They turned to the sound of crashing rocks. It was a reminder of siege weapons knocking against stone walls and steel gates from ages past. The bell tower was crumbling. The bell knocked against itself as it fell with clangs of tolls ringing out as the metal hollow tumbled through the air before crashing loudly into the ground.

Ishumi exclaimed, “What was that?”

She was with Joachim and Quinton. The three of them had been separated from the others since the cave-in under the lake, with them having been washed far eastwards.

Quinton asked, “Should we check it out? It could be the others in trouble.”

Joachim signed, “We were suppose to go to The Forest of the Dead. Shouldn't we head there and meet up with everyone first?”

“Quinton,” Ishumi asked. “What do you think?”

At first he seemed to almost want to agree with Joachim but stopped to reconsider. “We don't want to chance on us being wrong,” he replied. “And it's honestly not that far away from us. We can swing around for it. But we stay out of sight and turn back the moment we confirm there's nothing there.”

Joachim nodded in swayed agreement and the two decided to have Ishumi lead the way. They followed her as she sneaked through the familiar city streets of her home town. But with the added danger of the invasion, none of them could afford to take in the natural architecture. She felt a tinge in her chest from seeing her birthplace in shambles.

It seemed that whatever the Clovers were doing as a distraction was working. The majority of unspawns had left the central area with only a few stragglers remaining, wandering around as if they were lost but still looking for victims to attack.

As the group slid behind a row of trees and waited for a roaming large dragon-like unspawn to pass, Joachim signed a question to Ishumi.

“Why would unspawns even be here?”

“It's because of us,” Ishumi signed back. “Unspawns are a result of space-time distortions. Our epitaphs are troubling the world. Don't you ever listen in class?”

Joachim gritted at being called out. “I do! I just don't always remember the lessons, that's all.”

“If we want to stop this, we're going to have to do as The Watcher said and find the person responsible.”

“Or kill one of ourselves,” he joked darkly.

She snapped back angrily. “Are you going to do the killing?”

He was taken aback. Realizing he had taken the joke too far, he quickly signed back an earnest apology.

Quinton voiced softly, “Will the two of you stop flirting? We're in the clear. Let's move!”

Together, they slipped out of their hiding spot and began the short journey across the edge of the park. Part of the clock tower had collapsed into the lake with the hour hand of the clock bent and sticking out. The water of the lake was still draining out into the collapsed tunnel underneath, a whirlpool visible in the middle though ostensibly slowing down as the burrows beneath slowly filled. Half the water had already vanished and flopping fishes fought for air on the newly formed wet banks while those left in what water remained were huddled in shadowy masses.

They dared not speak of the sight. Already they knew it would take years of reconstruction to restore the park to the beauty it once was. It was a well known experience they had lived through with the 2nd War of Gods and had hoped not to have to again. But they knew that inevitably with battle, the restoration after must come.

“Keep moving,” Quinton pushed. “We don't want to get trapped suddenly.”

Hastily, they crossed the rest of the park towards what was left of the bell and clock towers. The clock tower had fallen mostly into the parkland and littered the ground with high debris while covering the plant life with a layer of dust. Most of the structure was torn aside from the first couple of floors of the base. The bell tower fell in the opposite direction with half of it still intact. A walkable mountain of rubble lead the way up.

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In a voice just loud enough for the vicinity, Quinton called out, “Hello?”

A cough echoed out and the three froze. “Hey, beautiful. What... took you so long?”

Ishumi mutter under her breath, “Shjacky.”

They climbed. Kicking loose stones and stepping over dangerous terrain without a second thought, moving as fast as they could up the mount towards the voice of their friend.

“Shjacky?” Quinton called out again.

“I'm... over here.”

Ishumi was the quickest, scrambling over the top of the mount with her light weight and speed and onto the torn off level of the tower. She vaulted over the last outward sticking piece of wall and landed on what used to be the circular stairs that led up the tower, albeit with the top half and quarter walls gone.

Lying across the steps was Shjacky, rapier drawn at her side and umbrella opened. The ground around her had been scotched black, evident of a fight with her destructive fire magic. Blood stained the abdomen of her dress where an open stab wound stuck out through her torn clothe.

