Aiden was becoming way too familiar with the sound of his ears ringing, a fact that he realized as he picked himself up off the floor for the second time that night. Placing a hand on the wall to steady himself as he stood up, he surveyed the destroyed room around him in search of each of the Perezs.

‘I hope Kaitlyn’s ok.’ Aiden thought, trying to clear his head of the accursed ringing, ‘What on earth was that blast?’

Just now, the Warrior that had been treating Kaitlyn for her Energy Overload suddenly released a blood-curdling scream and then passed out, releasing a huge blast of energy into the room in the process. The wave had destroyed a bunch of the furniture and sent everyone in the room flying.

“V-Victor? Ai--,” a fit of coughing ensued, interrupting Mrs. Perez’s concerned queries. She tried again a second later, “Victor? Aiden? Is everyone ok?”

A short grunt was heard, and Mr. Perez threw off the remains of the coffee table that had landed on top of him as he staggered to his feet. Mr. Perez wearily met Aiden’s eyes and gave him a short nod before turning towards the sound of his wife’s voice, “We’re both fine, Anne. What about you? Do you need any help?”

He only received more coughing in response, but before he could enquire any further, a battered bookcase was slid to the side and Mrs. Perez picked her way through the rubble of her living room with a worried look on her face.

“Do either of you see Kaitlyn?”

Aiden pointed towards the sofa, which hadn’t been affected too much by the blast, indicating that the Perez’s unconscious daughter hadn’t moved from where she had been placed. Seeing this, Mrs. Perez rushed over without hesitation, stepping over the unconscious form of the masked Warrior on the ground, and placed her hands on her daughter, caressing her cheeks and feeling her skin for signs of the fever that had been threatening her life.

A look of relief spread across her delicate features and tears began to flow from her eyes as she folded over her daughter, wrapping her in an embrace while she sobbed, “Oooh. Oh, thank you! Thank you!”

Mr. Perez, seeing his wife collapse into tears, became frightened and hurried to her side, “What is it, hun? Is our baby ok?”

Sniffling back her sobs, a short peal of laughter escaped her when she turned back to look at her husband, “It’s a blessing from the stars! The Warrior did it. The fever’s gone! Kaitlyn’s going to be ok!”

Both Aiden and Mr. Perez released sighs of relief. Immediately after, Mr. Perez stepped to the side and made an awkward motion towards the woman at their feet, “That’s great and all, but what do we do with her? I don’t think that blast was intentional. That scream also seemed pretty bad.”

Aiden shook his head, still trying to clear the ringing, and moved over to kneel beside the masked Warrior. Reaching out and touching her wrist, Aiden waited until he felt a weak radial pulse before moving a hand to the side of her neck and checking the carotid.

“She’s got a pulse and blood flow to at least her left arm,” he confirmed, “Give me a minute to steady myself and I—”

Before he could finish saying that he would carry the Warrior back to the Academy for care, the sound of ringing returned stronger than ever. He put his hands on his head, trying to clear the ringing and the associated headache.

“Screw this blasted ringing. My head is—” Mr. Perez placed a hand on Aiden’s shoulder and squeezed hard to tell him to be quiet. Looking up, Aiden found both Perez’s looking towards the front door with odd looks on their faces. Mr. Perez’s face turned to stone and he abruptly bolted down the hall, grabbing his sword from the rack near the door as he yelled, “That’s not your head! That’s the village alarm! We’re under attack!”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Pausing with a foot out the door, Mr. Perez turned and gave Aiden an appraising look from the end of the hall.

“Aiden, I know this is a lot to ask, especially after everything that's happened tonight, but I need you to carry Kaitlyn and go with my wife to the Academy. The rest of the non-combatants will be joining up with you guys on the way there, and I need you to make sure that they get there safely. Can you do that for me?”

