The beast smashed its head against Leo, as a desperate last resort. Leo had barely processed what happened, as his face was suddenly soaked in a viscous slime. The beast went from rampaging to perfectly still did help him piece together what happened.

He rolled off the beast and wiped the mess off of his face. The remaining residue felt stuck like glue on him, as he struggled to get it all off. He looked to his left, as he saw the damaged remains of the beast alongside a caved in skull. He hadn’t suffered from a single injury in that fight, but he wasn’t prepared for an enemy to fight with such recklessness. When he cleared off enough gunk to be able to see, he saw Mark curled up against a nearby wall.

“Hey Mark, it’s okay, you’re safe,” reassured Leo.

He picked himself up and walked to Mark, as he took a seat next to him. The moonlight was dim, as it only allowed the faint appearance of Leo to be seen. This may have been for the best, as Leo was currently covered in shattered spikes and monster organs.

“Is it gone?” Mark nervously asked.

“Yeah, I kicked its ass. The spikey man won’t bother anyone else,” answered Leo.

“Do you promise?” continued Mark.

“I promise kid, no one else will be bothered by it again,” Leo promised to the young boy.

“Is Mr. Philips okay? Can I see him?” pleaded Mark.

“He’s going to be okay, Marem is helping him get better. You can’t see him right now though, he needs some rest. Is that good with you?” asked Leo, hoping to ease Mark’s fears.

“That’s okay, mom always said rest is what you need when you’re sick,” accepted Mark.

The two sat in silence, a calming peace had washed over them. Leo knew they would have to go deeper into the building soon, before Mark saw the grisly sight that was the beast's body. Until then, he opted to have them sit and enjoy some peace and quiet.

He wasn’t certain how much time passed as they sat on the floor, their silence broken up by occasional questions from Mark, mostly about if Leo was a hero. Leo wanted to give Marem as much time as possible to tend to Philips, but he saw the first beam of sunlight break over the horizon.

He told Mark to walk with him, as they had to go more inside the building. What he hadn’t expected was for the kid to refuse.

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“Can we go back to my house, Mr. Leo? I’m tired,” he asked.

“Don’t know if I’m old enough to be a Mr. Leo buddy, but we can’t. It’s safer to stay here for now, and Philips is waiting for you,” responded Leo.

He saw a displeased look appear on Mark’s face, unhappy with the answer he was given. Leo didn’t want to be here by the time the body was visible, hoping to save the kid from any more mental scarring.

“If you promise to stay in the building without making a fuss, I’ll give you a piggyback ride. Deal?” offered Leo.

He saw Mark run through all the options in his mind, but the offer of not needing to walk was too appealing for the tired boy to refuse. Leo knelt down for Mark to jump on his back, as the two made their way deeper inside the building.

When he reached the final turn, he felt relief at the sight he saw. Outside of the office was a small encampment set up. Sat at a half frozen desk was Marem, who seemed to be enjoying a drink as she looked at the bedrolls laid out. There was a lit lantern that lit up the surroundings.

There were 4 beds laid out, one of them occupied. Underneath a nice collection of blankets was Philips, who seemed to be asleep. Leo approached, not masking his steps so that Marem would be aware of his presence.

She seemed anxious until he was in view of light, with Mark in tow. She set down her drink as she walked up to the two, a smile on her face.

“There you two are, I wondered where you scurried off to Leo,” she commented.

“Had to make sure this place was safe, and pick up our VIP guest,” he explained.

Leo put down Mark, who ran up and gave Marem a hug. While Mark and Marem talked, Leo walked over to Philips. He was breathing, a great improvement compared to his recent condition of having an arm through his stomach. Leo noticed the gauze and medical supplies placed around him, as it appeared that it wasn’t just magic that saved Philips’ life.

When he looked back up, he saw Mark headed to sleep in one of the available bedrolls. Leo couldn’t say goodbye to the kid before he fell asleep, exhausted from being up for so long. Leo looked at Marem, who had sat back at the desk and began to drink some more.

“Was so focused on healing Philips I hadn’t even noticed that you left for who knows how long,” she remarked.

“Wanted to give you some space to work, and I had a bad feeling about leaving him out there with that thing having escaped,” he explained.

“Well, I am happy you brought him back. The sight wasn’t pretty for a while, but Philips should make a full recovery with proper treatment. Salvaged some coffee to keep me awake, I need to keep an eye on his condition,” said Marem.

“It’s good you were able to get him in a stable condition. If you want, you can sleep and I’ll be on watch,” he offered.

“You sure? Casting that much magic took a lot out of me, but I can still stay up,” she rebutted.

“Please, I can stay up longer than you’d guess. I’ll make sure to wake you up if something happens to him, but you could treat him better if you were rested,” he elaborated.

“Alright, if you’re so insistent. But if he so much as tosses or turns, make sure to wake me up,” she accepted with a smile, “thank you Leo.”