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Kesl

Violated, helpless, and beyond pissed off with the world, that is what Kesl felt as he barricaded the back entrance, so that the inn had only one way in. While he was disgusted and physically sickened by the experience, he would gladly go through it a million times more if it meant keeping his family safe.

When he was finished blocking up the back door, he walked back into the dining area where his sister, niece's, Allis, and Sciesch were waiting around the table.

Kesl took a seat next to his sister, across from Allis, while the wooden chair creaked under his weight. “So, mind filling us all in on our mutual friend the summon, as well as what the hells happening to Telnar?” He asked Allis while interlacing his fingers on the table.

Allis's hood slumped a bit as she let out an exhausted sigh, seeming like an entirely new person compared to her usual snide exchanges he had to deal with. “Well since you know, and I'm pretty sure Leo's secret is paper thin anyway with how blatant he's dealing with the attack, he wouldn't mind me explaining everything, but where do I even start…”

The mage began from the moment the strange man walked into her clinic, and told them everything she saw and discovered since meeting him. From the duel with Fel to the truth about the dragons, her audience's expressions fell more into disbelief, and everyone was silent for a few moments after she finished.

Tissa laughed nervously while scratching at her blue scales. “This… This can't be real right? I mean the academies, the eras, even Leo winning against a dragon, it's all just insane.”

Vissa nodded in agreement. “I mean come on, it's way too much to believe. Right mom, Kesl?” She asked, expecting more agreement, but Kesl and his sister gave each other a knowing look.

Kessa turned to her daughters with a look of resignation. “Earlier he ripped the roof off the guild and practically flung it into the heavens, just to leave the building faster.”

Kesl leaned back in his seat with an arched brow, opting to not even comment on that. “And he also instantly killed those five mages without even touching them, plus it explains all the enchanted items and new recipes. I don't know about all that stuff with the dragons, but I definitely believe he's a summon.”

Sciesch coughed uncomfortably, her bright yellow eyes half lidded as they looked to the side. “He's a human, the same race that freed my people during the demonic inversions. And I can confirm that he did in fact win against a dragon, since I've met said dragon and they admitted it. It also explains why the Archive never told us how to cast summoning magic, we can't, and we might just start worshiping the dragons if it did.” She remarked grimly, and Kesl furrowed his brow as he became deep in thought.

‘Damn, It's hard to imagine the little guy being so… powerful. But from how it looks, it seems that he was just a normal guy who stumbled into god-like abilities, and even though he wanted a peaceful life, he couldn't stand living in a world that was so screwed up when he could do something about it. If I was in his shoes, and thank the gods I'm not, I'd probably do the same.’

The large selarin glanced to look at the streaks of blood that led to the pile of bodies he tossed out, realizing that if he was in his shoes, and this happened right under his nose, then he'd be beyond pissed off too.

That brought up an old saying that his father used to tell him, before he was quickly forced to grow up.

‘Fear the quiet man, fear the peaceful man, and fear the man who just wants to be left alone…’

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Glia

When Glia awoke, she was surprised to find herself laying in a bed back at the inn. While wondering how she got here, she cursed at the horrific nightmare she had, attributing her lingering pains to hitting the mug a little too hard. Looking to her right, she saw Elaria passed out in a chair next to her, their arms folded on the side of the bed as they slept.

The bedridden woman shifted to get up, but realized something was wrong. Immediately flinging the covers off of her, she winced at the sight of her missing legs. They were amputated nearly halfway up her thighs, and she could see that many of the scales around the base were dried and scarred from the fire. If her scales weren't already black, then many of the scales that were just below her hips would have shown a darker color, since many of them seemed more rough the further down she traced her fingers along them.

“Yeah… Too much to ask for it to have been a dream…” She sighed sadly. “And I guess I can remove standing guard from my preferred skill set…” The pitiful remark was followed by a stream of tears down her face, reality setting in like a lead weight around her neck.

Usually Glia would see the best of a situation, but looking at her legs triggered something in her, as she was taken back to the moment she lost them to those sick fucks. Her breathing quickened and her chest tightened to an unbearable degree, as she began to relive the entire short yet horrific experience in her head.

The indescribable agony of her legs being charred to a crisp. The pain only dulling slightly when the fire had nothing left to burn. The smell of her own flesh hanging in the air. The sounds of the sadistic laughs of those monsters. All of it warped and twisted together as the fire slowly inched up her legs.

The whole moment seemed to bleed so well into reality that Glia only snapped out of it when she finally felt the embrace of Elaria, who at some point pulled herself onto the bed to comfort the quivering wreck.

Elaria held her tight, whispering words of comfort and safety, while Glia finally started to calm down, her mind slowly pulling itself away from the horrendously vivid experience.

When the frantic selarin fully got a grip on her emotions, she thanked Elaria deeply for comforting her, then asked her what happened after she passed out. Her friend recounted how Leo suddenly appeared not long after her blackout, removing her lost legs and healing over the damage before flying them over to the inn.

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Glia smiled softly, feeling like the debt she owed to him was one that could never be paid for in coin. “Looks like Leo helped us out yet again, though I hoped he could have helped with this...” She tried to joke, but it didn't quite land with an honest disappointment seeping through.

Elaria looked lighter as she explained that Leo didn't have the time to properly help with her legs, because he had to leave and end the purge on the town. So he'd either try to regrow them with magic or come up with something that would allow her to walk again, and Glia felt hope returning to her at the explanation.

