The chaos of the aftermath was more draining than the battle itself, the anguish and pain felt by so many as the lifeless forms of Risen were collected and the Geblex bodies piled for cremation. The stench of the dead was embedded in everything. The macabre events of the past two days are taking a toll on all those in the township. No one had been left untouched by the battles. Everyone knew someone who had fallen in battle. Even Kyto had witnessed the lifeless form of Ben, the guard, being removed from the field. He had fought bravely to the end from accounts by those who saw his falling. He had charged a group of Geblex that were attacking a medic who was trying to treat an injured defender and had succumbed to their number.
The northern battle had been worse than the southern battle, where Kyto and Tiddles had been. Reece and TJ had led the defence, and only through sheer determination had they managed to push the attackers back. Exhaustion was on the faces of all, and a feeling of dread and despair at what had occurred hung in the air.
Kyto had gone to find TJ and Reece with Tiddles. He needed to let them know of the System message. He had seen the pair at the northern site, their shattered forms hunched and weary from the night's events. Only being able to operate as they knew they needed to conclude the battle's after-effects.
"TJ, Reece," he called as he neared them.
Reece turned his face, again grey and looking much older than his already-aged years should show.
"Glad you survived," he replied.
TJ walked over himself, looking weary and drained. They were both covered in the remnants of battle, blood and gore coating their uniforms and weapons they still held. Kyto reached out to both, taking each hand, and began to push his broken mana. His pool was stable since the combat finished collecting mana as he walked, absorbing from the arriving townsfolk and anything else that held it. His familiar still floated by his side and no one had commented on the unusual glowing light that followed him. Many probably believed they were seeing things rather than understanding the reasons behind their appearance.
"Thanks," TJ replied as his body was re-energised with the vigour of mana. He still looked tired, but Kyto had watched his form physically adjust, and his shoulders pulled back as he supported him. Reece's face again regained colour, and he also perked up.
Kyto again drew from around him, almost subconsciously, now replacing his mana drain and refilling his pool. He needed to heal those he could, but he had to get the message relayed.
"We have received an updated System message. We have ten days to find the source of the infestation. If not, we will be hit with a third wave, which states we are unlikely to survive." Kyto stated.
"Is it not enough that we have been attacked twice," Reece replied angrily.
"Ten Days is a reprise of the last two. It gives us time to prepare properly if we cannot find the source." TJ replied.
"The number that attacked this time greatly increased over the first night. We have not even cleared the battlefield and counted the true losses of both yet." Reece said.
"I should also let Miss Agnos know. I guess she is at the tower?" Kyto said.
"No. She was injured during the battle, and it's pretty serious. Sniffer collected her and took her to the hangar," TJ said.
Kyto felt a new level of respect for the woman. He had never expected her to be involved in the battle.
"I am going to the hangar to help heal. I can be more helpful there than out here," Kyto said.
"Be careful. Tempers are short after what has happened tonight. Tiddles, can you stay here? " TJ asked.
Tiddles tilted his head questioningly. As a beast, there was not anything he could do to help.
"I would prefer you stayed nearby. Rumours are already spreading about your fiery escapade, and the zealots are rumoured to be vying for your blood even now. Apparently, you are a demon of the System's creation." TJ stated.
"I am not scared of weak Risen," Tiddles replied.
"He says he is not worried," Kyto replied.
Recce's face turned to one of surprise and shock. "You can talk to him?"
Kyto had not even considered Reece when he replied to TJ.
"We should probably have another talk at some point," Kyto replied.
"I know he isn't worried. I just want him nearby to stop anything before it gets ugly." TJ said.
Tiddles grumbled about seeing the cubs.
"Soon," Kyto said.
A truck was finishing being loaded with those who were injured. "I am going to get a lift back," Kyto said, turning to the truck.
Kyto climbed into the rear, scanning those around him. His familiar being the only light source casting its glow within the confines of the tarped back. He got concerned looks from several people, but no one said anything to him. None appeared seriously injured compared to wounds he had witnessed earlier during the battle, and he assumed the triage System had worked. The truck reached the hangar in a few minutes.
The night was still dark, the morning light not yet shining. It was a much-needed relief, and the generators still lit the township. The glow of the light's unnatural brightness bathed the hangar with its luminescence. If the battlefield had been chaotic, the hangar appeared worse, scores of Risen standing, sitting or lying wounded. As he climbed from the rear of the truck, he watched a stretcher being born out of the hangar with a sheet draped over the soul who must have died.
He walked straight over, looking inside the masses and noise of the hangar. It was fit to burst the number crammed inside. People moving quickly from one side to another, who he assumed were doctors, medics, or healers, called for support. He managed to pick out Crystal and Tab's fiery hair in amongst the crowd and began to make his way over. He knew they had been using the imbued tonics as his display had triggered once they were consumed. He knew he would have to trawl through his messages again but now was not the time.
