Chapter 41 part 3

"You okay over there, Beth?" Tim asked suddenly. "I would have thought you'd have gotten up already."

"Wish I could," Beth groused. "My body aches all over. It's too painful to sit up at the moment."

"Oooh, shit," Time said after he was silent a moment.

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly," Beth said, wishing that would be enough to get her back to being well again.

"How bad was Amelia hurt?" Tim asked. "I wanted to ask last night, but it was clear you weren't in any shape to answer that."

Beth sighed and closed her eyes. "My guess is worse than I had thought. All I saw was that she was bleeding into her brain and I used my magic to fix that. Then all I can say is after that, the world was spinning around me and I couldn't tell if I fell on my face or back."

"You fell on your back," Tim assured her.

"Thanks," Beth grumbled, not sure if she should consider that a good thing or not. "Anyway, I couldn't move after that, then I stopped being able to hear clearly or even tell who was talking."

"Well, that certainly complicates things," Tim remarked.

"What does?" Hannah suddenly asked.

Beth opened her eyes again and could see Hannah sitting up carefully, using her good arm.

"What Beth just told me about what happened after she healed Amelia," Tim replied.

"Oh good, that means you can heal me right?" Hannah asked, though Bet got the feeling she wasn't as serious as she sounded about the matter.

"I could, but who's to say I wouldn't chip a nail?" Beth asked, trying to imitate the sound Hannah was giving, though with how she felt, she couldn't say how well she did at that.

"Wow, you sound awful," Hannah said. "Guess you really are doing worse than I am right now."

"Wouldn't be surprised," Beth remarked, looking away towards where she was pretty sure the village was, even though as far as she was aware, she'd been moved from where she had fallen, not that she could really remember which direction she'd fallen in, in the first place after she'd healed Amelia.

"Well, if you'd like, I think I could help you back to the village later and see if Wes and Ralph would be able to help with getting Amelia and Beth there as well," Tim suggested.

"Are you sure you want to leave me here and take Beth back?" Hannah asked, though Beth was pretty sure Hannah knew Tim was talking about taking her back first.

"Joking is fun and all, but I think now's not really the best time for it," Tim said calmly. "Besides, we'll need someone to go get our stuff at some point. I'd rather not leave our clothing, tents, sleeping bags, and other things just sitting there for anyone to come across."

"Yeah, that probably wouldn't be too good to just leave there," Hannah said.

"Why not see if Cinder and his siblings will head to the village to let Ralph and Wes know what happened?" Beth suggested. That way you can head off to get our things and since we're closer to there, I think, than the village, you should be able to get at least a few of the tents, even if you only brought one at a time."

"Making me the errand boy, huh?" Tim asked with a smile.

"You know, Beth makes a good point," Hannah said. "Though, it might be better to take Cinder with you first, and try to get everything in one trip, then leave Cinder here to keep an eye out for Beth and Amelia while you take me to the village, then bring Ralph and Wes here to help get Beth and Amelia to the village."

"Not a bad idea," Tim said, nodding at Hannah.

Beth merely sighed. She really didn't care whose idea they went with, just as long as they started to get it underway. The sooner they started, the sooner they'd all be at the village. Where maybe they could at least get a little bit of comfort, rather than just talking about it.

"Something wrong, Beth?" Hannah asked.

"Not really," Beth said, wishing there was so she could at least complain about it. At least aside from her aches. "Just wondering when we'll actually start doing any of that. I mean, it shouldn't take too long to get our stuff back, right?"

"Well, first we should get something to eat," Tim said. "It might not be a traditional breakfast, but it'll at least be better than going hungry. After all, they do say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day."

_

Embris opened her eyes as the sunlight started shining directly in them as it peeked through the leaves in the forest. She could feel Nymis and Rephis using her as a pillow as they slept. She didn't begrudge them their sleep, though she couldn't help but worry about what to give them to eat when they did wake up.

She hadn't been able to give them anything to eat the night before, much to her regret. She was sure that she'd be able to find something that they'd be able to eat, if she could get enough time before they woke up.

However, she also didn't want to disturb them from where they were. As she looked at them, she could see just how comfortable they were. Even if it made things a little more difficult for her.

The night before, after she had been sure that she'd lost their pursuers, she had led Nymis and Rephis into the forest of the lost, just to be sure that any pursuit wouldn't likely come across them while they slept. Even this far in made most people uneasy if they didn't have to enter the forest.

