“Pipes? Are you okay?”

  Loch dismissed the Notifications. He could look at them later, not even caring what the horrifying creature he’d just killed was called. It was dead. The mental pressure was fading, the emotions returning to normal. The screams and sounds of fighting were replaced with groans of pain, shouts of surprise and crying.

  “Dad!”

  Piper ran to him, avoiding the dead monster, wrapping him in a hug.

  “Is it over?”

  “Yeah honey, it’s over.”

  He wrapped his youngest in a hug, holding her tight. He looked out over the wall, searching for Harper, weight lifting when he saw her. She waved.

  The fighting and chaos was over, but the clean up and repair was far from it.

  ***

  “It’s silent,” the old man said.

  He sat on his knees, hands hanging to the side, tears still falling. But he was smiling, looking up at the sky, eyes open and staring at the moon.

  “It’s so quiet.”

  Harper just shook her head, wondering what the poor man had gone through. It was anything but quiet. The entire Clanhold, both sides of the wall, was a riot of activity. The good kind of riot. People were shouting, yelling, calling out for loved ones, wanting to make sure everyone was okay. The Healers were running everywhere, helping where they could. Harper was thankful for the Adapted fast regeneration. Now that the combat was over, people would start naturally healing from most of their wounds, the Healers only having to concentrate on the worst.

  She saw a lot of hugging and crying, people relieved to have not hurt anyone.

  “I’m sorry,” Mike Turner said.

  He sat on the ground, legs crossed, hands on his knees, not moving. Davis stood over him, spear leveled, tip pointing at Mike.

  “I didn’t mean to.”

  “Bull,” Davis growled.

  Mike shook his head.

  “I didn’t…”

  “Save it,” Harper said, causing Mike to look up. “Now’s not the time to ask for forgiveness.”

  Her tone was harsher than she intended, pent up frustration coming out.

  “People are hurt, maybe dead,” she said, glaring down at Mike, who lowered his head in shame. “You were a part of that. You may have killed Roger but that doesn’t make up for what you did.”

  “I know,” Mike said weakly.

  Harper shook her head, not knowing what to do.

  “Harper,” someone shouted, she thought it was one of the twins.

  Looking up, she saw his spear pointing toward the road and the trees. She turned, seeing the surviving monsters. Most were streaming back into the woods, running down the road. A couple looked their way, thinking about attacking. A blast of fire shot out from the wall, striking the ground in front of those. Kim Hudson stood on the wall, hands outstretched, watching the monsters. With growls and yells, the humanoid monsters turned and ran. All of them.

  A handful of humans stood there, caught between where the monsters fled, and the people of Clan Brady. They looked lost, unsure of what to do. Harper looked up at the wall, wondering where her father was. She thought she had seen Ed and Kristin in the mass of enraged Clansmembers, but couldn’t see them now.

  There was no one else. Harper sighed. She didn’t want to be the one, but it was going to be her Clan in the future.

  “Keep an eye on him,” she told Davis.

  He nodded.

  She made her way around the bodies, glad it was all monsters. There were a lot of corpses. She didn’t remember that many, but they had just kept coming. Red Cap, hobs, Nidan, ogre, hircus and others.

  “Follow me,” she said, coming up to the twins. “But stay a couple steps back, weapons down but ready.”

  Surprisingly, they did what she said, taking up positions behind and on either side. Harper walked toward the group of humans huddled together. They looked sick, frail, frostbitten. Their clothes were ripped, barely any winter gear. The whole group shivered, four men and two women. She didn’t recognize any of them, which she was glad of. They watched her, fear in their eyes, ready to bolt. Stopping about ten feet away, she held out her hands.

  “Hello,” she said. “I know none of this was your fault,” she gestured at the carnage around her. “That thing controlled your minds.”

  “Where are we?” A woman asked. “I don’t remember much…”

  “Northwood,” Harper answered, pointing at the brick building behind them. “That’s Coe-Brown.”

  “I was in Chichester,” a man said.

  “How did I get here from Pembroke,” another said.

  “My husband?” the second woman asked, looking around.

  Harper held up her hands.

  “Please,” she said, getting their attention. “I know you all have questions. And you look like you need food, clothing and maybe some healing. We can provide all that.”

  “Who are you?” one of the men asked.

  “She’s just a teenager,” one of the women said.

