Chapter 1

An ostentatious man sat in a lavish room, surrounded by candles and pelts from his many hunts. A nameplate embossed with silver reading, “Investigator Gerald Hide,” sat on the mahogany table in the center of the room. The man known as Gerald Hide sat with his feet up on the desk, trying to get in some shuteye on this lazy day. That was when a knock was heard at his door. Shouldn’t a Paladin be getting more respect than this? Gerald Sighed as he called out:

Gerald: “Come on in, Guys and dolls~”

He said it in a sultry tone as if he was flirting with the closed door. It slowly creaked open and a terrible-looking knight with one arm walked inside. Gerald raised an eyebrow at the poor state of the man, all scuffed up and exhausted looking. It was a shame, the man was handsome, under all the muck that is.

Gerald: “Name and rank, quickly now.”

The Knight stood at attention.

???: “Sarnal, Knight of the Fifth Company. Last surviving member.”

Now this got a rise out of the bored paladin. Last surviving member?

Gerald: “really now? What happened to the rest of your company?”

Gerald sat up in his chair and actually bothered to take his feet off the table. Something told him this might be something somewhat fun.

Sarnal: “Our mission was to investigate what sounded like giant spiders around the southern area of the province. What we discovered was terrible beasts that we alone could not take on.”

Gerald: “How terrible, a whole division of our finest were taken out by… how many?”

Sarnal gulped, a look of shame and guilt spreading over his face.

Sarnal: “Three, sir.”

Gerald sat up in his seat and made a sound somewhere between laughter and shock.

Gerald: “Pah! Three?! You simply must tell me more of these “Awful beasts”.”

Sarnal looked indignant for a moment.

Sarnal: “Are you taking me seriously, sir? Maybe you didn’t hear me when I said-“

Gerald interrupted him while checking his nails.

Gerald: “Oh, no. I heard you. I’m just rather excited to have something to actually do.

Sarnal tensed up for a moment, trying to bite back some hate for this terrible man. Gerald looked at him.

Gerald: “Well? What can you tell me about them?”

Sarnal: “Well, they were damn huge and spat acid out of their mouths. Not to mention spider-shaped with eyes all over them.”

Gerald: “Sounds awful! Nice!”

Sarnal sputtered.

Sarnal: “What do you mean “nice”?!”

Gerald stood up and grabbed a ring off his desk, sliding it on with a light blue glint of energy.

Gerald: “It means I finally have something to do in this sleepy city, that doesn’t involve two-bit criminals. Clearly something of this magnitude will be at least 3 bits. Maybe even four if I’m lucky~”

Sarnal stared on in disbelief while Gerald walked past him.

Gerald: “Get out of my office, I have things to do.”

Sarnal: “But you’re leaving your office?”

Gerald: “Did I ask that? Move.”

So Sarnal did, and Gerald went on his merry way down the hall. This would be wonderful, surely.

Chapter 2

Gerald walked through the building with poise, having something of a skip in his step. He was making his way to the local guard house to get a better report on what exactly had happened, and where the men were sent to it. He probably could have asked Sarnal, but something about that man screamed that better things were on his mind. What a shame.

The walk down the road was eerily silent, with not many guards in sight and most citizens on edge. Gerald hadn’t seen the city of Miranda like this before, and it was frankly killing his mood.

Click-clack went his boots on the cobblestone roads as he approached the building, only to find it filled with nothing but layabouts. Everyone was either face down in their rations or nervously maintaining their posts. Gerald had a bad feeling about this.

Gerald began to walk up the stairs when a city guard grabbed him by the shoulder and shook his head. Generally speaking, you’d have to be suicidal or just plain stupid to get in someone like Gerald’s way. But the look on that man’s face told him exactly what he needed to hear. The guard captain wasn’t here anymore, and someone needed to fill that position. So, Gerald hopped up on a table in the center of the room and loudly announced:

“Look alive slouchers, I’m in charge now.

This was meant by stunned silence for a moment, before someone actually laughed in Gerald’s face.

Guard: “Oh yeah? And who the hell are you to be saying something like that?”

