Chapter 10) Grand Gate

We have our goal. Somehow, we are to reestablish contact between Miletos, Rados, and Chronos before the end of the year. Emer gives us the task, expecting us to fail. But we know we can't. Too many lives depend on us getting as many people as we can for our fledgling rebellion. If we don't have enough, then the rebellion will be a stillborn, instead of the beginning of a new era.

It bothers me that she was not so willing to help, even as I understand the immobility that fear brings. It is scary to move forward when all you know is a cage. But someone has to, if we are to destroy the cage and shatter the chains that hold us all.

...That was strangely poetic. I have never written a poem before. Maybe I should try.

A couple days travel south-southeast of Miletos was the only official pass through the mountains that divided the country into two. Once, it had a small little fort, more of a stop along the trade route instead of anything truly military. That changed with the coming of the Empire, or so Jarl told us. They transformed the simple little fort into a towering gate, complete with constant military presence, and made sure to lock it tight shortly before the Sorrow to make sure Miletos couldn't seek help from its neighboring cities.

"Heavily guarded and from here, it looks like everyone who passes is checked thoroughly, quite a few times," Dain summarized. He was the quietest of us, so it was decided he would scout ahead and see if there were weaknesses, as well as find ourselves a safe place to observe ourselves. "That said, they don't head much into the mountains. We can probably skirt around through there."

"Are you certain you want to do that?" Jarl asked. Baldur and Noba both jumped when he did, and I couldn't blame them. Jarl had been our mostly-silent shadow throughout all of this, rarely speaking even when spoken to. Even now, with us clustered together to talk, he made a point to stay out of the group. "The mountains are very rough terrain, filled with quite a bit of wildlife."

"All places are filled with animals. Most avoid humans. Prey don't like being near potential threats, and predators like going for easy meals." Dain shrugged and looked to the rest of us. Most of us were giving him our full attention, but strangely, Hezul kept his gaze on the fortress itself. "Hezul? Did I miss something?"

"I'm just curious as to what is there," Hezul murmured after a moment. He watched the fortress a while longer before turning back to us, leaning a little into Baldur's side before straightening. "I would have to be closer to confirm, but the patrol pattern I can see hints that there are valuable prisoners here."

"There's different patrol patterns?" Vala asked, voice somewhere between skeptical and surprise. She tightened her grip on my arm and tilted her head curiously. "I never noticed."

"Please do not take offense to this, Vala, but did you ever pay attention to the soldiers beyond 'are they about to come kill me because their commanders are whimsical'?" Hezul smiled slightly, and Vala bowed her head, silently conceding the point. "Jarl? Who would they hold here?"

"Children," Jarl answered easily. The rest of us exchanged knowing winces, and Dain took Noba's hand to squeeze it reassuringly. "Children gathered from their Hunts are kept here prior to being warped to the capital. Now, at least."

"Now?" Baldur repeated. He braced himself against Hezul briefly to fix something with his shoe. "Why now?"

"They used to just take them up through Miletos and Chalphy. But between Emer and Cian, most were saved." Jarl smiled sardonically. "So now, they take the extra cost to ensure they are sent away."

"I see…" Baldur sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "That's… unfortunate."

That was putting it mildly. All of us glanced at each other, our expressions varying somewhere between grimaces and winces, but all of us knowing exactly what the problem was. We wanted to save the children. We truly did. But we were also well aware of how few we were. There were only seven of us and while we were a somewhat skilled seven, or so I assumed with Jarl, this was still a heavily armed area. Seven people couldn't break through without being terribly clever.

"So, Jarl, if you might indulge a question?" Vala began. She used her free hand to play with her hair, attempting to seem nonchalant. Her eyes were too serious for the act to work. "Has your group attempted rescues?"

"Of course we have," Jarl replied. He crossed his arms and regarded us with a stoic-stone look. It was near-impossible to tell what he was thinking or feeling. "We had very lovely funerals for the brave souls who attempted."

"So, lots of dead and injured?"

"All dead. Some very publicly." His eyes narrowed slightly. "A fate that awaits many of you, should your 'rebellion' fail."

"Full offense, but given that Hezul, Gwyneth, and I grew up in the court, I think we're aware of what'll happen if we fail way better than you." Vala rolled her eyes and scowled. "I mean; if Galle catches Hezul, Hezul's going to be killing us as a deadlord for sure. You know; if we haven't died prior to all of that. But, hey, if we don't do anything, then we're all screwed. Of course, maybe you don't care. I can't blame you for that."

