“Now, Rachel, try absorbing this.”

Reud pushed the soul of the mouse towards her skeletal hands, watching carefully as it was sucked into the spell animating her.

“How does it feel?”

“Warm.” She signed back. “Enjoyment.”

“Try using it now.”

Rachel paused, then the runes covering her flared with amethyst light, a wave of mana pulsing out from her bones. For a moment, she was outlined in the iridescent glow of intense mana, before it faded once more.

“You feel that, strengthening your body and soul?”

Rachel nodded.

“You’ll get a temporary boost, but more importantly, you’ll be left that little bit stronger with each soul you use. Absorb the others and use them slowly to practise whilst I-”

Reud stopped, an odd sensation capturing his attention. The constant mana drain of his minions had dropped, ever so slightly. Had one of them failed? During Lilia’s raid, maybe?

Then, it dropped again. Then twice more. Reud focused, feeling out to where Bo and Lilia had taken the ten skeletons. They all seemed to still be there, though the distance made it hard to tell with any real certainty. Still, with Lilia and Bo by their side, he couldn’t imagine they were at any real risk. Tel and the miners also seemed okay, as did Lec. So, if it wasn’t any of them, that only left the minions in the city.

And if the minions were vanishing here, of all places, that was really bad news.

“Rachel, there’s something wrong, come.” Reud said.

As he turned to leave, Rachel grabbed his arm, signing something. “Attack. Up.”

“The city is under attack?” Reud asked.

Rachel nodded.

“Then let’s run.”

They emerged from the entrance to the underground minutes later, only for Reud to stop dead amidst the ruins.

The city was burning.

A great cloud of smoke rose in the distance, from the direction of the city itself. The wind howled, blowing the smoke towards him and bringing with it faint screams, voices full of panic and fear. Cursing, Reud fumbled in his pockets for the artefact, the Sightstone, he’d carried since Avonford. A quick twist and an injection of mana, and he could peer at the source of the chaos.

A crowd of dark dots surged through the gate closest to him, a flood of people fleeing towards the river. The streets were similarly clogged with people, the source of their fear hidden from his eyes within the maze of buildings. However, the flickering flames engulfing the far side of the city seemed a likely suspect.

Whatever had happened, had ignited a long stretch of walls, and the wind was fanning the flames deeper into Srinaber. With no rain imminent, and no sign that the gale was going to let up, if they didn’t deal with this then the city would burn to the ground.

And then there was the attack that Rachel mentioned.

Cursing again, Reud ran towards the gate, Rachel in tow. A shout parted the crowd, and he slipped through the throng and into the city. As he pushed against the surging mass of people, Reud peered through the Sightstone again and again, scanning the surroundings. At the centre of the city a group of people seemed to be utilizing the well to form a bucket chain, their red faces and gritted teeth speaking to the efforts they were applying to try to control the flames. The evacuation seemed to have mostly cleared out the far side of the city already, where the flames were thickest, with only a few stragglers left running down the road-

A man stepped out from an alley, skewering a fleeing woman and kicking the body to the side. A man dressed in blue and silver armour, carrying a blade with a black bar running down the middle.

A Seeker.

Glancing around, Reud could see more and more of the armoured men milling about his city. They were moving in small squads of four to five, carefully pushing deeper into the city. But where were they coming from? How had they made it into the city undetected? Had they started the fires? Just what was-

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The clouds of smoke parted a moment, and Reud could finally see the south-eastern wall of the city.

And the army that stood outside it.

Hundreds of men worked in unison to erect a series of fortifications in the field beyond the wall, long constructs of black metal. At their back stood a set of three vast, gleaming, metallic carts, looming over the working men like great beasts. Though, it was one other figure that really caught his eye. Stood in the middle of the army, arms raised high, with gouts of blue flame spearing out from him to wash into the city, intensifying the flames with each surge. A man with an all too familiar face.

The pyromancer who’d burned Littlestream.

The smoke closed over once again before Reud could see any more, veiling the army from view. Reud cursed under his breath. This was the worst possible time to be attacked, when all his strongest minions were away. Lec on the boat with Belinda, Tel off in the mines, Bo with Lilia seeking revenge for Rachel. Rachel herself was still too weak to fight magebane, so he certainly wasn’t going to risk her loss after all the effort he’d expended to raise her. He only had one final, untested weapon to use.

But he had to get the Seekers out of the city first.

