The living statues marched straight towards Norrington from the Chaos gate. There were other settlements nearby, hamlets, small villages, and farmsteads. She noted a couple in the opposite direction of Norrington, and the farming hamlet was even closer to the gate than the town. But the statues unerringly headed away from the hamlet, without even sending a single scout elsewhere.

Of course, she might have subconsciously given the gate more intelligence than it truly had. After years of fighting Chaos Lords, she knew that Fysallis could have a guiding Will. Was it the same here? Why else would the overflowing monsters head directly for the nearest place with the greatest concentration of people?

From the looks of it, the town’s guardians knew of this fact and were all prepared. The wall facing the statue’s origin gate was well defended, and upon inspecting the rest of the town, Yuriko saw that those walls were slightly taller and more than a bit wider, which allowed more soldiers to cycle through the battle with greater ease. Actually there were many points on the wall that were reinforced to such a degree and she guessed that there were Chaos Founts in those directions. Hmmm, there were six points, almost equidistant from each other, it looked like.

All of that told her that this was a regular occurrence and that these people were well-equipped and prepared for it. There was also the fact that Gwendith and Heron returned to the Darter with a couple of purses that contained ten silvers inside, the standard fee for volunteers on the wall that finished the battle with no injuries and who were not placed in undue danger.

That it was that high probably meant that the overflows don’t happen often enough to make that payment a burden. Someone living modestly could probably live for a week or so with that many coins, though the duration of the battle meant that it could also be a replacement for lost wages.

Well, Gwendith was better at these things, and Braden Foster studied economics so he might have better insight. But on the other hand, Gwen had been raised as the heir of a noble, so she had a broader foundation.

Well, while on their pillows, the two of them often chatted about idle things. Gwendith spoke a bit about her life growing up, while Yuriko did the same.

“Hie hie, you really are a musclehead,” Gwendith chuckled when Yuriko described her obsession with joining Legion Vagaris as a child, and her demand to Da for training.

“Hmph!”

Well, afterwards, it only took a few minutes of Gwendith’s ministrations to distract and soothe Yuriko…

The battle in front of them wasn’t so much a battle, but simply culling the herd. That’s her impression anyway. But were Chaos Fount overflows that common in the first place?

“Does this happen often?” Heron asked Cillian, who shrugged.

“The span between overflows varies, even those Founts that are well kept and delved. Sometimes, even just staying empty for an hour is enough to build up the forces within.” Cillian shook his head. “Though that doesn’t happen often, as far as I know.”

“Hmmm.” Yuriko hummed. “Should I…we shut down the gate?”

“Ah, no need,” Cillian said. “Any Fount within a league of a town is under control of it and all decisions must go through the town council.”

“I see. Do you want to help?” Yuriko asked her group.

Desire simply shrugged, Saki didn’t do anything, and Ryoko shook her head and continued tending to the kitchen. Yuriko talked to all of them through her Anima mimicking her voice. Ryoko was in the kitchen, Saki was in one of the rooms with Desire. Saki was meditating and presumably trying to find a remedy to her stealth technique.

“Abyss, yeah!” Devotee yelled, smacking his fists together.

Gwendith giggled and said, “I’m feeling lazy.”

“You could work on your control,” Heron pointed out. “I’m going. Battles are the best honing stones.” Then, he gave Yuriko a pointed glance. “Don’t kill everything.”

“I’ll just thin them out,” Yuriko nodded. “What about you two?” she asked Adan and Cillian.

Adan shrugged and said, “Not my duty right now.”

“I have to concur,” Cillian said, “but I will help you if you wish to fight.”

“Shadow Heron then,” Yuriko said. “You two seem like you hit it off.” She giggled.

“If Lord Heron wishes?”

“Huh, oh sure. How effective are your Fire orbs against these things?”

“Barely, I think. But Fire orbs aren’t the only thing I can do.” Cillian laughed. “I’m well versed in using Force Arcana, too, even if they aren’t my innate spells.”

“Oh, show me,” Heron said as he hopped over the railings. Cillian called for his Steeld, which rose from its slumber and trotted across the deck. It jumped over the railings and Cillian mounted it.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

The two men, one running, one astride an Iron Horse, rushed towards the horde of living statues. Yuriko chuckled and leaned over the railing while Gwendith pressed her hip against hers.

“Are you going to help?”

“It seems unnecessary,” Yuriko said. “Besides, it’s actually fun to watch other people fight. Hmmm, I could go for some tea.”

Gwendith giggled as she pushed her bosom against Yuriko’s arm. “Are you sure it’s tea you want?”

“Hmmm, well, we do have a few bottles of rose wine,” Yuriko muttered, snortling to herself when she felt Gwendith sniff. “Share a glass with me?”

“Hmmm, alright.”

The wine bottle had been brought out by Ryoko almost as soon as Yuriko asked. She also pulled a couple of armchairs from the hold, as well as a low table. Everything was set next to the railings a moment later, and she pushed the Wind Darter higher up in the air so they could get a better view. It was midmorning and the Radiant Sun cast long shadows across the fields. The marching statues’ shadows barely touched the wall before they were destroyed by the defenders.

