Chapter 18

"I think maybe this is bringing a lot of people closer together," Avern said with an awkward smile.

"They're probably a good match right now. They both need some support and it looks like they've formed a bond that'll help both of them. Agmar even seems to approve of the boy," she pointed out.

"Yeah, he's a good kid." Avern rubbed his forehead, smearing some dirt across it. She couldn't help but smile at that. "I've got enough to worry about right now more than just who my daughter has a crush on. At least I think she's safe with him. I don't need to be a worrying father right now."

"I think you're doing a good job with that, actually. And if we're done arguing, then I think you can focus on being a mayor for a while." She laughed at him a little, teasing, hoping it would seem gentle enough. He laughed back, a little.

"I think maybe we're done arguing. Or maybe we need to argue a little more often. Eventually we're going to have to figure this out, you know."

"I thought that was supposed to be my line, Avern."

"I'm not a young man, and I'm a father. Maybe there's just something that comes with that."

"Sorry to interrupt," Agmar said, "but a list has been made of everyone here unaccounted for." He handed the paper to Avern, officially signifying the end of one conversation and the resuming of business.

"There's more than twenty names on this list," Avern replied with a frown.

"We will want to compare it to the one the schoolmaster is making of the groupings people are forming into. Some of these people may have already headed to different areas of town, although I fear many will be found in the debris. The demon had managed to create some measure of chaos before I arrived, and I did not have time to move the injured out of the inn before fighting the fire."

"The survivors who intended on staying here will need to be relocated." Avern sighed, brows creased.

"There's still room at my inn," Mary said. "We're fuller than we've ever been at any one given point, but we're not at double capacity yet. I think many people chose Lloyd's over mine for propriety's sake." She shrugged, trying to let Avern know she wasn't going to make a big deal of the last part. She realized that she felt both relaxed and energetic at the moment, despite the current deaths and the prospect of her inn being full to bursting with non-paying clients. She almost chuckled at the irony. We're facing the toughest disaster that's ever hit this town and I'm feeling giddy instead. Pull it together now Mary, she told herself, there are other things that need your attention.

"Let's see how many more we can put there first," Avern replied. "After that, we'll have to put the rest into the warehouse. It should hold them, but will be less comfortable overall than the inns and even the schoolhouse, which I know will be packed by now. Mary, you'll likely want to go warn your staff."

Mary nodded in reply, loathe to walk away from him but knowing she had work to do.

"I'll need to speak with Bentz first though. I promised Genla I'd handle that situation when she was worried about having enough for breakfast this morning."

"Don't let him give you any trouble, Mary. If he tries, tell him to take it up with me."

"Will do, Mayor Mordan." She gave him a smile, resisting the urge to lean over and give him a quick kiss before parting. Instead, she turned and nodded to Agmar.

"Stay safe Mary," Agmar said, nodding back at her.

"You as well, Agmar," she replied before turning and heading back towards the center of town. She kept her pace brisk, as she tried to review in her mind all the supplied she'd need to stock. I'll need Marcus to bring the wagon over. Assuming one of the horses will cooperate long enough.

She made quick pace, as the streets were mostly empty of the usual daily commotion that occurred. It felt particulary desolate as she passed the open marketplace, where caravan merchants would set up to do trade with the townsfolk and the ships that had docked here. Nobody called to her, hawking their wares. Mary noticed the absence of music the most. There were often one or two travelling musicians that would set up here or at high-traffic intersections with a cup or an instrument casing left open for people to drop coins into. Mary almost always dropped a coin or two, appreciating the cheerful life they seemed to add to the town. Now, the marketplace stood silent with a couple of tents and wagons sitting off to one side, their canvas covers flapping against the frames in the wind. A piece of fabric was caught on the wheel of one of them, looking much like a long purple silken scarf, with one end flying and waving frantically as if trying to escape. Mary wondered idly if it belonged in one of the wagons or had been lost by someone as they gathered what they needed for the next few days.

It almost didn't seem like the right town. She had never seen it so deserted. Even when the hurricane had hit, there had been smoke from chimneys. It was all so overwhelmingly empty. She shivered in the wind, not just from the coolness of the air.

No chickens were in the street pecking at scattered feed. Old Man Jenkins' old dog, blind in one eye and nearly in the other, wasn't sitting on the usual spot on Jenkins' porch. She'd used that dog as a landmark giving directions to a passing sailor just a couple months ago. Instead, leaves danced in eddies at street corners or swirled their way over the empty packed earth of the roads.

About a block from Bentz's she turned a corner and found a big black dog sniffing a spot in the ground. She did not recognize it. It turned towards her. It arched its back and pawed at the ground. Its ears went flat back against its head, and it bared fangs. It hissed at her.

She backed away slowly, raising her hands in front of her instinctively. It advanced as she backed. It hissed again and a line of drool fell from a frothing jaw. She found herself entranced by its too-dark eyes. They glistened with something unnatural.

