A hand caught the back of his shirt and pulled him back. Bits and pieces of spiderweb clung onto his legs and arms, but Ava was quick to cut them off as she led him out. Lochlan followed with unsteady steps, aided by Sarah as soon as they were out of the narrow, smoke filled hallway.

  “Out, out, out!” Sarah said between coughs, pushing everyone out the doorway. The web covering the whole front of the building was still there, but there was a large enough gap to narrowly walk through. As smoke rose from the spire, they passed through the gap and hurried away a little to try and put a bit of a distance between them and the burning building.

  Lochlan collapsed after a few steps. His arm was bleeding still. The mana core slipped through his fingers.

  “Clara!” Jason called her as he knelt by the young man. “Hang in there, mate.” He turned him on his back, revealing his wound for her as Clara rushed over. She hovered her palms above his wound.

  “Are you alright?” Sarah grabbed him by the shoulders. “Alaric, what the hell happened in there?” Her brows were furrowed, and her forehead scrunched up with worry. “Did you get hurt?”

  “I’m fine,” he pointed at the web around his left arm and torso. “Mind cutting this though? I’d like to be able to use both my arms.”

  Relief flashed across her face as she pulled out a small knife and began trying to cut the sticky web. “We’ll need new clothes,” she mumbled. “Everyone’s clothes have begun falling apart. It’s warm now, but if it starts getting colder we’ll be in trouble.”

  She wasn’t wrong. I’ll figure something out. Not now though. He was too tired, too exhausted, and too frightened still to try and figure out where to get new clothes from. “Yeah.” He mumbled.

  Lochlan remained weak after Clara finished healing him. He had lost a lot of blood, and it seemed she simply couldn’t replace that.

  Something about that seemed wrong to him, but he was too exhausted to try and figure out what. “Lead us back to camp…” he mumbled at Luna and Sol. The wolves let out small howls before one ran ahead, and the other matched its pace with the group.

  “What will we do about this?” Victoria asked as they set off. She was holding the mana core in her hands.

  “Smash it.” Ava snatched it and placed it on the ground. “Can you somehow cleanse it?”

  Victoria shook her head. “No. It’s not something I can do. I’m sure of it now.” She turned her gaze to Alaric. “But I do have an idea. Can we bring it back to camp?”

  Ava seemed hesitant. “What if damages the hallowed ground somehow?”

  “We don’t need to take it that close. Just somewhere we can reach tomorrow morning.” Victoria picked it back up. “Lochlan and Alaric nearly died, and there is still one more nesting spire we haven’t gone to yet. I think we need to plan properly – and take some time to figure out how cleansing works.”

  Clara narrowed her eyes. “Smashing it is good enough. We shouldn’t take any unnecessary risks.”

  “We can’t not do anything.”

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “We are doing something!” Clara retorted. “Look, three out of four spires are finished! We’re all alive. Why do you want to risk that?”

  “I’m suggesting something relatively safe. The system gave us the option to cleanse these.” She tapped on the crimson crystal. “They are filled to the brim with power. Imagine if we could harness it, use it to defend ourselves!”

  “We?” Clara scoffed. “You’re the only one capable of magic here, so you just want more power?” She shook her head in anger. “Is that why you’re clinging to my brother?”

  Victoria’s lips parted with surprise. “What?”

  “Clara!” His voice was louder than he intended. “Those are ugly accusations, and ridiculous too since you literally just healed Lochlan. If that’s not magic, I don’t know what is.”

  Clara clenched her fist. “I’m not-“

  “I’m not going to argue with either of you.” He cut her off. “The mana core isn’t coming near the Hallowed Ground. We know for a fact their corruption can and will damage it. You do not have time until tomorrow – you have time until dusk. Then I’ll smash it. We can’t risk losing the only safe place we have.”

  Blood rushed to Victoria’s face. “Dusk is fine. I’ll figure it out till then.”

  “Good.” He turned his gaze towards Clara. “You know why I’m upset, don’t you?” He watched her lips part, then she quickly decided to stay silent. “We’re likely the last couple dozen people left. I hope not, but it’s possible. Is this what you want your relationship with one of the three people the same age of you to be like? Accusatory and ugly?” He shook his head. “I don’t think so. So be civil. Victoria isn’t clinging to me – she’s trying to help, just like you are. Just like Ava is, and Just like everyone who came here is.” He would have said more, but his throat was dry from inhaling all the smoke, and his lungs still hurt. He coughed a few times, then turned around and marched off after Luna.

  I’m too tired for this. He refused to put any more thought into that ridiculous fight.

  The relatively short journey to the camp mostly passed in complete silence. It was somewhat awkward, probably more to for the girls. Victoria only spoke up once, as she hid the mana core under a tree about twenty minutes away from the Hallowed Ground.

  “I’ll smash it at dusk if I can’t figure this out. I promise.” She said before marching off with hasty steps.

  Their return to camp was celebrated, albeit it was quite clear no one in the group was in the mood for it. After a few congratulations and thanks, Alaric retired into the church, lay down on his cloak and closed his eyes. He was too tired, and still too disgusted by the smell of the burning spider to even consider eating.

  His sleep was restless. He tossed and turned and eventually got up a few hours later. He’d rather deal with his waking nightmare than his sleeping ones.

  The church was quiet and empty aside from the few others who were simply too exhausted or too unwell to do much else. He spotted Lochlan lying next to Luna, hugging her as he slept. He was wrapped in his cloak, and a second cloak had been put over the first.

  He must have been cold. The young man had lost a lot of blood, and even after Clara’s healing, he seemed unwell. As he stepped out of the church, Luna woke up. Her ears perked up, and tail wagged a little, but she remained where she was, guarding and providing much needed warmth to Lochlan.

  Sol was seated outside the church, next to the cavalry spikes.

  “You didn’t sleep a lot.” Elizabeth was sitting next to Sol, scratching the back of his ears. “Are you ok?”

  He smiled upon seeing them. Sol’s tail was lazily wagging as his eyes were half closed. The wolf was clearly enjoying those scratches. “I’m fine,” he stretched his arms. A cool wind blew against him. He shivered a little. “When did it get so cold?”

  Elizabeth shrugged. “Right? It’s quite cold. I hope it doesn’t get colder during the night.” She scowled.

  “Yeah…” They didn’t have much in the name of warm clothes. In fact, all they had were a couple dozen cloaks. Fur-lined cloaks, yes, but cloaks, nonetheless. I’ll need to figure something out. His smile gone, he walked past Elizabeth, greeted Robert who was sitting on the boulder, and marched towards the edge of the Hallowed Ground.

  The spire was clearly visible in the distance. It was quite far away, and the fog laden silhouette of the city behind it made it feel much more dangerous than before. He squinted, trying to see better. What were those shapes in the fog? Fairford had no towers or tall buildings – it used to be a small market town, mostly made up of townhouses and crafts shops.

  How much did my home change?