Heron and Cillian reached the statues a minute after she poured the wine into the glasses. The two of them clinked their glasses and Yuriko took a sip.

Gwendith muttered. “You poured too much in the glass.”

“Oh?”

“Don’t fill it to the brim next time. The aroma should be trapped in the glass.” Gwendith held her nose over the wine and took a deep breath, smiling slightly. Then she took a sip. Yuriko noticed she didn’t swallow it immediately, but closed her eyes and held the liquid in her mouth. It was only after that did she swallow and open her eyes. A bit of Animus escaped her gasp, though the cloud almost immediately dissipated in the empty air.

“You used Enhanced Senses?”

“Yes, but focus more on scent than taste,” Gwendith said.

“Hmm, alright.” Yuriko copied Gwendith and spun her Animus around her mouth and nose. A whole bouquet of scents made themselves known to her, and all of a sudden, Yuriko found hidden notes that made the drink far tastier than anything she’d ever taken. Maybe even better than eating parfaits! Or chocolates…? Hmmm, probably not. Oh! What about if she drank tasty wine while eating chocolate? That would be nice.

Giggling to herself, Yuriko and Gwendith sipped their drink contentedly while watching Heron massacre the living statues. Ryoko came up on deck with a tray of cheese and sliced meats to enjoy the bottle with.

By the time they finished the wine, the battle had concluded. She lowered the Wind Darter to allow the two men and the Steeld to climb aboard. And since it was only a couple of hours before noon, they decided to continue on their way. As they passed Norrington, she saw a group of adventurers riding towards the gate between the boulder.

“What does it take to stop an overflow anyway?” she asked Adan. Cillian and Heron had gone below deck to freshen up.

“Hrm, I’m not sure. Only the Adventurer’s Guild and the Delver’s Office truly know. It entails going into the Fount, that’s for sure. Well, one way is to destroy the Fount, but unless it's drained of Chaos, once destroyed, everything within is thrown out. Monsters, adventurers, and Chaos.”

“Ah.”

Something to consider if she was forced to destroy a Fount…wait. What happened to that wild one they explored? There was no burst of ambient Chaos, though every monster had been killed. Hmm, perhaps they had all been turned to Radiant energy. So if she had to destroy one, she should just flood it with Radiance to avoid a deadly backlash.

…of course, too much Radiant energy wasn’t good either.

By noon. The farmlands had given way to wilder savannas. They left the region of primal forests too, and were at least thirty to forty leagues east of the wastelands. The road they followed wasn’t in the best condition, but it was broad enough to allow two carriages to drive by each other. They hovered just off-road as the Darter was almost as wide as the thing, and Yuriko didn’t want to have to make way every time a wagon approached. They did draw a lot of curious stares back when they were closer to the farmlands, from pedestrians, farmers, and herders.

A few paces from the road was a wide, meandering river. The road followed it unless the river doubled back on itself, then, they’d go over bridges or directly over the river. Hmm, admittedly, she could have allowed the Darter to float and just push it upstream, but then again, it would have taken too much time. They did stop to fish by late afternoon. The two Bresian officers held makeshift poles while Yuriko simply dipped her toes in the cold water.

The Season of Water was almost done and for Bresia, it didn’t seem as harsh as eastern Rumiga’s. The snow thawed about a couple of weeks before the end, even if she could still see ice floes going downstream.

The next day they closed in on the last town. Beyond that lay Nirlith and its academy. The terrain had once again turned to rolling hills and valleys that the roads kept to. She spotted a few animals in their Seasonal coat, though some had already turned a mottled brown. The Season of Earth was the Season of Growth, though she wondered what they called it here. Ah, she hadn’t asked.

“Earth, Fire, Air, Water,” Cillian said. “Though some ascribe to the cyclic elements, the divide between the Seasons is clear.”

The road had followed the river for the past five leagues now, and as soon as they exited the current valley, the next town was well within sight. Waterlow, right next to the headwaters of a thirty-pace high waterfall.

And, hmmm, currently being besieged by monsters.

“A third time is no coincidence but a pattern,” Yuriko muttered.

Waterlow, like Rumiga City, was a multi-tiered settlement. One part was above the cliff, while another part was below it. The lower district looked larger than the upper one, but it also looked like both upper and lower districts were under attack. She could see wolves crackling with static lightning throwing themselves at the walls, while green-skinned humanoids rode on their backs.

That wasn’t all. She saw winged reptilian beasts swooping down on the populace, even as lighting bolts, fire arrows, and bullets sought to fend them off. And a third kind of beast rose from the river, though calling them that might be a misnomer.

The third attacker had strange viscous forms. Blobs, cubes, animal shapes, and a few were humanoid. Each one looked like water given form, and when they flung their limbs, torrents of liquid gushed out. And the unlucky few so splashed soon screamed in horrendous pain as their flesh melted off their bones.

The defenders were slowly being overwhelmed, to the point that she could see civilians among the walls, some aiding the soldiers, while others tried to kill the beasts.

Yuriko stared at the water elementals. They were the ones who were wreaking havoc amongst the helpless.

“Kill them all,” Yuriko growled as sunblades spun into existence, and beams of Radiant fire blasted from her eyes.