"Vala, that last comment was a bit much," Noba scolded, reaching over to poke Vala in the forehead. Vala shrugged and looked away, a silent refusal to apologize. "Regardless, I know what we're all thinking. But unless we can come up with a very clever plan…"

"Who's in charge?" Hezul suddenly asked. He looked at the fortress again, studying it. "Jarl? Surely you have a name."

"Liam, a commoner soldier who climbed through the ranks," Jarl answered after a moment. His eyes were still narrowed, but they also sharpened. He was studying Hezul very closely, and that made me more than a little uneasy. "Why?"

"Liam… there's only one general with that name, and I know him." Hezul turned back to us, smiling slightly. There was a sparkle to his eyes that I had not seen in a long while, a light of purpose. It made me smile too. "He's easy to bait. Shall we try?"

The plan we eventually settled on was remarkably simple, though it did depend on a couple of things. One, the soldiers had to see me. Two, I had to be able to keep my distance. Three, Vala and Noba had to set up the traps. While we girls dealt with them, the boys would infiltrated and saved the children. There had been quite a few discussions on who would go where, mostly because we worried about scaring the children, but it was decided that Baldur could counter any scariness Hezul, Dain, or Jarl caused and their ability to sneak was of far greater importance.

"Will this really work?" Noba asked. She crouched next to me, balancing on the roots of the stump I sat on. Her lance was balanced on her knees, rather like how my Lightning tome was in my lap. I spared a hope that our packs would remain undisturbed where we left them. "Will the main guy actually leave?"

"Hezul seems to think so," I replied, watching the fort just within sight. It was the only answer I had, truly. I didn't know this 'Liam'. Only Hezul did. "But Hezul wouldn't have spoken up if he didn't think it didn't have a good chance of success."

"But will they notice you?"

"I have bright silver hair, and we are sitting in the sunlight." I tugged a lock for emphasis. Now, if this were a story, I was certain my hair would be described as 'sparkling' or something, but the color was noticeable enough. "If need be, we shall simply walk closer."

"True, though I'd prefer it if we didn't." She frowned suddenly and jumped to her feet. "Is that movement?"

"There does seem to be activity…" However, I wasn't moving quite yet. It was hard for me to see just what was going on, so I waited. "Is Vala…?"

"Not… oh, there she is." Noba waved as Vala poked her head out from around a nearby tree. "Is this what we think it is?"

"Their leader is a glory grabbing idiot," Vala answered, crouching. She didn't want the soldiers to see her distinctive hair. "But yeah, look." She pointed to a group of soldiers rushing our way. Leading them was someone dressed in a general's armor, with the crimson edges to signify command. Hezul had been right; Liam had come himself. "Better sell it, you two. I've got to do my part."

"Please be careful, Vala," I urged. I almost stood, but remembered my role just in time. It truly wouldn't do if I messed things up at the very beginning. "We shall see you soon."

"Yep." Vala winked and… tried to make a perfect escape. She got her hair caught in some briars of a nearby bush, though, and had to duck awkwardly behind it to try and free her hair. "Oh, go on!"

Noba waited a moment longer, both to make sure Vala could actually get away in time and to make sure the soldiers were heading our direction. Once she was certain of both, she snatched my arm and dragged me semi-roughly into the woods. I pretended to dig my heels, as if I were fighting her, before going along, racing through the trees. I was reminded of when Hezul and I fled Belhalla, except so much was different. For one thing, it was warmer and I had my shoes.

"You okay?" Noba called back as soon as we were among the trees. She glanced back at me worriedly and switched to holding my hand instead. "Was that too rough?"

"No, we are fine," I reassured. It did take a few more steps for me to get my feet under me, though. "Do you think they took the bait?"

"I hope so. From here on, it's us running and Vala herding!" The smell of smoke hit us then, showing Vala had started her part. "I hope Vala can control the fire as well as she says!" So did I. The last thing we wanted was a full on forest fire, though we did want the soldiers to think there was one to lure even more out. "Oh, careful, there's a hole." We continued running, pausing every once in a while to make sure we left obvious enough tracks and that the soldiers were following us. But we kept going, entirely focused on the goal.

