Werond gasped and clutched Serena’s arm tighter, ducking her head. Serena suppressed a shiver as her breath tickled her neck. She would have been ecstatic that Werond had remained so close to her, but as they passed the next corpse, strung up just as the last, she found herself unable to feel anything save the dread that squeezed her chest.

They’d stopped checking the corpses. Barely a day out of the bog and through the forest – larger than any of them had thought – and they’d lost count of how many they’d found. Doriyah had tried to keep track, but Jo had yelled at him when he reached twenty. That was an hour ago, and by now, Serena was sure they’d passed twice that number.

She’d gone numb to it though, much like the rest of them. You could only walk by so many ruined and headless corpses before the nausea faded, replaced now only by muted apprehension – a tension that everyone felt as they marched down the path in their line, one that couldn’t be dispelled by the beauty of the trees.

Leaning into her, Werond sucked in a breath, fighting to remain calm. Serena shoved aside her own feelings and laid a hand on Werond’s shoulder. As long as she remained strong for her, things would be alright.

But Bahamut’s Teeth, it was easy to forget how sheltered Werond was to all of this. She’d probably never seen such a display, and to have so many bodies lined up – it was nothing short of a warzone that they marched through. Though that was probably why no one else seemed to care.

She glanced back, looking past Doriyah and Pavel, both rather quiet today. The moment the corpse disappeared amongst the trunks and shrubs, Serena patted Werond’s shoulder. It took a moment for her to straighten up, wiping her eyes as she did, though she never let go of Serena.

At the head of their line, Cruck’aa suddenly halted, head snapping up to stare at the canopy. Jo almost ran into him, sighing loudly, as the rest of them came to a stop.

“Cruck’aa, I swear to the fucking gods,” Doriyah said. “If you don’t –”

Cruck’aa shot a glare past Serena, muttered something to himself, then took off down the path again. Jo rolled her head back, before twisting around to face them.

“Said we’re about to hit Nesme,” She glanced over her shoulder. “Maybe in a couple of minutes. Trees should start thinning out.”

“And he couldn’t tell us that himself?” Pavel asked.

“Course not.”

“Nine Hells…” He nudged Serena’s back. “Come on then.”

Serena shook her head as she pulled Werond along, Jo flipping back around to lead. While she was frustrated at Cruck’aa’s antics, a small part of her resented Doriyah for getting him worked up in the first place. Not even Jo could talk Cruck’aa down, having argued with him the night before. It seemed he’d remain in that foul mood for gods knew how long, though his silence did feel like a silver lining.

True to his words, the trees began to thin after a few minutes, the view between the trunks clearing of brush and vines, the grasslands just beyond beginning to peak through. Despite the horrors within the trees, however, Serena couldn’t help but feel a pang in her chest at the prospect of leaving. For the short time they’d been within it, the forest had offered a welcome, beautiful respite from the watery hell behind them. Corpses be damned, it felt too early to leave.

Smiling, she nudged Werond with her shoulder; the shadows from the trees played off her face as she glanced at her.

“I kind of like it here.” She signed. “You know…if there weren’t so many corpses.”

Werond grimanced and shrugged, eyeing the trunks ahead. Serena felt her heart flutter in her chest.

“You know, it’s…it’s a little hot, but the shade is so nice. I could spend all day here…uh, without all the…”

Werond shuddered, grimace growing worse. Despite the coolness of the shade, Serena felt her body warm. It would probably be better if they talked about…well, anything else.

“I guess you’ll like Nesme better…” Serena continued. “Finally see some civilization for once…intact, I mean.”

That got a smile out of Werond, as she signed with one hand, “B – A – T – H.”

“Hey, I’ve been keeping us clean. My spell not good enough for you?”

Werond rolled her eyes and waved her off, though that smile remained.

Serena licked her lips, heart speeding up. “And maybe…they’ll have a tub for two?”

The dirt crunched underfoot. Somewhere above, a single bird let out its song, a beautiful tiny melody, almost deafened by the silence between them, and the hammering within her ears.

The smile on Werond’s face remained, but the corners of her lips pulled down ever so slightly, forming that same smile she’d given her yesterday by the cliff. One that, before, had given her so much hope, but now, looked…

So sad.

Serena pulled her hands down and looked away, praying to Bahamut that she was simply reading it wrong.

