Sir Edward strapped on his sword belt. His armor needed to be patched after the action from the night before. He could do that at the Golden Circle Hall if it still stood. A lot of his fellow knights had probably been killed during the fighting. There were still things to do in the city before he could start worrying about that.

“What are you doing, Ed?,” said Brian. He slumped on the bench he had taken to eat something from the provisions. Survivors were drifting into the temple and some of the clerics were cooking for them. He had grabbed a plate to fill himself up for the day ahead.

“Walking a patrol,” said Sir Edward. “There still might be demons around that need to be put down.”

“And you are going to do that without someone to banish them?,” said Brian. “Don't you think we should wait until we have some kind of magical force to use?”

“There's no one else who can do it,” said Sir Edward. “Everyone is busy.”

“You know better than that, Ed,” said Brian. “We are not an effective fighting force against demons without a cleric at least. We'll get killed trying to take on any demon without a cleric. You know it. I know it. If you want to kill yourself, why don't you cut your wrists and bleed out?”

“And what should we be doing in the meantime while we wait for a cleric to fall in our laps?,” said Sir Edward.

“We rest and recoup,” said Brian. “We have both been in heavy fighting. We can step back and let others take over while we try to get our act together.”

“What if I don't want to do that?,” said Sir Edward.

“Then you're going to get killed,” said Brian. “You're not ready to do any heavy lifting yet after the healing you had to take. Just take it easy until we get someone who can vouch that you're ready to operate.”

“I don't need anyone to tell me if I am ready to go about my business,” said Sir Edward. “I have been doing it long enough.”

“I disagree,” said Brian. “And we both know you will lose if I take this up with the clerics here. They all know you nearly died last night.”

“We lost a lot of good people last night,” said Sir Edward. “There's nothing extraordinary in almost dying.”

“Andrea wouldn't like it after what she did so you wouldn't have to,” said Brian. “Don't think she would put up with this if she were still here.”

“But she isn't here, is she?,” said Sir Edward. “We are. It's our duty to defend the city from all comers. We still have that job to do until we are relieved by the chain of command.”

“If there is a chain of command,” said Brian. “We might be the only survivors of the Circle in the city. You might be in command of whatever is left of the Circle. That means you have to act more responsibly about things.”

“If I am in command, the mission is still the same,” said Sir Edward. “We have to help the people who are still recovering from what has happened.”

“I'm eating breakfast first,” said Brian. “If you want to go out alone, I will wait to the end of the day before I report you to Command.”

“Report me for what?,” asked Sir Edward.

“For violating the orders of your medic to go out gallivanting when others are already there,” said Brian. “Shame on you, Ed. Shame, shame, shame on you.”

“Don't make me punch you in the face,” said Sir Edward. “You know I will.”

“Just think about what I am saying,” said Brian. “If there are any demons still lurking about, they will be better off than we are.”

“We can get a cleric to patrol with us,” said Sir Edward. He sat down at the bench. He looked at the almost empty plate.

“We can do that when we know where we fit in,” said Brian. “I can't believe we're talking about this. Most of the city is dead. There's nothing to save.”

“I don't believe that,” said Sir Edward. “I think Mac saved some lives with his sacrifice, the same as Andrea.”

“All right,” said Brian. “So we inspect the rubble and hope we find people who need us?”

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“I was thinking of a simple patrol to keep any looting down to a minimum,” said Sir Edward. “Like it or not, we're the Watch until the Watch can get its people together and back to helping the civilians.”

“No demons?,” said Brian.

“You're right about needing a cleric to help us if we take on a demon, or even a pack of demons,” said Sir Edward. “The two of us would be hard pressed to stop a mob.”

“That's what I have been saying,” said Brian. “I'm glad you are finally listening to reason.”

“I wouldn't go that far,” said Sir Edward. “What happened after they put me to sleep, Brian? I know Andrea died. What exactly happened?”

“She drew a circle on the courtyard with some of the clerics from the temple inside it,” said Brian. “She drank three flasks of mana to help her power the spell and then she used the clerics to banish all the demons they could. She came apart under the stress after the spell was done. She said to tell you that she loved you.”

“What?,” said Sir Edward.

“She said to tell you that she always loved you,” said Brian. “She broke apart after that. I couldn't stop it.”