Gerald just laughed politely back, giving him a small smile.

Gerald: “I’m Investigator Gerald Hide, Paladin of Miranda. And you are?”

The guard went white as a sheet, his toes curling in as the wooden table he was eating at creaked under his grip.

Guard: “…Shit.”

Gerald: “Right you are, sir!”

Gerald smiled and hopped off the table.

Gerald: “Tell me everything I need to know, and then a little bit more about what we have please, and thanks.”

Immediately the room came back to life as someone put order back into the situation at the guard house. Seriously, did they not have anyone to take command? As if on cue, a short man with a wide-brimmed hat and a halberd on his back rolled up to his side. He wore standard chainmail and a helmet that covered the majority of his face and head.

???: “Greetings sir! My name is Mint! I’m the current acting commander, as according to chain of command!”

Gerald smiled, good. That’s exactly what he needed.

Gerald: “Ah, good sir mint. Congratulations on your promotion! Could you be a dearie and please fill me in on the goings on here?”

Mint saluted and nodded his head.

Mint: “Sir yes sir!”

Mint began to walk up a set of cobblestone stairs that went up through the roof of the building in a somewhat stilted manner. How gauche. Regardless of personal tastes, they arrived in the guard captain’s room, and mint opened the door for Gerald.

Chapter 3

Mint walked into the quaint little room and took a seat behind a lovely mahogany table. The entire room was rather nice, if a bit dusty. Furs lined the wall, and burned out candles adorned everything. Dripping wax came down in streaks next to a blackened fireplace and pooled on the ground. Everything had an untouched air to it which gave Gerald pause. If they did have someone in charge, why wasn’t the main office being cleaned?

Mint: “Excuse the mess, we haven’t wanted to touch the room since…”

Mint cleared his throat. Ah, that made sense.

Gerald: “Ah, of course. Please, at your leisure.”

Mint nodded his head and took a deep breath before putting his arms on the chair’s rests.

Mint: “The captain of the guard is dead, and so is the entire 5th company aside from one man who has all but quit.”

Gerald raised an Eyebrow.

Gerald: “Oh? Really now? He seemed to be a rather prim and proper soldier to me.”

 Mint shook his head and sighed.

Mint: “It’s not that he’s not still a guard, it’s that he’s hardly taking orders. He just sorta, sits down in front of the building nowadays. I barely got him to go talk to you after he delivered the news...”

Gerald raised his other eyebrow.

Gerald: “The poor man had to deliver the news of what exactly?”

Mint sighed, and took on a heavy expression.

Mint: “It is common practice for a member of the company to deliver the news of a member’s death. As the only survivor, he took the burden on willingly. Ever since then…”

Gerald nodded.

Gerald: “Is that all we know?”

Mint sighed.

Mint: “We sent Sarnal to you because he knew the most. All I can give you otherwise is the fact that villages have all slowly started going dark. No one is returning messages magical or otherwise, and anyone we send to check doesn’t come back.”

Gerald tilted his head, and laughed.

Gerald: “Great, just great. Tell the guard to stop patrolling the city as much and put those men on the walls.”

Mint looked horrified for a moment, opening and closing his mouth like a fish.

Mint: “B-hu-E-Excuse me?! What about crime inside the city? Are we just going to ignore that?”

Gerald: “Yes, we are. There’s currently an unknown threat out there doing Fate knows what to Coeus knows who. We’re not just going to sit on our hands and wait to see what it is. Now do what I told you to do.”

Gerald blew a kiss and stood up before walking to the door.

Gerald: “And mint, once again congratulations on your promotion. Clean up your office. Tata~”

Gerald walked out of the room and sighed. This was going to be a very, very long week.

Chapter 4

Gerald walked his way down the street, lost in his own thoughts. He had made his way down from the highest tower in the city, to the center, and now he was walking towards the city walls to make sure his order was heard and understood. The odd thing was it appeared to still be around noon. This got an eyebrow raise from Gerald, who just sighed for a moment, stopping in the street. He was oddly tired for how early in the day it was, and it’s not like his work had tired him out so fast. Gerald had been looking forward to actual work to do for months now.

