The aftermath of the battle was a somber affair. Almost all of the Airta had been wounded to varying degrees, two of them to the degree that they would have died without Zhalia’s healing.

The Cleric looked drawn and tired after so many healings, not that Tim could blame her. She’d worked tirelessly to save as many as she could, and in the end, only a handful of fraktiri died in the assault.

By any calculation, it was a tremendous victory that had been almost entirely one sided. Still, none of the Airta were particularly in the mood to celebrate.

Between the hunting parties and that main force, there had been almost two hundred Cyth Lai and a single Cyth Bayne.

That was far more than a simple marauding group of Cyth. Not to mention the building they’d been constructing. That was far from average behaviour as well.

Of course, Tim didn’t know what all this was instead, he was only familiar with the smaller groups that occasionally cropped up.

Well, those and that one larger force that Verdan had led them against the year before. That had been a scary fight for sure, but they’d come out victorious.

Currently, Sylvie and the most knowledgeable of the Airta were gathered together to try to figure out what to do next, leaving Tim time to dwell in his thoughts.

Beyond the Cyth, the biggest thing on Tim’s mind were these recent developments with the strange powers he had gained access to.

Tim was just a guy, just an ordinary guy. His brother had become a Sorcerer, but then Tom had always had a fascination with stones, rocks and all things earthen.

Tim, though, had none of that background. Despite that, he had called a hunt in the same way the Airta did, and he’d accessed some sort of strange power about protecting people.

Tim was no fool, the first time he remembered it happening, he’d been standing between Darjee and Sylvie. Then it had happened again when he was protecting those farmers and again while protecting Zhalia.

Whatever strange ability this was, it was linked to him defending or protecting people.

When Tom had been born, their father had abandoned them, leaving all the pressure on their mother, who had died when Tim was thirteen.

Tim had looked after his younger brother from that point, protecting him and doing everything he could to make ends meet.

Eventually, that desire to keep Tom safe shifted into something a lot more general, and they had ended up becoming guards for hire.

The horrors and depravities that Tim had seen people inflict on each other had only reinforced his desire to help and shield the innocent from what could hurt them.

Tim refused to believe that his desire to do so was either special or different. Countless other people surely had as strong a desire to protect as he did.

“Tim?” Sylvie’s voice drew him out of his thoughts, and he blinked as he saw that Sylvie and Zhalia had both walked over to him.

“Sorry, I was somewhere else there. What did you ask?”

“I asked what your thoughts are on what we should do next?” Sylvie gave him a tired smile. “I have yet to make my decision and would like to know your opinion.”

“Oh, well, I think the first step is to send a warning to the city. They need to know about all this in order to protect those living outside the walls.”

“And the second step?”

Tim shrugged a little. “That would be to continue to Hobson’s Point. We have dealt with the immediate threat, so the rest should fall to the local Sect.”

Sylvie arched a brow questioningly. “You don’t think we should stay in the area to hunt down any remaining Cyth?”

Tim hesitated with a frown. “I don’t know. This isn’t our land, but it goes against the grain to abandon anyone. Have we seen any more signs of Cyth?”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“Some small signs of them, but nothing to this degree,” Sylvie said thoughtfully.

“Then the local Sect can do the rest,” Tim said, spreading his hands. “We can warn any other locals we encounter, but we lack the force to truly occupy the area.”

Sylvie nodded with a slight smile. “My thoughts exactly. I’ve already sent the local Airta who’ve joined us out to spread the word, but I’ll send a few of them to Dresk as well.”

Tim nodded, pleased both that they were thinking along the same lines, and that she was taking his advice.

-**-

Despite their brash entry to the area, it took time for the Airta to withdraw.

After their brief conflict with the Cyth, none of them wanted to leave any innocents exposed and vulnerable, after all.

Eventually, however, they were back as a single group and heading west from the city, leaving behind a chaotic mess in their wake.

The Eternal Wardens, the local Sect, were already conducting sweeps of the area for any more Cyth. According to the messengers who’d taken word, they were reacting with a lot more panic and urgency than expected.

The main group of the Cyth had been destroyed, so the cause of the concern wasn’t clear. All Tim could imagine was that either they didn’t believe the Airta had done the deed, or that they were worried more Cyth were coming.