I heard our intended location before I saw it. While we had been trying to determine a way to quickly and efficiently kill quite a few people with traps, Jarl had brought up that there was actually a waterfall not far from here, part of a river that sustained the fort, as well as the nearby villages. A quick look had determined it was quite the drop, meaning it was close to perfect for our needs.

I nodded to Noba, silently telling her that I would be well, and she smiled, squeezed my hand reassuringly, and then let go to climb into the nearby trees. At this point, my job was to remain extremely visible, while Noba hid. I clutched my tome to my chest as I heard the soldiers' noisy approach. Snapping branches and clanging metals could be heard even over the roar of the waterfall, and I gauged how close they were by how loud their cursing was.

Before long, the first of the soldiers stumbled out of the foliage, their armor mud streaked and sooty, with the odd twig stuck here and there at various points. I studied them closely and soon noticed something highly irregular and made me worry. There were no priests. There wasn't a single priest, meaning they must have stayed behind. That meant saving the children would be harder than anticipated. I had faith in the boys, of course, but I had hoped some would be here to lessen their burden. But I couldn't let them know any of that. I wouldn't.

"So, it is you, Lady Gwyneth!" the man with crimson-edged armor said. So, this was Liam. Even up close, I couldn't recognize him. So, despite his high rank in the armor, he wasn't someone Galle thought particularly high of. "Ah, such delightful news I will be able to bring our emperor! He has been most despondent ever since you and Lord Hezul were kidnapped." He looked around curiously, no doubt searching for Hezul. "Surprised he's not here, especially considering the rumors. Ah, well." He snapped his fingers, calling the soldiers to attention. "Come, let's bring her inside. But be careful to not harm her. We will not have time for it to heal her if you make a mistake." That… was an unusual sentence? It implied they had no healers on staff, and it implied he would see Galle soon. But Galle never left Belhalla, and it would be unusual for a commander to leave his station to make a direct report. Though I supposed 'bringing the kidnapped fiance back' might be unusual enough to warrant it.

But that was a thought for another time. Instead, when the soldiers approached, I shied away, hovering close to the edge. I pretended to be shaken, which wasn't hard. I was nervous. If I made one misstep, I would be the one tumbling down the waterfall. But I needed at least Liam to get closer. I needed him closer, so that the force would send him off. So, I kept my distance, shifting back each time one of them came forward. Eventually, they caught the 'hint' and awkwardly shuffled where they were. A few glanced at each other worriedly. They didn't know what to do.

Liam rolled his eyes, and muttered something unflattering under his breath. He waited for a moment before darting close, his arm out to snatch me. My heart pounding in my ears, I ducked out of the way, and tripped him. He stumbled, flailing his arms wildly as he tried to catch his balance, but I cast a Lightning spell at his back and the pain was enough to distract him. He fell, screaming, and the sound echoed until it was swallowed up by the roar of the waterfall. Morbidly, I wondered what the body would look like, when someone found it drifting on the water sometime later.

Realizing how this wasn't the time, I shook my head and whirled, prepared to fight. However, none of the soldiers had reacted. Some were angry, of course, but most looked terrified. But it was a specific type of 'terrified': 'terrified not only for one's life, but the lives of everyone they knew'. I knew the look well; many of Galle's victims bore it, even after he killed them. So, I… I couldn't...

"If you fight, you will die," I whispered to them. A few flinched. "If you don't want to die, then run. Run down the path, away from us and away from the fort. Say that some of yours fell over the edge, and you focused on finding a way down. We were not here. Go on."

Most did run. They threw down their weapons and ran, which quite a few also shedding their armor piece by piece. A few charged me, though, for whatever reason they had. Noba took care of them, though. It was easier than we had originally anticipated, since there were so few, and she had been behind them. Between her strikes and my magic, we had it all under control before long.

"Not sure if you should've let them run," Noba chided, dragging and tossing the corpses over the edge. With luck, no one would be able to tell how they died. "I mean; I get it. Sort of. But…"

"I am sorry," I whispered. I couldn't look at her, because I knew it was a very stupid thing to do. There was no guarantee they wouldn't say anything. In all likelihood, they would report what had happened at the first opportunity. I was, most likely, going to regret doing that. Yet I still… "I remembered being that scared. That is all."

