Then, the wall colpsed. The sound of it breaking down woke everyone up. Dread filled the air, but, when the dust cleared. "Is everyone alright?" An arte asked, the dread was thrown out the window.

  Those who were awake dispersed and rushed to find their loved ones. Families who were together from the start took their time and adjusted for a few minutes before deciding on their next move.

  "We have to look for mom now. With luck I'll see you again." Xira said with a smile before father and daughter left.

  Though, he welcomed the Xira's distraction. It was never able to fully suppress his worry for Aurora nor the guilt of his actions. He scanned the area, and saw artes lying on the ground. Injuries varied. Minor cuts to limbs lost. There were healers, but, not enough. Bits and pieces watchtowers y across the ground. *That expins the rumbling...* He thought. The silver wall was gone, revealing holes in the original stone wall.

  The faces of the wounded arte, oh their faces. He couldn't face them, he clenched his fists, and ground his teeth together. He moved towards the closest arte. A few fingers were missing, her uniform torn to bits. He spread ice around her hand. "Thanks kid." She said and let out a sigh of relief. Kus nodded. "My waist on the right side, could you take a look?" He nodded once more.

  Kus pulled up her uniform slightly revealing a rge patch of purple. Though he couldn't tell if it was purple or bck, either way, it was bad as evident by his widened eyes. "It's all bck! How are you not knocked out?!" She shrugged. Frost encased his hand and he pced it on her waist. She groaned in pain and clenched her teeth. Ice crawled over the affected area. Then he pced his hand on her forehead, forming a chunk of ice there too. Kus gnced at the ground near her, and noticed a severed tail. "Is this yours?" He picked it up and showed it to her. She nodded. "I can reattach it." He flipped her onto her sides and sure enough, there was a severed tail base. Kus connected the two together and froze it over with ice, connecting the severed halves. "Move on to the rest. With your help, I'll manage. I don't have much to do anyways except wait." She cocked her head to the side, Kus looked in that direction and saw more wounded. He nodded and rushed towards them.

  Again and again, he made formed ice over the wounded area. Numbing their pain, mitigation infmmation, and cooling them off. Battle makes one burn hot. "Umm. Did you see a white haired archer? She's dress in all white." The arte nodded. "She should be at a vantage point. I'd check that." The arte pointed the only remaining watchtower. Kus quickly hopped on his magic sword and ferried himself towards it.

  Upon arrival, he noticed many artes lying on the floor, walls or against each other. Some were unconscious, some weren't. "Aurora!" He yelled and rushed towards her. "Hey..." She said weakly. Kus checked the face, then neck, making sure there were no injuries. "We're not injured. Benefits of being an archer." She smiled weakly, "Plus, this tower is the furthest from the gate."

  "I'll get you all down." Kus id them prone and on their backs. He formed multiple thick sheets of ice and carefully slid them underneath the artes. He drew his palms from their stomach to their waists, creating a shackle of ice and then froze it to the ice sheet. He hopped on his magic sword and moved out of the watchtower. Then made the ice sheets float and out of the watchtower as well. Now, in the air with multiple wounded he gently and slowly moved towards the ground.

  This continued on and on and on and on and on and on.

  ---

  Tap, tap, tap, tap that noise echoed throughout the empty home. Abdo sat at the dining table, tablets, scrolls, and empty bowls and ptes sprawled across it. He scratched his chin, clicked his tongue and looked all around him. He spun around in his chair more often than not so that he could look at the entrance. He got up and moved to the back and entered the kitchen, a bowl of apples was there. He swiped at it, and the apples appeared in his hand. He returned to his seat at the dining table. Again, he gnced at the entrance. *Where are they? It's been three days! I'm running out of food!* He pced his hand on his waist, and applied pressure. The pain is there, but, it isn't as sharp. It has been a week after all. It would've healed by now.

  He tried to calm himself. He started at the bnk stone tablet in front of him, and his fingers glided across it. Space magic carved away at the surface, embedding the local script into it. He dictated his notes, "Based on the following evidence, I believe that Cien should be removed as a candidate for the ascension due foul py." He tapped his finger against the tablet. Then scratched his head with his free right hand.

  *I can't submit this!* He swiped his fingers across the tablet to destroy his notes. But, he couldn't. Instead he felt pain. "Shit." He said, pulling his finger out of a hole. His finger was still affected by space magic, he didn't disable it. His constant tapping kept eating away at the table. He disabled it at once, and pulled his finger out of the hole and inspected it. It goes all the way through, he could see the ground through it. He sighed and pced a hand on his stomach then gnced at the entrance. He closed his eyes, and rested his head in his hands. *They wouldn't try anything in a crowded pce right? It is high noon...*

  He entered the shared closet and began undressing himself. He took off his beautiful vender coat made from t he mane of an alpha aulion. It's texture is unlike anything else, extremely smooth and cool to the touch, otherwise he'd have to keep cooling himself off. He loosened the coat at his shoulders and let his arms rex and just like that, it fell to the ground. He picked it up, and straightened it with a quick gust of wind on the inside and hung it on his side of the closet. Another quick gust of wind to remove any creases on the outside.

  Next, his scarlet turtleneck. He pulled it out over his head, the wool easily gliding up his back and off his body. He blew wind on the inside, hung it, then the outside. He gnced at the flower on the right breast. Embroidered into the shirt itself. A lily with petals made from polished nickle and rose gold. Giving the lily a beautiful gradient. Then he removed his pants and hung it.

  He then moved to Kus' side and opened it. The left corner was nothing but browns, bcks and whites. The right corner was more galnt and eye catching turtlenecks, shirts, coats, you name it. Kus had all manner of clothing, just like Abdo. He picked one at random, and gave it a quick inspection. *Still in pristine condition.* He sighed and hung it once more. He picked Kus' more pin clothes for today. "Mhm." He grunted, it took him a little more effort than usual to get his clothes on. He had to pull his clothes down and pants up with more force than he's used to. *They're rough and worn out.* He gnced at one of Kus' shirts the same lily embroidered on the right breast and shut the closet door.

  He exited the shared closet and walked until he could see the dining table, he swiped at the desk and the items appeared in front of him, and cttered onto the floor. A gust of wind began blowing as it grouped the tablets, and scrolls together. He quickly moved them into his study. Before he left, he pced his hand on the frame it fshed in a soft blue, before a door materialised and sealed it shut, concealing it. If someone got in, he'd know.

  He began moving to the entrance and snapped his fingers and the door began to open with the familiar sound of stone grinding against stone. Then he left, making his way to the marketpce, he needed to purchase some food. The familiar street was eerie. *They could be watch-- No. They are watching me.* He continued to move towards his destination. Then he noticed a shadow flutter. He fixed his eyes to where he thought it went, and he was right. Though, it was too small. He moved closer and upon closer inspection revealed that it was just a bck cat. He let out a sigh of relief, his body loosened.