<~> Chapter 242As much as I wao gh all of my piling-up notifications, we were still on the clock.

  "Good job, everyone," I said nodding to Silva. I immediately turned around and started heading back to Bel and the others. The area was destroyed, we were at the edge of where the bazaar used to be and now there was nothing but wreckage and corpses. Most of the people here looked like sves akin who had participated in the riot mixed in with a few dead guards and priests. Ohe bowister demon finished destroying the sver's guild it immediately started killing everyone around it and turning the corpses into thralls. There were signs of on wounds on some of the corpses where the rioters were keeping the guards and priests back. What were they thinking trying to help the demons like this?

  Bel, Mimi, and all of the former sves were okay when I returo them. But, judging from the deceased demons trapped in roots and vines, not without some hardship. Everyone looked unhurt and in one piece though so they had done a good job proteg everyone.

  "Gods, how does she use this on? I'm starving..." I heard the hyenakin say as I approached. Their ons were bloody so it wasn't just my two girls that had protected the group, I was happy to see that they were serious about helping each other.

  "It's easier for me to hahe curse than it is for most people," I told her as I walked up.

  Silva followed while carrying an armful of ons. "I found some of these lying around."

  Mimi took the cursed cymore back while Silva handed out neons to the two hyena sisters. None of the other former sves looked capable or willing to wield any of the others so Mimi held onto the rest. Nelly, the cowkin, did take one of the priest staves that had been abahough. I was a little curious about that but decided I could ask about that ter. Bel dug one of our rations out of her pack to give to the hyenakin to wolf down quickly. It seems the curse on that sword is pretty hard on non-succubi. It just made me horny faster when I used it but I could tolerate that for a while.

  "We should look for survivors," Bel said looking out at the ruined bazaar.

  "Not a good idea, I hear guards ing. We're trying to escape with a bunch of sves. Even if they are happy about us killing the demon, we'll get bogged down trying to talk our way out of how suspicious we look," Silva argued.

  I looked over the ruins of the bazaar. It doesn't look like anyone could have survived the horde of bohralls that thing created. There was debris and dust everywhere, it would be difficult to search through so much without getting boxed in by the guards.

  "Please! At least let me look with magic! I'll be quick!" Bel begged.

  I sighed. "Okay. Quickly with magic. We 't stay long but maybe there is someohat needs our help nearby."

  She kneeled down and immediately started to cast a nature spell that flowed into the ground and spread out through the dirt and stone like rge roots. She was teary-eyed by the time she pointed in a dire. "There's ohere... they seem like a child."

  Bel led us through the rubble to a spot where some stone pilrs had colpsed and created a small pocket that had trapped a youkin girl. She was g and covered in dust and blood, she was so dirty that I couldn't eveify what kind of beastkin she was.

  " you move this safely, without any of it falling?" Bel asked Silva.

  Silva studied the stone pilrs. "I 't tell. If I move something it could all colpse."

  Bel nodded. "I'll reinforce the structure with roots. They should hold everything still until you're ready to move it."

  "I'll help too," Kal'daeryn said stepping forward.

  "Me too," Mimi said as she walked around the stone so she could help support it from the other side.

  "Are you going to be strong enough to hold it up?" Kal'daeryn asked her.

  "No problem," Mimi said fidently.

  "'t you just store the stoorien asked her.

  Mimi shook her head. "No, the stone is too heavy and dense and there are remnants of warding magic still. I wouldn't have room to hold it even if I emptied everything out, and the remnant wards are still disrupting my magiough that I 't just eat the stone. But I am strong enough to hold things still while we free this person."

  Kal'daeryantly nodded. Looks could be deceiving in this world but Mimi looked short ae retive to the rest of my friends. She didn't look like someone who would be able to lift a rer than she was. None of the rest of us doubted Mimi though so Kal'daeryn didn't argue any further about it.

  After Bel had finished reinf everything as much as she could using her nature magic, Silva gripped one of the ks of stone. "On three then?" Silva asked.