The silence grew uncomfortably thick as they neared the edge of the forest, the path curving sharply ahead. It took Serena a moment to realize that, besides the two of them, no one else had said a word for quite some time. Pavel and Doriyah both seemed tense when she glanced back, walking with shoulders squared, hands on their war hammers. They’d been getting less and less jovial lately, and despite only knowing Doriyah for a short while, it seemed rather odd.

As Serena raised her hands to comment on that to Werond, their formation rounded the curve, the forest abruptly ending against the fields of grass, stretching out as far as the eyes could see in, offering them a breathing taking view –

Of a ruined town, walls crumbled and destroyed, a thick column of smoke hanging over it like death itself.

The sight hit her like a fist to the face, Werond jerking back but refusing to let go of her arm. Swearing sounded behind them, but only Pavel continued in earnest.

“Gods damn it.” He breathed. “Gods damnit again! Again!”

He pushed past Serena and Werond, moved around a startled Jo, and took off at a dead sprint, racing across the fields towards the town. Though it looked to be a decent walk to reach the walls, Pavel looked as though he’d reach it within minutes.

“I’ll go get him.”

Doriyah stepped around them and took off after Pavel. Likewise, Cruck’aa opened his wings and rocketed into the air, soaring over the pair as all three raced towards the town.

Serena could only watch the shrinking figures of her friends, heart falling. It was supposed to be different this time – they’d finally gotten out after so long and this is what waited for them? What in Bahamut’s Name was happening?

“Figured…” Jo muttered.

“W-what?” Serena shot a look at her.

“Figured this would be the case. And how Pavel would react.” She signed and put her hands on her hips. “Bog’s Road was too big to just be a one off. Whatever’s happening, it’s…”

Her words died in her throat, and she stared at the plume of smoke. There weren’t any fires visible from here, but that large of a smokestack couldn’t be a good sign.

Werond’s eyes were still wide when Serena glanced at her, gaze fixed firmly on the same sight. Her heart sank further. Bahamut’s Teeth, if the bodies in the trees had frightened Werond bad enough…

“Better follow them.” Jo said, taking off without waiting for an answer. Serena grimanced, but pulled Werond along, her eyes never leaving the smoke.

It was a long walk to the walls, giving Serena far too much time to stare at the holes that had been smashed into them. What once had been beautiful stone built perhaps two stories tall was now reduced to rubble in multiple sections, heaps of shattered brick laying between the sections that still stood. So struck by the destruction was she that Serena failed to notice the river that cut through a section of the city, meandering across the fields without a care in the world.

She grimanced, watching as Pavel and Doriyah made it to the front gates, the smaller section of Nesme on one side of the river. Cruck’aa still flew overhead, circling the larger section of the ruined town.

Serena watched him for a moment, wondering if he’d have the decency to warn them of what he saw, when a hand appeared in the corner of her eye.

“H – I – L – L.” It signed.

Serena glanced at Werond, still staring at smoke.

“What? What hill?” She asked.

Werond pointed towards the walls in response. She followed her finger but saw nothing that stood out, and when she glanced back, Werond simply shook her head and grimanced.

There wasn’t a hill visible anywhere she’d pointed – was there supposed to be? Serena couldn’t imagine where it might have gone if there was one, and she wasn’t about to ask. With how distraught Werond looked, it didn’t seem to be the best topic of conversation right now.

By the time they reached the smaller section, Pavel and Doriyah had already disappeared inside, though she vaguely heard Doriyah’s voice echoing as he called after Pavel. The walls looked far more impressive up close, with how high they stood, but that only made the destruction across the river stand out worse.

“Must be a gate…” Jo said aloud, craning her head up as she moved around the wall. “Wouldn’t know how else…yup.”

The shattered remains of a gate lay before them as they reached the front, fragments of wood scattered further down the cobblestone path that went into the town. Though the threshold of stone was cracked and broken, the walls around the gate remained undamaged.

“Odd.” Was all Jo could say when Serena pointed it out. “Better hurry before we lose them.”

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She stepped through the gate, boots thumping on the cobble. Werond tried to remain in place when Serena stepped forward, but a gentle tug was all she needed to unstick her.