  “She’s carrying weapons. There’s blood on her. Was she fighting?” the other woman said.

  “Listen,” Harper said, raising her voice, forcing them to pay attention to her. “My father is the Clanchief,” she started but stopped, seeing the looks of confusion. The people had been under that monster’s control for months. They might not know anything about the Connection or how the world was now. “He’s in charge of this group of survivors. We have shelter and food. Please, come with us and we’ll help you.”

  The people looked uncertain. They glanced at each other, most likely some part of their minds recognizing that they’d been together for awhile, even if they really didn’t know each other. They looked back at Harper, down at the dead monsters and up at the wall where numerous Clan Brady members were now standing, watching the scene.

  “Please,” she asked.

  One of the women walked to the front.

  “We have nowhere else to go,” she said. “I don’t remember much from the last,” she paused, shaking her head, tears starting to fall. “I don’t know when. I don’t know what has happened. But there are a lot of you and I… I…” she just shook her head, walking forward.

  The others followed.

  Harper turned, ready to lead them into the school but saw Julia Montgomery and others already there. They had blankets and coats. Julia smiled, nodding at Harper, who just stepped out of the way. She felt someone walking up behind her and didn’t even need to turn to see who it was.

  “You did good,” her father said, putting his hand on her shoulder.

  She reached up, grasping it.

  “How bad is it?” she asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

  “I don’t know yet,” her father said, squeezing her shoulder harder.

  “Piper?”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  “She’s good, just resting.”

  Harper smiled.

  ***

  “Piper?”

  The voice woke her. She was a little embarrassed that she’d actually fallen asleep. But it was night and it had been a very long and exhausting, both mentally and physically, day. She opened her eyes, looking up to see a very nervous Jake standing a couple feet back.

  She jumped up, Cerie at her side, the fairy’s green glow bathing the area in a green tint. Torches were lit all across the yard and the wall, people moving around. Cleaning up, helping each other. It was good to see.

  “Hi,” Piper said.

  “I can make him go away,” Cerie said, hovering closer to Jake.

  “No,” Piper snapped quickly. “Sorry,” she said to Cerie. “No, it’s okay.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Uhm…,” Jake said, looking down at the ground, kicking at it nervously. He looked up at Piper and she thought he looked like he might cry. “I’m sorry Piper. I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened and why…”

  Piper crossed the few steps between them. She stretched up, kissing him on the cheek. Stepping back, she smiled at him as he reached up and touched his cheek.

  “It’s okay,” she said.

  Jake smiled.

  ***

  Harper saw Piper talking with that boy she liked. She tried to deny it, but it had been obvious to big sis. It would be obvious to the boy now, she thought as she watched Piper kiss the boy on the cheek. Harper glanced around, making sure her father wasn’t there to see it. Not sure how he’d take Piper kissing a boy, especially on that day.

  Smiling, looking forward to teasing Piper later, Harper walked deeper into the yard. She found Davis by the glow of his spear that he still held. It was like a beacon. He was talking with his dad and they weren’t arguing, which was rare lately. As she got closer, she could start to hear the conversation.

  “I’m so sorry,” Peter Millman said. He was standing a couple steps from his son, looking anywhere but at Davis. “I don’t know..”

  “Dad, it’s fine,” Davis said, reaching up to grab his father’s shoulder, forcing Peter to look at him. “You weren’t yourself.”

  “But some of those thoughts, it was me,” Peter said, taking a deep breath. “You know I hate you going off and being one of the Adventurers.”

  “I know but I want to help people and that’s the best way I can do it.”

  Peter smiled, grasping his son’s shoulder. He pulled Davis into a hug.

  “And I am proud of you for it, but I can’t help but worry and that scares me.”

  “I’m not going to stop,” Davis said, stepping back.

  Peter nodded.

  “I won’t ask you to, not anymore.”

  “Really?” Davis said, surprised.

  “I’ll try not to,” Peter amended, smiling at his son. “I hope to be too busy to worry constantly. I’m going to talk to Ben about the new bank he’s setting up.” He saw Harper walking up, smiling at her. “Hello Harper.”

  “Mr. Millman.”

  “Just Peter please. You’re welcome to come by our room any time. The two of you don’t have to sneak off all the time. Maybe I’ll even distract your father sometimes,” he said with a chuckle, turning back to Davis. He clapped his son on the shoulder. “Love you son.”