The idea of multiple bands of Cyth, all of a similar strength, wandering the land was a distressing one.

There was no way they were getting the information from the local Sect, though, so Sylvie pushed them hard in their travel west.

Hopefully, Verdan or the Steel Custodians would know if there was some larger issue.

-**-

“Those are new,” Tim remarked as they made their way up to the gates of Hobson’s Point, nodding his head at a distant string of construction sites.

They’d seen a few like that in the last day or so, but the ones this close to the city were larger and more developed.

“What do you think they are?” Sylvie asked, looking to Tim for answers.

“Watchtowers maybe, or outposts for the city guard,” Tim said with a slight shrug. “With how much is changing in the city, they likely want to assert some more control over the surrounding area.”

“Encroaching into the woods,” one of the Airta muttered under his breath, drawing a reproachful look from Sylvie for his troubles.

“These aren’t our woods yet,” Sylvie said, looking ahead to the city. “Part of what we need to do is establish if living alongside humans is possible. We have failed at it in the past, but this city is different. Perhaps it is even different enough.”

They all fell quiet at that statement, which was perhaps for the best as they reached the gates of the city a few moments later.

The gates were open but guarded, with a small toll to enter.

Despite their lack of official interaction with human civilisation, Sylvie’s tribe had a surprisingly large amount of money to draw on.

Sylvie had taken a good portion of that money with her on this trip, so a toll was no problem even if the full group had been accompanying them.

The mass of fraktiri accompanying them would never have been accepted inside the city, so Sylvie had left half of the Airta nearby to keep them close and watch over them.

In the end, the only fraktiri to come in with them was Fenn, but then, he was already trained on how to act around humans.

“So, what now?” Tim asked once Sylvie had paid for them all and they were in the city. “Verdan or the city council?”

“Verdan first, I think,” Sylvie said with a slight smile. “It will be good to check in on how things have been in our absence. Assuming that he’s back from his own trip.”

Tim nodded, though he was more concerned about checking in on Tom and making sure he was alright.

Tom had taken to his new life as a Sorcerer well, but Tim worried about his little brother. He’d feel a lot more at ease once he’d seen with his own eyes that he was alright.

Hurrying through the city, Tim led the way back to the gates of the old Crea estate, grinning at the surprised look on Pawel’s face as they came into view.

In no time at all they were gathered inside, smiling, laughing and shaking hands as they caught up on everything that had happened.

“So, where’s that brother of mine?” Tim asked Ruan after they’d exchanged greetings.

“He’s off helping Branwen,” Ruan said, surprising Tim by speaking with no trace of his former lisp. “He does that a lot these days.”

“Really?” Tim echoed with a slight smile.

Branwen was Elliot’s older sister, a towering woman with a powerful build and long red hair. She was a Cleric to Brannoc if Tim remembered right.

Beyond that, he didn’t know much about her, he’d have to see what he could prise out of Tom when he finally caught up with him.

For now, though, he had another duty to perform.

“Thanks, Ruan. Do you know where Verdan is instead?”

“Yeah, he’s in the workshop finishing up his meal.”

“Thanks,” Tim gave the older man a nod before heading over to pass the information on to Sylvie.

Together, they made their way into the workshop, finding Verdan just getting up from an empty plate as he spoke with Adrienne.

“Tim, Sylvie!” Verdan called out as he caught sight of them. “I didn’t realise you were back.”

“We’ve only just rolled in,” Tim said with a grin, coming forward to shake Verdan’s hand. His grin quickly faded, however, as he continued. “We need to talk in private.”

“Is everything alright?” Verdan asked quickly, tension filling his posture. “Is anyone injured?”

“No, no, we’re all fine,” Tim said, stepping in close and lowering his voice. “We need to tell you about a run in with some Cyth we had.”

Strangely, while the Wizard looked surprised, it wasn’t as intense a surprise as Tim had expected.

“I see,” Verdan said softly, turning to catch Adrienne’s eyes and ask her to send for Kai before looking back at them. “I think we need to catch each other up on what’s happening. Let’s find a room so you can tell me everything.”