Blood and gore. That was all that was visible through the entire open field where the beast tide was being stalled. Guttural screams of pain tore through the throats of man and creature alike as they were injured and cut down.
Abel did what he could, but even as much as he was quite strong and able to hold onto his line of battle, the same couldn't be said for others.
A gurgled, choked scream bubbled in a man's throat as he held onto it, trying to stem the bleeding. Another man's arm was torn into two, the healing rays getting to him too late as the light of life faded out of his eyes.
Everywhere one looked, there was death and blood.
Just as the people began to despair even more as they were being pushed back, the beast tide suddenly stale before turning back on itself, the wave of monsters hurriedly retreating.
"What?"
"What's going on now?!"
"Are they retreating?"
Questions popped up through the ranks of Tower Runners, the men and women relieved, yet still wary. They all stood tensely for a few more minutes, their weapons held tight. The Healers took this time to tend to the wounded, while those who were low on mana took their time to rest and regain what little they could.
After waiting for almost ten minutes, the first scouts departed, moving to various points ahead to check out the terrain.
"It's... It's all clear! The monsters are gone!" They came back one by one, letting the people know that the monsters had all disappeared. The tense Tower Runners let out the breaths that they had been holding in, their shoulders lowering with the weight on them now gone.
"Thank God."
"Just what exactly was that?"
"Justin? Justin!"
People began searching for their party members and friends. A few were already shedding their tears over a limp, disfigured body.
Abel watched all this with a distant mind. No one he knew was among these people, and both Breeze and Dust had made it out okay, so he had no one to worry about.
"Abel? Is that you?" A light, soft voice called out to Abel. A voice he could recognize anywhere. Before he could turn around, a smaller, warm body hugged him from behind. "It is you!"
"Hey Aileen. I didn't think I would run into you here." He smiled when she let him go and he had turned around. Her hair was packed up in a messy bun, strands of h=it having fallen out of the bun, dangling freely before her face. She blew air at it from the corner of her mouth, only to sigh helplessly when the hair settled back down against her nose.
"Oh, um, yeah. I didn't even think I would be back in here so soon after that too, you know." Her cheeks gained a slight hint of red as she turned her head to the side, her eyes darting around the place. "But, I thought that, if you can do it, I should too. After all, you went through much more than what we did, yet look at you. "
"Aileen... You do know that we are two different people, right? You shouldn't force yourself. I know how hard it is on you." Abel placed his hands on her shoulder. At this moment, it was just the two of them, the aftermath of the battle completely forgotten.
"Abel, you know how I am... I don't like being carried by people. Even Heather tried to make me stay back, but I didn't listen to her."
"Ah, that's true." Abel grinned, rubbing the back of his head. It was then that someone decided to pop their bubble.
"Aileen, Abel." A voice plagued by exhaustion popped their small bubble. Heather walked up to the duo, her hand automatically resting on Aileen's shoulder. "Are you alright, Aileen?" Her eyes scanned Aileen from bottom to top.
"I'm fine, Heather. Sheesh." Aileen rolled her eyes, making Abel laugh. It had been quite a while since he last saw her in high spirits like this. It was almost as if the battle of a while ago didn't even happen.
"Abel, how are you? I hope you didn't get hurt during that beast tide." Heather moved her attention to Abel. His body was devoid of any injuries, the only signs of battle being the little splatters of blood on his clothing.
"Um, yeah. I'm fine, I guess." Abel replied. He hadn't really taken the time to examine himself after the fight. His eyes roamed around his body as he tried to feel around for any injury, or pain on his body. "Yeah, pretty fine."
"Oh, that's goo-Woah!" Heather's eyes suddenly shot open, her hand going to her blade at once, as she got into a fighting stance.
"It's okay! Hold on!" Abel immediately got in her way. Breeze stood towering over Abel's head, leaving both Aileen and Heather staring wide eyed. "Heather, Aileen, this is Breeze, the Gnoll pack leader who tried to kill us."
"What is it doing here? I thought it was dead!" Heather pushed Aileen behind her, choosing to protect the more vulnerable person.
"Err, well, he is dead, but not... He's now a Beast Soul." Abel rubbed his neck awkwardly. Breeze himself did little to try and reduce his threat factor. A minute aura of bloodlust oozed from him, a remnant of what was left over from the battle.