Hiro watched in horror from behind the formation. He was part of their rear guard, or their replacement, more likely. Others passed him down the stairs and went to replace the dead. The great hillfort had become like an abattoir, for humans, Hiro thought. The beast came steadily up the stairs; it was almost at the third tier of the citadel, its highest level. Hiro hadn't been able to wield one of the heavy shields due to his weaker shoulder. Saga was beside him, beating back smaller enemies; The healer was behind them, trying to cast wards without any success. Saga took down a few younger runners with Hiro. His arm and side were bleeding badly; he'd been helped by another healer, who had fled back up toward the keep.

  Hiro watched the other healer, this one a woman, try to use more combative spells. Only a vapor formed when she attempted to use the scepter. There was a brief moment of hope after five attempts, for a blast of violet light shot out of the scepter and enveloped the area. Something seemed to happen, as the runner shuddered and quailed, as though wounded by the spell. It gave the remaining defenders, or those at the head of the formation, a final chance. They drove forth and tried to strike the intimidated beast everywhere they could reach, with all the effort could muster.

  Finally, the enemy creature fell, crumpled to the ground with blood pouring from its side, and gave a melodic, defeated gasp. It was as though their enemy was calling for aid, but no others came. The younger Runners were falling back. Then, as though in response, a loud horn-call rang out from somewhere in the darkness.

  Whether in the city or not, it bellowed, and did not stop for nearly a full minute. Hiro covered his ears, which did nothing to shield him from the horrific sound. There was no telling when it would end. To Hiro – and the others, when it did stop and he asked them about the sound – it felt as though the sound came from within his own mind, as if it were a hallucination.

  He might have been told it was very close to the truth, if he'd suggested the theory to a lore master. Hiro stood up and aided the healer, who'd collapsed, groaning in pain. There was blood and vomit on her face; she wiped it off quickly. “What are you called, anyway – your name, I mean?”

  “I-Iren, or Irynien, to be more formal,” she said. “It's 'child of the forest', I'm told. Of course it was always a reason to make fun of me. Often, it is shortened to 'Iren'. Iren alone means. . .well―.”

  “It means 'tree'. I know.” Hiro scowled. He'd been a target of bullying himself. “I won't. We need to find a place to rest, and I've got extra ration packs in my bag, if you'll help me attend to the others. Now, I did not like the sound of the horn call we heard. It must have been close, for it to be so loud in my ears. I only hope we can break the siege. What else could they send, but the giant?”

  Irynien said nothing. She didn't hear the conversation between Rieth and the lore-master he'd met, and Hiro was not in any hurry to explain what he meant.

  Where did the old man even go! Must have fled after all, by some secret passage. I do not blame him.

  The guildsmen were satisfied with Hiro's extra ration pouches, even happy, despite their frequent disgust at having to eat them at other times. It was not long before he knew many of their names, and was relieved, learning most had superficial wounds, but he still felt pangs of worry. What was coming, he wondered – and were the others safe?

  He did not have long to wait. Another horn-call came quickly – a real one. It was a signal to retreat.

  “Retreat?” yelled Saga, when he was told what it meant. His anger was a shared feeling among the others. Hiro was offended by the call, also, despite his continued annoyance at being told to remain. “After all the deaths? We can leave!”

  The others agreed, but an officer in black armor came up and ordered them to relocate to the northern section of the citadel. They'd be going closer to the ramp Rieth and his officers used. Hiro became lost in thought for a moment, almost getting left behind.

  Wait, did the coward leave out of fear – and use an excuse to get away? Or. . .did he really have a sortie to launch? I wonder, but it does not matter now, maybe.

  Hiro ran, and caught up to Iren, and Saga, and continued moving towards the other side of the hill. They were actually being led toward the base of the citadel, he wasn't mistaken after all. The fog was lower to the ground level, it wasn't rising as fast here; twice Hiro had to stop thinking it might have had a will of its own. It was only a stupid fog, he thought to himself. As they walked down the ramp – with Saga remarking on his wish for another set of stairs, as the path was rather steep on foot – Hiro saw something move in the fog. It was a line of curiously dressed people walking past them single file, in rather formal attire, but there was armor upon these people as well. These newcomers were wearing flowing robes decorated with chains of gold, and wore jewelry, and most had battle helmets. He was finally seeing the Watchers who guarded the council.