Even still, she hadn't slept very well, because she couldn't be sure that their pursuers were most people. As far as she knew, they had no fear of the Lost, but she couldn't get her two siblings very far before they had to rest. Not to mention that she could tell that she was at the end of her strength as well.

As she considered what to do, she yawned, wondering which direction she should take Nymis and Rephis in. The only family she could be sure was still alive and free. She knew she should probably go back, but she was afraid to.

Not afraid of the village or that she'd encounter the bandits who had attacked, but rather afraid of what she'd find. As far as she knew, the bandits had found a way to hurt or kill Flare and so might have killed or captured the rest of her family.

If she went back and that's what happened, then she wasn't sure how she'd be able to take it. Not to mention the fact that Nymis and Rephis would see it as well.

She looked at their faces, sleeping as peacefully as she'd ever seen then, scared of finding out that she wasn't up to the task of taking care of them in these circumstances. Yet, as as far as she knew, she was the only one who could.

Taking a deep breath and pulling her siblings closer to her, she looked around at the forest. The quiet solitude that used to comfort her, now feeling oppressive.

While she could forage and take care of Nymis and Rephis with what they found, she knew she wouldn't be able to get them shelter to keep dry from rain that could fall, nor could she treat them if they got sick.

For any of that, she'd need money, if only for the basic of basic supplies, and the only way she could think of that would be reliable at this time would be if she took the siblings of hers that she knew had survived the attack to a city and found the mercenaries guild hall.

Most cities had one, and she could offer her services as a guard, if nothing else. Her mother had told her that many young women did that, especially if they had someone that they needed to take care of under their sole responsibility.

While Embris couldn't expect much from this, she at least knew they'd be more helpful than some of the less more reliable ways of earning money that she knew of.

Yet, if she went to the nearest city that she knew of that had a guild, she couldn't be sure that the bandits wouldn't head there themselves, as that was also where the nearest slave market was. It wasn't the biggest around, but it was still well known.

Although, the alternative options weren't very appealing either. As those would be cities that would take much longer to arrive at. Cities she wasn't sure what conditions might be present.

Embris was pulled out of her thoughts as Nymis began to stir. Her sister opened her eyes and looked around. After a moment, she buried her face in Embris' shoulder, sobs starting to shake her body.

Embris wanted to say words of comfort to her sister, but she was sure that it wouldn't have that much of an effect. She was sure that her sister remembered what happened the day before and seeing them out here was a confirmation that the day before wasn't a terrible nightmare.

Embris wished she could make it so, but she knew that was far beyond her ability.

Then before she could think of anything to try and soothe the fears that Nymis had, Rephis began to stir. However, rather than have the same reaction as Nymis, he merely looked around then sighed.

"Embris?" he asked, his voice showing signs of him not having fully woken up. "When can we return home?"

Embris sighed. She didn't have a good answer for him, and she really doubted that the home they once knew would ever be somewhere they could return to. Especially with how she didn't think she could face what she feared would be there if they returned.

"We're not going home," she said, sitting up while holding Nymis against her and looking at her brother. "We're going to the next city and I'll sign up at the mercenary's guild so I can take care of both of you."

She hadn't been sure what to do up to that point, but as she spoke, she knew what course of action she had to take to care for what remained of her family. Even so, she still hoped she wasn't making a mistake with everything.

Rephis looked down, disappointment clear on his face.

"Sorry, but I can't be sure the bandits still aren't around the village," she continued after pausing for a moment to let him consider what she'd said. "So, we have to go on. Maybe some day we can return, but right now I need to focus on how I'm to take care of both of you. In order to do that, I need to get money so we can always have a place to stay, eat, and treat you if either of you get sick."

Rephis sighed, as he looked away. Then a moment later, her looked back at her and nodded, smiling. "Alright," he said. "I'll help you with Nymis."

Embris smiled at him and ruffled his hair for a moment. "First, let's see what we can find around here growing to eat," she told him. "If you find anything that you think might be good, bring it to me. I'll tell you if it's safe."

Rephis nodded and ran off, his face more alive than it had been since they had fled their house. She couldn't help but sigh as she watched him, hoping that this wouldn't be the last time she saw him so carefree.

Nymis' crying continued, but her sobs didn't cause her entire body to shake anymore, so Embris hoped that some of her words had calmed her down, even though she couldn't be sure. Though, she hoped that her sister would calm down enough so that she'd be able to forage for enough food for all of them without having to hold her all the time.