Elaria started to slump, her expression becoming pained. “Glia, I'm so sorry tha-”

“No! You don't need to apologize for shit! You weren't the one to take my legs, and you saved us both by killing those fucks yourself. So don't you dare blame yourself!” She chastised with a deep frown, her face scrunched up in irritation.

Elaria winced and looked away painfully. “I know that logically, but I feel like it's all my fault. If I didn't trip then yo-”

Glia grabbed her friend by the shoulders to force eye contact with her. “If that's the case, then I forgive you. Alright? Also, If Leo manages to give me my legs back, then this whole thing really shouldn't get you down, so please just forget about it.” She explained to her while a painful image of the mages flashed across her mind.

‘I just hope that I can…’

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Elaria

Even though Glia was trying so hard to alleviate Elaria of her guilt, the green selarin simply couldn't shake it, especially seeing her friend break down after waking up. Thankfully Leo's voice echoed alongside Glia's words, that she just needed to learn and grow from what she saw as her own mistakes, instead of letting it weigh her down.

‘I need to try and conquer my fears if I never want to make that mistake again, and as powerful as Leo is, I can't expect him to always come and save me and magically fix the situation, I’ll never be able to get over my fears otherwise.’

Eventually Elaria carried Glia back up to the dining area for dinner, Kesl having promptly decided to go all out with a feast to try to take everyone's mind off the events of the day. She got the feeling that he was mostly busying himself after… Yeah… It probably didn't help that every woman was awkwardly avoiding even glancing at the man, and might have just been another reason for him locking himself away in the kitchen for a while.

Then there was the eating area itself. Although the evidence of the massacre was cleaned out of the inn, thanks to many of the enchanted items that the generous summon created, much of the furniture was thrown out due to damage, making the large space seem even more destitute.

Small talk filled the space for a while, which was when Elaria's thoughts drew into worrying about her absent lover. She knew that there was little to actually worry about when it came to him, for obvious reasons, but it was unavoidable after what happened to Glia. Her gut twisted into guilt ridden knots every time she saw her friend's injury, and the thought of something similar happening to Leo was one that distressed her even more.

Those concerns soon validated upon his return, albeit in an entirely different way.

The emotionally inept selarin usually had trouble registering the feelings of another, but she somehow knew that there was something wrong with him. Much like Glia, even if not as blatant, he was trying to hide an unseen pain, or was pushing it away at the very least.

The man had immediately set to making jokes toward the shock exhibited by those who had yet to meet Fel, which helped to lighten the mood a bit as the two joked about it. It seemed to work, as it didn't take long for them to get used to Fel, the human taking the effort to respectfully introduce her to everyone. That more than anything else was a surprise to those who knew how the two normally acted towards each other.

There were also his brisk answers to how he put a stop to the attack, none of it going unnoticed to anyone. It was clear that he had gone through with disposing of the attackers in what might have been a particularly grim way, given how he ominously dodged that particular subject. A muted and foreign feeling of anger swelled in her chest as she recalled the two mages who tortured her friend, hoping that whatever happened to the rest was especially painful.

Despite her curiosity though, she thoughtfully decided against commenting on it any time soon. Honestly, it seemed like everyone silently agreed to simply ignore the last few hours, most appearing done with the day but desperate for any kind of comfort. Thus, most of the evening dinner was spent with everyone getting to know one another, as they told stories and jokes while they ate.

It wasn't long until an air of bitter sweet filled the area as the small distraction helped, even though there was the occasional grim expression that fell through when silence overstayed its welcome. Elaria was more accustomed to this kind of tragedy, but everyone else wasn't, and it showed in how clearly they were trying to force any kind of normalcy.

As the evening went on, Elaria noticed that the animosity that was normally there between Leo and Fel, was just gone. In fact, they acted as if they'd known each other for years. So as Leo was attempting to heal Glia's legs for the fifth time in the past hour, Elaria was going to ask about their change in disposition when Glia cut in.

“So you two finally fucked, huh?” She asked the pair in her usual bluntness, all while wearing a sly expression.

The comment caused Leo and Fel to turn beet red, and avoid eye contact with each other. Leo gave Elaria that look that instantly pissed her off again, but before she could say something about it, she noticed that Fel gave her that same look, both feeling more pleading.

‘Wait, didn't she say she wanted to fuck him? Why would… Oh.’ She realized that they were more or less the same, and that if even Fel was acting like this, then it might be something more than just sex.

Elaria deadpanned at the two, understanding the desire to relieve the stress physically, but still immensely irritated with him wanting permission, again. “No Glia, they haven't yet. But given how Leo is requesting, again, I think they should go find a room after he gives his magic a few more tries.” She was holding out hope that Leo could find a way to grow her friend a pair of new ones, but it was becoming increasingly apparent that it was not going to happen.

Glia smiled wide while playfully pushing Leo away. “Oh hell no. You two need to get that out of your system, especially since your failing efforts on my legs seem to be stressing you out even more.” She finished reassuringly, though Elaria could see the disappointed acceptance her eyes held.

A moment of hesitation passed between the summon and his summoner before they both literally flew down stairs, drawing a genuine chuckle from Glia. “Wow, I hope she leaves enough for the rest of us, but at least they're no longer bickering like children crushing on each other.” There was a fond wistfulness in her tone, her amusement feeling more authentic.

Elaria couldn't help but agree, glad to find some small amount of good in all this. ‘They really are so much alike, and I'm glad they acknowledged it.’

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