One scream wouldn't mean much, two even could be ignored, but the screams kept cascading out, louder, closer. Ashi felt a brief surge of frustration, but then immediately on its heels a strong sense of fear. Perhaps Indigo were not as married to secrecy as she had assumed. With a quick lunge, she reclaimed her boots and tugged them on.

The ones in the employ of the building were already rushing through the front door, but Ashi opted for the opposite direction, heading up the stairs to the employee-only second floor, and climbing out a window up onto the roof, where she could see where the outpouring of fear was coming from. And smoke.

Unfortunately, she couldn't tell what was the cause yet, but fortunately the climb up had let her rationally conclude that this couldn't be Indigo. If they had tracked her here, they wouldn't risk a full assault on the town because she might be able to escape in the chaos; whatever was causing the fire, it wasn't here for her. Which meant it was time to leave, already. At least she'd already had a nap.

She briefly considered the fast way down, but her prior experience made her simply roll over the edge and back through the window instead. The building was now completely empty, so without any pushing she managed to get through the front door and drew her sword.

The lizard hostel was in the direction of the fire, and the sounds of metal, so she took off in that direction, leaping across the cobblestones. Other people were on the road, going perpendicular to her, so she dodged around them and kept going.

“Hurry, to the palisade!” someone shouted right before they stepped right in Ashi's path – collision only avoided by a whisker. She would have stayed a moment longer, this person's long cloak and black bow being rather eye-catching, but she continued to throw herself down the road because time was in short supply.

A few more turns, and she could see it – the house of the lizards. But, even more presently, she saw the cause of the alarm.

A humanoid creature, though the resemblance was fleeting. It had the proportions of a crude clay doll, and a matching lack of hair; not to mention the color of its flesh, a blue-green pallor with its shades irregularly spread across the skin as though it had been messily applied by paint. It noticed her immediately as she skidded to a stop, taking in the grotesque sight. It opened its disproportionally large mouth into a sharp growl, unblinking beady eyes unnaturally small in conjunction – and all of its misshapen form was smaller than even her. A stunningly hideous creature.

It ran at her, stubby arms stretched out with claws, and Ashi resumed running to meet it. Unfortunately for the creature, the rapier continued to provide too much range advantage, and the blade was run between the eyes, the creature's momentum carrying it forward down the blade's length, before stopping and sliding back off. Its blood was black, Ashi noted with distaste.

Before she could even continue the last leg of her journey, she saw the origin of the smoke and the screams. There was more than one of these abominations.

The guards from the gate and the wall had formed a makeshift wall of metal and bodies, but they were quickly being beaten back – and swarmed around – by the monsters. A veritable army of them was swarming through the gate, most unarmed, though plenty also bore sticks, clubs, or torches – the source of the fires that were consuming buildings and beginning to spread.

Time was clearly running out, so with a passing glace Ashi returned to a sprint, but was quickly halted again as more of the monstrous creatures poured from alleys and around corners, swarming into the town. The monsters all turned towards her, tongues licking hungry lips, and she realized that she could not fight this flood.

As though the guards could read her thoughts, their commander shouted, “Quick, back to the palisade!” and armored footsteps signaled their hasty retreat. Soon the only target in this district would be her.

In the time all this had happened, the monsters had managed to close the distance, and Ashi swiped at a few, laying them low and hoping the rest might be intimidated by the display. No such luck, without thought or reflection they pushed forward over the bodies of the front line. And Ashi was forced to back up, away from her goal, lest the mob consume her.

“You!” she heard a voice, and turned to see the regiment of guards had reached the street. One of them, a feather plume denoting superiority, was shouting to her. “Don't be a hero! Retreat!”

With a final anguished look at the lizard inn, and the endless swarm now distancing her from it, she turned and sprinted for the group. The creatures tried to keep up, but their stubby legs meant it was a doomed effort – though their tireless enthusiasm still meant they weren't that far behind.

Ashi met the line and turned, serving as their left flank. “Where are you intending on going?”

“The fort overlooking the town is designed for this situation, very defendable. They'll break upon the cliff face,” the captain told her.

Ashi nodded in understanding, though her focus now rested upon the monsters that had caught up to her. Her rapier began dancing through the air once again, downing them in one or two blows just to keep up with the unrelenting tide.

As a collective they continued inching back, going faster and faster as the monsters spread out further and further into the town, and their chances of being surrounded got higher and higher.

Then, pushing through the crowd, closing the distance, she saw one of the creatures, similar looking except that their proportions were more similar to a lifelike mannequin, and it stood heads above its peers, meaning it probably had an inch or two on her. As though to emphasize its importance, it did not come unarmed or with a crude recreation. It clasped in its hands a finely crafted spear, iron tip seeming to glimmer from all the lights.

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“Tall,” Ashi warned.

The captain muttered a curse against the gods. “A Baulin. With a probably Enchanted weapon, at that. We need to hurry. Just a little further, everyone!” Their slowly increasing crawl become even more of a scramble.

The creature identified as a Baulin, without stopping it's stride, raised its spear as if to throw it. And, it did.

Quicker than should have been possible, it shot across the gap between them and buried itself into the chest of one of the guards. As they topped back, the spear – as quick as it had come – shot back into the Baulin's hands. The creature let out several large grunts that sounded like a bastardization of laughter.

“Damn it,” the captain exclaimed, “Run! We're almost there!”