Yet, she knew that if she did let Nymis go right then, that it probably would make things worse for her sister. Although, one thing she was determined was that this would be the last time Nymis had to cry because she was so scared. No matter what came from what choices she made, especially if they were poor ones, she wasn't going to let her sister be this scared again.

Not if she could help it.

_

Once they got Beth, Hannah, and Amelia back to their 'camp,' near the smoking ruins of the 'safe' building that had finally stopped burning, Ralph felt that he could relax.

Some of the people who had survived the attack were able to move around on their won, including some of the adults. Which meant that it wasn't up to Ralph, Wes, and Tim to deal with every problem that came up. Such as where to get enough food to feed everyone.

The biggest concern Ralph had at the moment was the fact that Amelia still hadn't woken up. Beth had assured him that she'd healed Amelia and she wasn't in danger, but that didn't mean he couldn't still worry that something else might have gone wrong with Amelia.

Yet, despite that, it wasn't like he could do anything about it. Especially since he was hesitant to use any of his magic at the moment, just in case he'd used too much the day before.

He didn't think he had, but it wasn't like they had exact numbers to deal with. It was more like they had rough estimates to gauge how much magic they had to use. Especially when it came to overextending their use of magic.

Just like when running, they could push themselves past their limits, but it would come at a cost. Afterwards, they would have to take longer to recover than they would have otherwise. Then there's always the story Ralph could remember from ancient Greece about someone who ran to give a message that they'd won, only to die after he passed along the message because of how long he had to run in order to give the message.

As such, which he didn't feel like he'd overdone it with his magic, he wasn't sure that it worked quite the same way. However, while he wasn't sure if he could use his magic or not safely, he knew he could at least move things around. Such as bringing food or other things to help.

He was confident that they'd need to find something to help move everyone who couldn't, but at the moment, he couldn't see how they'd be able to move the wagons and other vehicles that would be required to do that.

By his estimate, about half of the people that had survived and not been taken by the bandits would need help moving. If not, they might get maybe a mile per day. If that.

While he didn't know how far they'd need to travel, he was certain that it probably wasn't going to be close enough for his preferences.

As it is, he was currently helping dig graves for those who had died. Or grave, singular, would probably be more accurate. There were too many for them to dig individual graves, so Ralph could see they were digging one massive pit to put all the bodies in.

He wasn't sure exactly how big to expect it, but her was getting an idea with how the progress was going. His estimation was that the pit was probably going to be about ten feet deep and twenty feet square. At least considering how deep some of the others had already gotten. Which he couldn't figure out how they were able to dig so fast when they looked like they were probably more worn out than he was.

What amazed him most was how much energy the others seemed to have, even after being worn out by so much of the fighting yesterday. Although, the ones who tended to do the most digging were the women.

Which again illustrated how Amelia's assessment of the people in this world were like, namely that the women were more physically strong than the men. Contrary to how it was on his world.

Consequently, he at least didn't seem to be getting so much criticism as he would have otherwise expected, given how he wasn't making much progress himself. Which he had mixed feelings about.

However, from what he had puzzled together about the village, the mian industry had been farming, so it would make snese that most of the people in the village had higher physical strength and endurance. At least given the lack of modern machinery and farming equipment.

"Ralph, you about done down there?" Ralph heard as he lifted another shovelful of dirt up.

He looked and saw Wes above the soon-to-be grave, looking down at him and waving.

"Not sure, really," Ralph called back. "How'd you get out of doing this anyway?"

"Well, apparently they needed someone to help look after the younger children, and it seems they think guys are more suited for that than the girls," Tim replied,

Ralph gave him a wry grin. "Yeah, that's the trade off. One pain for another."

"At least I got to stay out of the sun."

"Well, if you're free, why not hop down here and grab a shovel?" Ralph asked as he tossed the dirt into a nearby bucket before lifting more dirt with the shovel.

"Yeah, I would, but I kinda need your help. We have a slight problem and we could use your assistance with," Wes answered, not sounding like he was interested in joining in the physical work.

Ralph tossed the shovelful of dirt in the bucket then leaned against his shovel as he looked at Wes. He was only vaguely aware of the bucket being pulled out of the hole by a person whose job was to dump the dirt in the buckets in the same location, so the digging would proceed as fast as possible.

"What kind of help?" he asked, not sure being pulled off of this job would be considered a good thing or not.

"Well, we have some of the people watching the children that want to go take care of some things," Wes said, sounding like he was avoiding the big reason or reasons why he was asking.