  Once everyone agreed, each of them took hold of one of the rge fallen ks of stone. "Owo, three!" the three of them ted in unison before physically lifting the rge ks of stone off the trapped girl and dropping them to the side. Bel scooped up the girl and pulsed healing magic through her as soon as she could reach.

  Nelly came over to us ohe child had been freed. "I'll take care of her while you look for other survivors."

  Bel hahe kid over to her but just shook her head and wiped her face. "There are no other survivors here..." Bel replied grimly.

  "Where are your parents little one?" Nelly asked the kid.

  The kid still hadn't stopped g but she poio... a couple of bodies nearby. They looked like her.

  I turo Bel. "There's no one else?"

  "...No," her voice sounded defeated.

  "I'll check too," I said. I kneeled on the ground, closed my eyes, and cast my detect hostiles ritual with [Light Scribing]. Siher people could be trapped under rubble I thought that l my waist, the point on my body it used to pare with others, could better find people lower to the ground. I may have to ge that aspect of the spell. As far as the spell could tell me, I didn't see anyone else. The only people whistered at all were the people with us and the hostile people oher side of the wall we had erected.

  I opened my eyes and shook my head. "I don't see anyone else either."

  "What should we do with the little one?" Nelly asked.

  I turo Bel and my other friends but no one volunteered a course of a. Silva was the first to speak. "Whatever we do, we should do it quickly. If there are hostile guards oher side of that ice wall you made, it will only keep them away for so long."

  Nelly rubbed the little girl's back. "Dear, do you have any friends or neighbors we could take you to? Any other family?"

  The little girl sniffled and shook her head. "We don't live here, mom and dad are traveling traders... I don't know anyone here." She immediately started sobbing again as soon as she finished.

  Bel turo me. "Let's just take her with us, maybe there's an orphanage in Goldeh... It's not safe to leave her here."

  I frowned. "Okay. We o start leaving now. We'll take her with us."

  Nelly cradled the young girl in her arms as we all got moving again. This part of the city was deserted now and there were nothing but bodies left ireets as we made our way through the city. When we reached the eastern gate the portcullis was down but there was no one manning it. The line of wagons going in and out of the city were abandoned and many of the horses that had been pulling them were dead or missing.

  "We gh the gatehouse. I don't hear anyone in there," Silva said.

  "Let me go first," Lorriene replied before jogging forward. The rest of us took up positions around our non-batants to protect them while we waited for her to return.

  "Do you have somewhere to take this child in Goldeh?" Nelly asked me. When I gnced over the kid, she was asleep in Nelly's arms.

  I sighed. "I don't know. One of the people we're meeting up outside of town grew up as an orphan in Goldeh, so she might know what to do. We also have lots of friends there. I don't know if they're in a position to help or not... and I don't know if takihere is a good idea, but they would be better equipped to know what to do with her than we would."

  "I see..." she replied.

  She looked in the dire of where the sver's guild building had been. Because of the nearby buildings, it couldn't be seen from here even if it was still standing... but I could tell through the bond that's what she was looking at. A lot of fused emotions were roiling through her right now. Uandably so.

  Nelly turned bad faced me more directly. "You... saved all of our lives. You said that you helped others escape to the Northern Greens and then you still came to free us even though we are the ones... most wouldn't care about." She looked over at Kal'daeryn who was oher edge of our makeshift perimeter keeping watch. "You eveored her limbs and fixed my leg. Just... thank you. For everything."

  I smiled. "You're wele. I 't wait to get to know you better once we're all a little more safe."

  "Hey, someone's ing!" Kal'daeryn called out.

  I immediately so attention and saw two figures walking up to us. I reized the pair immediately, it was Sophin and Lyric.

  I walked over to Kal'daeryn. "o worry, I know them. Wait here." She nodded and tio look around. Silva came with me as I walked away from the group to greet them.

  Sophin o me. "I see you successfully escaped before the building colpsed. I'm gd. I still have some io do here before I leave the city, but I wao meet with you briefly while I have the ce."

  "Is it done?" Silva asked.