Whatever part of the city lay on this side of the river had been utterly wiped out, a ghost of what it once was. Fields of rubble lined either side of the path, the carcasses of buildings poking out beneath the shattered stone, fractured shingles, and Bahamut knew what else that filled the mess. A few boats poked out of the river, equally destroyed, though if there used to be docks, they were nowhere in sight. And in almost random spots in the cobblestone, large indents had been pressed into the ground, shattering much of the stone within.

Serena stared at it all as they walked past, unable to imagine what had caused all of the destruction. She finally shook her head and ripped her gaze away, only to find that the rest the city fared no better.

Across the river, beyond the strangely intact bridge that spanned it, the rest of Nesme lay in ruins. Though the town had once been large, perhaps the size of one of the districts back in Waterdeep, now, it looked frighteningly small. Rubble, just like that around them, wrapped around a hill that sat at the center, as though the city had once been constructed in rings around it. Though a few buildings still stood, they were far and few between, loners among their destroyed friends. Further up the hill, similar fields of rubble sat, though in much large piles, the remnants of roofing and what was once finely cut wood poking out like bones bleaching in the sun. And somewhere in the middle, that black column of smoke came pouring out, drifting into the blew sky, towering over the town like something out of a nightmare.

Not a soul remained, no survivors, no scavengers, nothing. Not even Pavel and Doriyah were in sight, though Cruck’aa still hovered in the air around the smoke.

Jo halted only a few steps in, seizing up the destruction. Werond still clung to Serena’s arm, head on a swivel, eyes wide, as though she feared that there was something worse beneath the rubble. She could feel her fear as Werond dug her fingers into Serena’s arm, and it took every bit of her not to flinch.

“Wrong seeing the whole place from back here.” Jo glanced over her shoulder, eyes blank. “Towns should never be this flat.”

“I…yeah.” Serena signed.

“Just like Bog’s Road though,” Jo muttered. “Worse, actually. But what’s the reason? And why now?”

She wasn’t talking to them anymore, her eyes flitting about the town, but Serena wasn’t sure she wanted to discuss that right now. Not when Werond was with them.

“Hey…how long do we want to be here?” She asked, chest tight.

“Long enough to find supplies, I’d imagine.” Jo glanced at her. “Shouldn’t stay longer than that. Should try to figure out what happened though.”

“I mean…probably the giants, if it’s like Bog’s Road.”

“Can’t say that for sure until we have proof.”

“Jo, the whole place is destroyed…what proof do you still need?”

“I know. You’re probably right. Rather find something that says we’re wrong though.” She glanced back at the rubble. “Love to be wrong.”

Serena grimanced, understanding what Jo meant, but before she could sign, Werond pointed a finger at the hill strewn with rubble in the center of town.

“T – A – L – E – R” She signed.

Jo raised an eyebrow as Serena stared at her.

“It used to be taller?” Serena asked.

Werond nodded, then raised a hand over her head.

“Really tall?”

She nodded again.

“The hill in the center used to be much taller but…” Serena squinted at it. “Now it’s not. Have you been here before?”

Werond began to nod, paused, bit her lip, then shrugged and nodded.

Bahamut’s Teeth, they really should practice more with the signs.

“What could have happened that made the hill shorter then?” She turned to Jo. “Was there…anything in Bog’s Road that –”

“Need to go find them.” Jo suddenly said, flipping on her heel and marching towards the bridge. Serena blinked, and it took a moment for them to catch up, so fast did Jo move, offering her no time to think about the matter further.

Instead, other questions rose to the forefront of her mind as they crossed over the river. A part of her was surprised that the bridge was still intact, almost untouched like the walls from the gate. But then again, if giants had indeed attacked Nesme, it almost made sense for them not to care about it. They could simply walk across the river. Even if people were using it to flee or attack them, what did it matter? With how tiny the town was to them, the giants could have easily quashed any resistance in minutes. Bahamut’s Teeth, maybe they used the bridge to their advantage, herding everyone across it…

She shuddered. With how horrific the destruction was, a few minutes was probably all it took to wipe out the entirety of the town. It would have been as simple to them as kicking an anthill over was to her. But why? What could have compelled giants to come all the way out here and act in such a heinous way? What could they have possibly been doing that required a second massacre of such a scale?

Doubtless she’d never accept that answer, even if there was one.

