Gavin drew his blade, but paused as he feared striking Aster if he attacked. Kestra, showing no such concern, dived into the darkness, her claws flashing as she cut in half the tentacle that held Aster. The creature roared, and a half-dozen more tentacles appeared out of the water, striking every which way as it lunged forward. One dug into Aster's side, and he lost his footing again, dropping to one knee as he hacked at it with his sword.

Kestra swiped at two more tentacles, and Aster cut the one which held him nearly through. He scrambled away as best he could, but the Beast was reluctant to let its catch slip away. Three more tentacles shot out, attempting to ensnare him once again. Gavin drove one of his throwing knives into its body, and it recoiled for an instant, granting Aster a chance to escape from its range before it lunged forward once again.

shouted Linnis, and the Beast was engulfed for a moment by an explosion of flame. As it recoiled, Gavin helped Aster to his feet and the four took the opportunity to make a mad dash for the exit. They escaped the sewers pursued only by its wounded roars.

Aster, however, was in poor shape. The wound where the Beast had jabbed him was tainted with a greenish substance, and the flesh about it seemed to be rotting even as one watched. he said, seeing the injury. What the...?

said Kestra. do you have an Antidote? He'll be dead in moments otherwise.

Gavin flung his pack on the ground and rummaged through it wildly. Aster, his eyes losing their focus, collapsed to the ground. Gavin exclaimed, throwing items left and right in his search. I need to find some way to organize this thing!

Linnis, after watching the activity for a moment, went to kneel down beside Aster, holding her hands over the wound. I can do this, she whispered, closing her eyes.

At first, nothing happened. Linnis squeezed her eyes tighter, and breathed the word so softly that the others could not even hear her voice. A moment passed, but then a white glow began to form around Aster's body. Points of light danced around the wound, and the glow passed through it to all the infected skin, then fading to reveal his complexion restored and the green substance which contaminated the wound to be gone, though the wound itself remained. Groaning, Aster attempted to raise himself to a sitting posture, but collapsed to the ground, groaning and bringing a hand to the wound.

Can you find a Tonic? Linnis asked of Gavin, who had just recovered one of the Antidotes from his pack. He dropped it now, instead hurrying over with one of the light-blue healing phials. Once Aster had drank it, the wound all but disappeared, and he managed to raise himself off the ground.

he said, glancing at Linnis. For a moment, their eyes met, but Aster quickly broke the contact, struggling to his feet.

It was the least I would do for anyone in need, Linnis replied.

Yeah, whatever, said Aster. I'm going to see if I can wash off some of this filth. He made for the river, diving straight in and immersing himself in the water.

That doesn't sound like such a bad idea, said Gavin; and all four of them spent several minutes attempting to wash themselves down. The river was small but swift and clear, and eventually they managed to rid themselves of almost all of the sewer's foul smell and restore their clothes to some semblance of their original color. Once they were about as clean as the river could make them, they turned their attention to the path ahead.

Obviously, the soldiers aren't watching the river, Kestra said. If they were, they'd have shot us by now. That means they probably think we're still holed up in the hospital. Our best bet is to keep them thinking that as long as we can, so we should avoid any contact with other people.

No argument there, said Gavin. But that means we can't take the Road anymore.

Kestra nodded. We can cut through the farmland and make the rest of the way to Delivert through the plains. She checked the position of the sun; it was still early morning. If we travel all day, we should arrive not long after nightfall.

But won't they close the gates at sunset? asked Linnis.

Kestra looked at her. You weren't expecting to just walk in through the gates, were you?

Let's deal with that hurdle when we come to it, said Gavin. Right now, I think we had better get going.

Wait a second, said Aster. Aren't there Beasts off the Road?

There's no guarantee you won't run into Beasts on the Road, said Kestra. But most Beasts don't like to come out in daylight, so we shouldn't have much trouble until nightfall.

Another good reason to get moving, said Gavin. To emphasize his point, he began to climb back up to the Northern shore.

Nodding, Kestra leaped over the bank and onto dry land. This way, she said, setting off as if she expected everyone else to be capable of the same feat.

They set out through the farming plots, using the tall shafts of the harvest- greens to hide them from the farmhands who would likely be out working the fields. It was a clear day, and the peaceful nature of the farm made it rather easy to become absorbed in the almost idyllic nature of the sweeping fields. The land began to rise, gradually at first, as they approached the ridge which isolated the Lodinvale from the near-desolation which surrounded it. Looking behind, they could see the town of Lodin set against the river, now about level with them again as they walked uphill. Directly behind them, the farmland spread out for miles downriver, and they could spot one or two clusters of houses in the distance, likely for those who worked the land.

It was late-morning, and they had just passed out of the farmland and were coming up on the ridge of the Lodinvale, when Aster paused, looking back. There were sounds of activity from the fields behind and to their right, and one shouting voice rose in a commanding tone.

he said, beckoning to Linnis. Follow me.

Without further explanation, he led the rather confused Red Mage along the edge of the fields to a low ledge which offered a relatively clear view over the farmland. Below them, about a furlong distant, were around three dozen shabbily dressed folk, working with scythes and woven baskets to harvest the crops; and a man with a feathered cap, mounted on a chocobo rode about their midst.

See those guys? he asked.

Of course I do.

The one on the chocobo is a supervisor. Or overseer, or whatever you want to call him. He maybe has a house in the city, and if the farm-owner's rich, he gets paid maybe five GP a month. He glanced back to her. The rest of them, they work for food. The landowners house them in a bunkhouse and let them have the crops which aren't good enough to sell. Now, a crop this size would have to fetch a few hundred GP at Market, all together. Just about all of that goes into buying seeds, plows, feed for the chocobos, maintenance on the house, all the things they need to for another good harvest next year.

The bottom line is, if a farm-owner has one bad harvest, odds are he'll be eating the crops that won't sell. He'll have to borrow money from some aristocrat banker, which'll take him five or ten good harvests to pay off. Now, these guys come into town complaining about this every year. I hear them begging the city leaders for even one extra GP per bushel, but you always say you won't pay more than the crop is worth, and go back to building your new faster airships or an expanded entertainment wing for one of your guest mansions.

He stood there silently for a moment, looking out over the fields. So, tell me again how you reward hard work?

Linnis didn't reply as Aster jumped down from the ledge. She kept looking at the farmers. Their movements, she thought, seemed almost mechanical; A sweep of the scythe, then they would stoop to pick up the crop, drop it into their basket, and then repeat. Even the rider had a pattern which he followed as he rode around, a sort of endless figure-eight which drifted slowly along with the progression of the farmhands' harvest. The whole scene managed to seem completely lifeless.

The world's funny like that, said Aster. You can talk about everything you give; but in the end, it all adds up to nothing.

He walked away to rejoin Gavin and Kestra, who were waiting atop the ridge. Linnis remained a moment more before following.