The line broke instantly, and turning Ashi saw the captain was right, they couldn't have been more than two hundred feet away. Everyone broke out into a sprint.

The spear flew, and another man hit the floor. Not much further.

Ashi, driven only by instinct and a faint whistling, dove down to the floor, and the spear flew over her prone form and into the side of a building. It quickly made to return to its master, but Ashi leaped up and grabbed the shaft before it could.

Turning to the approaching mob, she easily found the Baulin, and tossed the spear back. It tried to recreate her dodge, but it was slower and surrounded by its companions, so it failed. The spear cleanly pierced through its chest, and it fell back, lost among the crowd.

Ashi returned to her run as the spear returned to her hands, and made it to the gate last, where it was hastily pulled shut behind her. Before long, the sounds of screeching and hammering could be heard on the door, but for now, she was safe.

She moved away from the door, the soldiers around her working to barricade it as best as possible, to lean against a wall and catch her breath. She looked down at her hand, still gripping the spear.

“What's your name?” she looked up to see the captain looking at her.

“Ashi,” she returned, mentally ready to panic and flee.

The captain only smiled. “Thank you, Ashi. You saved some of my men's lives by getting that spear. And, you robbed them of a strong weapon and warrior, hurting their ability to do more raids in the future. So, thank you.”

Ashi blinked a few times, not really sure what to say. “You're welcome?” she tried. She offered out the spear.

The captain laughed a little bit. “No, I think that would be better served in your hands. You have excellent aim.” With a nod, he returned to directing the men on securing the door.

Ashi watched him go, then looked back at the spear held in her hands. With a sigh, she walked further into the building. Her bag and all her possessions, and probably her horse, all lost. In return, she got a spear she didn't want. She'd throw it on the floor if that didn't seem incredibly dangerous.

The building was tall, so she sought out a staircase and made her way to the third floor. Presumably as a security measure, the first two floors lacked windows.

Following her ears, she made her way back to the front of the palisade and looked out one of the windows into Klam. It was overrun.

Some buildings were still burning, but no new fires were being set. Instead, the monsters were breaking into and ravaging buildings physically, exiting with whatever shiny things they could find. Or food, she noted, even if sometimes that food had used to be human. Some couldn't wait, and were feasting in the streets.

“It's horrifying,” someone whispered next to her, and Ashi almost jumped. The distraction of the destruction had made her temporarily lower her guard. Turning, she saw with surprise it was someone she recognized – the man from the library's archives.

“It is rather brutal,” she concurred, taking a step away. Looking back out, she wondered if when she had murdered she looked to others like these monsters – uncontrolled, ruthless, inhuman.

“I never thought such a large group of Aulins would reach us,” the archivist seemed truly off-put by what he was seeing.

“Baulins?” Ashi asked.

The man looked somewhat surprised. “No, Aulins. The normal – or I suppose common – variety.” He shifted a bit, “I assumed you knew, since, you seem very competent.”

“I never paid much attention in school,” she stared as one of the tall Baulins approached the building, carrying a bow. “We should step away from the windows.”

He followed her. “I've always been a bit of a nerd for monster facts,” he confessed. “Do... you want me to tell you a bit about Aulins? Since we're surrounded by them?” he had a short, nervous laugh.

“Sure,” Ashi agreed. Since she was now a woman of the road, knowing about threats like this would probably serve her well, even if she didn't care much for a lecture.

“Well,” he began, “like all monsters, Aulins come from below the world, in the darkness of the ocean. Some say the spirits of the damned fall down into the water and become monsters, but it's probably just a severely mutated and angry fish.” They reached the staircase, and Ashi started climbing, the man trailing behind as he spoke, “Aulins climb out of the water into the caves, where they spend much of their life. A few are determined or lucky enough, and become strong enough to be Baulins, and among them they have a leader, their Kaulin.”

“Qaulin?” Ashi asked, bemused.

“Yes, Kaulin. It stands for King Aulin.”

“Ah,” Ashi frowned. “What does Baulin stand for?”

“Big Aulin.”

“Whoever named them wasn't very creative with it,” she dryly remarked, and the man let out a more genuine laugh at that.

“No, I suppose not. Still, they occasionally crawl out of the caves and raid the surface world for food or weapons. The more they succeed, the more they do it. That being said, this is a very very large group. My guess is after we sealed as many caves as possible, they wanted extra forces to overwhelm up.”

They had finally reached the rooftop, and the man was breathing somewhat heavily. “That being said, they'll probably realize they can't get in before long, and retreat back to their caves. Then we just have to figure out how to better fortify ourselves, or maybe go into the caves and deal with them there.”

Gesturing for the man to stay back, she got close to the edge, looking down at the mob continuing to attack the door. “They don't seem to be stopping,” she commented back to him.

“Give it an hour,” he assured her. “The wood and stone of the building is enchanted with quite a few runes. They'll realize they can't get in, and give up.”

Her ears heard the whistling of an arrow, and she stepped to the side as an arrow whizzed past her. “So they are a good shot,” she lamented, before backing away from the edge. “I'm going to go find a corner to nap in,” she told the man, walking back to the stairs.

The man almost seemed to say something, before nodding. “I'll see you later,” he called after her.

A few floors down, she found an unclaimed corner and leaned the spear into it before curling up on the floor. It felt wrong without her bag there to hold close, but at least she still had her sword. She laid it next to her as she looked up at the ceiling, before closing her eyes.

An hour. She could wait an hour.