Everything ached.

No, that wasn’t true. Only Jelvaic’s right eye socket hurt but the pain was so immense that it seemed to fill his whole body. The usual aches and pains inherent with being a farmer were gone now, thanks to the surge of healing everyone experienced, leaving him with the pain in his empty eye socket. At least it was just the one eye. There were hundreds who were less fortunate than he him.

As Jelvaic turned over on his makeshift cot, the memories of the day before came back to him. He couldn’t believe it, but there was no denying what had happened.

“I hope every last one of them got blasted by Akumu,” he growled as he sat up and began getting ready for the day. He had no time to waste on himself. There were thousands of people, refugees, really, that he was trying to organize, and countless more still trapped inside the city.

He almost forgot his eye patch before stepping out of his tent. He was almost tempted to leave it behind but there were children about and he didn’t need to add to their distress. The morning itself was fine. The air was still warm, being early summer, so thankfully there wasn’t any threat of people freezing to death due to lack of blankets.

“Arjana,” he called as he stopped at the tent beside his own.

A tall woman with sharp eyes and even sharper teeth poked her head out of the tent flap.

“I’ll be out in a moment,” her voice was harsh but not unkind, a trait common among her kind. Children of people who’d mixed with fiends.

Jelvaic waited and when Arjana finally did step out she was wearing her armor and had a sword strapped to her side.

“How’s the eye?” she asked.

“Gone and not coming back,” Jelvaic grunted. “We need to organize search parties to go into the city,” he went on as the two of them began marching through the camp. “We’ll need food, supplies, and figure out why the city is hostile.”

They’d found out right away that the city’s defenses were reacting erratically, sometimes ignoring people, sometimes attacking them without provocation.

“Most people here have never had to fight,” Arjana pointed out. “It’s going to be slim pickings for people who can both scout and defend themselves.”

Jelvaic nodded as he held up a list of names he’d spent the previous day making, interviewing the survivors and figuring out their skills in order to best utilize them and get everyone organized.

“I have a few people who might work,” he said as he handed the sheet over to Arjana. “The ones with a dot by their name.”

“Have any of them ever worked together?”

Jelvaic shook his head.

“It’s a risk, throwing people together like this,” she pointed out.

“We don’t have have much choice, do we?” Jelvaic asked. “People are already hungry. Soon they’ll become desperate.”

They were making their way to a large pavilion they’d erected the day before as a sort of central hub for information and coordination. A few scribes were already there along with a number of people ready with their complaints or questions. Behind the pavilion was the medical tent where the newly blind were being treated by the few healers among them.

“I’ve heard grumblings by a few people,” Arjana spoke in a whisper, “they seem to want to blame the blind for our situation. They think it’s a punishment from Akumu. Lack of faith.”

“Post a guard in the medical tent,” Jelvaic replied. “Find out who’s spreading those rumors and shut them up.”

Arjana nodded and they entered the pavilion. Jelvaic looked around at the gathered crowd and was relieved to note that most of them were the people he’d asked to meet him here this morning. Many of them were murmuring already as they eyed him and Arjana.

“Alright, first things first,” he called out, quieting the crowd. “Those of you who’re here by my invitation, step over there. I’ll be with you in a moment. The rest of you, form a line and you’ll be seen by Arjana.”

The crowd filtered themselves as directed and Jelvaic nodded to Arjana who had the unpleasant job today of dealing with the general populace.

“Alright,” Jelvaic said in a quieter voice as he faced the people he’d identified the day before as having potential. “What I’m going to ask of you is dangerous and might get some of you killed but it’s a job we need doing. If you’re unwilling to risk yourself for our people then you’re free to leave but I won’t be spending any more resources on you either. You’ll be free to leave and that’s about it. It’s harsh but we need everyone to do what they can or we’ll all be dead by end of Summer. Now then, I’m putting you together in small groups and sending you into the city. We need supplies, food, tools, animals, you name it. There’s also bound to be survivors in the city who’ll need an escort out of the city. The problem is, the city’s defenses are unpredictable and undead have attacked everyone we’ve sent in that got noticed by them. Once we’ve got enough supplies to keep us going out here, then we can focus on figuring out what’s wrong with the city and see about fixing it, if we even can.”

A man wearing the robes of the soul tithe raised his hand. Jelvaic suppress the scowl he wanted to wear and instead nodded to the man.

“Has Akumu contacted anyone yet about why he’s doing all this?”

“Right now,” Jelvaic chose his words carefully since he knew there was more than just this one man who was a devout believer in Akumu within earshot of this conversation, “we’re having to do the best we can on our own.”

He wanted to add in that he was pretty confident that the army had succeeded in killing Akumu, but saying it out loud was a sure fire way to incite some very angry people. A few more seconds passed and no one else seemed to have any more questions so he went on.

