It had been a very long time since Ryan had last seen Pascen with his own two eyes. Very rarely did a job take him so far afield from his home city. The people who made it this far were extremely determined to get away from whatever spurned obligations had required his service. Most of them were people who had gone underwater on bad debt. Some of them were noble ladies trying to evade unfavourable political marriages.

The city that was revealed to him after another day of troublesome convoy riding was nothing like what he remembered. It was the type of disarray that he had never seen before. A truly apocalyptic level of anarchy. The ground was crumbling beneath the city itself. Entire houses and buildings had been swallowed whole like leftover morsels. People wailed and rested on the broken streets, catatonic and with no drive to move and care for themselves.

And the bodies – there were bodies everywhere. Left out in the rain, piled high in their dozens. Some of them had suffered terrible injuries by tooth and claw. The sickly smell of blood washed down into the storm drains. Jonell pinched his nose and tried to avert his gaze – but no matter where his eyes rested, there was always a new atrocity waiting in the wings.

Ryan leant against his sword, “I’m guessing this is an evacuation mission.”

The group had lost two more men, and had the divine providence to avoid any further attacks afterwards. The state of the city was such that living here was no longer possible to do safely. They were everywhere; bizarre creatures of incredible strength and durability. None of the mercenaries had seen anything like it.

Jonell and Ryan were not privy to the details. The leader of the caravan had ordered them to keep busy and watch the walls for any potential attackers. Everyone was at a total loss as to what would be appropriate in the face of despair. Standing with weapons bared was the only thing they could do.

Jonell was crestfallen; “How could this have happened? Pascen is one of the mightiest cities in the world.”

“Sure, but even the mightiest of man-made creations can’t withstand nature. Look at this place – the ground is crumbling to pieces! I don’t think anyone can build something that can survive that.”

“I don’t get it. I really don’t. What a terrible sight this is. How many people have died here already?”

Ryan didn’t know, and he didn’t want to know. This was the type of business he tried to keep himself away from. Perhaps that was a waste of the legendary sword that he carried with him, but he’d seen no indication that he had some kind of greater destiny to fulfil. He had stumbled across it a few days after arriving in the new world. It was like an incidental piece of loot in a video game, except instead of being incidental you found the most powerful item in the game in a random box.

If you were considering fate, that didn’t mean it had to be exciting.

After a few hours of paranoia, the mercenaries were finally called into one of the remaining buildings for a meeting with the people in charge. At the front was a woman wearing a revealing dress. Several guardsmen had also piled through the doors, squeezing in from wall to wall. Ryan rolled his eyes as a handful of lurid comments were thrown her way by men who didn’t know the right time or place to air those kinds of thoughts.

“Quiet down!” one of the soldiers demanded. The rumble of the group’s discussion finally came to an end. The woman cocked her hips to the left before speaking.

“My name is Benadora Clorawmstant. I have been commissioned by the Duke to establish the true nature of the disaster that has befallen this area, and now I am the one responsible for organising an evacuation from Pascen.”

As quickly as the noise had died down, it started all over again. Evacuating an entire Duchy was an extreme measure – yet the assembled men and women had only seen plentiful evidence to suggest it was the correct course of action. Benadora waited patiently for the shock to wear off again.

“An evacuation?” Jonell repeated, “From the whole Duchy?”

She gave the group a solemn smile, “Indeed. You must have seen it for yourself. There is not a corner of this once great Duchy that has not been ravaged by the event. There are no signs indicating that it will end any time soon. Thus, I have elected to arrange a caravan out of the city and towards the Federation. All able-bodied people who wish to come will be permitted.”

“And the Duke?”

“He is staying. He would be remiss to abandon what his family has built. He was born here, and he will die here. We have already affirmed the desires of the people who are here – the majority of the Duchy’s population has already evacuated to over the border or to the city. Those who wish to leave will be given a seat and escorted away.”

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That explained the urgent need for extra hands and swords. They were there to protect potentially thousands upon thousands of people as they made the trip. Ryan counted the number of mercenaries and soldiers in his head and started to worry. There weren’t enough of them to offer an effective shield against animal attacks. Ryan didn’t like to think pessimistically, but he also doubted that many of the mercenaries had the strength and skill to defeat them.

“We’ve already prepared the means of our escape. We have the horses, the carriages, and now the guards to keep the monsters away,” Benadora nodded. She motioned to a much shorter woman who was standing beside her. The half-pint woman, topped with a bushel of vibrant red hair perused the gathered mercenaries with a frown.

