Riley opened his eyes as the light faded. It had become too much for him to take in.
The clouds had broken off, the storm had ended, and the sun was casting its dim winter light over the land. Everything looked… He blinked.
Snow covered the ground still, but a lot was missing.
The goblins, for one. There were no dead nor living ones in sight. The gargoyles, for another. Not a single one was in the air. The giantess was also missing, though the depression in the ground she'd created with her stomp was still in place.
But more than the creatures themselves, their weapons and blood and traces of their presence were also gone. If not for the battle damage and slain humans across the ground, it would seem as if nothing had come at all.
Riley frowned as he puzzled out the strange occurrence. He felt disoriented. Had every bit of it been an awful dream? Was Kyler safe at home in bed? Had Shayn never joined the army?
He rubbing his hand across his forehead, trying to clear his muddy thoughts. Weariness plagued him. There was something he was missing.
Roland!
Racing up the stairs, Riley saw… nothing. The shattered splinters of the box were exactly where he'd seen Roland fall. But there was no body.
No goblin body, no human body. Riley inhaled and exhaled. A dream? A hallucination? What in the world had–
"SHAYN!" He called impatiently. His younger brother, dutifully guarding the door of the City Hall, trotted up.
"Yes, Sir?" Shayn asked with more deference in his voice than his face.
"What did you see?"
"What?" The teenager blinked.
"Don't 'what?' me, I'm your superior officer right now. What did you see? What happened to Roland?"
To his body? Riley didn't have the strength to ask that last question out loud.
"The light was too bright. I didn't see anything after–" Shayn paused.
"After what?" Riley reminded himself that his younger brother had seen untold horrors today and might be a little shell shocked after all of it. Still, he found patience difficult to find in moments like these.
"After the goblin impaled him. Sir." The last word was added a little belatedly.
The General emerged from the City Hall with the rest of the Council close behind. Spotting Riley, the commander in chief of the army motioned him over.
"Report, Captain." He said with an expression that betrayed none of the confusion he must be experiencing.
Riley saluted. "Sir, Prince Roland managed to destroy the items. A blast of light and sound seems to have… banished all the otherworldly creatures and objects, from what I can tell. I suggest we triage and treat the wounded and commence a search for Prince Roland."
The suggestion wasn't requested, but Riley made it all the same. The General looked weary under his stoic face, and Riley was eager to get those tasks completed.
"Search for Prince Roland?" The General repeated.
"Yes, Sir. The last I saw him, he was… impaled through the heart by a goblin. On that very spot. But when the bright light subsided, he was gone." Riley tried to keep confidence in his voice despite the ridiculous-sounding tale.
Far, far more ridiculous things had been taking place lately than one man's mysterious disappearance. Why, that had to be practically commonplace by comparison.
The General nodded and saluted.
"Thank you for your service, Captain. I'll need to review reports from all over, but from what I observed, I may owe you another medal for your work today."
Riley saluted in return, not cheered in the slightest by the prospect. Shayn thought differently.
"Another medal? How many do you have, Riley?" He asked excitedly as the General walked away.
"It doesn't matter. We need to find Roland." The other brother replied seriously. "Well, I need to. You need to go look after Kyler. Make sure the healers are looking after him properly. Tell your commanding officer… if he's still alive… that you're my direct report now."
That might chafe some people, but Riley had enough clout to avoid getting into trouble for a minor stunt like this. If the officer quietly acceded to the order, he might even avoid the pummelling Riley felt he was owed for putting such young, fresh soldiers in danger.
"Yes, Sir," Shayn said a bit sourly.
"After that, report home to Mother that we're all alive." Riley added.
"Anybody else?" The younger man asked with a bit of concern.
Of course he wanted to know whether to visit Finn. Her family and theirs had been close for many years. The death of her husband was important news, but Riley wasn't willing to give it to her until they had a body for her to mourn.
"No. Not yet." Riley said firmly.
________
The City's cleanup was much less traumatic than it could have been. The men who were still alive when the light blasted through tended to stay that way; apparently the otherworldly poison was cast out along with the goblins themselves.
The wounds were no longer green, even among the dead. It was a very strange phenomenon, and if it had not been witnessed by so many, the entire thing might have been cast into doubt.
Lysander accompanied Haf's body via stretcher into the city, and a mourning greater than before broke out. The Cetoan soldiers were heartbroken over their leader's death.
A general tension sat over Klain as the game of waiting began. It would take time for the dead to be found, and identified, and their kin informed. Especially with the deep snow.
Those who were alive would have duties to attend to before they could make it home and let their loved ones know that they lived.
The men confined to infirmaries would need to wait their turn to have their own families informed about their status.
A knock at Finn's door set the entire household on edge. Phillip was the one to answer it, gesturing the women away. In the midst of the battle, he had moved a dead body from the kitchen table to outside, and he didn't want them to see it if it hadn't been collected by the undertakers yet.
"Is Naomi, wife of Caspian of Ceto, here?" Asked the official voice.
"Yes! Yes, I'm here!" She uncharacteristically pushed Phillip to the side to receive the news. "Is he all right??"
She didn't like the fact that he wasn't here himself. Surely if he were well, he would have come told her in person?
"He is in the infirmary at Dr. Sherman's home." The messenger handed her a note. "I must go."
The bag at his side held many such letters. Likely he would be at this task for a very long time.
Naomi tore open the note and eagerly deciphered its contents. "Mayra says I can come visit him," She said, turning questioning eyes on Finn.
"Then by all means, go!" The hostess encouraged. "We'll still be here when you get back."
She actually hoped for news of her own long before that point. The rumors spreading from her neighbors was that there was not a single otherworldly creature or object left in the city.
Finn honestly didn't know who to tell about what had occurred in the pantry. She had barred the door and left it, unsure about whether the strange portal would close on its own or remain there indefinitely. She would feel better after discussing it with Roland… whenever he got home.
A knock at the door made her heart leap, but when she opened it, Lysander stood there, hat in hand.
"Is Roland in the home?" He asked hopefully.
"No, I was hoping you were bringing news of him," Finn admitted.
"I was bringing news of Haf's death," His eyes dropped.
"So the rumors are true, then," She murmured. The neighbors had come to ask earlier about the Cetoan leader, and whether the body taken through the streets had indeed been him. Naomi had been heartbroken at the thought.
Finn's soul ached. Roland had only recently discovered that he had an uncle, a tie to the mother he'd never met and the aunt who had raised him for his early childhood. It would hurt him deeply to lose the man so soon.
"I'm sorry," Lysander said. "I'm on my way home now, but as his last words were about Roland, I wanted to tell him in person."
Finn blinked. "What were the words?"
"I'd rather deliver them myself. They were… Can you just let me know when Roland gets back?" He asked.
"Yes, of course. Thank you for coming by." Finn replied a little blandly before shutting the door. What a strange visit.
Phillip put an arm around his daughter. "I'm sure we'll have news soon," He said with a tight smile. She could tell he was putting on a show for her, but she appreciated it anyway. Worry was burrowing deeper into her mind with every minute that passed without seeing Roland.
"He's probably very busy with the cleanup, and organizing everything," Finn said. "King Duncan hasn't been by either, and I'm sure he's fine as well. There's just so much to do after a battle like that." She tried to sound convincing, but it fell a little bit flat.
"Of course, Sweet Pea," Phillip resorted to his childhood name for her as he hugged her. Turning into her father's chest, she began to cry.