Halonar

Just a Number

Jack and Ruben didn't have to use the potions.

Because everyone who had been hit by the strike had died.

The corpses of at least twenty people were scattered from the explosion, some were even on the roof of houses nearby. Few were even soldiers, most were civilians.

It hadn't been that hard to get into the "fortified" village, the west section of the wall had been completely destroyed. Some houses were on fire, others were wiped clean off their foundations. Those that weren't completely destroyed were peppered with holes from the debris, probably killing the people inside as well.

"I am very sure these people do not know that Marcus's attack is responsible." Ruben commented. "I'll go talk to the mayor, to see if we can get recovery and assistance for the tragedy." Ruben told Jack. "You stay here and keep the people calm."

"I-" Jack protested, but Ruben was already gone.

Jack began counting the bodies instead of simply estimating. He stopped when he reached , 6 were soldiers, the rest he assumed were civilians.

After a while of evacuating people, which was done by simply shouting at people to stay away from dangerous areas, Ruben returned.

"How many?" Ruben asked.

Jack shook his head. "Forty-seven."

Ruben looked away for a second, visibly disturbed. "The town has a population of 219". He said quietly, "This is the most devastating event seen in this town in almost a century."

Jack had studied the history of The Davwlands. 92 years ago, a Warlord called Saymuk Paknov attempted to annex Quow via force, Quow, being an even smaller town than now, had almost zero chance of fighting unless other lords and kings got involved. Unfortunately, Since Quow was only a small village, only producing small amounts of wheat and chicken had no financial importance to neighboring lords, therefore they stood by and did nothing, some sources claimed that Saymuk, in fact, paid other lords and leaders to not interfere.

Saymuk launched regular attacks, killing or wounding a few people each time. The people resisted, but never organized a defense or counter attack. Until a year of scheduled attacks people were able to predict when the next attack would come. The village chief at the time, Qazak, demanded that the people fight back, melting the iron from the rims of barrels, shovels, and wagon wheels. They created a vast arsenal of crude weapons that they would eventually use on the troops coming their way. Many people died during the attack but at the end emerged victorious.

After the attack the villagers built a wall surrounding the village. Paknov, the country named after Saymuk Paknov eventually fell apart due to internal issues and was taken over by his brother Halwak Paknov, who immediately ended the war with Qazak and his people. Since then, Quow had never seen a day like this.

Ruben was making his way toward the hole in the wall, when he called out to Wyatt.

Jack squinted, the area was covered in smoke and dust, he could barely see Wyatt and...

Marcus.

Wyatt was arguing with Marcus while they were approaching, as they got closer Jack could hear them better.

"How the fuck was I supposed to know that the wind would blow my attacks!" Marcus said frustrated. "Like, doesn't that ever happen to you?" "Also, it's their fault too!" Marcus continued. "What kind of Idiot would stand that close to the edge of the village?"

"They didn't expect it to rain hell on the village!" Wyatt was fuming, his face red from anger, "This is why I kicked you out of the Autumn Branch! Because you are not only a liability but you are a danger to people around you!" Wyatt looked at the people near the area.