"I suppose." She tossed the last one over and watched the body disappear into the foam and mist, crouching to get a better look. "Hmm… I know I should feel bad about disposing of them like this, but for some reason, I don't." Noba shrugged and looked up at me. "So, shall we check on the boys?"

"I believe we should first find Vala."

"Oh, right." Noba frowned and stood up slowly, stretching her arms above her head. "Was she supposed to meet us here or…?"

"I don't recall." I smiled sheepishly and Noba laughed brightly. "Um… though, about what I did…"

"Our secret. For now." She shrugged. "I mean; I didn't stop you. So, if it comes out, then we'll take blame together."

"That isn't fair to you."

"Aren't you one of those types who says something about how life isn't fair?" She grinned and I found myself sulking, almost like a child. "Well, I don't know. You think the world sucks, but that it could be better, right? Means more to me than someone who just thinks the world is awesome."

"...I am not certain about the world, but I do believe the people who live in it are 'awesome', as you put it." Life put us all through trials, and yet, people rose above it. Some did so in horrific ways. Others did so in smaller ways. But it was awe-inspiring, truthfully. "I love them. I love people. They are wondrous!" I couldn't help but smile as I said the words. Noba stared at me, jaw going slack. "Is something the matter?"

"That was literally the brightest smile I had ever seen you wear." She smiled in return and I decided that if my own was even half as bright as hers, I couldn't blame her for being so startled. "Let's go find Vala."

"Yes, we should." I couldn't remember where we were supposed to meet her. I was far too nervy still. "Then we shall meet up with the others, and the children."

"Precisely!" She winked and wrapped her arm around mine. "And away! Though, this would be so much better if we had horses."

"It is always with the horses for you!" Still, I had to muffle a laugh, and she grinned. "Cian promised. You shall have a horse, eventually, and Hezul and I shall teach you how to ride."

"Yay~! I love you guys!"

"I love you too. But don't think we are done discussing how you somehow share blame with my decision."

"Freaking hell, Gwyneth!"

Vala had ended up being recruited by the boys to assist with the one thing the boys had overlooked. None of them knew how to pick locks, and Liam apparently had kept the keys on him. That made it a little hard to liberate the children, all thrown into cells as they were, but thankfully, Vala's skill and power with fire magic allowed her to melt the locks and bars enough for the boys to break the children out. Of course, even five hours after safely escorting the children to a village not far from the gate, I was still tending to the bruises and burns they had picked up. They could be so impatient sometimes.

"I hope we can find one of Blaggi's comrades soon," I murmured, studying my staff. I was doing my best, but I could see the very fine cracks slowly blossoming on the crystal. It needed to be repaired. "I should ask Vala to teach me medicine. That might save us some staff uses."

"You want to add more lessons?" Baldur asked dryly from his place in my lap. While the others did camp chores, Baldur rested at my orders. He had ended up with the worst injuries, mostly because he would move too quickly in an attempt to get the children to safety sooner. Even with the healing staff, we had to bandage his hands. I worried it would affect his fighting. "Really?"

"Perhaps I should instead ask everyone to teach me how to make camp." That was why I served as Baldur's pillow. Once Hezul, Noba, and Dain returned from hunting, I would help Dain cook to supplement whatever Vala and Jarl foraged, but I still had difficulties actually setting up the camp and the like. "Are you comfortable?"

"Your lap is much better than the rocky ground." Baldur sighed and rubbed at his eyes. "Hard ground, Jarl said. Why didn't he just say these mountains had a lot of rocky soil?"

"Perhaps that is what he meant." Still, it explained his almost resigned look when we decided to simply hike through the mountains and camp, bypassing the chaos of the Gate entirely. "Still, it is comfortable?"

"Yes, I am very comfy. You have a very comfy lap. That is probably the tenth time you've asked."

"I don't understand how it is comfortable?" Honestly, when I had offered to let Baldur rest against me earlier, I had assumed he would rest against my shoulder. Though, I supposed my shoulder was bonier than my lap.

"I'm guessing Galle never rested his head in your lap, then."

"No?" Now I was even more confused. "I feel as if I am missing something."

"Meh, it's not a big deal."

"I shall yield to you." I wished Sety was here. He would have simply explained it to me, like he had when I had questions about 'pillow talk'. "Regardless, I am glad we saved the children."

