As the group neared the town, Caleb got a better look at everything. The town was larger than he’d first thought; the long dirt road stretching through the middle of it enclosed by buildings on either side for far longer down it’s stretch than he’d first assumed.

People stood or sat on their porches, talking amongst their own families as they looked to the waving blue flag. A crowd of the townspeople had gathered toward what must have been the centre of town, all standing outside the largest of the cobblestone buildings.

[Something’s definitely going down] Eriana said, her grin widening.

“What building is that?” Caleb said, turning to Rad.

[The church hospital]

Church hospital? That can’t be good.

As they neared, a few people on their porches turned to the group, the atmosphere changing. A few pointed at them, some whispered and others quickly shepherded disgruntled pets back into their houses. It was clear these people weren't used to guests. And they didn't seem anywhere near as enthusiastic about them as Rad and his friends had.

Caleb glanced back to the rest of the team, their expressions all as uncertain as he felt.

He looked back to the town, and nervously wiped the sweat off his palms. It probably wasn't dangerous. Finally they stepped onto the road, the grass disappearing beneath their feet, fading completely into the dust, gravel and dirt.

But as they continued onwards, Caleb's eyes fixed on a line of red, a fresh stab of panic passing through him. Further along the path, as they entered town a healthy trail of blood stained the dirt. Splatters of it, along with footprints running along the road, still fresh, unwashed by the soft wind that drew up dust.

“People got here recently” he said. "And someone's hurt"

[I might be able to heal them]

“Maybe, but don’t push it” Sierra said.

Caleb looked down at the footprints, then back up at the crowd as they jogged past the houses of the town, his chest growing tighter. As they neared, the crowd outside the church noticed them, the chatter instantly dying down as the group shifted to look to the newcomers.

[Chief!] Rad shouted. [Chief!]

A man, standing on the stone steps outside the church and deep in conversation, looked away and stepped forward, turning to face their group. His eyes widened and quickly he rushed through the crowd, coming to a stop in front of them. Caleb took him in as their group finally came to a stop.

The chief was a small man, wiry in frame, but despite it he had a presence of calm about him. Everyone watched him as he looked to them, then chuckled to himself with only a mildly surprised look.

[Welcome all] he said smoothly. [I must say it’s quite a surprise to have more of you]

He turned to look at the hunters, then to Rad.

[Where did you find these newcomers?]

[By the piwot trees. We were out hunting the boar when we found Eriana, and the rest saw us from afar]

[By the piwot trees, or past them?] the chief said, his eyes narrowing.

[Ah. Well... s-sorry chief, the boar don’t exactly follow the town rules] Rad said, laughing sheepishly.

[That’s alright] the chief said, some of his calm gone. [Rad you take the boars to Gerard, I’ll take our guests into the church hospital]

Rad nodded, then waved a quick goodbye to the others. The chief turned away from them but gestured for the group to follow. They started forwards, the silent crowd parting for them as they made their way up the steps.

The chief opened the wooden doors carefully, revealing the inside of the church, a largely empty space, with wooden flooring, a patterned carpet, and a few decorative ornaments on a pedestal at the far end. He waited for all of them to enter, then turned to the crowd as he started to close the door.

[I’ll be back soon all, just showing our guests around. Don’t worry] he said, with a large smile. The tension in the crowd withered and they went back to chatting amongst themselves. Then the door closed, and their chatter became muffled, as the chief turned to them, his mask of calm slipping further.

[Follow me] he said, making his way past them, to a side door.

They all followed silently, Caleb quickly looking around. There wasn’t very much to see, beside the ornaments on the pedestal and they held no meaning for him without context. But he could sense the presence of more magic weight in the room they were heading towards. People. Seven, no eight in total.

The chief opened the side door and stepped straight through everyone following.

They entered a smaller space, filled with beds. At the other end of the room was a group of three adults all standing around a bed as nurses attended to a bleeding person. Two of them wore tattered regular clothes and the other wore strange, almost religious looking garb.

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Beside them was a group of three teens - all in regular clothing - whispering amongst themselves. And next to them another teen lay on a bed. Caleb’s eyes widened as he recognised the person, Layla, lying on the bed unconscious as nurses attended to her.

“Is that Layla?!” Ryan said loudly as everyone turned to them. A few of the people’s eyes widened as they saw the group, the atmosphere changing.

[How many of us are there?] one of the adults muttered. The chief looked between everyone his confusion growing.

[You guys don’t know all each other?]

[No] one of the adults – the blonde woman in quasi religious garb - said. [But why are you all kids? That’s weird. Or are we the weird ones?]

[No clue] Eriana said laughing, clearly enjoying the confusion. Everyone looked to her blood covered sword, as she continued to let it rest on her shoulder, wilfully oblivious to their gazes. As the atmosphere grew awkward with tension, Sierra spoke.

“This is a hospital or church hospital, right? I've got broken legs and they’re starting to really hurt, so could I maybe get some medical attention” Sierra said, her tone somewhat sarcastic.

[Right, right] the chief said. [Hala please go get the others.]

Ryan laid her down on one of the beds and Caleb laid Markus on the bed next to her, as some of the nurses came over.