  The councilmen who had also escaped the battle. But why are their protectors here with us, instead of being with them, Hiro wondered.

  The watchers strode up the ramp with their long staffs of willow wood, which Hiro saw had gleaming emeralds on top. One was a woman of great age, he saw when Iren pointed her out. She blushed when the Watcher chuckled at her excited reaction, and Iren continued down the ramp with Hiro.

  “She was my sister's teacher. If she's here – they're desperate, after all, Iren.”

  From the head of the column, the officer yelled out. “Shut your mouth, guildsman! Get moving.”

  Hiro snarled and kept moving. He had already made up his mind to desert if he could, and wondered if it made him a hypocrite. The black-armored, and pompous, officers could deal with the siege on their own.

  The bastard better not run off like Rieth – if it's between life and death. He can die in battle like me.

  Iren nudged him and handed him an open ration pack. He ate in silence, remembering half-way through eating it, to offer some to Saga, and gave the man the rest – he'd eaten two full packs, already. Still, Hiro thought he should tell them his plan to run off if the fighting got too desperate. He didn't want to see anymore people die.

  I'm not losing anyone else I've met – these officers had better not run and leave us to die. I'll kill 'em myself, if I ever see them again afterwards.

  Another horn call broke him out of his brooding reverie: two short blasts, followed by a third. The officer raised a hand with a blue flag in it – or, at least it looked blue, in the light of the damaged spell-lanterns. Hiro coughed from the fog twice, but drew his blade out of habit. Iren still had her scepter, and brandished it, twirling it around casually, like a baton.

  Hiro whispered to her, his eyes on the officer. “Did you ever take part in the festival parades?”

  “Hm? No – too many rules and regulations. I only mimicked one of the routines I've seen in them! Maybe it will help – might try to use it with spells, come up with my own techniques. Thank you for the idea. Farmer, right?”

  Hiro groaned. Calling him a farmer had become too much of a habit for people. “I own one. Never mind – looks like they're moving us.”

  Indeed, they were. Hiro felt the nausea again. Another rumble shook the ground, and loud sounds of crashing structures came to him carried on the wind. They could have come from anywhere. Above him, there was a sudden, radiant violet light, but it was causing him such pain he clutched his stomach and doubled over, Iren helping him get away.

  The officer jogged over and helped him as well, surprisingly. 'Got to get you lot down the hillside, young ones. Onto the arena grounds – anyone else. Anyone else suffering from this, go too. This – this is new. The Enemy's doing something to our people from afar.”

  Hiro agreed with the theory. Saga stayed behind, but Irynien kept with him, and others were following. “What is causing this – Iren, you're a healer, why am I feeling so bad, now? Why are we being affected?”

  She shook her head, and said nothing. Her face crumpled. “I don't know,” she said after a while. “I'm not, and I think it's from whatever caused the flashes of light – did you see the lightning?”

  “No. No I didn't.”

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  The healer sighed. “Just as well. It's started, I suppose. We are nothing but trainees, really. The real battle has started. We're out of our depths, here.”

  Hiro looked up, wondering what Iren meant by lightning – the rain falling on them was getting worse, but maybe it had to do with the blasts made by the traps aiding them earlier.

  “My friend used lightning spells, too. I wonder if. . . maybe the lady we passed had something to do with it. I do not know her well, but every time she came to see my sister, he would come with her. His name was Shiden.”

  “Wait a moment – was?”

  Hiro was shocked. He shook his head vigorously. “No – not was. I do not know why I misspoke. Fear, of course, but. . .well, he's in the city, somewhere. He can't be dead. He might even come here. I only meant – he has ties to the Watchers.”

  Iren smiled at him and nodded. “Then they might have taught him their spells.”

  Hiro was somewhat uplifted by her enthusiasm, but most of the city was still dark, and he could see fires on the horizon. They were near the back of the citadel grounds, and left once the officer came back from issuing orders to the remaining guildsmen. He looked at them all, and sent them ahead to the grounds outside the hill. Saga and the others did not follow him down the ramp.

