Ayden, Fea and Àlainn were startled by the sounds of something banging against the door.

“Come on, tell me!” Jean said as he and Ayanna entered.

Everyone’s eyes instantly locked onto the bottles the two had in hand.

Well, Ayanna had a gigantic sword in her left hand, but she dropped it, resulting in a rather loud clang.

“You’re cruel. I poured my heart out to you and yet silent you remain.” Jean said, his words sounded like they were glued together in a continuous sludgy pronunciation.

Ayanna shook her head before turning to face Ayden, whose eyes instantly widened.

“Mom?” He called out as she approached, her eyes narrowed and her face flustered beyond words.

She then reached out and grabbed Ayden, who prepared for a violent hug, but was instead held gently in his mother’s sweaty and alcohol-scented embrace.

She then slowly let go before kissing him on the forehead.

Ayden moved to the side, allowing her to sit on the sofa, where she closed her eyes to sleep.

Jean on the other hand let out a loud grunt.

“Your mother is a trickster, she is. I’d keep an eye open around her.” Jean struggled to say as he walked over to the sofa where Àlainn sat.

He then eyed her for a moment before turning to the empty sofa.

“This one is unoccupied.” He grumbled before dropping onto the sofa and falling asleep.

Ayden exchanged perplexed glances with Fea and Àlainn, but they all simultaneously sighed before placing thin blankets over the two drunkards.

Allowing them a comfortable sleep.

.

..

A gentle knock on the door forced Jean’s eyes open.

He let out a pained groan as he waddled toward the door, which he slowly opened, dagger in hand.

“Excuse me, there’s something I’d like to ask,” Fionn asked as a strange wind blew by.

Standing behind her was her driver, who eyed Jean intently.

“What do you want?” Jean asked, his voice thunderous.

“Your group seems to have adapted pretty well to the madness of the night. We’d like you to escort us to Dachaigh Gual.” Fionn said.

Jean blinked several times before Fionn’s words registered in his mind.

“No,” Jean said.

“Wait-!”

Jean shut the door before turning to find a crossed-armed Ayanna.

“What?” He asked, but Ayanna simply tilted her head.

“You want us to help them?” Jean asked.

“It would be bad if they died out there.”

“And what about us? What if we got hurt trying to help them?” Jean asked, rather sternly.

Ayanna’s silver eyes then shook for a moment, something Jean hadn’t seen before.

“Look, I’m sorry, but I’m not willing to risk our lives for some strangers. They can stay here, but trust me on this. They aren’t worth it. We should only do what keeps us safest." Jean said, with the same stern voice.

Ayanna lowered her head slightly.

Jean offered her his hand and she slowly accepted it.

“I’m sorry.”

“It's ok, but let’s give them what little help we can,” Ayanna said.

“Ok,” Jean said before grabbing some of the meat he and Ayanna had planned on smoking.

He then placed it in a medium-sized clay pot before walking over to the door.

He opened it to find Fionn still standing there.

“We can’t come with you, but here,” Jean said, but Fionn’s driver’s eyes widened.

“You utter waste of humanity! Can you not see that Lady Callaghan is trying to save the remnants of our species, but no-"

“Robert!” Fionn yelled.

“We must respect his decision.” She said, causing Robert to walk backwards.

“My apologies. I just wish this fool and the dubhghaill knew their place.”

“Enough! Thank you for this Mr. Jean. This means far more than you know.” Fionn said before accepting the clay pot.

She then walked over to her carriage where the other man awaited.

Jean and Ayanna returned inside.

A rumble caused shook the world for a moment, but Jean brushed it off as an earthquake.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Let’s get some rest. I’d like us to do some… looting and there’s no way I'm going anywhere with a headache.” Jean said as he sat back down on his sofa.

Ayanna returned to Ayden’s side and it wasn’t long before everyone returned to sleep's gentle embrace.

.

..

Ayden yawned as Ayanna handed him one of her daggers.

The house had gotten rather busy and for some reason, he was being prepared for something.

“Alright. Ayanna and Fea are gonna check all of the houses going down the road, while Ayden and I check all the houses to the north, ok?”

“Ok!” Everyone said in unison.

They then left the house to find that a certain carriage was gone.

No one said anything as they went in their designated directions.

A low rumble could be felt coming from deep within the ground, but it was far too faint to warrant any concern.

And thus began the looting of Sùith.

The two pairs looked for everything from rope to wheat, to metals and various other things.

Anything that would be of use to them, they took.

.

..

“Whew!” Jean sounded as he dropped a stuffed leather bag in front of Àlainn’s house.

It was one of the many that sat there.

“There are far too many houses in this cursed town. Perhaps we should stop here.” Fea said as he lazily sat atop Ayanna's head.

“Fea's right. I’m sure we have more than enough supplies for… forever.”

“I did not say that. We could use some domesticated animals and a garden, but that would require that we relocate to a place with more fertile land, but that would also mean we’d need easy access to water-"

Ayanna and Ayden gasped.

“Our house was perfect for gardening and planting things,” Ayden said as he sat on a crate.

“Ha! You mean that swamp? There’s no way I’m going back there! Don’t get me wrong. You’re probably right, but I’ve developed a hatred for Dachaigh Gual and the land that surrounds it.” Jean said while comically raising his nose.

Everyone let out amused grunts before packing everything they’d found into Àlainn’s house.

“Oh my, this is quite the haul.” She said as Ayden packed the last crate.

“Oh, sorry about all this.” He said with a lowered head.

“Tis no problem at all. Just be sure to organize everything to avoid confusion and clutter.” Àlainn said as the ground shook.

