A few months later, the Horde moved out after having stripped the City clean of anything even remotely portable. The column exiting was so long that it took a couple of days for the entire length to pass through the gate. They had nearly tripled their number and had requisitioned every conveyance possible to carry loot. In fact, they’d built more wagons, since the converted warriors retained their crafts from before.

The Mentor had led, but before he left, he’d told Tenthé that this was one of the most successful city occupations in the history of the Horde, and that he would be remembered with fear and reverence. Tenthé doubted that, because he was pretty sure the forgetting was still working, but it was a nice sentiment, anyway. But, maybe some of the Horde was far enough from being human that they might remember. Time would tell.

He and Isabell had watched the column leaving until it became boring, then they went to root out the few citizens who had successfully managed to hide from the Horde during the occupation. Tenthé’d had a change of heart and decided to let them be, since most of them were non-human, and the rest deserved the same chance. As they stumbled into the daylight, it was obvious most of them were in pretty rough shape. The food from his Pockets was quickly depleted as he helped the survivors out. After the looting, there wasn’t much else left for the hiders to live on. Fortunately, not all the crops outside the walls had been ripe enough to take, so there was something for the future. In the meantime, everyone was going to be hungry.

He should have stocked up from what the Horde had gathered, but, as usual, he hadn’t thought of it.

A few days after the last of the warriors had filed through the gate, there was a flash of magic in the City Center and a stream of people emerged from nothing and moved out to make way for those following. They had carts and wagons full of goods and food, along with a fair number of farm animals. When everybody was all out and gathered, Tenthé counted about two thousand men, women, and children, marveling that he could actually count. It seemed so easy now.

Still, relative to the pre-invasion population, it wasn’t that many. For the next few years, the City Proper would have to offer quite good deals to attract people from the other cities to help rebuild.

Tenthé, Isabell, the God of Toast, a few other random gods, plus the survivors dropped what they were doing and rushed to meet the returners. Isabell and the God of Toast had come to some sort of agreement which had involved a fair amount of screaming on both sides, but Tenthé decided it was none of his business.

The last person to come out of the passage was the Sage, looking as scruffy as ever.

“I suppose you think you’re pretty smart!” the newly re-bodied Bear yelled out.

“I’d know that stench anywhere. Is that you, Percy?” the Sage replied.

“Yeah, you hopeless waste of space! I bet it makes you happy that you don’t have to listen to everyone’s complaints anymore.”

“Ha! Experience has taught me to put them in slow time. For us, it’s only been a few days. And, oh my gods, what’s happened to you?”

He was staring down at Bear, who was now a very poorly made pig-cat-dog thing.

“Yeah, well. My other body was trashed when I was defending the little man, here, and after the Horde stripped the City, there wasn’t anything left. I mean, what sort of fearsome bad guys take all the toys? Anyway, Tenthé’s girlfriend tried her best, and this is what I’ve got until we can do better. Anyone you save able to sew?”

“Ha-ha! I don’t know. Oddly enough, that was not one of the things I asked.” The Sage kept chuckling, although it seemed to be an effort. He was quite gaunt, apparently staying hidden took a lot out of him.

Once he finished snickering, the Sage looked around.

“Hey, the City looks to be in good shape. Much better than I usually see.”

“Yeah, Tenthé and Isabell came to an agreement with the Horde, so they stripped everything out, but left most of the buildings intact,” Bear answered.

The Sage glanced over at the two of them, and grunted. This was one of those days when Isabell was having trouble keeping it together.

After staring for a while, the Sage said to Isabell, “I can’t understand you at all. I don’t know what you are.”

Tenthé mused that, for once, somebody was saying that about someone else.

The Sage didn’t appear to be worried. Just mystified.

At that moment, the returnees began yelling. They were beginning to realize what had happened to the City. The Sage turned to address them, but Tenthé interrupted.

“Excuse me, sir, but I need to tell you something. I respect the difficulty of your position, but one thing they should know is that we aren’t going to let them worship the Turtle anymore.”

Tenthé continued in a very matter-of-fact tone. “It’s very simple. If I see the turtle growing stronger, I will deal with them. We can’t have him getting back into power. I’m sorry if you find the idea harsh, but that’s just how it is.”

The Sage stared at Tenthé.

Bear chimed in, “Uh, just to give you a little background Max, the boy held off Turtle for quite a while and the girl tossed him around like it was nothing. You might want to think before you say anything you can’t take back.”

