I spent the rest of the night hauling stacks of lumber chopped by the resident lumberjacks to the crew that worked hastily to build a sturdy fence. By the time the sun crested over the horizon we had just managed to finish a complete circle around the camp. As the final log fell into place, a collective sigh escaped from everyone in the camp.

Some simply sat down in exhaustion. Others moved towards the bathing area to get cleaned and catch a few hours of sleep. I just stared, taking in what we had managed to accomplish.

The wall stood close to nine feet high and mostly consisted of full trees simply lashed together at the top and bottom, supported by struts and poles buried deeply in the ground. Two reinforced doors, one on either side of the camp, were the only ways to leave.

I wasn’t sure if it was adrenaline or an effect from increased stats, but there were still people moving around trying to get things done. Even now, blacksmiths were preparing to bolster the fortification with hammered steel, and carpenters were working towards building towers to post lookouts and guards. Some of the better minds were organizing guard rotations to circle the perimeter of the fence, and scheduling hunting parties to routinely clear the forest of monsters. It was bitter, but uplifting to see people working so hard to prevent a repeat of this tragedy.

My eyes passed over a simple wooden cross atop a small plot of upturned earth. The child wasn’t one I had met. He had arrived the day before with his family of beaver beastkin, and was playing in the woods just past the clearing when the monster got him. His family was inconsolable, currently hiding away in the hotel, buried in grief. I didn’t want to think about, but I knew the small grave wouldn’t be the last.

With concern, I turned towards the gate in expectation. Cindy, Taylor, Kaitlyn, and Donny had gone out to hunt the monster that killed the little kid and had yet to return.

I knew, at this point, I would be unable to sleep. Instead, I entered the hotel and moved to the back room into the dining hall, which had been set up as a commissary. Finding a seat at the bar, I was greeted by a smiling bird beastkin girl.

She had grey and white feathers cresting on either side of her ears, and her arms were covered in feathers. She seemed bright and bubbly, but I could sense bone-deep exhaustion behind her eyes.

“Hello! You’re Vic, right? I’m Bailey. Would you like something to eat? We have leftover stew from last night, or scrambled eggs and spam. Your choice.”

“I’ll take the eggs and spam.”

Jotting down my order onto a slip of paper, she passed it through a window to the kitchen, and returned with a plate of food a few moments later.

Liberally covering my eggs with hot sauce, I tucked in, only to be interrupted moments later by the rumble of heavy footsteps coming through the door. Turning to look at what was happening, I felt immediate relief. A haggard Kaitlyn and Donny had trudged into the commissary.

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Upon seeing me, they offered a tired wave, then joined me at the bar.

Kaitlyn let out a long sigh, before putting her head down on the table. Donny, meanwhile, leaned back in his chair and started letting out curls of white smoke that rolled against the ceiling. Both remained silent as Bailey brough them plates of food and glasses of water.

They were clearly exhausted, and I didn’t want to bother them, but my curiosity was starting to get the best of me. With an awkward cough, I broke the silence.

“So? Did you get it?”

Turning her head to look at me while still keeping it firmly placed on the table, Kaitlyn let out an exhausted huff.

Finally, after what seemed like a minute of waiting, Donny took a long drink.

“Sorry, Vic,” he rumbled, “yeah, we got it. It was some kind of big black cat, called a ‘patient hunter’.”

“The bastard had exhaustion magic,” Kaitlyn hissed.

I sucked a breath through my teeth.

“Oof. That’s nastly. Are Cindy and Taylor alright?”

Donny slowly nodded.

“Yeah, they’re fine. It shot thest beams out of its mouth that just… sucked the energy out of you. Cindy and Taylor were using magic to hold it in place while we attacked, and took a direct hit. They fell asleep on the way back. Kaitlyn and I only got grazed by it, but you can see the effect. We ended up having to carry them home.”

“Yikes. I ran into a stone deer and a stray dog that had transformed into monsters while I was out today, but nothing like that. Was it a mountain lion or something before?”

He lazily shook his head.

“Nope. Black house cat. Damn thing was almost three feet at the shoulder, though.”

“Fuck, that’s bad. I can only imagine how many dogs and cats changed or are still changing. Even worse, I have yet to find something that doesn’t attack me on sight. I think even wild monsters get stronger by killing…”

I was interrupted by a gentle snore.

“… aaaand you’re asleep.”

Shoving Donny and Kaitlyn’s shoulders, I struggled to wake them up again. As soon as they were both semi-lucid, I pulled them off their seats, and pushed them out the door.

“Go to bed. Both of you.”

With lazy steps, they walked out of the hotel to find beds to crash on. Now that I knew my friends were safe and had a belly full of food, I was starting to get tired as well. Taking to the sky, I flew around the back of the Garcia’s store, right into my bedroom window. Landing on my matress with a bounce, I closed my eyes.

Darkness took me.

-----

A storm raged over the remains of the capital, crackling with lightning and swirling power.

To the north, under the collapsing remains of the UT tower, a bonfire raged, surrounded with screaming cultists. Lines of weeping people wrapped in chains snaked through the city, each line terminating in the blazing ruin. One by one, when it was their turn, a new person jumped into the flame, burning without a sound.

All the while, a man looked on. He wore a robe of flesh and blood, and was crowned with purple embers. He stared at the carnage, unblinking, as even his followers jumped into the blaze. As more and more people were consumed, the fire spread, until the whole of the city was a burning, smoking ruin.

The scene shifted.

An endless expanse of trees, dark and sinister. I flew through the air among the branches, before arriving at a gaping cave. At the mouth, stalagmites and stalagtites met, forming jagged teeth. Inside the maw, I heard a terrifying chattering sound, and the shifting of many legs. As I grew ever closer to the opening, I saw eight glowing red eyes, surrounded with dripping poison, and web.

Rain started to fall.

Looking up, I saw a face among the clouds, indistinct. It’s lips moved, and as the being spoke, the sky and earth rumbled with magic, and power.

“SOON.”

-----

I woke up with a start.

What the fuck was that?