  They must have been ordered to aid the Watchers, Hiro thought.

  'They were, farmer.'

  It came quickly: one whispered sentence. Hiro wasn't sure he'd actually heard it, so it had to be like a thought in his mind. He stared across the city in shock. It wasn't his though, it was clearly a statement to Hiro, and it almost sounded like a woman's voice was responding to him. It wasn't possible – he knew it wasn't. It was vexing, exactly like something out of a storybook. Iren was silent, clutching her scepter to her chest. He'd have gone mad, if he hadn't known how tired and desperate he was to escape death.

  The voice did not speak again, and Hiro put it out of his mind. He stood up with the others, and in single file, they marched down the hillside toward the arena he'd last seen up close a year earlier. Pride swelled in his heart. He was heading toward known territory. He'd defend his home, for real this time. Hiro would have a story to tell his friends and family when he met them again, and he would not suffer the same fate as. . . .

  No. I won't think of Baron's Respite, especially not – that day. I know I watched the man who destroyed it get killed. Master Aurien shot him, he said. Personally. Up close! Cinar Raiya – the man who slew Da, and so many others. But why are these thoughts coming to me – is it the dratted Fog?

  Then it happened again – he vomited on to the stonework under his feet. He was unsteady, but recovered quickly and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. Another result of the many spells cast in his vicinity, perhaps.

  “Someone give me a sword if you find one.”

  Hiro finally received a new weapon from an officer who had heard him, once he and the other guild members reached the yard outside the arena. He shoved his knife back in its sheath on his belt, and drew the sword. He replaced the empty sheath on his belt with the new one. There was an awful lot of screeching around him, and he only noticed it when he reached the center of the yard. There were more runners to kill. They came like a wave breaking on the shores of the city's vast lake. Brutal and cunning they were, and they smelled bad, like the water processing teams did after a long shift. Hiro waited for the runners to come to him. Those who came down here were bait – he understood now, and was angered by it.

  “Stay back here, and wait to cast spells when you get the chance.”

  He seized Iren by the shoulder and pushed her behind him. She nodded at him, her face reddened, clearly affected by his unusual care for one of the city's often maligned spellcasters. The chance came. Runners came bearing down on them shortly after. There were more shield bearers ahead of them, and Irynien had recovered slightly. She cast a few spells, a ward and two offensive spells. Several more spherical projectiles came shooting out of the end of her scepter. Iren's rank two blasts were enough to cause the death of numerous enemies coming in the open gateway. The projectiles went soaring ahead and slammed down onto the swarming foes, and several fell to the side burning to death. Most of the runners were stopped by her spells, but the next wave came and Hiro had a hard time driving them back from the wall around the arena.

  “They really are stupid, this lot!”

  After making this remark, for whatever reason, a recruit was suddenly set upon by two runners. The recruit was mauled by the remaining foe after being able to kill one.

  Hiro swiped his sword at the enemy left before him, and to his surprise, a red glow ran down his blade. As it made contact with the runner, the enemy's flesh was seared, and the heat passed by, striking several other runners. These were not killed as the first one was, but the spell drew their attention. Hiro ducked beneath the long arm his enemy swept at him, and cut upward, slashing the bare back of the foul creation. He brought his sword back around and tried to cut his next enemy – but the second one was targeting Iren and went running toward her quickly. However, she was quicker, and more skilled. Iren thrust her scepter at it, the end hit the runner in the chest, and a blast spell obliterated its torso.

  Hiro saw the projectile from Iren's spell as it was emitted from the end of the scepter, as the weapon touched her foe. He lunged at more runners in the meantime. The mass of enemies thinned out, and yet more runners came upon them. Other guildsmen were nearer, and took them on with varying levels of success. The shield wall was still being maintained. Their accompanying officer was still with them, and was wielding a great two-handed sword he was slaying enemies with. Hiro had almost forgotten about him. The man's helmet had fallen off and his long, receding brown hair was flowing wildly in the strong winds.

  The villa owner felt a wave of relief come over him. Irynien had used another healing spell. Hiro knew his shoulder, injured so very long ago, had been restored. He almost cried, but it had been as though he'd never fallen prey to a lucky blow by a large champion he was matched up against unfairly.