The Sage was a very wise man, and after a bit of thought, he slowly replied, “You do realize… this’ll simply drive them underground.”

“If you have a better way, good. Trust me, though, if they worship him, I’ll know.” Tenthé said matter-of-factly.

Bear could see that things might go bad, here. In spite of the warning, the Sage had no idea what he was facing.

To avoid a show-down, he broke in, “Tell you what. Why don’t you say that Turtle made a deal with the Horde, but it didn’t work out? They got into a fight and Turtle lost. That makes him look stupid and weak.”

“I’ll think about it. In the meantime, it’ll be difficult enough just to survive the next few years, so hopefully who worships who will be a minor issue.”

Tenthé wasn’t entirely satisfied with this answer, but before the situation could devolve any further, a mass of people rushed by the Sage and piled on Tenthé. It was the Lady’s kids.

Isabell looked a bit worried at the violence, but Bear assured her that it was alright. The pile toppled over as the Lady walked up, carrying a little bundle.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Hey Lady,” Bear said.

“Hello, vile creature.”

“Does that mean we’re never getting together? I don’t think you appreciate what you’re missing.”

“I will have to live without, I guess. How’s Tenthé?”

“Okay, I suppose. He made it through. Sort of. Something’s different, now. We’ll have to talk… uh, later. Oh, and this is Isabell. She’s Tenthé’s friend.”

The Lady turned to look at her. Isabell smiled back.

“Tenthé told me about you. You’re the closest he had to a mother and speaks well of you. Not so much for your kids.”

The Lady guffawed. “Ha! Yes, truly. They are a handful. An and Yu,” she waved at the pile, “matured significantly in his presence. I am grateful, it’s hard to get my children to grow up. They need a certain amount of adversity. A lot don’t survive.”

Everyone turned to watch the roiling heap. Tenthé had yet to emerge.

Just then, a baby’s bottle fell out of the bundle the Lady was carrying. A couple of black tentacles pushed out of the blankets and began writhing and throwing off sparks. The Lady sighed, picked up the bottle and pushed it toward the tentacles. They stopped sparking and wrapped around the bottle, then pulled it back into the bundle.

At that point, a Trachteur walked up to the group.

“Hey Gyri,” Bear greeted her.

“To you, thing, I am the Envoy.”

“Yeah, I love you too,” Bear responded.

Isabell didn’t know the Envoy terribly well, so she politely asked, “Excuse me, but Tenthé was asking about Elishua. Have you seen her?”

The Envoy eyed Isabell for a moment, then replied, “No, I haven’t. I have no idea where she is.”

“Oh, I suppose that means she was assimilated, then.”

The Envoy laughed, “Ha-ha. Probably not. She was one of the few cases of half-human, half-Horde. It’s why she was kicked out of her family. Or rather, strongly encouraged to go to the College. She’s the result of a trip to Angel City, years ago.”

“Really? How does that work out?” Bear asked.

“What? Do I need to explain sex to you?” the Envoy replied, archly.

“Oh yeah! The more detail, the better! But no, I meant, how does the time work out?”

“I don’t know. With all the Dreamers and Mentors around, I gave up trying to figure out that kind of stuff, long ago. It’s what she told me.”

“That’s okay, I suppose. At least it isn’t bad news,” Isabell said. “Tenthé’s lost so many people over the years. He hides it, but he does worry.”

The Lady was eyeing Isabell. “What’s going on with the two of you?”

Isabell laughed. “Well… it’s complicated. We’re friends, and we’re good for each other. Tenthé wants someone who can match him and might be around for a while. As for me, I need help to stay grounded. Even so… I’m finding it difficult.”

A couple of the Lady’s kids were launched toward the horizon and Tenthé emerged. He walked up to the group, looking a little mussed, but chipper.

He smiled. “Hey Lady, Envoy. Glad to see you guys made it!”

“They were telling me that Elishua’s half Horde,” Isabell added. “She might be fine, but no-one’s seen her.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that. Hmph. Don’t know what that means, either. But, okay.” Turning to the Lady, he directed, “Isabell told me she saw Mach-Anot. She said he was alright.”

“Good. He opted not to come with us, and I was a bit worried.”

“I’m sure he’ll turn up.”

The Sage had wandered away, over to the crowd of returners. They surrounded him, yelling.

“That man has a rotten job,” the Lady noted.

