest for today. Everyone stay close and try to relax.”

  Anna looks over at Franklin and orders, “Alright, we’ve eaten. We should get some practice in today.”

  Franklin kicks his feet on the ground and complains, “but we’re supposed to relax.”

  “We’ve already missed morning training. That’s enough,” Anna says with a stern voice.

  “Fine,” Franklin gives in with slumped shoulders.

  Slowly the villagers regain their composure, and over the next few months, they fell trees and reinforce their houses. By the time spring starts to invade the winter, the village has already begun to transform from a refugee camp to a real community. It now has planks along the ground, so they don’t have to trudge through mud. The shacks no longer have holes, and they've even begun building new homes to replace the run-down shacks.