With a thought, he summoned all the undead within a league to the fight. Those outside the city he commanded to congregate deep in the forest, out of sight. The others he commanded to gather outside his own home. Between the two forces, he’d grind this army into paste.

“Get those buckets moving!” A voice cut through the din.

As Reud had scouted, his feet had brought him to the centre of the city, to the well that seemed the crux of the firefighting efforts. People were rushing to and fro, carrying sloshing buckets out to either side of the city. A man stood at the centre of it, short ginger hair shining under the afternoon sunlight, directing the efforts. The leader of the watch, Felix.

“Lord Reud!” He shouted, snapping a salute as he spotted him.

“Felix, I see you have the fire-fighting efforts under control.”

“Yes, my lord. Though the Seeker mage is making it rather difficult.” Felix said, glowering.

“I’ll deal with him soon enough. What can you tell me about what’s going on?”

“I’m not sure, my lord. Most of the watch on the southern part of the wall went missing in the first assault. The others say the Seekers just showed up along the road and attacked, no announcement, no nothing. Just army, then boom, fire and all. Luckily, they aren’t moving fast through the city, so we’ve managed to keep the evacuation ahead of them.”

“Thank you, keep on with the fine work. I’ll reassign some-” Reud stopped as he spotted a familiar face in the crowd. “One moment.”

“Jessabelle!” Reud shouted, waving at the woman pushing her way along with the rest.

“Lord Reud?” She shouted back, extricating herself from the press, pulling Aleida, Hamo, and Leo with her. Her eyes were red and puffy, streaks marring her cheeks. She’d been crying, and recently. “I… I heard about Rachel.”

“Her loss has hurt us all.” Reud said, bowing his head a moment. “But we have more pressing concerns. Do you know where Marla and Vorlo are?”

“Behind us, I think.” Aleida said. “They live closer to the gate than we do.”

“Right, keep an eye out for them for when they pass, we’re going to need all of your help.”

“Our help?” Hamo asked.

“The city is on fire.” Reud said, gesturing at the smoke. “These people are working to put it out, but we don’t have enough water, and we don’t have enough people to handle it. Especially if a mage is stoking it ever higher. And when a mage is involved, the only answer is another mage. That is where you come in.”

“But… We haven’t learnt to fight yet…” Hamo’s said, his eyes going wide.

Reud shook his head. “No, not fight. I need you to help these people manage the fire. Aleida, you will heal any burns or injuries the people will certainly sustain. Hamo, you can help counteract this cursed wind. Keep the flames from people and unburnt buildings, blow the smoke back towards the Seekers, that sort of thing.”

“I think I can-”

“Over here!” Aleida suddenly shouted, waving at a woman pulling two children along with her. Cecily, with Marla and Vorlo in tow. They diverted themselves out of the flow of people to join them.

“Perfect timing.” Reud continued. “Marla. Vorlo. You are going to help put out the flames with sand, you both know how to summon that.”

“W-what?” Vorlo stammered.

“Hamo here will explain it to you in a moment.” Turning, Reud gestured to Felix. “Get these mages where they will be most useful.”

“Yes, my lord!” Felix said with a sharp salute.

“W-wait, Lord Reud, I don’t want-” Cecily protested, pulling her children to her sides protectively.

“No.” Reud cut her off in an instant. “This is the responsibility, the duty of those with magic. No matter how young, how inexperienced they are, they’re still mages. Srinaber mages. And I have absolute faith that they can do this.”

“But I don’t want them to-”

Reud crouched to focus his attention on the twins. “You can do this, you were born to do this. The power you wield, it makes you special. And those who are special, need to help those less fortunate.”

“But they’re just-”

Vorlo looked up at his mother. “I want to help.”

Marla pressed close to her brother, and nodded.

“I’m proud of you both.” Reud said, smiling. “Cecily, you can go and watch over them, if you desire. We’ll need every able-bodied person we can get to stop the flames.”

“I-”

“Enough talk, go! We have a city to save!” Reud snapped, gesturing at the line of people carrying buckets into the distance. “Rachel, make sure no harm comes to them.”

“Rachel?” Jessabelle asked, eyes wide.

“Ah, yes. You’d best get reacquainted. Jessabelle, meet Rachel reanimated.”

Rachel gave a little wave of her skeletal hand.

“I, uh…” She said, looking lost.

“You’ll have time to dwell on it later. For now, listen to Felix and keep away from any fighting. Hopefully, I’ll rejoin you soon.”

“My lord, what are you going to do?” Felix asked.

“I have an invading army to destroy.”