"Same." Baldur smiled bitterly. "But it does mean we have to really push through with this."

"Yes." After all, the only way we were truly going to 'save' them was by eliminating the Child Hunts entirely. That meant dealing with the Empire. "We can do this."

"I like this optimism thing you've got going on."

"I wonder if it suits me better now than when I made my first attempt." A sound made me look up and I smiled as Hezul returned. "How did the hunt go?"

"It went well enough, based on Dain and Noba's reaction," Hezul answered. He frowned slightly, mostly in confusion. I looked at him curiously, but he shook his head. Whatever confused him, he didn't wish to discuss it for the moment. "Are you comfortable, Baldur?"

"Gods upon high, you and Gwyneth worry too much about my comfort!" Baldur groaned, facepalming. He winced when he aggravated his injuries. "I would've moved if I wasn't comfortable!"

"I would think you would at least want your bedroll or something, instead of a lap?" He shrugged and cleared out an area. "Noba and Dain were skinning the bear, so they asked me to clear the area."

"That sounds… did you just say bear?" Baldur gawked. I simply frowned, curious about what bear tasted like. "You guys hunted a bear?!"

"We made sure it wasn't defending cubs or something first."

"Not the point!"

In the middle of Baldur's squawking, Dain returned alone to ask for assistance in carrying the bear meat and fur, so Hezul and I left to help. By the time we returned, Vala and Jarl had also made it back with a surprising amount of wild vegetables and herbs. However, Vala had joined in on Baldur's shock, and it took a while to calm them long enough to actually begin cleaning the fur and cutting up the meat.

"So, what's the plan now?" Vala asked when everything was finally settled and Dain and I began cooking the meat. Noba handled cleaning and cutting the vegetables for us, humming all the while. "There's too cities, yes?"

"There are two cities you must reestablish contact with, yes," Jarl confirmed. As always, he sat a bit apart from us, simply watching us go about our business. Also as always, he kept one eye on Hezul, who did his best to ignore the scrutiny and tend to our weapons. At this point, I was convinced he thought Hezul might betray us, because of his previous association, but I had no way to prove it. "Rados and Chronos."

"Hey, look properly at someone when they're talking to you." Vala might've actually snapped her fingers or something to make sure she had his attention, but she was busy replacing the bandages on Baldur's hand. "Oh, whatever. Which one is closer?"

"Chronos." Jarl sketched out a very messy, but serviceable map in the dirt and rocks by the fire pit. "However, if your plan is to continue to the southeastern province of Jugdral…"

"Rados would then become a case of doubling back."

"Rados was also the first we lost contact with."

"Did you get anything odd prior to losing contact?" Noba asked. She passed Dain the vegetables and set about cleaning the knives. "Any hints?"

"Nothing unusual, sadly," Jarl replied. He seemed honest enough, and even a little bit regretful. "It was business as usual, and then suddenly, no replies. The messages came back, unread. Thanks to the Gate, it can be difficult to gather even gossip."

"I see." Noba grimaced, and none of us blamed her. We were walking blindly into a potentially dangerous situation. "What about Chronos?"

"Chronos is a recent loss. Within the last couple of months. Rados has been quiet for five." Jarl shrugged. "Honestly, we were expecting that another Sorrow took place, or is taking place, except you would expect more fanfare if that were the case."

"So, send the reckless fools and risk losing only one person she actually cares about," Hezul summarized. He set aside his sword and began tending to Baldur's. "Very clever. Did she ever serve in the army?"

"She did, actually," Jarl answered slowly. He looked at each of us very carefully. "Found she couldn't stomach a Child Hunt, though, and took them and ran." With that, he must have decided that he had talked too much as he fell silent and wouldn't respond to any attempts to start another conversation, no matter how serious or lighthearted the prompt was.

So we all settled into our own little conversations, quiet murmuring truly. Vala and Baldur 'argued' over his injuries. Noba and Hezul worked together to make sure all of our weapons were serviceable still. Dain and I continued to cook, the smell of the stew slowly wafting about as it got closer and closer to being ready.

However, after a while, I did notice Dain was… distracted. "Are you worried about the lack of information?" I asked him quietly while adding some more herbs. "It is slightly troubling."