Stifling the growing frustration that tightened her chest, Serena looked about as they stepped into the town proper, hoping beyond hope that there’d be signs of life within the ruins. Yet everything remained as lifeless as ever, a vast field of death as bleak as the smoke in the air. And there was just so much of it. This close, it was easy to see that there’d been multiple rings around the center hill, probably comprised of homes and businesses alike, just like Waterdeep. She could almost picture it, rows and rows of buildings chock full of life, idyllic sections of city where people lived their lives to the fullest, propelling a city that never slept, something always happening, something always going on…

Now, all of it, gone.

Exhaustion suddenly flooded through Serena’s chest, pulling her shoulders down. She slowed to a halt, Werond glancing at her. How much she wanted to mourn for this place and its people, yet she couldn’t find the will to do so. It was just…all too much.

Jo halted at the edge of the ring, looking up as Cruck’aa dove out of the sky, disappearing behind the smoke on the far side. She looked back at them, and her face twisted in understanding.

“Need a minute?” She called.

Serena nodded, chest hollow. Beside her, Werond’s attention had shifted from her to the few buildings that still stood within the rings, the fear in her body seemingly gone as she straightened up.

“Be okay if I kept going? Need to find them.” Serena nodded again. “Alright. Make a noise if you need help, not far.”

And she flipped on her heel, stomping through the rubble towards the center hill.

Serena watched her go for a moment, wondering if she’d be able to hear anything she’d create. A fireball would be loud enough, but did she really want to –

Werond untangled herself from Serena, drifting cautiously towards the rubble. Serena started, the spots where her hands had been warm with sweat, and jogged after her, towards one of the few still standing buildings. She twisted her fingers, a tiny whistle emanating from them, but Werond ignored the noise, glass and wood crunching beneath her boots until she stood before the building.

It looked like a bakery, or at least, it was one at some point. The wide windows in front were smashed in, shards still stuck in the frame poking up like jagged teeth. Between them, the once beautiful carved wooden door had been smashed in, barely hanging on its hinges. And through the door and windows, much of the building seemed barren, with only a few smashed shelves still standing.

Serena halted beside Werond, whose eyes now flitted about the building. She raised her hands to sign, to tell Werond that they needed to stick together now that Jo had left. But Werond beat her too it, flipping towards her fast enough for Serena’s heart to leap into her throat.

“R – O – B.” She signed, then pointed at the door.

“What?” Serena asked. “Werond I don’t…we need to stay together, can you –”

“R – O – B.”

“Werond, I don’t know what you mean. Rob like…steal?”

She nodded, face scrunching up as she continued to sign. “B – R – E – A – K – I – N.”

“Break in? Like –”

“G – I – A – N – T – S,” and she shook her head, perhaps a bit too much, before turning to walk into the building.

Serena remained outside, blinking, trying to make sense of her words. It was already odd enough that a few buildings had been missed, but what did she mean about break ins? And the giants? But she’d shaken her head at that…

She frowned, glancing at the shattered windows, broken in such a way that giants couldn’t do.

Maybe someone had come over and broken into the building after the giants? It sounded reasonable, especially if they needed supplies or anything like that. And with the fact that Nesme was now a ghost town, well, people probably wouldn’t care about any laws they were breaking. That didn’t explain why Werond was so obsessed over the place, but then again…it was somewhat odd. Was she just trying to take her mind off –

Werond burst out the door, scaring Serena for a third time; she paid that surprise no mind, however, as she seized her hand, and dragged her into the building, Serena’s heart smashing through her chest.

That nervousness only rose as Werond dragged her through the main room, and towards another room at the back, its door ajar but shattered, obscured by the shadows at the back.

“Werond, what are you –” Serena tried to sign, before Werond shoved open the door and pulled Serena inside.

There, in the middle of wooden floor, the room as bare as the one before, lay the corpse of a man, headless and ruined, arms and legs nailed to the floor, chest ripped open, and ribs broken out into wings. Two thick, bloody slashes had been painted onto the wall behind him from the man’s own blood, evident from the splashes of it that dashed the floor up to the wall.

Serena could only stare, blood freezing in her veins. Beside her, Werond grabbed her shoulder, and when their eyes met, Serena saw her own fear reflected from them.

Without asking, she grabbed Werond’s hand and, with a twist of her fingers, teleported them out of the building.

