Almost the entire gang had returned to the village and had gotten the explanation from Mikey and Tyron. When August woke up, it was discovered that he could no longer stand. The blade had damaged his spinal chord and, based on Tyron's analysis, he found that it wasn't permanent and that the healing process could be sped up with Restoration Magic.
"Damn it, Kai!" snapped August. "I'm gonna make a sloppy mess out of the bastard next time!"
"Thanks, Konnor," said Daniel. "If you didn't show up when you did, who knows what would have happened?"
"On the bright side, this makes me the leader now," stated Ali with a smug grin permanently glued to her face.
"Where the Hell is Alice?" An enraged August asked.
"Chill yourself," Daniel responded.
"She better get back soon so she can apologise for this," he snapped.
Ali had noticed that Konnor was troubled. He had been fairly quiet after returning to the remains of the village and she intended to find out why.
"Hey, Konnor, you seem bothered by something," she said.
"Now that you mention it, he has been pretty quiet for a while now," Daniel pointed out.
"Kai," Konnor began. "Kai isn't human anymore. He's something way different now. I dug my Claymore right in his gut and he regenerated it as if it were nothing."
"A Noble monster. Did you know he's one of them?" Daniel asked.
"We figured," came Ali's response. "I'll knock his lights out when I see him again."
Alice suddenly returned from her adventure in the forest, seemingly brimming with important news.
"Guys," she said. "I found a village a little while East of here," she said. "Looked like they could some help."
"I could use some, too," August mumbled sarcastically.
"What happened to you guys?" Alice asked, noticing all the bruises and depressed facial expressions of the group. "And what happened to village," Alice screamed as she ran towards the ruins, finally noticing the destruction.
"Hey, Alice, come with me. I'll show you where we buried Emelia," said Konnor, attempting to take her mind off of all the destruction of the night.
"We need to find that village," said August in an exhausted voice. "Maybe they can help me. I refuse to be crippled," he explained.
"Now that I think about it, you could probably do something to heal yourself if Konnor still has Kai's blood on his blade," Tyron pointed out.
"What do you mean?" A puzzled August asked.
"Well, I'm hoping that Kai's regeneration ability runs through his blood. If so, we can harness it to help heal you faster."
"Brilliant!" Cried Leo. "Now where's my food?" She asked as she scratched Ali's arm repeatedly.
"It's more than brilliant," August exclaimed.
"I'll tell you what isn't brilliant," began Leo. "My feeding pattern, that's what."
Konnor and Alice had finished giving their respects and realised that it was time to go. The pair returned to the group, prepared for whatever was to happen next.
"Konnor, make sure that blood stays on your blade. I'm gonna need it," August said. "Oh, I also need you to carry me as well."
The Runners, or rather, what remained of them, began to move along with the other survivors, August being the only one who couldn't walk on their own. The trek was long, especially after the rather eventful night and, by the time the group arrived at the new village, morning had already arrived. The group set foot in the village and we're surprised to find it abandoned.
"Nobles must have came back for slaves," Mikey pointed out. "They get colder each year."
"Well, I guess it's just us," said Tyron. "We'd better find sleeping places before the Groundsmen take all the good ones."
Each Runner managed to find a good place to lay their heads. August, Daniel and Ally would share a house. The next group to share a house was Mikey, Tyron, Ali and Konnor. Leo had no set sleeping place and generally set her head down wherever she'd be closest to food.
Tyron and Mikey had gotten started with mixing the serum to heal August's spine. All they needed to do was mix the blood with a suitable amount of Cleansing Serum to eliminate any ailments in the blood, which wasn't as simple as it sounded.
August spent most of his time creating small sketches in books that he generally always carried with him. He never allowed anyone to see the books and never told anyone of it's contents.
Alice had been target practicing, having only been allowed to use her normal daggers after she had nearly put a dagger through Daniel's head.
Daniel had been out hunting for food and sport with Konnor quite frequently, both of them turning it into a competition of who could get the most kills.
Ali spent a large amount of time feeding Leo and perfecting her herbal mixtures, creating some of the most disorientating potions most people would ever see.
Day after day passed with no outlandish occurrences in the village. The two had finally perfected the serum and it was time for August to walk again.
The Runners gathered in the younger warriors' house and prepared to discover if Tyron and Mikey had created something big.
Just as Tyron prepared the needle, there was a dreadful scream outside, in the village.
"Daniel, go check it out," instructed Alice.
With a quick nod, Daniel was off.
"Make it quick," August said.
With a silent chuckle, Tyron stuck the needle into August's arm. August grunted his agony out, having been tough enough to take something as simple as a needle.
"Now, listen," began Mikey. "It'll only kick in after a little while so don't try your luck just yet."
"Yeah, ok," August mumbled. He then fell asleep, believing that after a needle like that, he deserved a nap.
Suddenly, a terrible scream came from the outside, alerting the entire group, August excluded.
When the rest of the group had made their way outside, they were shocked to see Daniel sprawled out on the floor in defeat. Above him stood Kai and one of the biggest Dark Hounds the group had ever seen.
"Take the arm," Kai commanded, laughing at Daniel's pain.
The Dark Hound nodded in acknowledgement and viciously began to rip Daniel's arm from his body. The beast easily tore the arm clean off, whilst the young warrior could do nothing but scream in sheer pain.
Konnor and Ali, disgusted by Kai's betrayal, would have no more of this. The pair made a beeline for Kai, each having equipped their respective weapons. However, Kai was not looking for a fight with these two. The young man had completed his task and didn't need to spend his time fighting battles his superiors hadn't issued to him.
Kai laughed as he mounted his Dark Hound and rushed off into the forest. He used his mighty axe to fell many trees in his path, rendering an attempt to follow him quite useless.
"Kai!" Konnor screamed as he watched the traitorous warrior dissappear between the thick woods.
"You'll pay for this, I swear it!" Added Ali.
"Let's not forget Daniel," added Mikey as he jogged towards the boy. "Let's move him to his room."