Gerald sighed, yawned, and took a seat on a nearby bench. Perhaps a bit of shuteye would help him out of this stupor. Yes, all he needed was a quick nap, and everything would be fine. It was a pleasantly warm day too, perfect for a sleepy day. Why should he spend it hopped up working?

Aspiciebam, evigilans.

A deep-rooted probe inside Gerald’s mind shocked him out of his stupor, a deep-seated precaution had activated.

Gerald stood up immediately and looked around the space; All around him people were slowly crawling to the ground, the heat beginning to become immense.  Looking up, Gerald saw that it wasn’t just earlier than he thought it should be, but the sun was also a deep orange with black flecks seeping out from the beams of light themselves.

Gerald began shouting:

Gerald: “Wake up! Now!”

Only about 3 of them did, looking around with bags under their eyes. The rest of them fully hit the ground, and the temperature suddenly spiked. The cobblestones suddenly began to glow a dull yellow, and orange tongues of fire began leaking out from under the many victims. Gerald acted as fast as he could, grabbing the three people and throwing them over his shoulder like sacks of potatoes as he dashed away.

No matter where he went, there were people in the same face-down position as he had seen before. The heat was now becoming unbearable, rising to an almost intolerable degree.

Thinking fast, Gerald threw open a nearby door and slammed it shut, just in time for a set of loud pops to go off around the building.

Slowly, he went to open the door, only to have his hand actively sizzle against the doorknob. Gerald backed off away from the door, only for the windows to begin popping and shattering in a wave of glass and orange fire. Gerald only had enough tile to whip his hand into the air and spin his ring. Doing so, a gleaming silver and blue sword appeared in his hands from the magic space inside, and Gerald used it to slice an updraft up and through the house’s roof. This was just one of the many tricks that earned him the rank of paladin. Yes, he’d love to explain the great work of the “Moonstone Foundry” workshop… if the house he and a bunch of civilians were in wasn’t on fire.

Gerald looked around the space, the innocents he tried to save were now ashes on the ground with everything else.

Gerald: “Great. Just, great.”

Gerald muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers.

Making a leap in logic, and simply not wanting to be under that gross sunlight, he decided to dig upstairs to see if there was anything he could use to cover himself. There was a quilt on a bed, but better yet there was a cloak with a hood in the dresser. Whoever owned this place was very likely now dead, and he would rather to keep the sunlight off his back than find out what it does exactly. As such, he took the cloak and put it on.

Stepping down the stairs, Gerald huffed indignantly. This was beyond a mood killer, anyone who wasn’t wearing something to protect them from the sun was very probably dead now, who knows how many thousands of people just died?

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At that same moment, Gerald heard a great and mighty roar.

Chapter 5

Gerald sighed, why did everything always happen at once? Even covered by the cloak, stepping out into the light did something to his head. He could feel himself getting drowsier by the second, so whatever happened to scream needed to be dealt with punctually.

Looking right, Gerald saw little more than a blasted heap of molten slag and burning homes. How quaint.

Looking left, Gerald had about half a second to process a giant flaming fist slamming into his side. He was sent hurdling to his right, directly into the flames.

Something screamed at him, fanning the flames and causing them to grow larger. In the next moment, Gerald whipped his sword back out and snuffed everything out with another updraft. Thankfully, this fire wasn’t staying around for magical reasons. Though his new cloak was mildly singed.

Gerald looked his aggressor up and down while brushing himself off. Before him stood a mass of bodies in the shape of a man, all bound together with ropes and iron. Iron spikes burst out from Each of the bodies, which all screamed in synced pained to be whatever abomination they were.

Gerald blinked, looking at the thing before him. Whatever it was, it kinda hurt to get punched by and look at. So, He might as well be done with it quickly. Jumping in to air with the grace of an especially acrobatic ballerina, Gerald came down on the poor thing before it could properly even react. With a single flick of the wrist, the thing’s iron left arm plopped down onto the burning street. Dancing to the side of it in a twirl, Gerald dodged a frankly disappointing lunge toward him before chopping through the burning flesh and iron of the right arm like still-warm taffy.