Everyone stood completely still before resuming their tasks.

It wasn’t long before everything was neatly organized.

Ayden sat on Ayanna’s lap as everyone settled down.

The purple flames within the fireplace faded slightly.

No one moved as they were far too tired.

.

..

The ground shook heavily, waking everyone up.

“Come, Ayanna. I’m starting to get the feeling that we’re not experiencing a simple earthquake.” He said as he stood up.

He then exited the house with Ayanna in tow and they made their way southward as that’s where they felt the tremors were coming from.

A foul stench filled the air.

It smelled like hot rotten flesh and it wasn’t long before Jean and Ayanna found the source.

Jean’s face twisted as his eyes fell upon what looked like a horse carcass, only it was coated in a thick, steamy black goo.

It slowly crawled towards him at a snail’s pace, but even from a distance of about five meters, Jean’s eyes became watery out of pure disgust.

The horse corpse blob then let out a disgusting noise. Its surface was covered in countless blisters and behind it, a disgusting trail could be seen.

Ayanna walked towards the creature before raising her claymore.

“Wait!” Jean cried, stopping Ayanna.

He then pointed further down the road.

There, countless more horse corpse blobs could be seen.

“There’s more,” Jean muttered before walking up to the creature next to Ayanna.

He then knelt to stab its head, only for his dagger to sink into its soft skull.

The creature continued gurgling and moving as Jean pulled out his dagger.

“Mmm… Let’s see if we can find their source.” Jean said as he stood up.

The two then made their way further south and the further they went, the smellier it got.

The buildings were coated in the putrid black ooze that came from the creatures and the ground still shook.

Jean and Ayanna eventually arrived at the southern entrance to find that it was completely blocked.

They carefully manoeuvred past the countless corpse blobs until they reached the gate to find that it was stuffed to the brim with putrid courses.

It was as though a much larger corpse blob was trying to get into Sùith and the tremors indicated something rather catastrophic would happen once it did.

Jean looked down to find that he was standing next to a puddle of the steaming black goo.

He knelt and dipped his pinkie into it.

“Ouch!” Jean cried as he hurriedly wiped away the goo from his finger.

Ayanna leaned closer and saw that the tip of his finger had been slightly burnt.

“Dammit! Let’s go back-"

Jean stopped upon realizing that he and Ayanna were surrounded by the slow-moving blobs.

Jean looked around and saw that the alley behind them was relatively blob free and so he dashed into it with Ayanna in tow.

They then found themselves behind one of the walls that divided Sùith into east and west.

Jean tried hopping up the wall, but it proved far too high for him to reach.

Ayanna took a deep breath before grabbing Jean and hoisting him upwards.

Jean frantically grabbed the wall and lifted himself before watching in awe as Ayanna ran towards the wall.

She jumped about a meter into the air before hopping onto the wall.

The two then hopped down on the other side to find that Sùith’s western side was completely untouched by the blobs.

Jean led Ayanna northward as they made their way back to Àlainn’s home.

They were in the street right next to hers and so the trip didn’t take too long.

Jean entered the house first, startling everyone a little.

“Looks like we’re gonna have to leave soon,” Jean said as he caught his breath.

Ayden stood up, his face ridden with concern.

“Why? What’s wrong?” He asked.

“There’s some sort of plague making its way into Sùith. Come, we'll show you.” Jean said before leading everyone down the street.

“My goodness…” Àlainn gasped as she watched the thick black, corpse-filled ooze make its way up the street.

“What is it?” Ayden asked.

“An amalgamation of rotting flesh,” Jean said as the crescent moon lit the clumps of ooze that moved independently from the larger mass.

"Where is it coming from?" Ayden asked.

"I don't know and I'm far too afraid to find out."

“Does this mean we should move out of Sùith?” Ayden asked.

“Mmm… I guess so. But we have too many supplies to carry on our backs and it would seem as though most of horse-kind fell to this mass of death.” Jean said with narrowed eyes.

“We could get a small wagon and pull it by hand,” Fea suggested.

“Says the creature with the combined strength of two squirrels.” Jean scoffed.

“I stand by my point,” Fea said.

Silence followed.

Jean placed his hands on his waist before sighing.

“Fine. Let’s get two wagons and we’ll go from there. Also, Àlainn. I’m sure you realize that this won’t end well for your home.” Jean said, but Àlainn turned to Ayden.

“It is as you say. I have only one request and that’s to continue to serve the prionnsa.” Àlainn said.

“You want to tag along?” Jean asked.

“Yes.”

“Then it's settled. We’ll give you some time to say goodbye to your home while Ayanna and I search for some wagons. Ayden, make sure everything of ours is accounted for.” Jean said prompting Ayden to give him a sharp nod.

Jean then took a deep breath before leading everyone back up the road.

.

..

Jean exhaled deeply as he placed the last crate on the first wagon.

Everyone remained silent as Àlainn closed the door.

She then locked it before placing her hand on the door frame.

She wore a new, sturdier set of clothing and she was protected by a little cloak.

Àlainn walked over to the lamp before putting its purple flames out.

She then joined everyone as they slowly made their way towards Sùith’s northern gate.

They could have taken the western gate, but Jean did not have fond memories of that place and so they would be taking the longer route back to Dachaigh Gual.

The wagons they pulled were pretty well built and they had two wheels only, meaning gravity would be helping them as they pulled the them along.

Fea casually sat atop the carriage Jean pulled as they trekked onward.

Their path was well lit and it led right into a forest off in the distance.