Pyrus: Rise Of Darkness

Recovery

A few minutes later, I am at the spot where the square used to be with my friends - Sun, Moon, Rocky, Gale, Sky, River, and Lilly - and their pets, as well as Vulcan. Assembled in front of me is the entire remaining population. I clear my throat, and Gale projects and amplifies my voice.
"Thank you all for coming here. I want to start off by saying I am sorry for the losses that were brought upon you all in this vicious, heartless raid," I begin, my voice cracking slightly. "As most of you probably know, Richard was a victim of this brutal battle. Please, may we have a moment of silence to commemorate our fallen leader." Everyone bows their heads and closes their eyes, and the only sounds are the chirping of crickets and crackling of fire.
After a little, I can continue. "Thank you. Um, while Richard was-was passing on, he had a final request that many of you, especially myself, will find a bit shocking. He asked me to-to," I pause, unsure of how to say this. "Fill in for him." The crowd murmurs, discussing this latest piece of news. I begin speaking again.
"I know many of you believe I am unqualified to lead. I agree with you. I haven't even been here a year yet, and I don't know nearly as much as anyone else. But I do not want to dishonour Richard, and so lead I must.
"I have spoken with Vulcan, yes, I can understand him, and he and I both agree we cannot stay here. We need to move. So I would ask everyone to grab their possessions, which I do not believe dissipated, and report back here in about ten minutes. Thank you." With that, the crowd disperses, chatting or crying or both.
I look at my friends. "Well, how was that?"
Sun smiles. "I think you did-"
"-Positively wonderfully," Moon finishes. They look at each other and grin. I let out a sigh of relief. All my other friends nod in agreement.
"Um, you know, I'm going to need a little help running this place..." I say.
My friends all look up and smile. "We're happy to help!" replies Gale happily. I smile back at them.
Ten minutes later, everyone is back at the once-was square with their gear. We set off and head north, because that leads us in the opposite direction of where our attackers came from. The traveling is mostly silent. Everyone is tired, as it is still early night, so we set up camp about 10 kilometres away from the old Sanctuary. Food, which fortunately did not disappear, is distributed. I help people set up shelters, then turn in for the night. Firebolt slinks inside my shelter and curls up with me.
I stroke his back and he purrs, already falling asleep. I sigh. "What am I going to do, Firebolt?" I whisper. But I am met only by snores. I wrap Firebolt in a tight hug, then doze of myself.
Sun shines between the cracks of my lean to. I shield my eyes from the brightness and crawl out of bed. All my friends are already awake and waiting for me, and Firebolt is chewing vigorously on a bone.
"Morning," I mumble, still a bit sleepy.
"Hello, sleepy head," Gale responds. "What does our leader have planned for us today?" My chest tightens. I'm going to have to get used to the fact that I'm in charge now.
I sit down at the makeshift table they have constructed out of logs, with rocks as chairs. I think hard for a few minutes. I suddenly snap my fingers, and a whole new side of me takes charge. "I need a head count of everyone here. I also need all of the nurses to come meet me. Make sure I get a separate tally of those who are injured. Sky, River, Rocky, Gale, Lilly, that's you." They nod and set off. "Okay, is Gaia here?" My teacher raises her hand. "I need you, Sun, Moon, and Flora to prepare breakfast and take inventory of all of our food." The foursome salutes and heads to our food storage area. "Shark, Dolphin, Quake, Hawk, I need you guys to go round up all the adults and bring them here." I pause for a moment. "And bring anyone under the age of 8, too." The teachers nod and go to complete their assignment. I exhale, relieved at how well that went.
"You handled that very well. Richard would be proud." Vulcan's gruff voice startles me.
"Thank you," I reply, blushing. "Oh, and I nearly forgot. What are the odds I could get you to do an arial sweep of the area, to get out bearings, look for game, and make sure none of those...soldiers are near." I glance over at my dragon, happily gnawing on his treat. I grin. "And take Firebolt with you. He could use the practice."
Vulcan bows. "Consider it done. Come along, Firebolt. Time to show you what being a dragon is all about." Firebolt bounces up and happily trots along, then takes to the skies with Vulcan. I smile, pleased with myself.
Making sure that no one is watching, I slip Richard's note from the waist of my pants. I stroke the bloodied parchment and press it close to my chest. A single tear rolls down my cheek.