The thing was now armless, but apparently not harmless, as all the bodies remaining as part of the grand hulk suddenly screamed out in agony, calling out a name.

Collective: “Ezekial!”

At the invoking of the name, their flames burned hotter, forcing Gerald to step back. 

The pillar and billowing rage spiraled up into the sky, like the trunk of an especially angry tree. Just like a tree, from the top of the pillar, many smaller branches came off and slowly started descending. Gerald would have to give a damn if he wanted this fight to end with a city still standing. As such, he decided now was a good of a time as any for a little “Divine Intervention”.

Sighing, Gerald arched his back and held out his hand behind him. Arching his left leg up, he spun on his heels as a flash of cool blue energy came to his eyes. A discus of light formed in hand, as he used his divinely granted weapon, saying the words that would allow him access to it.

Gerald: “Discus of Tundra, by Lord Fate’s grace.”

At that moment, he rushed his arm out from behind him and flung the discus into the inferno. A blink later, there was an onrush of cool air as the blue energy traveled up the collum of fire like a wave. Slowly, the fire was replaced with a current of silt and ice crawling up from its base, until the entire thing gave off a low blue hum of light.

Gerald put his hands in his pockets, looking up at the icy tree which stretched several hundred feet into the sky, only to watch it begin fading and shaving off into particles of snow. Falling down all across the city, from the outside it would look like a snow globe you buy for more than it’s really worth. And as a bonus, the fires started going out too! But that wasn’t as important as the question in Geralds mind. No, said something was that whatever the hell that thing was managed to make Gerald use a Divine Authority.

It was a gift born from the fruit of his faith, a symbol of proof that a god loved you just as much as you loved them. Divine gifts bestowed upon you for years of diligence and sacrifice. So how in the gods damned did that thing just saying Ezekial’s name, whoever that that was, do something similar? This was further complicated by the fact that the monster was made of the same citizens that were in the city, which means that it must have been formed a few minutes ago.

Gerald sighed heavily and went to see who was still alive at the walls, shaking his head the entire way.

Chapter 6:

Making his way down the now barren streets, it was becoming increasingly obvious that a grand percentage of people just very much died. Where there once stood markets and guards, there were black spots and shadows still laid across the ground. Where there were once fountains laid rubble and molten slag. Everything was scorched and half melted, leaving the brick city a shell of its former self.

Thankfully, the further away Gerald got from populated areas, the better things seemed to get. Small groups of people hid in the darkness of buildings, while those in armor still stood in their posts, though some were beginning to droop. Every time a guard did begin to droop, he was quickly righted with a thrown brick or something similar.

This suited Gerald just fine as he walked down a considerably less melted road, the crunching of snow falling under his heels. As he stepped, he called out:

Gerald: “Everyone get inside, or cover up well. No “Ifs, ands, or buts” about it. Guards, I don’t care how warm you get, get wrappings over your entire skin and sound off as I pass you.”

Just like that, a bit of order was being restored to the city. Gerald listened and took mental note of all the soldiers he could hear sound off. They numbered in the high forties. This would have to do for now.

As Gerald walked up to the city walls, he was greeted by another welcome sight; Mint, Who was alive! This gave Gerald such comfort, that he almost didn’t feel like sighing for the hundredth time today at the mere thought of more bureaucracy! Oh joy.

Mint saw Gerald and waved him down.

Mint: “Ah, sir! I’m glad to see you’re alright. I was getting worried about everyone after that series of explosions.”

oh so it’s series of explosions now? Gerald let loose the sigh he was holding in, and once more pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers.

Gerald: “Alright, that answers a few of my questions, but also poses more! How many explosions were there, and what happened?”

Mint tilted his head.

Mint: “We, uh, were hoping you’d know actually… We saw your divine authority being used, so we assumed you stopped whatever had been happening.”

Gerald fought the urge to strangle Mint.