“My name’s Medalie. I’m the woman responsible for putting all of these carts forward for the evacuation. I’ve worked my bloody fingers to the bone making these,” she barked, “So protect them with your lives or I’ll have something to say about it.” Everyone shared a brief laugh about the threat, though Ryan had to reconsider the humour of it when she didn’t join in.

“We’ve asked all of the residents to pack their things and prepare to leave – the escape will begin as soon as possible, within the next two hours. When the time comes, we want two to three men onboard every carriage. We will also have able bodied people walking with us. Once we are safely away from the dangerous area, you will all be paid in full for your service.”

There was a lot of discussion beginning between the various warriors who had answered the call. Benadora stepped down from the stage and released a long-withheld sigh. Every time she spoke aloud it felt like she was about to break down and reveal the truth. That would be an explanation wasted, and a guilt un-absolved. Nobody could offer forgiveness for her part in the events that had led to Pascen’s wholesale destruction. It was such an absurd story that most would laugh it off as a joke.

The captain of the guard had further details to share with the mercenaries that didn’t require her attention. She pushed through the crowd and into the room beyond, where several documents had been used to plan an evacuation effort. Things were so far gone that there was little prospect of anyone staying behind to fix everything. In an odd twist of fate, the people who had consumed the infected water were in better condition than everyone else. One of the older victims had reported an increase in vitality and strength that defied his years.

Benadora flipped through the papers again – there were many puzzle pieces that were about to be left behind in Pascen. She could not hope to stay and put them together now. Her magical abilities were not suited for combat, not to mention her current lack of Catalyst weapon to use them with. She would also be unable to retrieve clean drinking water or any food. The usual trade routes into the city had been shut down. Just another reason on top of many others that living in the city was now extremely dangerous.

The mystery of the water weighed heavy on her mind, almost as much as the guilt. It intrigued her. She felt the same spark that she did whenever she became deeply invested in a particular subject or mystery. By all appearances, the pale skin and blackened veins should have signalled a severe illness. They suffered from an initial bout of fatigue and need for rest, before quickly reversing into a state of health, even as the visual effects persisted.

That testimony had led her to some wild places. She couldn’t figure out any more without delving into a better equipped archive, the likes of which could be found in the Federation or the Kingdom. It was going to be her first priority when they left Pascen behind. The tendril of a theory tickled the back of her mind, something she had read during another search long, long ago.

That could wait for later, one of the team leaders unlocked the door and stepped inside; “Is it confirmed that the Duke is staying?”

“He is, Jahn. I heard the words come from the horses’ mouth, as they say.”

It was something that had elicited alarm from the assembled noblemen. The Duke had stood firm in face of all objections that were forwarded to him. He would be the last man to leave – alive or dead. His responsibility was to the Duchy no matter what state it found itself in. He refused to run away from the nation that his family had helped build. It was an honourable decision, which is why most of the other nobles abhorred it.

They believed that one day, they could return and rebuild what was lost – but they didn’t understand things as the Duke did. Pascen was not a location. It was a lively city filled with hardy people. It was the terrible weather, the rocky terrain, the stormy seas. Benadora had not made herself a resident for long but her melancholy was real, though it would have paled in comparison to those who were born there.

“If only I had the nerve to stay with him.”

Benadora tittered, “Now, there’s no need for you to do the same. There are thousands of people here who need your protection. It’s time to do your duty, as the Duke commands – and guide your people to safer harbour. I’m sure there will be glory to spare.”

Jahn frowned, “There is no dignity in leaving our home like this. Like a pack of wounded dogs.”

Benadora bundled her documents together and slipped them into a leather bag for later. “Loyalty won’t turn the tides of this crisis. Don’t throw your life away for nothing.”

He slammed his hand down onto the table, “Pascen isn’t nothing!”

Benadora didn’t even flinch. She tilted her head upwards and regarded the red-faced soldier with distaste, “You know what I meant. You have a chance to better the lives of many, in the face of that would you still prefer to be stubborn and die here?” She was always particular with her words. People who jumped to the wrong conclusions and aired their woes so easily did not curry favour with her.

Jahn retracted his hand, “I suppose… I suppose you are correct, Lady Benadora. Forgive me for assuming ill of you.”

She stood from the chair and circled the room in search of her other personal items, “Let us prepare then. There is much more to be packed away.”

By days’ end – there would be not a solitary soul within Pascen.