“I...” Aiden hesitated, looking at the vulnerable masked woman on the ground, “What about her? I can’t just leave her here. The SSO needs all the Warriors it can get. If something happens to her, I’ll be the one held responsible.” Feeling conflicted over the fate of the masked Warrior and the safety of his best friend, Aiden clenched a hand and pressed the fist into his other hand in frustration as he contemplated the consequences of what he was being asked to do.

Mr. Perez knew what he was asking was placing the young man in a difficult position, but he had no other choice. He pushed one more time, saying what he needed to make sure the boy would do what he asked, “Aiden, don’t worry about her. She’s a Warrior of the Star Order. They’re tougher than they look and there's no doubt that she’ll be fine once she wakes up. I have a feeling that she’d be even more pissed if you let the woman that she was just injured saving remain in danger longer than necessary.”

Aiden grimaced and looked up at the two women on the sofa. Mr. Perez had a point. As a prospect of the Star Order, Aiden was the only one that could both carry Kaitlyn and make sure that Mrs. Perez remained safe on her way to the Academy. There was no way that Mrs. Perez was going to be able to move her daughter alone, not traveling that distance.

The village bells continued to ring, and Mr. Perez had already wasted too much time on the matter. With one last parting look, he shouted to Aiden as he ran out the door, on his way to man the village wall, “I’m counting on you, son!”

‘Yeah, right.” Aiden grumbled internally. He looked down at the Warrior again, briefly considering removing the mask to check for any head injury she may have received from her fall, but another fit of coughing from Mrs. Perez stole his attention.

“Are you ok Mrs. Perez? That coughing doesn’t sound too good.”

Mrs. Perez looked back and waved her hands slowly in front of her, “I’m fine. Just a little bruised is all. Don’t worry about me, dear.” Standing up slowly, she stretched lightly to relieve the tension built up over the last several minutes and began steeling her resolve for what was to come. Bending down and picking up several blankets, she placed them over Kaitlyn before wiping her face with the last of the wet cloths.

“Aiden, you grab her and I’ll go grab our emergency bags.”

Seeing the strange look Aiden was giving her, she only chuckled, “Perks of being married to a member of the Guard Corps., dear. Victor always makes sure to keep up-to-date survival bags in the case of an emergency. Believe me, I’ve given him that same look on more than one occasion, but now look who’s the one eating her words.” Sighing, she dusted herself off and left the room, leaving Aiden to collect Kaitlyn.

Ringing bells prevented the room from falling into total silence while Aiden simply stood between the two unconscious women, wondering what he’d done to deserve being placed in this position. Forcing himself to look away from the Warrior and focus on Kaitlyn, he squatted low in order to lift with his knees before standing up and bringing his friend up in his arms. After a few minutes of standing in the middle of the room waiting, Aiden came to the slow realization that carrying Kaitlyn in his arms like a princess wasn’t going to be the fastest, or easiest, way. Shifting his weight, Aiden huffed lightly and tossed his friend up gently, slinging her over his shoulder. Wrapped in the blankets, she looked like a potato sack or a giant burrito. Either way, it was more comfortable for him and not as straining. He was ready to go whenever Mrs. Perez was.

Thinking that, it hit him that Mrs. Perez was taking a bit too long grabbing a couple of prepared bags. Walking to the doorway that led back into the house, Aiden called out, “Mrs. Perez, everything ok? We’re ready to go when you are.”

The house remained silent, instead, the pattern of the ringing alarm bells changed, warning the villagers that an attack was imminent. Having a feeling that he knew what he would find, Aiden proceeded through the house in resignation, making sure not to bump Kaitlyn against anything as he went. He sighed as he came upon an open door.

“...Mrs. Perez?”

Stepping into the room, he wasn’t surprised by what he found.

‘Riiiight.’ Aiden thought grimly as he stood in the doorway with Kaitlyn dangling over his shoulder, taking in the sight of the unconscious Mrs. Perez collapsed beside a pair of heavy looking rucksacks.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Perez. I think we'll have to leave the bags."