Gerald: “No, actually. I don’t know. Do you know how many people are left alive, by chance?”

Mint looked down grimly for a moment.

Mint: “We have a few hundred survivors rounded up in the city next to the walls. Most people lived near the center of the city, so things were relatively fine down here. Most folks were covered either by armor, or were already wearing hoods from being in the shadow of the walls due to the shaded cold.”

Gerald took a deep breath to calm his nerves. What he was essentially just told was A: The bulk of the population was gone. B: The majority of the survivors are the poor who didn’t have the money to live near the center, and C: That anyone who did survive, is essentially within active sight. Gerald quickly guestimated about 3 hundred people total remained, and that was about when the last of his calm caved in on itself to form a deep-seated loathing. Gerald stepped onto a higher up position and proclaimed for all to hear:

“Congratulations, if you’re here, you’ve been promoted to private in the army! Everyone get ready to live off of rations, and may Fate help you if you have kids!”

Chapter 7

Gerald’s proclamation was met by resounding silence, before he whipped his sword into the air and caused a gust of wind so strong it threatened to send them all flying.

Gerald: “Move. Now.”

Everyone got off their asses and got in a line in the shade of the wall. Gerald motioned his hand in a circle and spoke to Mint.

Gerald: “You deal with making the civies not useless. I’m going to get as many as I can find out in the wastes that used to be Miranda.”

Mint sputtered out half a response before Gerald began sprinting down the road faster than a horse.

Gerald was pissed. Everything had gone to shit in about thirty minutes, and he couldn't tell who might even be alive at this point. Again, if he hadn’t told Mint to go tell the wall to double security, even more people would probably be dead right now. While that was a sweet feather in Gerald’s cap, the moment was somewhat ruined by the scenario.

Gerald Kept running down the road, ignoring the stinging pain in his knees from just how hard he was pushing himself. With the spin of the ring and a flick of the wrist, the sword came out and the fires in front of him died down. He didn’t even bother helping anyone since by this point the fires had been burning for minutes, and anyone trapped was well beyond dead. Gerald just called out as he ran:

Gerald: “If you’re alive, go to the southern wall. If you’re a monster, fuck off.”

and went along his merry way. He could hear maybe a few people picking themselves out of the rubble from behind him. That was the least of Gerald’s concerns, though.

Yes, Gerald always seemed to be concerned about one thing that always managed to eclipse another, almost like his months of easy street had culminated into one no-good, terrible, horrible day.

Regardless, Gerald was much more concerned about the residential districts that might still be standing. Miranda as a city has most of its residential areas near the southernmost tip of the center of the city. While it was out of the shadow of the wall, there was still a chance some people had managed to make it out alive, so it was worth a shot.

Gerald made his way north from his position and swiftly arrived at his destination, to which he was greeted by burnt-out buildings and melted stones. The roads were littered with scorch marks which were slowing being covered by a thick layer of snow. Puddles where the snow had melted still bubbled off the side where the rocks were more directly in the blast, and not a single house looked livable while walking up the street. One house, in particular, seemed especially blown out.

Front of the house was blown open from the inside, and shadows where bodies were seemed to bleach the entire front yard. Burned flowers filled the charcoal flower bed, and just looking through the front door revealed a familiar knight holding something. Across from the knight, who appeared to be Sarnal from earlier in the Day, was a fallen bed with a women’s corpse in it. Gerald took a step inside and looked at Sarnal.

Gerald: “Are you alive?”

There was a pause as Sarnal slowly looked up at Gerald.

Sarnal: “…Is it safe now?”

Gerald smiled.

Gerald: “No, but it’s better than it was.”

Sarnal sighed, and revealed in his grasp a little girl who he had covered up with his own form to shield from the blast. All across Sarnal were burns and soot, so to Gerald it was clear that whatever Sarnal did that brought him here, he was probably a hero regardless.

Gerald: “Get that girl and yourself over to the south wall. Cover up.”

Sarnal nodded, and took a charred blanket off the couch before covering the little girl with it. They walked out of the room, Sarnal blocking the child’s view of the women in the fallen bed.

