It took Zindra a few seconds to realize that the young Feyrisian Carter was left behind. Although annoying, it did make sense why Arc had left him here, but it was hard for Zindra to know if it was for any of the reasons she could justify or if Arc didn't want the baggage.

Zindra said, looking at Carter.

Zindra wasted no time trying to clean up the mess she had just discovered by talking to some of the guards and caretakers who were now living in the old manor. Although some of their reactions seemed strange when she mentioned some underground facilities, Zindra thought it was nothing more than a surprise.

After filling in the caretakers and guards around the children, Zindra took off with Carter to inform other guards about the situation so they could disseminate throughout the village to not only spread the information that places like the underground exist to other guards but also set up information points so when she got the map at the central building where Arc left it, she could easily have the information move and deal with the entrances as fast as possible.

Zindra, with Carter in tow, walked down the semi-empty streets of the village. Because of this, and now that she knew the underground was present, she began to notice the strange movements and behaviors of those in the village, almost as if something was off.

The more she thought, the more strange this village became, and then pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place: the constant supplies, the strange population growth, so many strange occurrences that should have been noted had been ignored, but that only raised more questions.

Zindra asked out loud, not expecting an answer.

Carter said in a raspy voice, like an ancient cog that had moved for the first time in a long time.

Zindra stopped, stunned at the sound of Carter speaking. Although the child had spoken words before, they had never been something like this, at least not to her knowledge. When did something change?

Zindra shook her head, knowing that now was not the time to worry about such matters; regardless of the child's changes or the oddities of the village, the most important thing now was to survive, and although grim it seemed that maybe there was a way to survive the siege of beasts as long as everything went how she planned.

***

Carter slowly went to the room where the others were staying while Zindra gathered the resting guards and the rough map. When Carter finally arrived in the room, it was silent as everyone sat in their makeshift beds with grim looks, but Carter paid them no mind, making his way to one of the open beds, and just like a shadow, Priya jumped behind him as soon as he walked into the room.

Aster asked

Carter didn't bother answering; he only laid into the bed and pulled the covers over him, but it seemed as if the young Ambrosia child was not expecting an answer as he went back to his brooding as soon as Carter had ignored him.

The children and other would-be Divine Knights of the village, along with the true Divine Knights, had made their homes in the old offices and storage rooms of the Central Building. Although the Divine Knights wanted to leave the children out of this fight, it became apparent now that it was not an option, so the children were taken out to assist with the destruction of the underground entrances along with patrols around the village, just like a real guard or knight. Most children thought the opportunity was great, but only a few realized the meaning of the change. Aster and Aiyah had fallen to the former, thinking that this was an opportunity to make something of themselves while Pit was away; maybe when he came back, they would have something to show, or better yet, he could help them train.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

After all of the others left, Priya soon followed as one of the caretakers pulled her away from the room, leaving Carter alone. He took the seldom-obtained peace to snuggle inside the thin blanket on his bed and focused on nothing more than sleeping.

Hours passed, and the room lay silent beside the subtle snoring echoing under one of the blankets. Finally, as Morin began to lower in the sky, the blanket rustled, and Carter crawled out of the bed. The room was still empty beside himself even though the outside was already turning black, but even stranger was the darkness outside. While usually, the lights of those still walking would illuminate the paths along with stores still opened and taverns and inns accepting patrons, it seemed as if the small village had died during the day, and now it was just a silent, deathly darkness.

Carter noticed the strange silence hanging outside. He went to the window to look outside. When he finally peered out, he saw the strange absence of the walls that surrounded the village. In their place, a strange wall of blue flames that seemed to absorb the light around them took their place. Carter had no idea what was happening but knew it was not good.

***

Hours earlier, when Arc left Carter behind with Zindra, he swiftly made his way through the empty streets to the gate where Seedlings of the village were still huddled around, even with the clawing and chattering that was happening outside.

Arc said as he moved through the crowds, looking for a way over the large wall.

When he spotted an empty tower beside the walls, his first thought was on the opportunity, but it faded into reality.

His thought stopped there, already aware of the dark undercurrent of the village. He couldn't control his mind from wandering to darker thoughts, but there was no point in worrying about them. Now, first, he needed to see what lay beyond the walls.

When Arc arrived at the top of the tower and looked over the mounds of Night Beasts and the actions happening outside, his eyes grew large. He had never seen anything like this, nor could he have imagined a scene of pure chaos like this. This was not a wave; this was not a fight for survival; in fact, Arc couldn't think of anything that could describe the chaos and cannibalistic actions that were happening outside the walls.

Arc questioned as he watched the hundreds of thousands of beasts tear at each other, not even bothering to glance at the wooden walls that had already become so thin.

The mounds of bodies moved as weaker Night Beasts lept out of the piles, attacking stronger Night Beasts that were feasting. Stronger Night Beasts chittered commands to those weaker only to be attacked by hoards of weaker or evenly matched Night Beasts. The more Arc watched, the less he wanted to, but with this, it was apparent that there was more than one king, and because of that fact, chaos in the ranks was prevalent. Now, he just needed the kings to fight one another and somehow not get pulled into the mix.

Arc had a sudden thought to use the mounds of bodies as jumping points to keep off the ground as best he could until he made it out of the chaotic wasteland below, and with a nod of his head accepting his thought, he made a jump towards the closest mount that stood about half the size of the wall. With each leap, the mounds would crumble, revealing hidden Night Beasts, allowing other Night Beasts more spoils to eat and a much-needed distraction from the man jumping over their heads as the beast needed more distractions.

When Arc finally reached the woods and used the trees for cover, running further until he thought he was far enough away, he began his search.