"Pyrus?" Startled, I quickly shove the letter where it came from. I spin around to see River.
"Yeah?" I reply. "Where are the others?"
"Helping the nurses. They refused to come, instead insisting on tending the wounded."
I smile. "Well, that's perfect then, because I was going to ask them if they could sort of set up a mini hospital, but it seems they've already done that."
"Oh!" River exclaims. She produces a small piece of paper. "In total, there are 546 people, 94 of which are suffering wounds severe enough that they require immediate medical attention. There is another 154, including all of us in charge of collecting these numbers, with minor injuries, nothing more than a couple scrapes or bruises. It's the adults and teenagers who are in the serious conditions. They were the ones up front." My heart sinks as I remember the battle. So, so many innocent people were killed. Sniffling, I shove it aside. Mourning can wait. Right now, I have a city to lead.
Smiling, I take the paper from River. "Thank you very much. Tell the others I will be there as soon as I can." She smiles at me.
"You know, you're gonna do great," she says, touching my arm. The she heads off to the "medical bay".
Shark and the other teachers appear, walking towards me, leading a bunch of adults and youngsters.
"I believe I have them all," he comments, stepping aside.
The adults are all lined up, with little kids running about. I clear my throat. "Okay, this is really awkward for me, bossing about a bunch of adults, but here I go. I basically need three teams. I need a group to gather wood, you will find tools for this in our cart, another group to hunt, and a final group to tend to the little ones. Hunting group, wait here until Vulcan comes back with the report. Otherwise, I'll let Shark split you up and you can get to work! Sound good? Great." Everyone nods and smiles, and I am filled with a warm feeling.
After Shark divides everyone, I give one last instruction. "Before you head out, woodsmen, stop by Gaia for breakie. The rest of us will go at the bell." My team nods. The woodsmen head out, my "nannies" round up the kids, and the hunters stand talking.
Shark walks up behind me. "What exactly do you have in mind?" he questions.
"Well, I want to see if I can get some resources ready for when we move out again. Or, depending on how many trees are hauled in, I am going to try and make this 'base camp'." I reply. Turning to my teachers, I add, "You guys can go do whatever, I guess. Maybe get some teens to help out with the other jobs."
"On it!" Hawk, Quake and Dolphin all say in unison.
"I will wait with the hunting party," Shark says slowly. I nod.
A few minutes later, Vulcan and Firebolt land. "So what's the news?" I ask.
Vulcan answers. "Well, we're pretty much in the middle of nowhere. The only distinguishable feature is the clearing where the Sanctuary was. However, we spotted a very large pocket of game to the West." I nod, and turn to the hunters.
"Right then. You'll find lots of animals to the West. Go pick up a meal on your way out, and good luck." They march out to Gaia, pick up food and weaponry, then disappear into the woods. I stand there and sigh. Then I head in the direction of our sick bay.
The sight is grizzly, and I nearly throw up. Blood, pus, and black ooze seep into the ground from wounds, and patients regularly sit up in a fit of coughing or retching. Nurses run about, bandaging and soothing and whatnot. I spot my friends tending to a small group of people. I walk over.
"How are things over here?" I ask, even though I know what's coming next.
It is Lilly who speaks. "A lot of the patients are infected and coming down with fevers." Gesturing to the small group they are working on, she adds, "These are about the least injured there are."
"There's something else," Gale calls out, tension evident in her voice. "We were assisting some others when we found something strange. Shards of rock were lodged in their limbs, and there were traces of air magic. Sky and I could tell, and Rocky confirmed the rocks were magic made, too. And these were found on people unfamiliar in those magic fields, which means only one thing: there is a traitor in our group." She takes a deep breath. "And I think you know who."
I clench my fist. "Thunder," I spit. "He let them in, didn't he?" We all look at the ground.
"What am I going to do now?" I whisper.
"Perhaps you should read Richard's letter," comes Vulcan's voice.
My friends exchange confused glances. "Letter?" they ask in unison.
I pull the letter out. "Yeah. Richard gave it to me when he died."
Sky jumps up. "Well open it then!" she exclaims excitedly. I carefully peel the wax seal away from the paper, revealing the message inside. I read it, and my jaw drops in surprise. I don't believe it. No freaking way.

To be continued...