Anse was startled. He looked up, and only relaxed when he saw who it was. "Finn."
"Move!" Finn hurried over and helped Brat up from the other side.
"Wait..." Brat raised a hand to stop them, took a deep breath, and forced himself to use Second Wind.
A few teeth-grating cracks of bone sounded as his chest slowly returned to its normal shape. His breathing eased, though his forehead was slick with sweat, his veins bulged with pain, and his jaw muscles trembled.
Anse knew he was using Second Wind to set his bones. Healing Potions were different from Healing Spells; if you didn't set a bone or stitch a wound first, it might heal crooked.
"Eat one." He pulled out three Magic Berries and handed one to each of them.
Second Wind used up the body's own energy and stamina. Magic Berries could provide a whole day's worth of nutrition, making them more useful than Healing Potions in some situations.
"Move!"
They hurried out of the building and onto the bridge. Land and the others had almost retreated to this point, only twenty or thirty meters away.
They couldn't go over the rooftops anymore; that would make them easy targets. The bridge offered some cover from Land and the others, so it was relatively safer.
Seeing that they were all right, Land's expression eased a little. He waved for them to hurry on while he and his men tore down buildings without restraint, putting up barricades.
Their retreat suddenly sped up.
Healing Potions truly were essential medicine for low-level Professionals. They worked astonishingly well.
The two of them helped Brat along for a hundred or two hundred meters. By then, his breathing had steadied, and his arms and legs were strong enough for him to jog on his own.
They had more or less shaken off their pursuers. The Gray Dwarf Slaves were packed onto the narrow bridge, held up at the front and shrinking back in fear. Those behind couldn't get past them, and the Gray Dwarves could only curse in frustration.
Near Dragon Rock, Anse looked up at the towering Flame Fist Fortress. It was indeed magnificent. Ballistas stood on the walls at every level, and several catapults sat at the top.
There were plenty of Flaming Fist Soldiers on the walls, but despite the battle having raged for so long, not a single one had come to help. The gate hadn't been raised either, leaving the Church Convoy and all the refugees outside.
"Cowards!" Brat muttered angrily, his usual composure gone.
Having narrowly escaped death, he had even less patience for the Flaming Fist's inaction.
A few minutes later, they reached the fortress. At last, the gate slowly began to open, and the refugees surged inside. Anse and the others were among the last to enter.
The gate stopped halfway up. As soon as everyone was inside, it immediately came back down. They couldn't have made their fear of death more obvious.
The passageway was unusually dark. None of the wall sconces were lit; the only light came from the far end.
Anse cast Light Spell on his staff. The staff turned into an ambient light tube, its bright white glow instantly driving back the darkness and revealing... refugees and wounded people covering the floor.
The refugees couldn't run anymore, and the wounded couldn't run at all. Even Land and Zahir were covered in injuries.
Berg had the clerics bring out their medical supplies and treat the wounded, stitching them up on the spot. Their work was rough but practiced. It seemed Tyr's followers knew how to do more than fight.
Anse and the others sat with their backs against the wall, watching the chaotic scene. Each was lost in their own thoughts, and for a while, nobody spoke.
"How are you feeling?" Anse turned to Brat, a trace of emotion in his eyes.
He had saved Brat back then, and Brat had, in a way, saved him in return. That Javelin had been powerful; Anse wasn't sure his Shield Spell could have held up against it.
"Heh..." Brat turned his head and stared at the Scale Glow on Anse's face, grinning without a word.
Finn sat on Anse's other side, his gaze flickering. "Are you Lawful Good?"
"Me?" Anse turned his head and met Finn's gaze. "I'm Absolute Neutral."
The Nine Alignments weren't labels invented by people. They were fundamental laws of the Multiverse, reflected in Divine Domains, magical effects, and the Outer Planes—for example, Mount Celestia, which was Lawful Good, and The Abyss, which was Chaotic Evil.
This was basic knowledge for Professionals, especially for Paladins, Druids, and Clerics. Their alignments affected their lives and futures.
"Huh?" Finn and Brat both exclaimed in surprise.
