The two sped off into the distance, making good time. They had to leave as quickly as possible. A chorus of hisses could be heard echoing to and fro.

  "Faster." Aurora uttered as she moved even faster than before. Took a moment for Kus to catch up to her. Aurora leaped from branch to branch, maintaining perfect bance while Kus flew on his magic bde.

  "How did you find out?" He sheepishly asked, avoiding eye contact. His excuse was focusing on what's ahead.

  "Later. Our priority is getting to Verdant's Edge." She spat out. The carefree tone now gone.

  Kus was uncomfortable. He had never faced this side of Aurora before. It was an all new experience. They travelled quickly, trying to escape the Wetnds to prevent themselves from getting surrounded by columbolisks.

  Aurora spotted a columbolisk, "On my shoulder." She said and sped up, Kus slowed down and hung a little behind her.

  She released a deluge of arrows. The first set was sound arrows lodged all over the pce which emitted sound, creating vibrations messing with the serpent's senses. The second set was fire arrows which served to confuse the serpent's heat sensing organs. The serpent's senses were completely overwhelmed and its response was nothing. It stayed in pce, unsure of what to do. This allowed the two to simply move past it. They encountered more on their way back to Verdant's Edge and this is how she dealt with them.

  Aurora caught a glimpse of the stone walls of Verdant's Edge. "Artes, attention!" She yelled, her voice enhanced by sound magic. She picked up more speed, and travelled even faster.

  *How fast can she go?!* Kus then used more magic to propel himself faster.

  "Columbolisk horde!" She yelled. This time she was close enough to not need sound magic. The artes stationed by the wall repeated her messager, but enhanced it with sound magic and made it repeat. Resulting in a vilge wide emergency message.

  Everyone moved according to pn. The men, women and children who could not fight or provide any support gathered in designated locations. Two artes were designated to guard each location. The ground shook as earthen walls were erected to form a makeshift bunker. The healing specialists, and other non-combatants who were essential to the defence of Verdant's Edge went to their respective posts.

  "Hunters!" A deep voice boomed throughout the vilge, sound magic was not required. "At arms!" He commanded. At once, those who were able got into position. Aurora leapt from roof to roof until she reached a watchtowers while others aided the artes in preparing artillery or reinforcing the seal on the entrance.

  "Come on!" An arte yelled and snapped his fingers, creating a vacuum which pulled Kus past the gate. "SEAL ENTRANCE!" The same one yelled. "SEALING ENTRANCE!" The other artes yelled in unison. A silver wall rose into the air, the artes poured their magic into the construct reinforcing it further with their magic.

  Kus tumbled along the dirt, before righting himself a few moments ter. By then artillery was readied. Ten artes grouped up in threes. One is in charge of the payload while the other two handled its usage. They created arrows, spears, javelins, a rge chunk of earth, ice, water, silver, or multiple small chunks of all shapes and sizes. The other two artes prepare compressed air just beneath it.

  The ground beneath Kus was raised slightly into the air, before that chunk quickly pulled him towards a makeshift bunker. "Stop gawking!" The arte said, "Get in." A portion of the wall colpsed, revealing families within. Kus went in without a second thought. The chunks of wall that littered the ground reformed and sealed the bunker shut.

  Moments ter, despite being in the bunker Kus heard horde's booming announcement. Some children began crying, some were simply standing or sitting there with no reaction.

  "Dear, dear it's alright, its alright." Parents comforted crying babes.

  A man beside Kus shot up from a sitting position. "Sai arte!" He smmed his fists against a wall. "No, way I can stay calm! Can you te--" He can everyone else in the bunker was silenced by a loud crash. What was the cause? Artillery from the artes? The columbolisk's air column attack? Something just happened to break down? The man continued his pleading through the sound of battle "Sai arte! Please! My daughter Ara! What of her?" This one man's panic spread like a disease. He wasn't the only one who was separated from family. There were some boys and girls who were alone, and being comforted by strangers. The cries of children were only slightly weaker than the sound of battle.

  *It doesn't make sense! It isn't their mating season! What's with the gigantic horde?* It was stronger this time. The ground shook for a few seconds. *What of Aurora?* Now it was getting to him. What if she was heavily injured? She lost an arm, a leg, something. Worse, what if she died? He would not be able to live with himself. He was more and more aware of his thundering heart. He shook his head, ice formed on his forehead. *Keep calm, keep calm.* And attempted to steady his breathing.

  "Hey, my name is Xira. What's yours?" A girl beside him introduced herself.

  "Kus." A one word reply.

  "Straight to the point, sure." She chuckled dryly. "Then let me be straight to the point. How about we talk? Distract ourselves? We can't do anything... Hehe..." To prevent more silence from lingering, she told him about her day. "I was out with my dad, we were just about to pick berries just by the gate."

  "Mhm." Kus answered dryly.

  "Last night my mom told me she wanted some pomegranate, her favourite, and--" Her father pced a hand on her shoulder and leaned in.

  "Xira..." He whispered. "What you're trying is good, but, he isn't receptive. Something happened to him. Be mindful."

  "Sorry, Kus." She responded.

  "No, no. Sorry, I was just thinking about my sister. She's one of the hunters supporting in the battle." He answered.

  "My wife is quite the hunter herself. Though, she has fallen ill recently. I'm Lotar, by the way."

  "Oh, I'm sorry. Is she getting better?" Kus answered.

  "Yes, she improved. Today is her st day of rest actually. I hope she's in a bunker like us instead of trying to help." Lotrs answered worridly.

  "She is the stubborn type." Xira chimed in. "Do they know each other? My mom's Porax." She tacked on.

  "No, my sister never mentioned a Porax before." Kus answered.

  "You should stop casting that ice magic, you'll faint from fatigue. Here," She stuck out her pale hand.

  "Thanks." He said and held it. A cool sensation spread through his body. A cool and *gentle* sensation.

  "Lots more gentle than the ice, huh?" Xira said with a smile.

  He nodded with a smile as well. "The battle must be hard on your ears." He asked as he pointed at the two's ears.

  "Worry not child. Thankfully, we're able to toggle our enhanced senses." Lotar answered.

  "Thank Maere for that!" She smmed her fist into her chest. "Though, doesn't solve other issues that come with age." Her voice, indifferent.

  "Maere!? Your mom must be ancient!" Kus couldn't help but chuckle.

  "Oh, old as dirt!" Xira returned a smile.

  "Consider yourself lucky, Kus. If she were here, your head would be in the dirt." Lotar chuckled as well. "I'm not older than two hundred and fifty! I'm still young by the standards of my kind!" He raised his voice, imitating his wife.

  Someone cleared their throat. This silenced all three of them, they were getting a little too loud. Keeping moral up is fine and all, but, not everyone wants to be part of it. For better or worse.

  The battle continued deep into the night. Some managed to fall asleep, some pyed games with their newly made friends. Some chatted while trying to keep morale up. Kus was one of those who managed to sleep.