"I've never been this far east. I've spent half my life on the streets, half of it inside, and just a bit more out here, but I've not really gone anywhere until I was on the run. I guess Brundt was trying to protect me." It was late morning, and Edinmire had been seen last night. They knew they were nearly there, but Haelith was becoming more hesitant to go forward. "Where are we actually staying? I'd like to not go into the city if we can avoid it."

"We have a friend who has a house just outside the city. We stayed there last time, and things… well, they didn't work out for us. His past came back and haunted us." Raine said, frowning. "Hopefully things should be better this time."

"Can't be much worse." Maren said, flicking the white stripe of hair out of her face.

"Really? Is that the whole 'siphon your soul and use your body as a puppet' thing you mentioned a while back?"

"Yeah. I'm not too keen to-"

"What is that?!" Sythe said, suddenly panicked. Eyes flew to the sky, as a beam of orange arced over the trees. A distant boom filled the air, and smoke quickly rose.

"That, my friends, is the war coming to us." Lynn said, sternly. "Edinmire and it's citizens are threatened. It is our duty to keep them safe. Haelith, they may need medical attention, and we are at your service. Madelyn and Richard, you are capable fighters. It is your duty to protect us. Come, we are not too far off now." With that, the eight sprinted towards the now burning city.

…

"Good morning." Flora said, rolling on top of Trace.

"Why so cheerful today?" he asked, stretching.

"We've been here over a week and nothing has gone horribly wrong!"

"That shouldn't be the standard, but unfortunately you're right. I'm going to enjoy the calm while it-" A boom echoed outside, and the sky lit up with red, followed by smoke. Looking out the window, Trace gasped. Throwing on a shirt and pants, he rushed out the door, nearly colliding with Keith.

"Edinmire is under attack." he said plainly. "Nat and I are going to go help."

"Who's attacking them?"

Natani rushed past, fully dressed in her assassins gear. "No idea, but the whole town is burning! Pretty sure it was the wolves, but I wouldn't put it past the Templars either!" Trace followed her down the steps, and rushed for the door.

"Wait for me!" Barret said, leaping over the railing, forgoing the stairs entirely. "Zen's on his way too. I saw the fire bolt from my room. Zen told me the people there are at least kind enough to welcome anyone, so if they welcome me, then I'll fight for them."

"Good." Trace whirled around to his bag, and picked up his sword, before looking up at Flora, who had gotten dressed, and had her bow in hand. "Please, stay here."

"No. I'm coming with you."

"Flora, please!" Trace pleaded. "They can handle themselves, I can handle myself, but I don't want to have to worry about protecting you too! Please, stay here. Stay safe."

Flora pouted, but sighed. "If you aren't back by tonight, I will come and drag your corpse out myself. I don't care who I have to fight, I will see you again." Trace smiled, knowing she was serious. Zen rushed past her, shortsword in hand, and the five rushed out the door. The trip was mostly downhill, so it took them only two hours to get there, having forsaken the roads.

Edinmire was burning. Screams of civilians came from within the walls, which had been blasted on the southeastern side. Hundreds of wolves crawled through the breech, howling and attacking the city militia. Keiren's voice shouted over the noise, directing the defenders across the wide street. Rushing in, Trace drew his sword and slashed at a wolf who was overwhelming a wounded guard. Keith likewise flew past everyone, putting himself in the middle of the foray, bouncing from wolf to wolf with lightning fast strikes. Natani stood back, and surprised a number of wolves by casting a bolt of magic into their midst, causing them to scatter. Zen leapt over her, again to their surprise, and threw darts from under his cloak. Barret vaulted up a nearby house and started letting arrows fly.

"Now there's a sight for sore eyes!" Keiren shouted, parrying two swords, and pushing back with all his might.

"Fight now, catch up later!" Trace said, furiously kicking a wolf that tried to catch him in the side. There was a flash of white as a spell flew past him, and for a second, he considered using magic himself. No, he thought, not unless I really have to. The black magic is already spreading enough, and it hasn't gone down any. So, he fought with his sword, and he earned every cut and bruise that day.

Keith was a monster on the battlefield. He had successfully created a space around him no wolf was willing to get close to, standing in the middle of the breech. He would lash out at random, causing the attackers to fall back. He had slowed them, but their numbers were too great, and they had spears. They could reach further than he could, and every time he lashed out, a spear would catch him on his back, sometimes getting past his armor.

Zen was a surprise to everyone. The defenders would see a wolf and try to kill him, and the wolves would see a friend, only to find a dart stuck into their arm a second later. Though he despised having to fight against his kin, he would not let them take the lives of anyone in Edinmire.

Natani, likewise was a surprise. She used magic almost constantly, putting up barriers to block life-threatening blows where she could, and supporting the front lines with magic bolts whenever an opportunity presented itself. The occasional dagger was tossed whenever someone got too close for comfort.

