- Aftermath

The courtyard was marked by the battle.

Where the portal had opened now existed a tear in reality, etched into the floor as a permanent mark of the events that occurred.

The ritual site, too, was gone. In its place lay charred flooring and the mangled corpses of the cultists.

The fluid the creature attacked Marcus with had hit a section of the fort. The section no longer existed, being rapidly eaten away by the attack.

"Lox, you alright!?" Marcus called over to her as he rushed to Roxy's unconscious body.

"Yeah, I'm good," she responded, shakily rising to her feet. "That attack took a lot out of me. You know I've always had low Magia stamina."

He knelt down next to Roxy and placed two fingers on her neck. Once he felt a pulse he put a hand in front of her face.

'Her breath feels stable, but a little fast. It must be Magia fatigue, same as Lox.'

"Tess, give Elanor a hand. We'll take them upstairs," he said, picking up the unconscious girl.

"It's okay, I can manage," Elanor said, waving Tess away.

Marcus, with help from Tess, carried Roxy up the stairs to the rooms and put her in one of the beds.

He closed the door behind him as he left.

"Do me a favour," he began, talking to Tess. "I'm going to get the carriage and bring it back. Can you keep an eye on her? She should be fine after a rest but I want to be sure."

"The carriage? Why?"

"Insurance. I'm not carrying either of them," he said as he walked towards the stairs.

"Carrying them where?!" she shouted after him as he disappeared down the stairs, receiving no answer.

Entering the open air, Marcus snapped his fingers and generated a gust that took him over the wall of the fort. As he travelled, he allowed himself to get lost in his thoughts.

The battle was his fault. The injuries any of his group suffered were his fault. The fatigue caused to Elanor and Roxy was his fault. He had made a silent promise that they would help him, but only he would be affected, yet he had somehow managed to mess up that simple oath.

'I've cracked four elements. What's another one?'

He reasoned that if Fire was about... well, fire, and Earth was about elements found in the ground, and air was about manipulating both the structure and makeup of air, then why wouldn't light magic follow logical rules and do good by helping people?

If he truly wished to protect the people he cared about, he would have to learn it for situations like this.

'Elanor has the light element, so I'll have to ask her about its properties.'

His thoughts carried him far, until he almost ran directly into the two-man patrol they had encountered on their journey to the fort.

A sharp spike slammed through his shoulder, punishing him for his absent-mindedness.

He made a loud noise through his clenched teeth as he wrenched the spike out.

*Snap.*

*Snap.*

*Snap.*

He launched a barrage of attacks, using Fire, Air and Lightning. His merciless retaliation succeeded, flaying their skin and eviscerating their bodies.

As he continued along the path to the carriage he snapped, willing flame into his hand. He pressed the flame into the wound, wincing as a result of the heat-induced pain.

Shortly, he arrived at the carriage. He was pleased to see that it was just as they had left it.

He quickly boarded it and rode it back to the fort.

On his journey back, he noticed the surroundings more than he had previously. The area surrounding the fort had also fallen victim to the appearance of the creature inside.

Vegetation was tinted a sickly shade. Wildlife, previously unseen, now painted the floor with bile, blood and feces. Thankfully the horses that pulled the carriage must have fallen outside of the range of the blight, since they pulled the carriage as normal.

Even a tempestuous force like the water offshore was affected, falling silent out of sympathy and respect of the suffering happening nearby.

Approaching the gate, he snapped his fingers. A gust of air appeared, slamming the gate open.

He guided the horses through the courtyard, allowing them to take shelter under the alcoves of the fort.

Once stopped, he leapt out and rushed up the stairs.

"Everything okay here?" he asked Tess as he got to the corridor.

"Yeah, they're both fine. No change, they're just sleeping," she responded, stifling a yawn.

"You should get some rest too," he noted. "I can look after her."

"Them," she corrected. "I get that you've known Elanor since you're a child, but Roxanne is your friend too. You should, I don't know, show a little less favouritism sometimes. I think that's what caused the outburst earlier."

"No, her. Elanor said she's fine. I'm not worried about her. Roxy hasn't waken up since then, so she's my priority."

"Alright, see you in the morning then."

Marcus entered the room and sat on the floor next to the bed. He allowed his mind to wander and thought back to the battle.

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The first thing Roxy saw as she woke was a bright ray of sunlight peeking through the closed window. Groggy and confused, she looked around at her surroundings.

She was in one of the rooms they had seen in the upper floor of the fort. How or why, she had no idea.

She sat up and noticed Marcus's head leaning on the mattress next to her. She unsuccessfully tried to get out of the bed without disturbing him.

"Oh, hey, you're awake," he asked before yawning.

"What happened?" Roxy asked, the cloud of confusion still not gone.

"I was hoping you could tell me. I take it you remember the creature that appeared?"

"Faintly. There was a loud noise right? Then we went outside and it was there? I don't remember much after that."

"Okay. Anything feel off?" he asked, rising to his feet.

"No, I feel fine."

"Sounds like it was just Magia fatigue after all. Come on," he said, offering her a hand.

"Where are we going?" she asked as she took his hand.

He pulled her in close and locked her in a surprising embrace. Roxy's breath caught in her throat, surprised by the gesture.

"For what it's worth, I'm glad you're okay."

"To answer your question," he said, moving to the door, "we're going south."