Sir Edward looked away. He raised a hand to his face. Brian looked away to give him some amount of consideration. He couldn't offer to move now, and he wished that he hadn't said anything.

“We talked about things but we couldn't decide what we wanted to do,” said Sir Edward. “I let the chance slip through my fingers. I should have done better by her.”

Brian said nothing. Andrea didn't exactly pine after the knight, but she didn't look at other men while she fought with them.

“Are you going to leave too?,” said Sir Edward.

“No,” said Brian. “I just want you to slow down until we figure out what we're going to do.”

“That's fair, I suppose,” said Sir Edward. He tapped the table. “Let's see what we can find on our patrol. There might be someone we should punch in the face while we're walking around.”

“I don't have a problem with that,” said Brian. He finished his breakfast, wolfing the food down. It might be the last good meal he would have before the mess was cleaned up.

They stood up and left the dining hall. Brian adjusted his weapon belt as they walked across the space. People had started filling the benches as they moved along.

The knight led the way to the main entrance of the temple. He nodded at the people going about their business. He saw the relief in their eyes. They knew they had come within a hair's breath of dying. The clerics had stood up to defend them with the knights and the Watch.

He had felt the same way when he had been dragged in to the temple and saw the cleric getting ready to use her grant on him. He supposed she wouldn't have put him to sleep if he had listened.

Then he could have stopped Andrea from doing what she had done.

He doubted he could have stopped her. Three flasks of mana was something no magician could have held. If he had tried to stop her, she could have punted him with that much juice flowing through her system.

She would have done the same to Brian unless he had taken steps to keep her from drinking and that wouldn't gone well for him.

“Sir Edward, and Brian!,” called a familiar voice as they stepped out in the courtyard.

Constance Shellbert approached. She didn't quite smile, but she looked less concerned than she had the night before. She had donned clean clothes and a cloak. Her hair held a lot more gray than it had before she had used her grant to help clear the city.

“How are you, Cleric Shellbert?,” asked Brian. He smiled at the sight of her.

“Constance,” said the cleric. “My name is Constance. I just wanted to thank the both of you for saving my life and the city.”

“It was our pleasure,” said Brian. “You're quite welcome. How are you doing this morning?”

“I'm doing better than I was,” said the cleric. She touched her hair. “I'm afraid I've aged a bit because of what we did.”

“You look distinguished and wonderful,” said Brian. “Sir Edward and I are going out on a small patrol to try to get our feet under us. Would you like to come with us? We would be glad to have you.”

“I wouldn't be able to use my reserve for anything,” said Constance. “I overused it during the night. Pitt's god word is potent but prone to drawing too much power from our patrons.”

“That's what happened to Macomber,” said Sir Edward. “Don't worry. This shouldn't be anything worse than a walk around the city and a return here to the temple.”

“That will be fine,” said Constance. “Have either of you seen Eighth? The clerics said they haven't seen him since he vanished after the banishment we performed.”

“I didn't see him at breakfast,” said Brian.

Sir Edward shook his head.

“Avri Noll's clerics are required to move toward conflicts,” said Sir Edward. “He probably had a visitation in the night and was asked to move to the next fight.”

“The Abbess wanted to thank him for his assistance in saving the city,” said Constance.

The trio walked across the courtyard toward the gate. The knight waved a hand to get the attention of the keeper. The novice opened the gate for them and let them out in the street. He quickly closed the gate behind them and locked it.

“Let's head back toward where the circle was,” said Sir Edward. “Then we'll walk around and look for anyone who might need us. I think a few hours of looking will be enough for the day, and then we have to check in at the Hall and see if any of the Circle is still doing anything.”

“Back behind the walls before dark?,” asked Brian.

“Either at the temple, or the Hall,” said Edward. He rubbed his face as he looked at the damage. It hadn't looked that bad with the cover of night over everything. “We'll make sure to spread the word for the civilians to let us know of any suspected demons lurking around. The banishment might not have got them all.”

“So the three of us aren't going to attack any demons we might find?,” said Brian.

“I don't think we can handle it without a magician,” said Sir Edward. “Maybe if we had Eighth, I might chance it. He's as fast as any man I have seen.”

Brian made a shrug. Avri Noll's clerics were known as deadly sword fighters. Hearing his friend confirm it was not anything new to him.

The three survivors picked their way through the rubble silently.