She came back to focus on the world when the dog started wriggling back and forth looking just like a cat about to pounce. She threw herself to the side as it leapt at her. It missed and landed in a tumble, and she bolted. It chased her, jaws snapping, and it made the most terrifying howling growls she had ever heard. She ran for her life.

Her heart pounded wildly, and her breathing was short and painful as she realized she'd tied her corset a bit too tightly in Avern's presence. She headed towards the door to Bentz's general store, grateful she'd thought it prudent to wear sensible shoes at least. She hiked her skirts with one hand, however, as they threatened to trip her up as she flew up the couple of steps to the door and grabbed at the handle.

The door was locked.

"Bentz! Open the door! Bentz!" Mary all but screamed, pounding her fist against the wood of the door and peering into the window. She could see the man, putting some things into boxes at the counter, and he gave her a hateful look, shaking his head at her, his mouth in a thin, angry line.

"Bentz!" There were no words to describe her shock. She saw him turn his back on her, though she was sure he'd be able to tell there was panic in her voice. She turned and ran further down the road, not sure where to go. The sounds of the dog's menacing barking and growling had come closer again, and she turned to see how close as she ran. It was only a few steps behind her as suddenly one of her feet caught on something lying in the street. Her other foot lunged forward to catch her stride, and stepped on the edge of her dress in the process. There was a tearing noise as the hem of her dress ripped while she stumbled and lunged forward to the ground.

She immediately rolled over and threw her arms up to try and fend off the dog as it leapt onto her, but all she could do was scream as it sank teeth deep into her forearm and tore flesh away. She felt its claws digging into her dress, tearing the cloth away and then the skin as if it were trying to dig in the ground, leaving long deep gashes down her body.

Suddenly somebody kicked the dog off of her, and it howled in protest. All Mary could do was curl into a ball and hope that whomever it was could kill it or keep it away from her long enough. She tried to stop screaming, but found that a low moan continued to come out of her between sobs. She looked up to see what was going on as she heard the dog howl in pain.

Syred Allder stood between her and the dog, a sword in his hand. The dog was bleeding from a gash across its side, but it still looked ready to attack. Its drool was now tinted with blood from Mary's arm, and it seemed to get even more excited as its eyes met hers. It seemed to Mary as if it was looking to kill her specifically, and Captain Allder was just another obstacle between it and the goal. It lunged forward, as if to dive between Syred's legs, but it was deflected back by his sword. A fresh gash oozed blood across the dog's face and it howled angrily. Turning its attention to Syred this time, it leapt upwards towards him. Syred moved fluidly, bringing his sword up in an almost effortless motion. The dog fell away from him in two pieces, it's head severed off at the neck. Syred turned back to her with a grim, focused expression, carefully wiping the blood off the blade onto a pant leg before replacing it into the scabbard on his belt.

He pulled off his jacket as he knelt beside her, followed by his shirt which he tore open at the buttons and started tearing into strips.

"Hang on, Mary. Eston! Mitch! Go to Lloyd's and find Agmar or Lynna. Bring them now!" Mary heard footsteps and tried to look, but the edges of her vision were becoming blurry and gray.

"Mary, look at me," he commanded, turning her face back towards him. "Focus. You need to stay awake." He started describing what he was doing as he tied off her arm with one strip, just below the elbow.

He had her hold a piece of fabric over the wound in her arm and it was all she could do not to scream in panic when she realized that a large amount of her flesh was missing and she felt the bone through the fabric. Syred kept talking to her while pressing down the rest of his shirt onto the wounds running down her chest and abdomen. He seemed to be doing everything too slowly for her and the time dragged painfully forward. She started to have a hard time telling what he was saying anymore, as she focused to just keep her eyes open. It seemed as if whatever he was doing was working, because the wounds were hurting less and at some point she had stopped screaming. She was tired and cold though, and wondered if she could just close her eyes for a short time to help her feel better. The idea was alluring, and the lull of voices around her seemed to be telling her it would be alright to sleep now.

No Mary! We're coming! You must stay awake and wait for us! Lynna's voice seemed to break through the lull, and Mary felt herself being pushed back towards the sharpness of pain.

The wounds burned and itched. The world swam around her. Parts of her sporadically went numb, but she could not tell if maybe feeling from those parts was simply overwhelmed by feeling from other parts.

Captain Allder was saying something to her. At least it looked like he was. His mouth was moving, but she didn't hear anything. He'd always seemed more rational than that, not the sort to just sit there and mouth words at her.

"It's alright, Lynna's coming," she said to him. It seemed funny that she should be trying to reassure him of anything, but she couldn't quite place why. She remembered the flashing sword. Oh, that's right. He was in a fight. If he's been hurt Lynna can help when she gets here.