"Tabs," he called as he neared.
She turned at hearing her name called and smiled weakly at him, exhausted. "Glad you are here. We could use a hand."
Elizabeth was bent over a woman's form on the table that was being used for surgery. Elizabeth turned on hearing Kyto's voice. "Quickly, I cannot find the bleed. She is dying."
Kyto stepped forward, looking down at the face of the ashen woman; it was Miss Agnos; her top had been removed, and there were two visible wounds at the top left side of her chest. Both looked like puncture wounds, although Kyto could see where Elizabeth had opened one of the wounds up further with a knife to try and source the injury, causing the continual blood flow. He looked at her pool, which was fading, and began to push his strands into her. Elizabeth stepped back as he did. His pool dropped quickly until it found the problem and repaired it.
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Congratulations. Arterial bleed healed. 824 experience gained.
"Her artery was bleeding. It has been healed now." he continued pushing strands into her still form until the wounds began to close and mesh together. Miss Agnos's skin returned to a natural tone and hue as the strands performed their magic. His display triggered again on the wounds closing, and he ignored it.
"Thank you," Elizabeth said, smiling as she turned towards the next patient. They had three tables lined up, and as they finished working on one patient, they moved to the next while the table was cleared. Not all had been saved, and the stains of the lost blood and bodily fluids from the operations were ever present on the surrounding floor. This was no surgical theatre but a hastily thrown-together ensemble of need. Crystal and Tabs carefully lifted Miss Agnos from the tabletop, placing her on a stretcher at its side where another two people then picked it up, moving her away to one of the very few empty camp cots.
"What do you want me to do?" Kyto asked.
"Whatever you can. Crystal, a hand, please." Elizabeth said as she turned the man onto his side, seeing a visible puncture wound and hearing the whistling breath that was escaping his grey lips.
Crystal immediately moved to support the man as Elizabeth got to work.
Kyto was unsure of where to start. It was overwhelming; everywhere he looked, there were injured members of the township who had bravely stood in defence. He began to look at the mana pools of those around him, trying to identify the most seriously injured. Several were nearing empty, and rather than healing people fully, he began pushing enough strands into them to stabilise them. He could focus on healing fully later. He pulled from those as he needed to, not informing them or asking, just doing what he could to help. His familiar began to draw the gaze of several as it followed him, moving from cot to cot.
There were several surgery tables, and he heard the man working at one cry out that they were losing him. Kyto moved over to the table and looked at the injured. The man's face had been struck with a club or similar, the right side looking deformed and swollen. The doctor, medic or healer, Kyto knew not which, was trying to insert a tube into his neck as it appeared the man could not breathe. "Let me," Kyto said as he stepped up.
The man turned, looked at him, and stared at his familiar before stepping back. Kyto pushed his strands into the man. He heard bones scrapping and moving as the man's face slowly began to reform. The surgeon stood in open-mouthed awe as his healing took effect. The face straightening, teeth repairing, jaw bone improving, and skin healing as the swelling reduced. The man's breathing eased, and as he watched, he began to take in deep lungfuls of air as his face returned to its natural form. Kyto turned, moving away as soon as his strands retracted and moved to another.
The process continued for several hours, healing, drawing, healing, drawing, repeating the cycle repeatedly. The seriously injured were eventually cleared, and the atmosphere in the hangar began to calm. This strange man with the floating yellow light provided miraculous healing for those who needed it. Elizabeth seemed to have stepped up in the hangar as the lead doctor and directed the others like a skilled conductor would their orchestra. The woman was a vision as she moved around the hangar with her two interns. She was praised or thanked wherever she walked, if not by the injured themselves, then by their family members who were all crowded inside with them. She had done so much while Kyto had been on the field, and it was apparent what she had brought to the makeshift hospital.
The last few patients with minor injuries, such as sprains and grazes, were eventually treated. Kyto was not using his healing to heal all. He had begun to feel exhausted even with the continual breakdown of mana he was flooding himself with. As the pandemonium became calm, the stares and looks that Kyto was getting became concerning. Several had approached him warily at first and thanked him, but he was like an enigma, no one quite understanding who or what he was.
Kyto cancelled his familiar. The light of day had arrived several hours previously, and through the clear hangar panels, it now shone into the inside of the hangar, supporting the strings of bulbs that were hung from the underside of the roof. He had no idea how many injured there were, but it must have been in the hundreds, considering the number he had treated alone. He knew over a thousand were on the field before the battle started. He had no idea of the total loss and was sure it was substantial.
The sombre sense of the occasion was all-consuming.
"I need food." Tabs said as she stood by his side, looking around the hangar. Kyto had boosted several of the healers and the girls with broken-down mana to help them, but he knew it would not last as he was now exhausted.
