Devon watched the whirl of flame carving through the horde in the distance as he smashed several more ants before him.  Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, several streams of ants had been able to reach the walls and were piling up in an attempt to climb them.  He didn’t have time to worry about that, however, focused as he was on thinning the number able to reach them.  Hopefully those on the walls would be able to handle the ones that slipped by.

 

As he was moving to another section of ants, however, he saw signs of something going wrong just a moment before Niphru screamed, the flames wavering and then flicking out at random before exploding.  He spun towards Niphru as the screaming increased in pitch and became heart-wrenching.  As he began to sprint, Niphru staggered a step, then collapsed, a small blue flame emerging from him before blazing incandescent white.

 

Throwing up a hand to shield himself from the blinding light, he caught a glimpse of the ants swarming over Niphru’s still body, as he was unable to continue dodging.  The light continued, rapidly overpowering the orb Amilya had thrown up earlier.  A second or two later, he reached the body, thrusting a mailed hand into the pile of ants, grabbing Niphru’s limp form.  There was an immense explosion near the wall as he brushed the ants off Niphru, tearing chunks of flesh loose, even as he turned towards the wall.

 

The heat from the blast set his eyes watering, and he saw a large portion of the wall aflame, with a blazing inferno before it.  Looking up, he saw that Dawn had gone missing from the wall.  Making a quick decision, he shouted for his men to pull back to the wall, and sprinted towards it.  Upon reaching a close enough point, he shouted with effort and hurled himself as high as he could, tucking his feet in as he brushed over the top of the palisade.

 

Devon slammed into the ground, staggering several steps, and caught a glimpse of a child recoiling backward into the shadow of a building.  Unwilling to stop, he simply raced towards the healer’s home, barging in and depositing Niphru on a bed before racing back out.

 

**********

 

Billy shook in fright as one of the warriors of the Church of Conflict sailed over the wall while holding a fox, slamming into the ground nearby.  As he hit, the fox in his arms had its jaws flop open, a brightly shining stone dropping from them and rolling away.  The man glanced at him before sprinting down the road.

 

Billy knew he should be near the western gate with the women and other children, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop watching, and now he knew he had a purpose here.  He carefully looked around, then jogged over to the shining stone, grabbing it and sticking it in a pocket before turning to follow the path the man had taken.

 

As he headed for Monti’s house, he tried to calm down, reminding himself that the only fox that could possibly have been was Niphru, who had indirectly saved his life.  But despite that, he was still terrified, as he had been tormented by that other fox for almost half an hour before being saved.

 

Standing outside the door, he shuddered, hesitating for a moment, then knocked on it.  Just a few seconds later, Monti opened the door, questioning, “Billy, is that you?  What are you doing here, you should be at the gate.”

 

With a great deal of effort, he replied, “I know but I had to watch…”  Taking a deep breath, he continued, stuttering, “And… is Ni-Ni-Niphru here?”

 

Shaking, he pulled the stone out from his pocket, getting more control over his voice before finishing, “I saw this fall from his mouth as the man carried him.” Scared, he then pushed the stone into Monti’s hand before running away.

 

**********

 

George spun as he crouched, both clubs extended, smashing through nearly a dozen ants that had him surrounded.  As he stood back up, he ended up seeing part of the wall in his vision, just in time to see Dawn knocked off with one of the men.  Dozens of thoughts raced through his mind in an instant even as he began running.

 

He couldn’t remember the name of the fox, though he regretted that now.  All of them had been saved from being overwhelmed at least once by the ribbon of fire, and it had to have the second or third highest contribution in the battle.  He had expected it to flee as soon as it got dangerous, but it had joined them in the very front of the battle, and not wavered.  He could recall how it had talked about Dawn, and knew he had to do everything possible to protect her out of respect for the surprising fox, on top of everything else.

 

As she fell, bolts of flame that had been killing the acid ants in the distance instead darted into the mound of ants below her, just before she fell into them herself.  There was a horrifying scream from behind him, and the darkness fled.  Suddenly a streak burned itself into his vision, slamming into the pile of ants and exploding.

 

The next thing he knew, he was laying on the ground, smoke rising from his leather armor, and blood trickling from his nose.  Crawling back to his feet, he saw a large section of the palisade wall aflame, and the pile of ants smoldering, only to catch fire as he began sprinting again.  To the side, he saw a charred corpse, which was also covered in burning ants.

 

As he reached the blast zone, he dove through the outer ring of fire.  He stumbled as he landed, barely avoiding a scorched figure that was crawling towards him, fire covering it in several places.  Seeing the flames, he pulled out his dagger and grabbed a fistful of their hair, yanking their head back with it.  He recognized Dawn’s face scrunched up in agony as he brought his dagger down, hacking off most of her hair and hurling it away as it burned.  He dropped his dagger and he grabbed the jaws of the ant locked around her throat and wrenched them open, throwing the crumbling remains to the side.

 

He shuddered, looking at her back, then steeled himself and roughly began tearing the burning ants off, large chunks of flesh following them as his hearing returned and he heard Dawn screaming.  Another warrior showed up beside him, having checked the other body and found it quite dead, quickly helping to remove the burning ants.

 

When they finished, she looked horrible, with patches of bone exposed, and most of the remaining skin horribly burnt.  She had finally—mercifully—fallen unconscious as they worked.  With a nod to his companion, they both grabbed Dawn and raced back through the outer ring of fire, heading as quickly as they could towards the gate.