Caleb took a step back, taking a seat on one of the beds and sighed, his clothes still slightly damp. Ryan and Kana sat next to him as Eriana looked around, intrigued by the uniqueness of the room’s architecture.

"The corners of the room are all rounded" she chuckled. "Isn't this so cool?"

"I guess" Ryan muttered.

Caleb ignored her, his eyes darting over to the adults who watched them, then to the other teens. The magical weight, or presence of the chosen were all noticeable, but still none more so than Layla's. Nobody here had more weight than anyone in his original group either.

The only thing of note was the adult with the religious garb. She wore a pendant with a strange constantly shifting magical weight. It didn’t feel dangerous, but it still drew his attention, just like Eriana’s sword had.

[So…] chief said, turning to them. [I’m going to assume you all came from the same place as these other newcomers?]

[The forest?] Kana asked.

[Yes, the death forest] the chief said.

“Death forest?!” Ryan said, wide eyed.

“It’s the one with the cliff and the waterfall?” Caleb asked.

[Yes. With all the storms, monsters and a very powerful magical protective barrier. Do you… happen to know anything about the fire currently burning it to the ground?]

“Oh” Caleb said. “That was… well we got into a fight and things got a bit crazy”

[Wait you started it?!] one of the teens said, standing angrily.

“N-no, not us. Someone we were with” Caleb said.

[Where the fuck are they?!] the teen shouted, pointing a rigid finger at him.

“They’re… dead” Caleb mumbled, recalling what’d happened.

[Good] the teen said. [Good fucking riddance]

They swore before sitting down again, slapping their friends’ hands away angrily. Neither of the other two said anything, only looking to the floor.

I’m guessing they lost people then.

“Were they a friend?” one of the taller adult said, his tone slightly sympathetic.

“Not exactly. We just met him” Ryan said. “But he was friendly. Seemed nice.”

[He was just trying to protect his friends. He didn’t mean to hurt any of yours] Kana said.

The room went awkwardly quiet, as a few eyes fell on the teen who’d had an outburst.

[Wait, if you were right by it when it started, how did you get away?] the other adult said, a slightly shorter man with glasses.

“We ran” Caleb said.

[Ran!? The fire was moving pretty fast] the blonde said. [I mean, we were out of the forest and it still caught of us guard]

[Ryan and Caleb are fast. Strong too. They used their stat points] Kana said.

The others all frowned, looking to Ryan and Caleb.

“You guys have stat points already? How?”

“Uh… I just got given them” Ryan said.

“Yeah” Caleb mumbled confused.

The others hadn’t gotten stat points? His frown deepened.

Did it have something to do with the weight of the magic he felt? Their presences were even weaker than the other members of the group they'd been with in the death forest. Was that what the groupings were based on?

[How is that fair? How many did you get?] the blonde said.

“Two” Ryan said.

“Two” Caleb said.

[Did you guys get stat points too?!] she asked, turning to the other teens.

“Christina calm down” the taller adult said.

[Sorry. I just… who else got stat points?]

“I did” Sierra said. “Put them into speed and then broke my fucking legs”

[I did as well] Kana said.

“I did too” Layla said sitting up as she clutched her head.

[Layla! You’re awake] Kana said.

“Only because everyone’s so damn loud” she sighed, rubbing the side of her head.

[We thought you died. How did you survive?] Kana said.

“I just fell into the river. It’s not like there were any fish monsters or anything. It was just shallow, and really fucking fast. I just had to stay above the water. It was easy up until the waterfall” she said wincing as she clutched her head. After a moment she looked up, glancing around the room, before stopping, her face growing sadder. “The others are dead, aren’t they?”

[Yes. I'm sorry] Kana said. [Are you okay?]

“Yeah, I didn’t… we didn’t talk all that much” she mumbled. The atmosphere grew awkward again.

[I’m sorry for all your losses, really] the chief said, still warily eyeing Eriana’s sword. [And your all welcome here as long as you don’t cause trouble, but… about the fire. Is there a chance it could destroy the magical barrier?]

[How would we know?] the angry teen said curtly.

[Well, I’m not sure. It just seems that your all… different in the same way? From what I got from your conversation you share a sort of magic. I thought maybe the fire was some magic of yours]

“It was but we don’t understand it. There are skills and stats and other stuff, but it’s all new to us. It’s a bit difficult to explain” one angry teen's friends said. Caleb frowned, then looked to the chief as he mulled over the information.

“Excuse me sir mayor, but have you… heard of chosen before? Ones? Or deities?” Caleb asked. The chief’s eyes widened for a second, but suddenly the door opened and a few more nurses stepped inside, with a ton of medical equipment, some of which had magical weight.

Caleb glanced back to the chief but his expression was calm again.

[Ok then] the chief said. [Well, all of you rest for now. The nurses will attend to the injured, and we have separate rooms in the rest of the chapel if you want to sleep, just ask Hala or one of the others to show you to a room. Or you can feel free to just talk here, but I will have to recommend not leaving just yet. I have to go now, calm a few things down.]

He started toward the door then stopped and turned to everyone. [If you do figure something out, please let me know. And Hala, help this nice young lady find a place for her sword. Anyway goodbye]

He closed the door quickly behind him and everyone stared at it before the main nurse - Hala - cleared her throat.

[Would any of you like a change of clothes?]