“Yesterday’s scouts found undead wandering about, aimless, but they attacked if the scouts got too close. So keep an eye out for them and keep your distance. The more intelligent guards like the fiends and elementals haven’t been seen at all so I don’t know what you can expect if you run into any of them. I’d assume they will be aggressive but if not maybe they can help guard you. Keep an eye out for Tomodachi and Nyla, as neither have been seen since the attack and if either of them survived they’d be a great asset. Now, here are your groups.”

He put a sheet of parchment to one of the poles supporting the pavilion and pressed a tack into it to hold it up.

“Each group is numbered so organize yourselves around here in order.”

The people shuffled around, taking turns to find their names on the list and figure out which group they were with. After a few minutes they were sorted and Jelvaic assigned them their sections of Autay Wa to search.

“Again, we need supplies. If you find anything we can use, bring it back with you. If you find a cart, take it and use it. At the very least you’ll each be given a bag of holding so you can bring back as much as possible. If you need a weapon or something before heading in, go see the merchant Jerlinzia. She’s got a small trading stall set up north of this pavilion and has agreed to donate any wares she has to the cause, within reason. Don’t get greedy. She’s not the only merchant who made it out of the city with useful goods but she is the only one who volunteered her stock to help out.”

“Just so I understand,” someone spoke up, “you want us to go into the city, where Akumu’s undead are no longer under his control, and you expect any of us to survive long enough to bring back enough stuff to support this many people? And you want us to play guard for survivors in the city? You’re insane.”

“Go talk to Arjana, then,” Jelvaic glared, “and she’ll get you three day’s worth of rations and you’re welcome to leave.”

For a moment, no one moved, and then several people shuffled away and joined the queue around Arjana.

“Right, we’ll combine groups to make up for those who’re leaving.”

Jelvaic pointed and sorted them out quickly before pointing off towards the city.

“Alright, off you go. Be back before night if you can but make sure you take at least two day’s worth of supplies with you.

Those who were willing to go into the city nodded and walked off to collect their things. Jelvaic hoped he’d see them all again but knew several would likely find only their death within the city, just like the scouts they’d sent in previously. It was a harsh reality but one he couldn’t see any way of avoiding. As he was musing over the situation, someone painfully familiar to him approached, skipping the line around Arjana.

“Damarys,” he said with only small attempt at hiding his impatience, “what can I do for you?”

“I should be in one of the groups heading into the city!”

“You’re injured,” he nodded to the bandaged stump that was all that remained of her left arm, missing from just above the elbow. “If your group runs into trouble, what could you do?”

“I’m a hunter,” she stated firmly. “I know how to avoid being seen. I can help, please! You just sent a dozen people away because they wouldn’t risk their lives but here I am willing to go and you won’t let me?”

She had a point. She also had a number of other bandages concealing several other injuries to her body that were still healing. Apparently she’d run into a bear on her way back to Yomichi and it had continued to maul her even after the burst of healing. She was lucky to be alive, even so, and the bag of holding she’d brought back, filled with meat, was one of the main reasons the camp wouldn’t be starving for a while at least.

“Let me talk to your healer,” Jelvaic finally conceded.

Together they walked over to the medical tent and found the healer who’d been assigned to care for Damarys.

“Damarys here wants to go into the city to help with the search,” Jelvaic explained. “I’m concerned she’ll reopen her wounds and become a liability to her team.”

“That shouldn’t be an issue,” the healer admitted though their expression was one of grave concern. “The majority of her injuries have healed sufficiently to no longer be that fragile.”

“Could she run if she needed?”

The healer vacillated for a moment before admitting that, yes, Damarys would be able to run without undue risk to herself.

“Even with her missing arm,” they said, “her gait shouldn’t be too affected.”

“There, see?” Damarys gestured with her remaining arm.

Jelvaic still didn’t like it but he couldn’t deny her skill and the value she’d bring to any team she joined.

“Fine,” he grumbled. “I’ll let you go. Come on, I already know which team you’ll be best suited for.”

Damarys knew better than to hug Jelvaic and together they left the healer’s tent.

“If you die in there,” Jelvaic whispered under his breath, “Your mother will kill me.”

“I’m sure you’ll survive, grandfather,” Damarys shrugged. “You’re too tough to die that easily.”

“Yeah, well, I just might let her since I’d blame myself as well for letting you go in there with only one arm and defenseless.”

“I’m not defenseless,” she insisted and patted a leather sling at her hip.

“Your true skill is with the bow and you know it.”

“I killed the bear with this sling,” she pointed out and Jelvaic had no other retorts to make.

Besides, they’d reached the team he wanted Damarys to join.

“You three,” he barked and the nervous team jumped in surprise. “I’m giving you another member for your team. This is Damarys and she’s an expert hunter. She’ll help you avoid the undead as much as possible. She’s not bad in a ranged fight, either, even with her one arm gone.”

With that, he nodded and left them to work out the rest of their introductions. He needed to go find his daughter and explain what may or may not happen and prepare her for the worst.