  “Love you too dad.”

  Peter turned to Harper, smiling.

  “Take care of him okay?”

  “I will.”

  Peter walked off, heading for a group of people that were busy picking up some boards from a building that had been damaged. He picked up the end of a long 2x a person was struggling to pull out of the wreckage. Together they got it out, carrying it to an organized pile of debris.

  Harper took Davis’ hand.

  “Come on,” she said, tugging at him. “Let’s go find a place to sneak off to.”

  “Sounds like a good idea to me.”

  ***

  Loch looked at Mike Turner as he was laid away. Ed and Susan followed, Ed holding his crying wife. He wasn’t sure what would happen to Mike. Just how much was Mike responsible for what he had done?

  He’d been influenced by the Presence, a creature called a Hive according to Cerie, but just how much had been the Hive’s influence and how much was Mike acting on his own impulses? The same question applied to Josh Hauser.

  Loch looked to the wall where Josh sat against it, stripped of weapons and armor. His team, probably former team, stood around him along with Jeremey Heeler, the older man that had arrived with Josh. All of them were glaring down at Josh, yelling at him. The man was taking the anger, looking down in shame.

  Josh had always hated Loch. Maybe not hated, but didn’t like. Josh hadn’t like the Clan system. He hadn’t been as aggressive as Roger Lewis, but had still been one of the Clan’s few protestors. How much of what had happened was Josh’s free will and how much was the Hive influence?

  “It’s silent,” Jim Caldwell said, walking past.

  The man was smiling but broken. Loch didn’t think there would be any fixing for him. He’d never fully recover. Looking around, Loch saw Malcolm Leonard, motioning the man toward Jim. He nodded, jogging over and taking Jim by the elbow, directing the older man back toward the school.

  Loch had no doubts about Malcolm or the team’s archer, Eric Hanlon. He’d seen both fighting against the enraged Clanmembers, those that had been influenced by the Hive. It appeared to have been a long term thing, directed by Theodore Kincaid, the influence building up over time. Malcolm and Eric hadn’t been influenced, which was a surprise considering how much time they had spent with Theodore. Randy Sager was free as well. He’d taken the Bannerman’s Oath.

  Walking over to the side, finding the bodies of two humans among all the monster corpses that were slowly being cleared up. A huge fine was going in the yard outside the wall, the corpses being thrown on it. The air would smell, but it was the faster and cleanest way to get rid of them all. Not all had disappeared when the Spirit had left their bodies.

  He looked down at Roger and Theodore. The two would get tossed onto the pile with the monsters. Loch felt like spitting on the two for causing all this destruction and death. He knew of six deaths so far, no doubt there would be more.

  Why had they done it? Because they didn’t like him or, in Roger’s case, not been the ones in charge? He had a feeling that Theodore had been compromised long before he got to the Clan, probably before he’d even met Roger and the others. He had said he’d been on his own for a couple of days after the Connection’s arrival and before he met Roger. The Hive had to have gotten to him in that period. He’d always been a sleeper agent.

  Had Roger been the first one Theodore had taken control of? It made sense as it seemed Roger and Jim Caldwell had been the most affected. The Hive had broken Jim. Roger, it had just made more arrogant and aggressive. Or maybe that had always been his personality.

  But Theodore had been the worst. Mild mannered, helpful, never standing out. And the whole time, planning to destroy everything Loch and the others had been building.

  Loch cursed himself. In a way this was his fault. He might have been able to prevent the riot. He’d never had a good feeling about Theodore, always felt like something was off with the man.

  But what could he have done? There was no evidence and Loch was not a tyrant. But maybe he could have investigated more? He vowed to trust his gut and follow his instincts more in the future.

  His first priority was to protect the Clan. Sometimes that might mean bending his own rules a bit. He couldn’t let something like the Hive invade the Clan again.

  Loch turned away from the bodies. They’d be stripped of weapons, armor and gear. That would go to Clanmembers more worthy. He looked at the wall, where the flames had damaged it. People gathered on top, talking quietly with each other, hugging and crying.

  A lot of crying.

  Loch knew they’d rebuild. They’d keep growing stronger. They would survive and thrive. Nothing the Connected System, or other people, could throw at them would break them.

  Clan Brady was strong and would continue to be strong.