Werond yelped as they landed on the cobblestones, stumbling as Serena landed perfectly. She looked up the hill and found Jo standing at the top, hands on her hips, head bowed. She didn’t give it a second thought as she teleported them closer.

They made it halfway, feet crunching on more rubble, denser, with more wood in the piles. The sound caught Jo’s attention as she flipped around, just as Serena raised her hand again.

“Wait!” Jo yelled, but they’d already vanished, reappearing in a silvery mist beside her at the top of the hill. Werond stumbled and fell to her knees, but Serena remained on her feet, giving her a clear look at –

Where everyone in Nesme had went.

Within the center of the hill, dug far into the bowls of the earth, lay an open, bloody grave. Hundreds upon hundreds of bodies, innumerable in scope, lay scattered, dashed, and broken upon mounds of rubble and wood, an ocean of jagged grey streaked with brown, and stained in red. So much red, soaking the bodies both large and horrifically small, flooding between the rubble, catching the sun in certain places. Even from a distance it was easy to see the chests that had been shattered, heads cracked, limbs torn off – every possible injury or affliction seemed present in that horrible hole, the entrance to the Nine Hells, a veritable maw lined with grey teeth, and filled with the stench of death – an open wound within the earth itself, unable to heal.

Werond screamed and shoved herself away, falling onto her back and scrambling into Jo’s legs. Serena staggered back, unable to breathe, unable to comprehend the sheer size of the massacre that lay before her.

“There’s someone trying to burn the bodies, on the edge.” Jo said behind her. “Pavel and Doriyah are running over to check it out. Think Cruck’aa went with them.”

A stifled sob broke from Werond’s chest; Serena sank down in a crouch, burying her face into her hands. She hadn’t seen that, but she was suddenly aware that the stench of death was nothing more than that of burning flesh.

A smell she thought she’d gotten used to.

“Moving too fast for me to say anything.” Serena dropped her hands and half turned, half fell towards Jo. She crouched next to Werond, who had curled up, head in her knees. “Didn’t want either of you to see it…sorry.”

“M-my fault.” Serena signed. “W-we uhm…uh…” Bahamut’s Teeth, her heart was hammering. “We’d…g-gods –”

“Relax for a moment.”

“H-How?!”

“Stop thinking about it.”

Serena blinked, resting her hands on her knees, itching from the grass. Stop thinking about it? It was all she could do, the image of that bloody hole burned into her mind, appearing before her every time she blinked like a sunspot from hell.

It didn’t make sense – she’d burned people alive, she’d seen carnage, she wasn’t new to this. Why was she so shaken up then? Why did her chest feel so tight, like she couldn’t breathe, why was her head spinning, her eyes burning – she’d seen worse, she’d done worse, why was – why did all this –

“Serena, breathe.”

A burst of air shot out of her lungs; a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Serena hunched forward, the heels of her palms pressing into her forehead. Her body was shaking, she realized, quavering with the smashing of her heart, as though it wanted to flee from her chest.

Bahamut’s Teeth, she wanted to vomit.

“Find anything down there?”

Serena turned her hands a little so she could sign with them still pressed to her head. “W-what?”

“In the rubble. Saw you two go into one of the buildings. Anything interesting?”

“J-Jo I d-don’t –”

“Talk. It gets easier.”

Serena blinked, then pulled her head up, hands dropping to her lap. Jo was still crouched beside Werond, now rubbing her back as her body trembled silently.

“More you talk,” Jo said, eyes blank. “the faster you work through it. What’d you find?”

“I…” God’s, it was always terrible trying to sign when her hands shook. “W-we found a p-place that was uhm…broken into. B-by people, not giants. There was a uh…”

“A what?”

“Another room…” Serena sucked in a shuddering breath. “A-and another body. L-like the ones from before.”

“The ones strung up in the trees?”

“Y-yeah.”

Jo stared at her, expression still blank, a look that told Serena she didn’t believe her. But after a moment, just before Serena could sign again, Jo straightened up, her joints popping loudly.

“We need to find the others.” She said. “They need to know.”

“Jo, what…” Serena stammered. “what does the body mean?”

“Nothing good. Now come on,” She grabbed Werond’s arm and hauled her to her feet, still trembling. “we need to go. Now.”