Evin put his hands in his pockets and sighed, looking around. "Well, we should probably start with law enforcement. We could try the clerics first, but Elice was sort of the outlier in terms of fighting. The rest of them are all shielding and healing. Not that that's bad, but. . ."

Yeah. Wren got the idea. "That-that sounds good," she agreed.

She wasn't sure how the others responded. She was looking at the ground by now. But they did agree to find some sort of law enforcement.

Cooper had figured out where a building was, and led the way.

What Wren was not expecting, was the need to argue with law enforcement over their claim.

"We were there," Cooper explained, trying to be the ever calm and easy going one. "We saw their base explode."

"Yes, I saw the explosion out in the middle of nowhere too, because I'm not brain dead," the colbber man he was arguing with said. "That's not the issue. We don't know if that was the Hidden Cult's base, and even if it was, why would they come here?"

"The White Knight's in town. If someone does come here, he can fight them off," the human woman suggested.

Cooper tried to keep talking to the man. "Listen, someone's going to investigate that explosion eventually, right?"

"Debatable."

"Surely you can find some proof then."

"Who's the White Knight?" Rasha asked at the same time.

"Local hero," Evin filled in, speaking through the side of his mouth. "Goes around parts of Morivon fighting the good fight for praise and adoration. The kind of guy you'd expect to name himself something that on the nose. Though I guess, technically speaking, he does do a good job."

Wren's head was still dropped pretty low, her view obscured by her hair. But she could see the woman get angry at that. It looked like she was sucking a lemon. "If all you have is mockery for our hero, who works for free, I might add, you can get out."

"Oh? Hoping he'll do your job for you?" Evin asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm sure one man can hold off the Hidden Cultists."

"Apparently you could!" The woman slammed her palms against the desk. "You expect us to believe you saw the cult explode, know they're coming here, and you just happen to be lucky survivors? You've got ulterior motives. If you're not part of the cult yourself."

"Listen here you-!" Evin started, jabbing a finger at the woman.

Wren felt her hands closing into fists, frustration building. Cooper looked a bit stressed, eyes darting between the arguing people as the situation spiraled out of his control.

"What is going on here?" a new voice asked.

Everyone briefly shut up, and looked at the new arrival. He was clearly an elf. He towered over all of them, had the pointy ears, and the long hair most elves had. He also had a few gray strands in his hair, and wrinkles near his eyes. Not common for an elf.

The colbber man rubbed his face. "This group is trying to tell us the Hidden Cult is coming to attack our town, with no proof."

The human woman and Wren's friends either opened their mouth or adjusted their stances. Either way, it looked like they were about to start back up, and she'd had enough. She recognized the staff he was holding for what it was, and she hadn't been wearing her necklace since Iva.

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"They are coming!" Wren shouted. That got people's attention. She forced herself to push the hair out of her eyes and step forward. "They're coming to open a tear in the fabric of the universe, and I suspect they will kill anyone they can manage on the way."

The elf looked at her, noticing her red eyes, and probably her dark magic. A brief expression of horror passed his face, followed by disgust. It reminded Wren a little of her own emotions, when Cyep promised to eat her.

"You, I'll believe," the elf said.

Yes. She had a feeling he would.

What followed next was, thankfully, productive. The elf got to work. He had the human woman contact the clerics. He grabbed another human and asked him to call in anyone who wasn't working today, and to contact people in neighboring towns who might be able to make it in time to fight, so they could prepare for the assault.

"We want to keep helping," Cooper added.

"Well I should think so," the elf said. "Can any of you use magic? Particularly shielding magic?"

Rasha tentatively raised her hand. "I have healing magic, and have made shields. I've only just started though. I'm not very good."

"It's something. You can accompany me to put up magical defenses."

"WrenandI wentto the same magic school asher," Wesles added. "Though we didn't specialize in healing."

The elf looked coldly at at Wren. "Oh you can do regular magic as well? I suppose that explains the enhancer in your pocket."

"What?"

"The enhancer, in your pocket?" The elf sighed. "It should be in your front right pocket."

Wren slowly reached into that pocket, and pulled out the only thing in there. The round red rock.

"Yes, that's the one," the elf confirmed.

Wren slowly turned it over in her hand, but didn't have time to dwell on it.

"No offense, but is this really important right now?" Evin asked. "I was under the impression we had to spend as much time as we could preparing for the fight of our lives."

"True," the elf said. He pointed to Wesles. "If you're not a healer, the best thing you can do is get some rest and join the other magic users tomorrow. And what about the rest of you?"

"I'm an alchemist," Cooper said. "But, uh, I'm a little short on inventions, or ingredients. I used most of them up in the last fight."

The elf hummed. "I think we can get someone to go with you, and pick up materials you might need. Though if you need to be ready by tomorrow, you'll probably be limited in what you can make."

"Oh! Oh!" Wesles raised his, only, hand. "Ispecialize in making potions. Can Igo with him and pickup ingredients?"

"Yes, yes fine."

The elf assigned someone to go with those two, and hopefully pay. Then he turned to Evin.

Evin shrugged. "Hey, I just carry the bags. Though, I guess I know how to use a gun. I haven't used one in a while, but if you want my help."

There was still a bit more to discuss. They had the dragons with them, but that was easy enough. Those two could join the fighting force tomorrow. They didn't need any preparations today, so they could focus on getting some much needed rest.

As for Wren, she was taken aside to be asked about the cultists. She gave names, species, descriptions. She told them what each person's ability was. She was pretty sure she hadn't met every cult member, and she didn't know what all of them did, out of people she did know, but she could list off a lot. Pauth walked through shadows, though his regular magic was more dangerous. Anvon made people freeze up when he touched them. Murv created meteors. Erez, the imp who'd told her about Preventative Measures, could twist bones. But based on how the previous fight had gone, he was probably down for the count. The cult didn't exactly have many healers.

"This is all very random," the elf pointed out.

Wren nodded. "It's why I'm telling you as many as I can."

Technically, it might not be random. While no one had confirmed it, there was a popular theory in the cult, that your ability was determined by who your first kill, or kills, was. The significance, when you proved your loyalty. While they wouldn't word it that way, the implication was that the worse it was, the more powerful your ability. If that was the case, it meant Arra was like her. Had she also killed a parent? It meant Anvon's first kill, for all his later horribleness, was relatively mild. It meant she didn't want to know what Murv's inciting incident was.

But it was ultimately a theory, one that could get bogged down in the specifics if you thought about it too long. What powers were actually better? What made one murder worse than another? And even if anyone had ever been able to confirm it, she wouldn't be sharing it with the elf and the colbber.

The colbber had come with them, that was what the elf had been saving him for, apparently. He could look up the cult members by name with his eye piece, and if that wasn't enough he could try matching her description with images he found.

Though even if he couldn't find them, it should be clear who the cultists were when they attacked the next day. They'd all have the red eyes and metallic teeth. And most of them would show some signs of their skin degrading. This was a fact she made sure to tell them.

The colbber looked at her. "You don't have metal teeth."

"Oh you noticed."