Gerald looked down at the women, before putting his hand over his chest and gripping a pendant under his clothes he said:

Gerald: “Rest in peace, gentle soul.”

Gerald bowed his head as he said that and walked out the blown-open door.

Chapter 8

A quick inspection of the remaining residential zone turned up nothing but more suspiciously people shaped shadows and still burning ashes. Clearly, anyone who did survive the initial blast didn’t survive the fires… except for Sarnal. Gerald quickly decided to give up his search for remaining people, when he was suddenly interrupted mid thought.

A bark, not unlike a dogs but a pitch higher than it should be rang out. Soft padded footfalls gently landed on the stone floor, hardly perceptible to the average person as they plodded along. Gerald could scarcely hear it, especially over the simmering and burning of ashes and snow mixing, but hear it he did.

Turning in that direction, Gerald saw the outline of a figure on four legs through billowing smoke, the glint of three large eyes, one on the left and two on the right with one atop the other petered out slowly. Gerald, having few leads, started running in the direction of the beast.

Jumping through smoke and over demolished buildings, Gerald never got a good look at what he was chasing. This gave Gerald slight pause; what was capable of outrunning something like him in all this mess? Whatever it was, Gerald probably shouldn’t let it just run around like this.

Following quickly, Gerald made his way, following three-toed tracks and seeing a blur of red and white fur every so often. Ducking through collapsed buildings, going through billowing smoke, all for a chase that lasted twenty damned minutes before bearing fruit.

Gerald’s patience was growing thin, so he sought to end this little game of cat and mouse instantly. Rounding the corner, he twisted his ring and swung his sword into and through the wall. This instantly collapsed the burnt-out building, pushing rubble onto the other side of the road. Something yelped and growled before a deep voice rang out.

???: “Cheating, are we? And here I thought we were having some good fun.”

Popping out of the rubble was a fox’s tail, still somehow pristine red and white despite just being buried. It swished and began to draw a sort of sigil in the air. Before Gerald could stop it, the sigil burnt in midair and sent out a bubble. This bubble grew and encased the burnt-out building in some odd form of magic not too dissimilar to how Gerald’s ring worked.

Suddenly, Gerald was in the middle of a camp where in two odd figures stood. They had the heads of rams, the robes of holy men, and broken open hooves for hands which formed odd claws. They turned to Gerald, and raised their hands, shooting out gouts of flame.

Such a thing was child’s play to Gerald however, as in another updraft the fire was dispersed. Gerald rushed forwards, sword still in his hand, the Rams holding their arms together to form a great ball of fire before whipping it towards their foe. Gerald sliced the ball in half as it flung towards him, causing it to split and fly through some sort of invisible wall.

Gerald reached the first ram and sliced it open from the stomach down. There were no guts, only a black ichor trailing down from the open wound as the thing kneeled. The other ram took the moment to form another ball of fire, which was flung towards Gerald. Stepping to the side, he managed to dodge the attempt, which only managed to light the other ram on fire in Gerald’s stead.

The second ram took a step back, and began forming more fire in its grip, before having its head removed swiftly from its body in a single artistic motion.

Geral looked around the space, only to hear the stepping and shuffling of more hooves. So, Gerald rushed to where he watched the two halves of the fire ball disappear, and stepped through.

In an instant, Gerald was back in Miranda, but the fox was nowhere to be seen.

Chapter 9

Such magic was akin to teleportation or releasing a pocket space. This fell under the magic most wizards claimed to be “of the moon”, which his ring used to store a sword in a similar pocket space. His ring was made by the “Moonstone Foundry” Workshop, a whole artisans guild made solely for the manipulation of this magic. And somehow, the Fox had managed to weaponize such a thing where normally it would be used to for comfort, or sake of ease when fighting a powerful opponent. The fox was a might bit smarter, and likely much more dangerous than Gerald had given it credit for. How wonderful.

Gerald sighed as he walked, he had nothing left to do but go back to the south wall. The walk was boring and bleak, the scenery a mix of burned streets and everything you’d find on one. Just a lovely sight as you might imagine, ranging from melted shopping stands to shadows on the ground where people used to be. At least the walk was uneventful, as Gerald made his way back.