 

The guards, having seen what happened, had already opened the gate before they arrived, allowing them to race straight to the healer’s home with their charge.  Rapidly arriving, they rushed inside, nearly colliding with the man as they hurried to place Dawn chest-down on a bed as carefully as they could.  The healer gasped in shock before racing over to his rack of medical supplies.  Assured the healer would do his best, they raced back out to rejoin the fight.

 

**********

 

Monti swore in shock, Devon had just vanished after dropping off Niphru, then almost immediately, what he thought was a corpse was brought in, only to barely recognise the face as Dawn.  He barely had time to check Niphru before she arrived, and the result didn’t seem good.  He had no breath, no heartbeat, and was oozing blood from several large wounds.  Dawn was in a horrible state as well, with exposed bone, dozens of chunks of flesh missing, and horrible burns all over.

 

He rapidly began treating her as best as he could, grieving at the loss of Niphru as he worked, hoping she would forgive him if she survived.  A moment later, Billy arrived, bringing him a small mana stone, claiming Niphru had dropped it.  He tried not to let anything show on his face until the child had left, then placed the stone beside Niphru’s limp form, returning to work on Dawn.

 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of blue come from the bed Niphru was on, and heard a shuddering gasp.  Quickly running back to Niphru, he found a very faint heartbeat had begun, and he was breathing again.  With a quick prayer, he ran his healing magic through Niphru focusing purely on sealing the cuts so he wouldn’t bleed out, then hurried back to Dawn again.

 

**********

 

Amilya awoke from where she had collapsed in exhaustion, staggering back upright before heading to the wall again.  The Black Tide had almost been defeated, the stragglers being crushed as they climbed the walls.  Devon had pulled his men back atop the walls at some point, and all the mages were missing, as she expected.  It had been a long fight, and it wasn’t possible to keep going forever.  As she headed outside to help clean up the last patches of ants, she noticed a large section of the wall was smoldering, with a handful of water mages wetting it down.  Shocked, she asked what had happened, and hearing what they had seen, fell to the ground sobbing.  How could she have lost both her daughter, the last remaining member of her family, and Niphru so quickly?

 

A few moments later, one of the mages, a farmer by trade, grabbed her arm and dragged her towards the village, taking her to Monti’s house.  Every bed was filled, with some wounded laying on the floor as well.  Monti was hard at work over what had to be her daughter, from what she had heard, though it was a horrific sight.  Monti glanced up before returning his focus, and she staggered over, barely able to see through the tears.  “There is still hope, Amilya,” Monti said, reaching for another jar as he continued, “she is still breathing, and her heart is strong.  I can’t promise anything, but you know I’ll do my best.”

 

A faint whine from the bed beside them got their attention, Niphru twitching slightly.  His eyes were still shut, and he seemed to be struggling to breathe.  Amilya reached down to stroke his fur, and his eyes cracked open the slightest bit, the whining becoming even more heartbreaking to hear.

 

Amilya looked back at Monti, and he could clearly guess her question, nodding to her.  She turned back and carefully picked up Niphru, trying to avoid as many of the wounds as she could, then placed him beside Dawn’s face, careful to keep him as far from her back as possible.

 

Niphru twitched for a moment with one last whine before he went quiet, struggling to move his head before giving up.

 

**********

 

Devon returned to the healer’s home, exhausted by the fighting.  He had already stopped by the barracks to speak with those who were mostly fine.  Opening the door, he saw Amilya and Monti standing over Dawn, the fox laid out beside her, but looking better than when he had left.  He turned, glancing through the room, until he found the others of his command, walking over to speak with them.

 

A few moments later, he nodded to the last warrior he had spoken to, and walked over to the healer.  After waiting for him to finish what he was actively doing, he stopped him and began speaking, “I’ve talked to my men, and we are in unanimous agreement.  Every commander of the Church carries a high quality salve made by one of the best alchemists we can hire, designed to be used on life-threatening injuries.”

 

He reached into his pocket, pulling out a metal container and handing it to the man before continuing, “Niphru and Dawn both saved us several times over.  We are giving this to them, with the intent that you use it to the best of your ability.  If any is left over, do with it as you will.  But do your best to save them both.”

 

He nodded to the man, and turned to Amilya, trying to find the words to say.  Finally he spoke up, “I know we failed at keeping them safe, and I can’t fix that.  But know that we will do all in our power to make up for it.  I am sure the salve will help a great deal, though she will likely still bear scars.  We did kill a fox in the forest, so we will be reporting that when we get back, and that we did not find any fox in the village when we arrived.  This should keep others from showing up.”

 

He sighed before continuing, “I believe both of them should visit the mages of the capital for further training.  If you do send them, send word before they arrive, and I will make sure our squad is the one at the gate so they can enter safely.”

 

**********

 

Niphru struggled to open his eyes.  He had managed it briefly earlier, before being moved, but it was still incredibly difficult.  He could smell Dawn, somehow, which calmed him, but he knew it had to be his mind playing tricks on him.  There was no way she could have survived the flames.

 

Feeling the extent of his injuries, he tried to move his foxfire to help heal, only to find he couldn’t locate it.  Trying to pull it out of himself resulted in the worst pain he had ever felt, and he fell unconscious again.

 

**********

 

Dawn rose back to consciousness, struggling with incredible pain in her back.  She opened her eyes, and saw Niphru laying in front of her, sluggishly breathing but otherwise unmoving.  She tried to raise her head, but found herself unable to move, eyes darting around until they caught a glimpse of her arm behind Niphru.  She recoiled internally at the extent of the injuries, realizing immediately that she was feeling pain from her back in spite of a pain blocker, as her arms did not hurt at all.

 

After several more failed attempts at moving, she gave up, closing her eyes and attempting to fall asleep.