A man she did not know looked down at her. His jaw dropped. She wondered who the man was. He certainly seemed rude to be staring at her like that. It occurred to her that she was cold. She wanted to go inside where it was warm; she tried to say so to the people gathered around, but they didn't hear her. What's wrong with everyone? Can't they see I'm cold here?

Captain Allder was still pressing, holding her down, she thought. "Don't get up," someone said, but that did not make any sense. Her dress was all messed up, shouldn't she be inside freshening up? Was that why the man was staring at her? Had she fallen out of her corset or something?

Someone that looked like Lynna looked down at her next. "NO, you can't die," Lynna said, but her lips didn't move. Mary giggled. Everyone was acting so strangely.

And then the world came at Mary in a rush. Warmth flooded through her as if she was on fire, and she screamed. There was so much pain, but she wasn't cold anymore. The fire hurt, and she brushed at it as much as she could.

People were stepping back, looking shocked. It seemed as if they were falling away from her, but she couldn't figure out why. The clouds in the sky were too bright, but she couldn't shield her eyes. She writhed against the burning, but it would not stop. She couldn't put it out. I'm going to die, she realized.

All at once the burning heat stopped. She was lighter than air, and Lynna's face was right before hers.

"Lynna, she's floating," someone said. Lynna yelped and without warning Mary fell and landed on the street flat on her back.

"Oh! Sorry!" Lynna said, looking alarmed. This time Mary saw her lips moving as she spoke. Mary felt a little dizzy, and she tried to shake her head to clear it.

"You there! Fetch some juice, please." Margaret's voice came clearly through the growing lull of voices nearby. Mary tried to sit up, but the woman was suddenly there with her hand upon Mary's shoulder.

"No. Stay laying down for the moment, Mary. You've lost a lot of blood." She started pulling fabric away to inspect possible damage. Mary nearly fainted as she watched most of the Captain's shirt come away soaked with blood. She tried to peer down at her dress and saw that most of the front of it was shredded and now dark and wet with blood. She tried to move her arms to cover her chest, but realized her arm still hurt and tingled strangely.

"My arm... it hurts," she said, afraid to bring her other hand back to it as she suddenly remembered feeling bone before. Margaret reached over and untied something, and warmth seemed to slowly creep back into the arm, pushing back the pins and needles as it went. Margaret lowered Mary's arm to the ground next to her.

"Keep it low here, so the blood can get back into it. Captain Allder must have tied it off to keep you from losing so much blood?" Margaret looked up and Syred nodded at her.

"Looks like both the Captain and Lynna saved your life, Mary." She smiled, with a slightly amazed look as she ran her fingers over the exposed skin on Mary's stomach. Mary took her good hand and tried to clutch her corset closed, realizing that there was a large crowd gathering and she was mostly exposed. She couldn't seem to get a hold on the fabric. It was wet and slippery and her fingers couldn't seem to keep it. She spread her hand wide, trying to use her arm and hand to cover herself, when Captain Allder pulled his jacket over and covered her with it.

"Here. This will help," he said. She nodded at him gratefully, tears coming unbidden to her eyes.

"By all that's sacred! What happened?!" Suddenly Avern was there at her side, his face a mixture of shock, concern, and what looked like horror. He seemed to look her up and down. "Is all this blood Mary's?"

Mary blinked and turned her head, trying to get a look. She started to try and sit up again but Margaret gently pushed her back.

"Lynna has healed her, Avern. She's lost a lot of blood, but she's going to be alright. Syred killed the dog that attacked her and stopped as much bleeding as he could until Lynna arrived to heal her. They both saved her life." Margaret said.

"Where is Lynna?" Avern asked suddenly. Mary realized suddenly that the girl was no longer kneeling next to her. At some point she had moved away. Mary shook her head again, trying to clear it. Time seemed to be going by in spurts, as if she was drifting in and out. It occurred to her that she should keep focused so she wouldn't fall asleep. She was relieved when Margaret and Avern helped her to sit up a little ways while Margaret pressed a cup to her lips. The liquid was cool and crisp, and Mary drank heavily.

"The girl that did the healing?" the man who'd been staring at Mary before spoke up, stroking his thick beard as he did.

"My daughter, yes. Where is she?" Avern turned to look at the man.

"She went in the store over there," he pointed towards Bentz's. "Blew the door open on her way in, too. She looked pretty upset about something."

Avern's brow creased in concern as he looked over towards the store. Mary's vision was blocked, and she suspected Avern couldn't see the store either.

"Avern." Captain Allder got the mayor's attention. "Lynna might be aware of what happened. I was down the street at the time. Bentz's door was locked when the dog was chasing Mary."

"He was in there though. I could see him. He wouldn't answer when I called to him," Mary added, somewhat bitterly. "Bastard turned his back on me."

"Mary, please excuse me a moment." Avern's face had gone white and his eyes were blazing. He stood up and headed towards the store with a determined stride. Mary pushed Margaret away so she could sit up properly, and watched as the crowd parted to let the mayor pass.