The southern wall was now rather busy, the few remaining people alive all wrapped up in bandages, cloaks, and anything else that would block out the sun. Guards patrolled the streets in groups of 4, some with blood on their weapons. This gave Gerald pause as he walked, what had they been fighting?

A loud shriek answered this question, followed by the sound of many crossbows going off at once. Gerald rushed up a ladder and on top of a small building to get a better idea of what was happening, only to be met by the sight of a terrible spider creature being skewered at all angles. 10 feet tall to 15 feet tall, having the shape of a spider and hands at the ends of each of the legs. The creature had a protrusion that pierces through the top of it which ends with a humanoid figure praying. The entire thing is covered in a thick black hair that wisps around as the creature moves. Suffice to say, Gerald was brought much joy from seeing the thing skewered and then lit on fire.

Gerald though to himself “Ah, so that’s what Sarnal was talking about.” As he watched, a satisfied smile on his face from the guards doing their jobs. This was interrupted by a familiar voice calling out:

Mint: “Hello again, Sir Gerald!”

Gerald turned to greet the guard captain with a bit of pride, happy to see- Oh. Mint was now missing an arm.

Mint: “Yeah, I see where you’re looking. I thought I should take things more seriously, so I went ahead and got more involved in the fighting. Guess I shouldn’t of. But hey, better my arm than someone’s life, yeah?

Mint smiled dryly as if looking desperately for an upside. Gerald returned the dry smile.

Gerald: “I got bad news and worse news. Which do you want first?”

Mint sighed, this was going to be a long conversation.

Chapter 10

Mint invited Gerald into a small building off the side of the wall, it was a quaint little space with fur lining the wall and such, with sparse decorations and a hanging oil lamp. The space was modest to say the least.

Mint sighed, and took a seat on a simple chair.

Mint: “Look, I’ll be straight with you. The moment you left, those weird things started bearing down on us. Thankfully, you had the idea to throw the citizens into a militia before you left, and we got a shipment of those easy-pull crossbows. That’s honestly the only reason we’re still alive right now.”

Gerald smirked. And took a seat as well, putting his feet up on the table much to Mint’s clear dismay.

Gerald: “You’re welcome.”

Mint laughed a bit at this, managing to find humor in a pretty bad situation.

Mint: “So, what now? We just hold out until help arrives?”

Gerald: “Bold thinking we’re getting help. This one strikes me as a ‘Who friggan knows’ scenario. I’m not even sure we’re in Sither anymore.”

Mint: “What do you mean by that?”

Gerald: “What I mean is that the sun clearly isn’t the normal sun, and I’ve already delt with something that can mess about with pocket spaces. I wouldn’t be surprised if we’ve been stuffed into some pocket realm where the sun kills you.”

Mint blinked twice.

Mint: “Excuse me?”

Gerald: “I don’t expect you to understand, this all is way above your paygrade. What you need to know is that everyone needs to stay in the shadows, or at the very least needs to be completely covered at all times. Make sure you have all the supplies you need, and check the burnt-out marketplace for more if you need them.”

Mint: “Okay, well what are you going to do then?”

Gerald: “I’m going to go about killing as many monsters in the city as possible so that you don’t get flanked. We can’t afford to lose any soldiers, so we need me out there stopping people from dying. Not to mention I’m fairly certain that there’s a monster out there only I can handle.”

Mint blinked twice again and sighed.

Mint: “I can’t stop you, and you’d know more about this sort of thing than me. Go ahead and come back any time you need. I’ll always be here to support the troops.”

Gerald scoffed.

Gerald: “Oh, so I’m just a troop now, hm?~”

This got a laugh out of Mint.

Mint: “Get out of here, you dick.”

Gerald got up fancifully and stepped out of the office. Looking out over the city, it was a blanket of smoke and burning ashes. The snow put out pretty much everything, but still, it was bad out there.

Gerald: “Welp, time to go to work.”