"Go inside and get rested." Kiriel instructs the Wild Hunt members, standing on the steps of the guildhall as the rain falls upon exhausted heads and dampened spirits. "Everyone is to be at dinner for an emergency meeting. No exceptions."

The various members enter, talking amongst themselves as the party arrives. Anna looks over the bodies strewn about the road and shakes her head. "Poor souls." She mumbles, turning her gaze away and covering her sapphire hues.

Tyrion sighs. "How could this have happened?"

Amadeo says nothing, patting the halfling's shoulder. Hope steps up under the eave of the building, wringing out her hair. "Let's just get inside. We can figure out the details once we're all dry."

Once inside, they head quickly to their room. Amadeo draws up a warm bath before sitting at the table. "Whoever wants to go first can. I'm just gonna..." He sighs and lays his head on the smooth wood of the table. "I'm just gonna take a nap here."

"I'll go first." Anna goes behind the screen to soak, and Tyrion sits at the table, closing the window they'd previously left open. His eyes drift out to the growing storm. "It rained like this yesterday too. Maybe the gods knew it was coming."

"Or maybe it's just rain. Sometimes, there's no good reason for why something happens." Amadeo lifts his head enough to follow Tyrion's gaze.

Hope shrugs, collapsing onto a bed. "Things happen all the time. Good things happen to bad people and vice versa. The only reason it happened here is cause this is where Dane chose to come. And if not here, then somewhere else. Maybe in Mysthaven, maybe in Misery-" Amadeo's eyes turn to hers as she goes on. "-maybe Lorelei, who knows."

"Don't you bloody dare bring that curse down on me, Red!" Tyrion's nostrils flare as he raises his voice.

Hope, thrown by his sudden anger, sits up and holds her hands up in a calming gesture. "I'm not trying to say that's what's gonna happen. And besides, what happened to 'I'm just happy to have food and a place to sleep'?"

"Sleep? You think I'll be able to sleep after this? Hope, I saw people massacred in the streets today. Hell, how do you sleep after what you saw as a kid?"

"Certainly better than I used to. I spent months after the incident erupting from my nightmares in cold sweats, screaming. It took a long time before I was finally able to rest comfortably. And even then, that was only because I focused all my thoughts toward a singular goal..." Her free hand clenches tightly before she takes a deep breath.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"I've dreamed of it for so long. But today, I found out the gap between us is still very wide. Even with..." She pauses and looks at the shimmering blade she clutches in an iron grip. "Even with Valkyrie, I don't think I have the strength to stop him yet."

"So this is gonna happen again, then." Tyrion shudders, but Hope sits back. "I don't think so. The last time between Loheim and today that I heard of another such event was a decade ago near Whitemorrow. I think whatever Dane and Zerak do with those souls, it takes a long while for them to go through the amount they collect...We have time before it happens again, so don't worry." Hope moves to kneel beside Tyrion's chair, taking his hand. "We can stop it. I dunno how, but I'm sure we can."

"In the meantime-" Amadeo looks out the window. "-I'd like to help with the cleanup. Dead bodies don't frighten me."

"Me too." Anna steps out in a long green dress, strapping her leather armor back on. "I want to help before we do anything else. These people deserve a proper burial."

"Agreed. I'm just going to need a minute...Here." Hope undoes the bit of cloth covering her upper torso, holding the torn upper half of her swimsuit closed and handing the cloth back to Anna. "Sorry, I got it a bit bloodied." Looking down at herself and the gouge through the suit, she sighs. "I'm sorry you wasted the money, Amadeo."

"What, that?" The wizard shakes his head, removing two tiny black stones from his pouch. Placing the two stones next to each other along the cuts of the fabric, he blows on them, causing Hope to jump a bit. "Gah, ticklish!"

"Just hold still. This'll take a minute." He moves the stones along the edges of the tear, the threads reappearing and reattaching as they move. A moment later, he pockets the stones again, the tear completely sealed with no trace it ever existed. "Thankfully it wasn't a really big cut."

"That's...Magic really can do everything, huh?" Hope laughs, standing up and running a hand down where the cut had been. "Thank you so much. I know it's a petty complaint with all that's going down, but you were kind enough to get it, so...Thank you."

Tyrion looks between the two of them and shakes his head. "How about you two just go take a bath so we can get on with our evening?",

"What?!" Hope gawks momentarily before looking away. "I was just trying to say thanks, that's all."

"Uh huh. Go on, Red, we'll be right here." Tyrion laughs, a little wave of calm flowing through him. Hope rushes behind the screen with a grumble.

"You know, you shouldn't pick on her like that." Amadeo sits back down, and Tyrion raises an eyebrow. "Says the man who was repairing her bathing suit while she was wearing it."

Anna chuckles and sits down on her bed. She thumbs through the tome Raei gave her, looking it over in silence.

Hope looks into the water of the tub, eyes tracing over her reflection as she smiles softly. "I guess I've grown up, huh?" She whispers to herself before sinking down and laying her head back against the edge of the wooden tub.

The early noon storm gradually dissipates as the sun rolls through the sky, evening approaching sooner than expected.