  Iren, however, was spent. She tried to cast another healing ward. Hiro went to her aid, but he was not quick enough. The runner was larger, and its body had already started to change and warp by whatever devilry had taken over its mind. The large hand swiped and slashed Irynien across the throat. Warm arterial spray hit Hiro in the face. The only word that came to him, over and over, was 'no'. He said it each time he struck the runner, even as it died. Hiro was done. He'd had enough of this fight. The healer's last act was to save her new companion, rather than save herself. Hiro cut and hacked through thick neck muscle, and took the head of his enemy.

  He checked Iren anyway. Her wound was not superficial – but his eyes deceived him. It was slowly recovering. It could not be happening – and yet, it was, right before his very eyes. Her blood loss would not have been reversed. It did not vanish the time Shiden had healed his arm. He kept watching, knelt. One hand was clutching at her neck. Iren was whimpering, and shaking terribly. Hiro had a tight hold on her other hand, or rather, she was gripping his hand tightly, it was almost hurting him. There were runners falling at the hand of other guildsmen. Hiro kept checking, but he cared little. The woman's wound was nearly healed completely. He could not explain it – but it was not enough to stop her weakness. He tried to help her sit up. She could, barely, leaning on him, clutching at him.

  Iren whispered, and Hiro could not understand. He heard only one of her words. “Up?” she might have said. He looked. There was nothing, at first. He checked the balconies around the arena wall. On one of them, there was what appeared to be a man in a blue cloak. Maybe a man, he could not tell, as the figure was armored and had a shimmering aspect around it, a luminous vapor. The figure could have been anyone – Hiro had never seen such attire before, but the figure walked into the balcony door, looked back once, and went away from it. It was on the fourth level, Hiro deduced from his quick count.

  When Hiro looked back in front of them in the yard, the guildsmen still had their stance in place. Those making up a shield wall were still there – the guildsmen were exchanging positions due to tiredness, but the defense held. Runners had stopped coming into the walled yard. Hiro gazed back at Iren. She was holding up well, or as well as could be; he motioned for her to stand, and helped her over to a wall where a few benches were placed for waiting visitors.

  “I do not even need to ask you – there's no way you've seen such a person before. He seemed familiar, however, and he was not one of the watchers.”

  “Your friend?”

  Hiro shook his head, but didn't respond otherwise. He didn't know who the stranger had been, even if they were helpful at the time. The figure was not Shiden Muiras. He'd never have worn such ostentatious attire; Hiro knew it couldn't be anyway – or the spellcaster would have come down to help against the runners. The figure's clothing reminded Hiro of the Watchers he'd glimpsed, but they were all needed atop the hill. 'Why was this person in the arena?' Hiro wondered. It was a mystery to think about later, he decided.

  “Not a chance – he'd have come down to us already.”

  Irynien had lost quite a lot of blood, but the two allies were more concerned about the beast's claw-like nails.

  “Poison, maybe toxic. Infection.” She took a vial from her belt and drank most of its contents. “Disgusting, wasn't it? This? Saw you drink one earlier.” She gestured to the vial, and offered Hiro the rest.

  He took it, and drank, not wiping the mouth of it to avoid offending the healer. He retched however. It truly was vile, almost like blood. He tasted metal, maybe. “Very. You have another?”

  She shook her head and spoke hoarsely. “Last – last one. Don't get hurt again if you can avoid it. My scepter – look.”

  Hiro did. It had broken, cut cleanly through when she'd held it up to defend against the runner's sharp nails. He was saddened by it almost, wondering if he'd cracked up – he also wondered if she could still cast spells.

  As if she knew what he was thinking, Iren replied. “My rings, and the bracelet – they'll help; the scepter only makes it easier to cast spells, it's not necessary.”

  'So you've seen the Specter, too. . .very interesting, farmboy. We shall meet soon enough.'

  Hiro looked up again. There was nothing on the balcony.

  'Maybe the figure was a woman,' he thought.

  He said nothing to Iren about the voice he'd heard twice now. He was sure now, quite sure, he'd heard another voice in his head, and it wasn't his. Someone was clearly trying to speak to him from afar, that much he did know.