"I am unsure if the bars will be open," he replied.
"If anywhere will be, it will be the bars. I know many will have gone to drown their sorrows," she replied, holding his hand.
Sniffer had been coming and going from the battlefield areas and now stood with Elizabeth, his arm around her waist. Kyto had not realised, but Brandon was also present. He had been working with Sniffer throughout the night, assisting him with collecting the wounded. All six stood silently for a moment before Tabs started to walk towards the hangar entrance, pulling Kyto with her. They followed as a group. Exiting the hangar, a truck arrived outside, and the axle weighed down.
"Not more," Crystal said.
"No, I think that is a beast," Kyto said, knowing it was having seen his dot appear on the display as he had approached. TJ and Lars climbed from the truck, and Tiddles jumped from behind.
"How are we doing?" TJ asked.
Lars immediately walked over to Crystal and hugged her. Crystal buried her face into his shoulder, and Kyto could hear the relief as she sobbed. Lars was the only person he knew Crystal cared for outside of her sister, to the degree that she may be brought to tears, and he felt his own welling up at the sight.
"What's everyone doing?" Tiddles asked.
Kyto turned to where he stood by Sniffer, getting his ears scratched. He was covered in remains still and needed a clean. They all did, their faces covered in the night's grime.
"We were going to get food, but given our state, I think we may need to get cleaned up first," Kyto replied.
"I brought clothes. They are at the shed." Tabs said in response.
"Where are the cubs?" Tiddles asked.
"Cubs?" Kyto asked, looking at the others.
"They are at the shed," Brandon replied.
"Well, Tiddles wants to see them, and if that is where our clothes are, we should go there first," Kyto replied.
"I need to get back to the barracks," TJ said.
"You not coming to get food?" Kyto asked.
"Matilda will sort us out. You guys are welcome to come after what you have all done to help tonight. I am sure Reece would be happy to accommodate you all there." TJ said.
"Ok. Shed for the cubs, and then we can go to the barracks. Matilda is an amazing cook." Kyto said with a smile.
"What about Tiddles?" Tabs asked.
"What about me?" he said in response.
"What about him?" Sniffer replied.
"They did not want him walking around the township." Tabs stated.
"Take the truck," TJ said, throwing the keys to Sniffer.
"We can't all fit in there," Crystal replied.
"I will grab our clothes and belongings," Brandon replied as he walked towards the truck.
Sniffer, Elizabeth, Brandon and Tiddles all got into the truck and headed towards the docks where the shed was located. The remainder went across the township towards the centre and the barracks. The streets were deathly quiet, still compared to normal, the devastation and death of the previous night hanging heavy in the air, quelling its typical lively and upbeat atmosphere. The journey to the barracks was uneventful, with very few even paying them attention. The stench of the Geblex permeated the whole township and hung like a dank reminder. There was a large explosion across the fields, and Kyto turned and stared as he saw a vast fireball erupt into the sky. "What the hell was that?" he asked.
"That will be the last pyres going up," TJ replied.
"Pyre?" Tabs asked.
"Geblex bodies," he replied.
"What about the dead?" Crystal asked.
"They are being accounted for before anything is done but will probably have to cremate the remains due to the number. There is not enough space to bury them all." TJ replied.
"That many dead?" Tabs asked open-mouthed.
"When I left, it was 239 dead. 23 still unaccounted for," he replied.
No one replied. The count of the dead weighed heavily on all their hearts. All those who had died fighting had lost their lives, making sure that the rest of them survived. It was a sobering thought which needed no further comment.
On reaching the barracks, the outside was clear. No crowds of zealots chanting or calling. They entered to find Ashton sitting at the front desk. He looked drained and close to collapse. His shoulders sagged and heavy as he looked up from the paperwork he was filling in.
"Hey." was his only comment as he looked back at the reports.
Kyto walked over to him, offering his hand. Ashton looked at him curiously before taking it. "Thanks." was all Kyto said as he pushed broken mana into him. Ashton's eyes opened in surprise as he felt the mana flood into his body and invigorate him.
"For what?" Ashton asked, confused.
"What did you do last night?" Kyto replied. Ashton had been at the southern funnel with Kyto and Tiddles, and he had seen him in action, fighting tooth and nail against the invaders.
"I was just doing my part," he replied.
"Yet many still did not," Kyto replied.
He knew many in the town had refused to take up arms in its defence. Reece had been furious about this, but they had no power over them. There were no military or militias. The only source of brawlers was the guard force or those who volunteered.
The group went upstairs, passing several guards' silent and sleeping forms filling up some of the bunk beds. As they passed the cells, some occupants shouted but were ignored. As they walked upstairs, the smell of fresh coffee reached Kyto's nostrils, and he suddenly realised how thirsty he was.