"Only slightly?" he half-joked bitterly. Still, he shook his head. "No, I'm honestly more worried about the Gate." He glanced over in that direction, though of course, our camp was far out of sight of the fortress. "I worry about who will take over. It's likely going to be someone much worse than this 'Liam' person."

"It is out of our hands, now." Still, he looked sad, so I made sure to smile. "May we have a lance lesson after cooking?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, sure." He smiled back, recognizing the distraction for what it was. "Ah, you're adding a bit too much…"

"Ah!"

Thankfully, I hadn't added so much that I ruined the stew's flavor, though the others did tease me while we ate. Jarl, as always, ate apart from us, perfectly silent. Thankfully, it was easy to ignore, particularly when Baldur launched into some story he had heard while on the docks, a tail about a strange being called a 'mermaid' with a beautiful voice and, for some odd reason, a talking crab. It was a bizarre story, but it made us laugh and smile. We couldn't hope for more, truly.

Our Family

Gwyneth

20 years old

Class: Shaman; Weapons: Fire - E, Wind - E, Thunder - E, Light - D, Staff - C

Is surprised by how well she can run nowadays, considering how infrequently she used to exercise. It makes her smile, because it's another thing that shows how far she's come

Finds it incredible that she can express that she 'loves' things, since she couldn't around Galle. Either he would 'buy out' (really take) all the stock Belhalla had, or incinerate it, depending on his mood.

Hezul

22 years old

Class: Paladin (dismounted); Weapons - Swords - A, Lances - C

Knew Liam because of how many times Liam tried to befriend him. While at first, Hezul thought Liam was genuine, he later realized that Liam was just trying to use him to advance his own career.

Is more than half-tempted to spar Jarl or something to get him to stop watching him so closely. It's damn unnerving, and he's used to scrutiny

Noba

19 years old

Class: Soldier; Weapons: Lance - B

Admittedly enjoys killing enemies, but she is more than a little uncomfortable with killing people who feel trapped on the enemy side, rather like how Vala, Gwyneth, and Hezul once had been. Seeing some run instead of fight only heightened that disparity.

Does her best to hide it, but she is a little put out that Dain has Gwyneth help him more with cooking than her nowadays. However, she does recognize it's because Gwyneth can't contribute much to setting up the camp, while she can take many other roles

Baldur

21 years old

Class: Mercenary; Weapons: Swords - B

Thanks to his time on the docks, he's learned a lot of sea shanties, bawdy stories, and everything in between, and is more than willing to share to make everyone laugh

Knew better than to grab the metal when it was still hot, but the children had been so tearful and scared that he found himself trying to break through sooner, in the hopes of being able to comfort them quicker

Dain

23 years old

Class: Soldier; Weapons: Lance - B

Really disliked Gwyneth using herself as bait, but bites his tongue because it was very useful. But it makes him uncomfortable, because he's the only one of the group who knows just how hard it was for Hezul and Gwyneth to run and he's scared they'll be caught again. He's also worried it'll become a common tactic.

Having fourth and fifth thoughts about getting involved in all of this, but the more he sees of the world, the more he recognizes that something drastic has to happen. Otherwise, it's only a matter of time that his family falls victim.

Vala; Fjalar

18 years old

Class: Fire Mage; Weapons: Fire - A

Rather surprised Hezul and Gwyneth were willing to use themselves as bait, considering she's well aware that they'd be wishing for death if the Empire caught them again. But, then again, they've done it before and they need every advantage they can get

Very. Annoyed. By. Jarl. She does try to keep her temper, but he and Emer aggravate her severely. She understands wanting to hide and everything, but she's still vexed because they're causing trouble for her family. More or less on purpose, at that.

Our Allies

Jarl

Unknown age; appears in his early twenties

Class: Hero; Weapons: Swords - A, Axes - C

Watches the group closely to report to Emer about them. He is confused, yet impressed, that they would put their own mission on hold temporarily to assist with local problems, especially since they are on a time limit

Continues paying particularly close attention to Hezul, but rarely says a word. He is the outsider, the watcher, and he plays the role perfectly. After all, the real trial isn't the mission. It's whether or not they win his respect and thinks they're worth the gamble. And not just Emer's gamble either.

Author's note: The gate mentioned here features in Chapter 10 of FE4, where you have to capture Rados and Chronos prior to it opening up and letting you access the rest of the map (and you better hurry, because there's villages to save!).

Next Chapter - Plague