“Yeah. I think he loses, no matter what happens.”

As they watched, the mob around the Sage broke apart, most of them still yelling. One smaller group headed in the direction of the Family District and the rest toward various other regions of the City.

“This is’ll be fun,” the Lady stated. “The Manors won’t have enough people to operate, and all of them will find themselves too spread out for business as usual.”

The Sage joined the smaller group.

“Yeah, that’s true,” he said, “but they have to figure it out for themselves. They’re about to discover that the Horde didn’t leave much of anything. Also, I gathered up a few of them before the Dreamer re-arranged the City. It’s possible their old houses aren’t where they used to be. This one is going to be messier than usual.

“You might have noticed that I went heavy on merchants and traders. It’s important to boost up the number of immigrants. The real problem will come in a few years. As the City grows, then some of your neighbors may try to invade.

“It depends on the various gods, how strong the average magic user is, and how quickly we’re able to grow a capable population. I’ll help, but I can’t predict exactly which way it’ll go.”

He glanced at Tenthé and Isabell. “Of course,” he continued, “if what you’ve told me is even close to the truth, the equation here is completely skewed.”

With this, he walked off, following a group that was heading toward the Family District. Probably to talk to them about organizing some sort of government. Everyone watched him.

After a moment, the Lady spoke out. “Well, I’ll be off, too. I have a fair idea of where Mach-Anot is, and I should go and fetch him.”

To Tenthé, she stated, “As for you, don’t worry too much about me. I have plans. I think the City needs an injection of good old magic and I want to contact some of my friends and see if they feel like moving.”

With that, she walked away, toward the Temple district. Her kids took a moment to realize she was on the move, then flocked after.

That left the Envoy. She looked around, seeming a little uncomfortable, then scurried off in the direction of the College. Tenthé blew himself into the sky, with Isabell following in a much more controlled manner.

A few days later, Tenthé and Isabell sat on some rickety chairs outside a shop, drinking slightly tea flavored water, which was all that was left after the Horde had stripped out everything. They’d been spending their time watching groups of the returned come together, fall apart, re-form, and argue. On top of that, everyone was eying all the normal kids, trying to figure out who would be the new Dreamer. That was going to be a whole ‘nother mess once one of them manifested.

The Sage had been everywhere, explaining that the City wasn’t destitute, showing that there were funds distributed amongst other cities, and how they could be accessed. Of course, once it became known that there was money, the real battles began.

Fortunately, it would be necessary to travel to the other cities where the funds were invested, which meant the traders held a lot of power. The good part was that the traders seemed to be mostly the Sage’s people, which stemmed the arguments for now. But it was easy to see that this was only temporary.

Tenthé wouldn’t be averse to flattening them all. Instead of working together, most of them worked for themselves, which might not be bad if they all weren’t all so stupid.

He and Isabell found that they needed a break from just watching.

As for Isabell, Tenthé was worried. She was getting worse. Like now, she was cycling through being more cubes and less herself. He wasn’t sure if she was sitting or standing, or whether she even had a chair. The last few days had been particularly bad. In addition to the stress caused by everyone arguing, she was hearing voices. But, from what she told him, they weren’t speaking, but doing something else. He didn’t understand.

Whatever it was, the voices were distracting her, and this meant she had trouble staying even close to being human. Her cubes were always agitated, and she was starting to mumble to herself all the time.

Tenthé did admit, he probably could have paid more attention to what she was going through, but he was focused on reviewing his fight with Turtle, trying to come up with some way he could have done better.

He had become somewhat used to her continuous mumbling, and was alerted when it went quiet. This lasted for a few moments until Isabell said, very distinctly, “Oh, is that what you mean? I see, now!”

Tenthé started to ask what, when Isabell began swirling, her cubes funneling into a vortex. It circled faster and faster until the entirety of her was sucked in and the hole closed with a pop!

Tenthé waited, but when she didn’t reappear, he probed, trying to sense where she’d gone. Maybe, just maybe, he could detect a faint trail? As he peered closer, something above him caught his eye. He looked up to see a small thing tumbling through the air toward him.

He watched as it landed right in front of him on the street, where it bounced once, twice, and then kept on bouncing.

It was a little cube, but, instead of being orange, it was a very deep blue. Tenthé stared at the cube for a moment, then where Isabell had been sitting, then at the cube again.

He sat back and let out a resigned sigh.