Riala stumbled out of the black gate that had appeared between the farming fields north of Alarna. Panting, she fell to all fours, her entire body aching from mana overuse. She had gone past her limit before, but not for prolonged periods of time. With every shot she grew weaker, and at some point, short breaks did not cut it anymore. She had to retreat.
“Miss Riala!” a guard warned, hurrying her way the moment he saw her collapse. “You must not rest in front of the dungeon! Come!”
The middle-aged man helped her back to her feet and led her away from the entrance, behind a series of barricades that had been erected over the past hours. He sat her down, leaning against a crate, and restlessly looked her up and down. “Are you okay? Were you injured anywhere?”
Breathing heavily, all Riala could muster in response was shaking her head, and even this motion required more effort than she was comfortable with. It was not just the pain, she could barely keep her eyes open, feeling fatigued beyond words, drained to her core.
“Can I do anything for you? Would you like some water?”
Riala nodded.
“I’ll be right back,” he said and took off. He wound his way through the impromptu camp, dodging other guards that were either resting or preparing to enter the dungeon, until he reached the water source that was usually used to irrigate the fields. After grabbing a clean cup from a nearby table and filling it up, he immediately went back the way he came.
His frantic steps on the sandy paths signaled to Riala that he was back, and when she opened her eyes, he was crouching in front of her, holding water that would surely help her relax and refresh herself just a little. When she raised her arms to take the cup, however, they were shaking so much that she would have been unable to hold it on her own.
“Let me help you,” the guard said, as he carefully put the drink to her lips. He waited patiently as she took careful sips.
Resting on the ground a few meters away, two guards watched their comrade wait on the young girl. Out of context, the way he addressed this born commoner, and how he acted around her, would have seemed rather bizarre. Having seen her perform, however, nobody was surprised by the level of respect she was given by people.
“She’s unbelievable...” one of them said. “To think some actually doubted that Lilly and her followers would be able to aid us in our fight against the beasts...” With a raised eyebrow, he glanced sideways at the guard sitting next to him.
“Do you have something to say to me, Konnor?”
“I know you aren’t a fan, Cullep, but you have to admit. This would have gone quite differently if she wasn’t here. Honestly... I can’t wait to see what the others are able to do.”
“I can tell you,” Cullep said with a frown. “Tomar and Lilly are even better. Faster, stronger, and supposedly possessing much more stamina. Hope isn’t quite as capable, but she held her own during the previous attack as well. They are...” He trailed off, looking for the right words.
“Amazing,” Konnor said, attempting to finish the sentence.
Cullep scoffed. “Sure, that’s one way to put it. But you just said it yourself, they’re essentially one-man-armies if they fight to kill. I saw their fights against Captain Grym, you know? Lilly seemed a little inexperienced, but Tomar dominated him. Him.”
“So?”
With a sigh, Cullep gestured at the other guard and Riala. “Look at Taul. A grown man. An experienced fighter. And he’s acting like a servant towards a former criminal. They’re a bit too powerful...”
“Wait, back up. First you argued they were no good and that they were just trying to take advantage of us. And now they’re helping too much?”
“Don’t you get it? People are starting to treat that girl like royalty! I’ll admit, I was one of those who didn’t believe in their abilities, but whether they have them or not, the outcome is the same. They’re using them to get ahead.”
Konnor was puzzled by these words. It felt like a big difference to him. Had they been frauds, they would’ve been lying to the people of Alarna, and they would’ve abused the trust brought onto them. But if they were the real deal, there was nothing but gain to have.
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“No... I don’t get it,” he said. “They’re doing nothing but help the town. Of course they would be treated with respect for that.”
“Oh? Say, do you think the High Priest would have made a good leader?”
“Are you mad? That guy was a maniac from what I heard. Who knows what he would’ve done if he had gained real power.”
“Exactly. But he was on the best way there, wasn’t he? He promised solutions, he brought us Hope, who seemed to scare away beasts, he solved problems with the water sources... He was doing good things, and he was starting to draw more citizens to his side. He wouldn’t have been able to enter this thing here and fight beasts, but do you think he would not have done so if he had been? And people would have loved him for it as well.”