Finn sat up straight. "But you've been helping people the whole time."
"I saved Brat because he'd helped me before. I wanted to, so I did," Anse explained with a smile. "Forget the earlier fighting. That last stand wasn't about saving other people; it was about saving ourselves."
"We could've just run," Finn said, looking puzzled.
"Where would we run to?" Anse rolled his eyes. He'd gained a new appreciation for Finn's reasoning—or lack of it. "If Land and the others hadn't made it back, do you think we could've gotten through that gate?"
The Flaming Fist might keep out civilians or Adventurers, but even they couldn't be foolish enough to leave Land and the others outside.
"Surely they wouldn't go that far?" Brat said uncertainly.
"Heh. Who knows?" Anse strongly suspected that if they hadn't shaken off their pursuers, the Flaming Fist might have kept them outside and watched as everyone was killed.
Finn and Brat looked troubled, but they were mostly convinced.
The Flaming Fist had a long history. Though there had been a few mishaps along the way, it had generally remained under the direct control of the Grand Duke of the Raven Guard. It wasn't exactly fair, but it was certainly a competent police force.
Especially after the scheming Vansampur Family had been purged, the Council of Four had become the Council of Three, making things more stable. The Grand Duke's successors had all been decent, too. They weren't especially outstanding, but at least they hadn't made a mess of things.
The relatively stable environment had kept the Flaming Fist clear of unrest, and it had stayed true to its principles. Its reputation had never been particularly bad.
But you couldn't judge how a person or an organization would behave in a disaster based on how they usually acted.
After seeing the Flaming Fist cower like turtles over the past two days, Anse had decided they couldn't be trusted. He couldn't help thinking the worst when considering what might happen.
After a long silence, Finn finally spoke, sounding a little hesitant. "I'm Lawful Neutral. We... don't have conflicting alignments. Maybe we could... team up?"
Anse looked at Brat, who shrugged. "It's up to you."
"Sure. I'm going to be the Captain." Anse claimed the position without hesitation.
"Fine..." The two agreed readily.
Alignment didn't actually prevent people from forming a party, but it could affect their rapport and trust.
All three of them were neutral. Brat was Neutral Good, and Finn was Lawful Neutral.
Neutral Good creatures helped others whenever they could and acted within the limits of the rules, but they weren't bound by them.
Brat fit the description well. He was usually carefree, but when something happened, he was the first to step up.
Lawful Neutral creatures followed a set of principles, which might come from the law, tradition, or personal conviction. They wouldn't be swayed by the pleas of those in danger or the temptations of evil.
Finn was clearly rather withdrawn and self-centered. He only talked more when he was with Anse. He was probably a sucker for good looks.
After all, Anse was attractive to men and women alike!
As they chatted, the conversation inevitably returned to the disaster.
"Why do you think Underdark Creatures came up here?" Brat grumbled. "They hate the light, yet they came up anyway. What a joke."
"Maybe the place that collapsed just happened to be a Gray Dwarf settlement," Anse guessed at random. "The Underdark is short on resources. They might just be here to plunder, or they might want to settle here. The Weave is in disarray right now, but Gray Dwarf Psionics aren't affected, so things are working out in their favor.
"But you got one thing wrong. A lot of Underdark Creatures are sensitive to daylight and dislike the light, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're afraid of it."
"You... know a lot about them?" Finn asked curiously.
"I read it in a book. The Underdark, you know? I know a little about it." Anse made up an excuse. The original owner of his body hadn't actually read books like that.
But Anse himself knew DND inside and out. He could practically be called an expert. Brat and the others, on the other hand, were natives whose lives rarely took them beyond their usual stomping grounds. They knew little about anything beyond the human world.
As they were talking, a jumble of footsteps came from the corridor.
A dozen Warriors wearing matching Studded Leather Armor hurried into the passageway, armed with Sword and Shield. As soon as they arrived, they began roughly driving the crowd away.
"Get up, get up..."
"The fortress is closed from this moment on. No one is allowed to stay..."
"Move! Don't make me get rough..."
"..."
Before you continue