“Oh,” Shjacky grinned bloodily. “I was hoping... Quinton... would be the first to see me.”

“What happened here?” Ishumi asked, scrambling over to take a look at her wound.

“Tower got destroyed. Attacked... by unspawn.” She chortled a laugh. “Took them all out. Where's Quinton?”

“Shjacky?” The man himself followed shortly after.

He paused, a look of shock and worry crossing his face at the sight before quickly putting the daze away and rushing over to her side. Joachim shortly followed, appearing over the ledge.

“I'm fine, mostly,” she replied with a laugh. “But Kingston...”

Quinton quickly ripped off his right sleeve, making a tourniquet and bandage out of his coat and shirt. “Stop talking.”

But Shjacky did not listen. “He was with me. But the unspawn knocked me off the tower. It took him.” She grunted when Quinton had to tighten the tourniquet. “I think... he's dead.”

“Nonsense,” Ishumi comforted. “Kingston won't go down like that.”

Shjacky explained, “I saw him. He took down that giant unspawn. I need to tell you what we found.”

“Shut up,” Quinton grunted as he lifted her arm over his shoulder. Joachim moved under her other arm and helped bring her to her feet. “We'll talk once we get back to everyone.”

Ishumi exclaimed, “We have go!”

She drew her weapon. Despite being collapsed into a single thick sword, the human sized throwing star weighed light to her trained physique. She swung the weapon downwards and the four blades unfolded out into a large X, each with a handle in the middle of them for her to hold. The mechanism that kept the weapon crossed locked sternly into place. She held the weapon over her shoulder and lead the way, carefully making sure they were not jumped while descending. Behind her, Joachim and Quinton carried Shjacky down.

The path back to the ground was much slower than up. Shjacky could only limp down the rough against her two supports while Ishumi had to constantly look over her shoulder to make sure they were not followed.

“Listen,” Shjacky began. “Kingston and I... we found out who's behind this. It's my mother.”

Ishumi replied in surprise. “The Janus?” She ignored a further shocked look from Joachim who did not know of Shjacky and her mother's relationship.

Quinton voiced out, “How can your mother do all this?”

“I don't know. It's just a guess at this point.” She hacked again and blood repeated to spit out amidst thick phlegm.

“Please,” Quinton begged, voice cracking. “You need to stop talking. We'll continue this once we get back to everyone.”

“I don't think... I'm going to make it.”

“Don't say that!” he grunted back. “You can't die until I do, understand?”

“How selfish... of you.”

Ishumi stopped her climb and looked back, giving the rest time to follow down. She could see Shjacky smiling in content and Ishumi remembered their conversation together the day they confronted her mother. She recalled how Shjacky had wanted a normal life and fought hard for it. She wondered if her friend was thinking back on it now and finding solace in those times spent together.

“Hey,” Ishumi called out to Shjacky, who looked up. “We still have many normal, boring days ahead. So don't give up yet.”

Shjacky returned a beaming smile. “So listen up. Don't waste my breath. Kingston... said that my mother will be... at... the northern watchtower. We'll... find her there.”

They nodded at the information received and Shjacky breathed a sigh of relief at having passed the crucial note on. The four continued their descend.

Ishumi made it back onto the ground first and waited patiently for the rest to follow. Her ears pricked up as the sound of a rolling pebble caught her attentions. Turning to the source an alley corner in the distance, she took a wary step towards it with her weapon raised.

The translucent figure stepped out. It was almost as small as a wolf but had the legs of spiders and the body of a snake. It turned the corner out of the side street and seemingly licked the air as if taste was its sights. Given its size, Ishumi was confident enough to handle it alone. Then its 'head' snapped to Ishumi and she readied her weapon to strike but stopped when she saw a second of the unspawn follow the first out onto the road. A third, fourth, dozens began creeping out, their limps twisting and bodies snapping towards her like a pack of spiders.

“Ishumi?” Quinton asked once the boys and Shjacky reached ground level.

She simply said, “Run.”