“Let me get this straight. You think that girl over there... who’s been fighting by our side all day, risking her life, is doing it because she has some ulterior motive? That she’s trying to gain our trust, just to... What exactly?”
“Who knows?”
Looking at Cullep as if he had lost it, Konnor didn’t know what to say in response. The accusation seemed ludicrous. Especially since, to the best of his knowledge, none of Lilly’s followers, nor herself, had ever acted haughty towards anyone in any shape or form. Rather, the complete opposite seemed to be the case. They were said to be friendly and respectful, regardless of who they were conversing with.
At the same time, however, he couldn’t refute the possibility that it might have been an act. They were kind and seemingly had the town’s best interest at heart now, but could they reveal their true colors eventually?
“Think about it,” Cullep said. “You knew the rumors about the High Priest, but what if he had come out of nowhere? If his reputation hadn’t been what it was? Would you have doubted him? Or would you have just been happy that someone was doing the hard work for you?”
A hint of doubt crept into Konnor’s mind. I miniscule amount, but doubt nonetheless.
“And now think back to what you knew about these people before. They were criminals. They wrecked a water source, they attacked and injured our men, they lied, they destroyed, and they stole. Can you say with absolute certainty that you know why they did these things? Of course they came back with a mighty convenient story about betrayal, gods, and divine messengers, even though we have yet to hear any official endorsement from the gods, and nobody had ever heard about a divine messenger before Hope, who they declared a fake. Almost as if they used that story to their advantage. All just so they could instigate a revolt against the Rulers and become the leaders themselves.”
Really contemplating all of this, there was very little the doubtful guard could argue against here. It sounded like a conspiracy theory, but of course it was technically possible. Going by that logic, however, absolutely anyone would have to be doubted.
“You have no proof for them not being the blessing they appear to be, do you?” Konnar said. “To me, it looks like they are. And should that change in the future... then... well...”
“What then, hm? See, we’ve come full circle. That little girl over there alone could kill everyone in this camp in minutes. Nay, seconds! What are we going to do when they start abusing their powers and the authority we gave them? Fight them? Ha!” Cullep laughed derisively. “Not to mention that their ‘no more beasts promise’ seems shaky at best, seeing how we’ve had two major attacks in less than two weeks. What else... Oh, right, apparently there’s a cat ten nearby, which supposedly set its sights on Alarna. No biggy. Except that this beast was never heard of before they showed up. Mark my words, following them is not going to end well for us. One way or the other, we—”
“You two!” A commanding voice ripped through the camp, coming from the direction of the gate. “If you have time and energy for conversation, you will spend it on pushing back beasts! Off your asses!” Grym yelled at Cullep and Konnor as he walked past the barricades.
The guards paled and jumped to their feet. If the captain was back, it was time for them to go in again. After a quick salute and grabbing their weapons, they scurried away to find their squad mates.
Grym turned around and examined the guards who left the dungeon after him. Some needed the help of others to keep themselves upright, almost all of them were battered up, but, miraculously, very few of his men had fallen so far.
“Goob job, everyone! Get some rest!”
Rest. A divine-sounding proposal that the Fighters might have rejoiced at, had they any energy left. Instead, they gratefully nodded and passed him by, disappearing deeper into the camp.
The captain finally allowed himself a moment of peace as well, resting his arm against the crates used as part of the barricade. It had been a long day, and it was far from over.
If left to its own devices the dungeon continuously spat out new beasts, which was a big problem this close to town. If they missed just one, and it got inside, dozens of citizens might lose their lives. Instead, Grym decided to venture into the gate and start pushing the beasts back, in hopes of getting the situation under control. This strategy seemed to work to a degree, as they managed to slowly advance deeper into the unknown environment while killing or driving back enemies, but it was a tedious process. The beasts kept on coming, with no real end in sight.
Scanning the camp, his gaze stopped on a girl sitting on the ground nearby, leaning against another box, sleeping soundly despite the ruckus he and his men made. He had known that Riala was capable, having seen her fight with Lilly and the others, but he wasn’t happy when he was told that the little one was all the help they could expect today. After the last couple of hours, however, his opinion had changed.
“Good job, girly.”