Chapter 76.

Witnessing her dangerous stubbornness, the guards quickly reacted by having Rose lifted from the ground in a princess carry. She was surprised but too focused on her friend's predicament to care much about it, giving the necessary indications for them to be saved. Without a second of hesitation, the group entered the tunnel Rose pointed at, looking for Enora and her dead weight. All of it had happened in the span of ten minutes, from the moment Rose walked out of the tunnels to the one she came back, yet it was enough for the enemy to regroup and discover the traces that had been left.

At this point, Enora could clearly hear the hurried footsteps and aggressive cries of the enemy getting closer and closer. She could not go as fast as she used to, and even less so without any basic energy left in her appendix. A crawl really. But hope had not left her, as she felt Rose approaching at high speed from the other side. When finally the two found each other again, the swarm of monsters was too close for comfort.

- They're coming !, screamed the tall warrior. We better run away now.

- How many are there ?, asked what could only be the leader of the guards while ordering his men to take care of carrying Nick.

- Too many to beat !

Obviously not taking her word for it, the leader still followed through with her advice, as they did not come here to exterminate the monsters anyway : that would be someone else's job.

Without Nick on her back, Enora could escape way more easily, burning her thighs in efforts. Or course, she could not keep up with the wild magic's infused people in the group, meaning they would lose her and the enemy would catch her at some point. Consequently, she too, was carried. It was weird to be saved in such an embarrassing way. The two women would have probably protested if Nick's life was not at stake, but they could feel his body weakening and their fear growing at every step.

Eventually, the group arrived at the city gates. The guards decided to leave them there, saying they were only tasked to bring them into the city, nothing more. Facing such a devious behaviour, Rose felt tempted to keep the information about the monster tide for herself, but Enora begged to differ. While taking back her man's body and preparing to head to the inn, she said in a hurry :

- We have found out what happened to the lost militia squad. If your Captain wants this information, he better come to our place with an Agamai.

Not waiting for any answer, the two women took off, heading straight to their room. A few minutes later, they stormed in the inn, startling clients whom stained many tables with liquor. Not concerned about any of this, the trio headed towards the stairwell, passing by Ischyra on the way. The owner did not say anything, following them as if it was the most logical thing in the worlds.

They laid Nick on the bed before removing most of his clothes, exposing to the air the many injuries he had suffered : broken shin, severe burns in the back, cut thigh and pierced waist, and of course the three arrowheads on his chest. The shafts had been partly broken, but the tips were left untouched, as removing everything would have induced more bleeding on the way. Ischyra had horror splattered all over her face. Not because of the wounds themselves though, more from who sustained those. She proved it through her first sentence :

- What the hell happened ? I taught you my techniques to avoid this kind of situation you know !

- That's thanks to your techniques that we managed to get back !, answered Enora with distress in her voice. Believe me, that's the positive outcome !

Astonished by this revelation, the non-human could not seem to find a counter. And she did not have the time to either, as people suddenly entered uninvited. Three people to be precise : first, the Captain, wearing an angrier than usual expression, closely followed by Sanarsus the Genid, and finally Simmis the Laeli. That last one seemed to act as vice-Captain, or secretary, as the burly man never openly complained about her.

The Agamai did not waste a second, his goosebumps-inducing hands already emitting light before darting towards his patient. While he did his work, the Captain got close to Enora, not happy at being summoned in this manner like a simple valet. He wanted to interrogate the woman, as she was the only one seemingly capable of making a report on the situation. Rose would not be able to help : her mind was a mess, and the only thing she could do was sit on the bed next to Nick with shocked eyes.

- I want to know everything., the huge man said in a contained voice.

- We found the reason for your people's disappearance : a monster gathering., said Enora matter-of-factly.

- How many ?

- Thousands, at least., she answered, and continued when seeing his slightly disconcerted face. We were looking around deep inside the tunnels when we found a footprint. The ground was swept, meaning the monsters had tried to erase their trace. Even deeper, there was a cave as big as the one we are in right now, and it was almost entirely filled with savage creatures. Thousands, I say !

- Impossible …, whispered Simmis from behind her superior.

- How could it happen ?, doubted the militia leader. We've been monitoring …

- Bullshit !, interrupted the grief-stricken woman. You said yourself none of your men wanted to enter the tunnels ! It must have been going on for years, and that's the result !

This last sentence, she pronounced while pointing at Nick's physical state. Honestly, Enora was angry at him only on the spur of the moment, as she knew very well how things turned out that way. At least she could infer it, using an intuition she probably received from the life she had no memory of. The whole situation was because of peace : from peace, people stopped caring or worrying about any exterior danger, creating a sort of 'backlash' from reality. The worlds answered harshly to carelessness, and there was not greater carelessness than peace.

Agamai(s) : magic healer(s) of the Sunray School.

Genid(i) : average height ; greenish-brown skin ; black lines forming shapes on the body ; long arms, long fingers with many phalanges ; square and angular face ; nose beginning at the forehead and finishing very close to mouth ; lipless ; only canines ; big black globular eyes ; coarse, lazy and throaty voice.

Simmis : a Laeli guard of Sephayis.