Barret fired arrow after arrow. His vantage point gave him a clear view of the battlefield. He saw when a dozen wolves tried to split off and take a side road, but a volley of arrows made them think twice. His cloak kept him covered, but he didn't rely on it too much, knowing that he would be seen eventually by someone. Just when he thought he was about to be attacked from behind, he whirled around, brandishing his knife, only to see three humans with bows climbing up. "Glad you could join me! They're trying to move around to our back. Watch for stragglers." Barret said, turning back around and picking up his bow again.

For an hour, the fighting waxed and waned. The wolves would surge forward, pushing into the town proper, but the defenders would push them back to the breech, and neither side could gain the advantage. The ground became stained with blood, and littered with both the wounded and the fallen. A blur of movement suddenly rushed through the lines, and a short Basitin with golden armor joined Keith in the breech, a dagger in one hand and a snarl on their face. A human soldier with red hair and a Templar sword rushed forward, striking down a wolf with one blow. Suddenly, the battle shifted, and the wolves began getting pushed back. Pushed to the edge of the wall, one of the wolves howled, and shouted "Retreat! Fall back! Fall back!"

The battle was over.

The city burned still, and people rushed to put out fires. Barret climbed down from the roof, and began collecting arrows from the battlefield. Zen and Natani had gone into an alley, chasing another wolf who didn't retreat and had tossed a dagger in their general direction. Trace stood, panting and bleeding in several places, next to Keith in the breach. The other Basitin had vanished by the time he had gotten up there. They watched the wolves run into the forest, and fade from view. Behind them, screams and cries of pain echoed off the buildings, and calls for help came from far too many places. "Man, you showed up in the nick of time." Kei said, walking over to join them. He was bleeding in several places, and leaned heavily on the wall. "Where have you been the last few months? I heard you had left."

"Went east. Lyn'Knoll was a Templar trap. Keep people away from it."

"I'm sorry, what?!" Kei nearly fell over. "Dude, you've gotta ease people into that!"

"Sorry." Trace panted, before glancing over. "You're wounded."

"I've had worse." He turned around and looked at the carnage behind them. "And we have others who need attention before me." The fires burned brightly. Teams of those who weren't badly wounded rushed to get water, tossing it on the burning houses. Among the people running around were a pair of girls, pulling the wounded out of the battlefield with the help of a wolf with a ponytail. A second wolf with silver fur was putting a splint on someone who had broken his leg. A lizard Keidran with violet and purple scales knelt down, and began working on cleaning the blood and dirt off the fallen soldiers. "There's something I've never seen before. Lizard, helping out." Trace wasn't paying any attention.

"Yeah, he's a friend. We met along the way there. Crack shot with a bow, but don't call him lizard."

"I don't know about bow, but he seems good with medicine from what I can see. Might have-" Kei's eyes went wide as Barret stepped out from the alley, longbow in one hand, a quiver full of arrows in the other. "Oh! Two of them!"

"Yeah- wait. Two?" He and Keith turned around to see Maren, Karen, Sythe, and Raine trying to help the wounded, and sure enough, a second Ishtaer stood in the streets. Barret jogged over to the other side of the street, where several people were calling for help to lift a fallen piece of wood off of an injured tiger. He recognized Red's hair anywhere, and this Ishtaer seemed to be calling to him as he rushed over with arms full of cloths. Curious, Trace began walking over.

…

"Keep the pressure on his chest right here. Good, hold it like that until the bleeding stops. I need more water and cloths, I don't want to risk infection on any of these people here. Karen, where's that- thank you!" Haelith's heart pounded. They had shown up to the battle at the back end of it, and there were many wounded, both human and Keidran. She didn't care which side they were on. If they needed medical attention, they got it. Cuts, punctures, slashes, claw marks, bruises, burns, she treated them all. "Someone hold him!" She reached into her bag for a knife, and Sythe ran over to hold down a man with an arrow in his stomach. "This will hurt like nothing you've ever felt before, but I have to get the arrowhead out, got it?" The man nodded, and clenched his fist. A scream filled the air, and a quick cut later, the arrow was out. Sythe had practically laid on top of the man as he thrashed and tried to move out of instinct. She quickly tossed it to the side, and got out her needle and thread. "I don't have time to give you any numbing salve, so you're just going to have to fight through the pain." As quickly as she could, she worked to sew his stomach back closed, though the man howled in pain, she didn't stop. She was focused, and a minute later, she snipped the thread, handing Sythe a cloth. "Stay with him, and don't let him move until I get back. I want to check in on him before he gets up, that thread won't hold forever." Her hands were covered in blood, muck, and bile. She needed to clean off, so she stood up, wiped the sweat off her brow and called for more water. Sighing, she turned.

And froze.

It was him.

He was here.

And he was coming for her.