  "For the most part, yes," Sophin answered. "The Tamin church is wiped out iy. There are still a few leaders we couldn't get to, and not all of the priests and padins are dead, but enough of their forces were killed that they won't be able to have a strong presence here anymore. Sine of my assassins were in the area when the sves you freed were traveling through the city, I also had them take care of some of the demons and guards that would have gotten in their way. As far as I'm aware, everyone who inteo go to the elven embassy made it there alive. Though some split off into the city on their own of course."

  "It's a relief that they made it," I said.

  Sophin smiled, his rexed presence felt at odds with the kinds of things he was inf me about. "I'm also gd to hear you made it out of the building safely. I was worried when I heard you didn't e out with the group you freed and that you may have still been in the building when it colpsed."

  "What about the demons iy? Are they still running rampant?" I asked.

  He shook his head. "No. The guards and Tamin padins were quick to block off parts of the city and tain the demons. The only parts of towhey ran rampant was in the southern aern quarters, and even then, we were able to tain and protect many of the people in the southern quarter since most of us were in that part of the city when it happened. We made sure not to kill any priests or padins until after they finished fighting the demons, or died trying. We also stepped in and killed the demons ourselves in a few cases to reduce the damage. I was fortu to have to get involved too directly, I believe I'll escape the notice of h-levels that may have been drawn here. Sihe demon the Cult of Amphores summoned destroyed the sver's guild so thhly, they should be crippled and have to operate on a smaller scale, if they ti all."

  "Did you find out any information on the cult?" Silva asked.

  He shook his head. "No. By the time the bowister demon appeared, whoever summo was gone. We were looking out for the cult members too, but ohe demon appeared, the best we could do was help people escape the area before the demon turned on the rioters. We weren't able to track the cult down at all. They undoubtedly still have undiscovered bases iy still. I'll leave some people here to look for traces of them, but they already pleted one of their apparent goals in all of this, the destru of the sver's guild. I doubt they'll tio linger here."

  "What about the Duke of Torquin?" Silva asked.

  "Already done. He's dead and eople covertly guarding Marquis Saffadder. We won't let him die the way we let t Kornd die. This is our only hope to stabilize Torlimal at this point. We're fident the Queen of the Northern Greens push him to ban svery in Torlimal and I have firmation their soldiers are already on the way here. The guards should be able to keep things from getting worse until the elves take the city, but they'll have no choice but to surreo the elves ohey get here."

  I nodded. "So things are w out as we phen?"

  He shrugged. "For the most part. Things were a bit messier than I would have liked and the cult got away from this without any repercussions. There weren't any attempts at recruitment as we had inally suspected, they just jammed the colrs and dropped the demon in the middle of town before disappearing. It was even less ahaa Goldeh. I'm really not sure what to make of their as other tharoying the sver's guild."

  "Could they be less petent thahought?" Silva asked.

  "I don't know. I'm not the type to bme things on inpete it's not like it's impossible." He paused to look up at the sky for a moment before turning away. "I have to go and it seems Lori is waiting for you now. Our forces are wiping out the remainder of the demons iy and then we'll leave the city too. If I don't meet with you in Goldeh, I'll see you in Traehall. There's still a lot I'm sure we'd both like to discuss but that will have to wait. Good luck."

  "Good luck to you too."

  After a short trip through the eerie deserted gatehouse, roup began walking down the road. It was going to take us a while to make it back to the yon where our carriage was stashed but none of the people with us pined. Quinn the cuy was helping the two hyenakin take care of the non-responsive former sves and Nelly and Kal'daeryn were watg over the kid we found. Bel and Mimi were talking with the scarred person and the burned person about the transformation and feeling out if they would sider the offer.

  I was too draio think about any of that right now. Overuse of that ritual had left me with a headache and draining so muy mana pool left me sluggish. I just stayed focused on watg the horizon for threats with the twins as we made our way back. We came across a few monsters but none of them were much of a challe was nearly sundown by the time I could see our friends waiting for us in the cavern by the carriage.

  Saine

  Hello! I uploaded this chapter on Umbral Feast by act and I only realized after I was already out of the house so I'm uploading this from my phht now... Oops. As a result the formatting might be a little messed up, sorry about that. I'll fix it when I get home ter tonight.

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