It bothered Veximarl that he was on a date. Tish had said that this was going to be a group outing, but then the majority of them had paired off and vanished into the crowd. The only exception to the rule was Millie, who was being escorted by both Basil and Peter.

Tish continued to cling to Veximarl’s arm. They had looked at flower displays together, done some dancing, and had already eaten lunch. Veximarl wouldn't necessarily complain, but he didn't like how Tish seemed to think she had to trick him into going out on a date. He would have gone willingly if she had simply asked.

He took a moment to look out at the crowd. Veximarl wanted to see if anyone they knew was nearby. Gwyn was the one who stood out first. She was making her final adjustments to a plant sculpture. It was a dog with long flowering vines as fur. Veximarl wanted to go over there and ask her about it, but seeing Shaw hug her from behind gave him pause. The two shared a brief kiss before the paladin smiled and whispered something to her.

What was she doing with him? The two had shared a physical encounter in the past, but both of them seemed to think ill of it. Gyan had even asked Veximarl to prevent her from making the same mistake twice.

Veximarl gave a squeeze to Tish's hand before letting it go. “I see that Gwyn is entering the sculpture contest. Would you mind if I went over to say hello? I wanted to wish her luck.” He spoke in a kind manner, hoping she wouldn't get upset thinking he was abandoning their date... Which was what absolutely planned to do.

Tish reached up and put her hand to his cheek. He felt a hint of euphoria whenever she did that. “Is that really necessary? She looks so busy, and Paladin Arbutus is with her. Doesn't that mean she doesn't want us to intervene?” Shaw was exactly the reason why he wanted to intervene. “Come with me. I want to tell you something.”

All it took was a gentle pull of the hand to make him obediently follow. They climbed the sidesteps of a nearby building and stood on its veranda. From here, they could see much of the festival grounds. Music flitted through the air as Tish put her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss.

“Not now, Tish,” he muttered against her lips. “What would someone think if they saw us?”

She smiled. “That we're in love?” Another peck was given before she slid her hand to his cheek. “We've seen everything already but was there something you wanted to do again?” She guided him into a slow and romantic dance. “Or we could stay up here for a while.”

“I can't think of anything I would want to do.”

Veximarl smiled down at her and then shook his head. She was doing it again. It was becoming a problem, but he wanted to give her the chance to self-correct before he brought it up.

“What's with that serious face?” She reached for his cheek again, but he caught her wrist this time.

“Tish.” He narrowed her eyes at her, then became distracted again. “... Your hair.”

She had gone without her headscarf today but now her hair was oddly starting to float on its own. The long strands danced their way upward and waved back and forth. Veximarl inhaled sharply as he realized what that meant. His hand shot in the air and he summoned a shield over them just as the first series of lightning bolts hit the festival. Tish fell to her knees, putting her hands over her head as she let out a surprised scream.

Unsummoning his shield, Veximarl ran to the edge of the veranda. Half of the crowd had taken cover by ducking close to the ground while others had started to flee. It was difficult to tell if their screams were from panic or from injury. He hoped that no one was becoming trampled down there.

“Vex!”

Gwyn's voice pierced the noise like an arrow. His eyes went to her as she jumped up and down and waved her hands. She was quickly tugged to the ground by Shaw, who summoned his own shield as another series of strikes hit. Both Tish and Veximarl guarded themselves with their own shields, luckily avoiding injury for a second time.

Veximarl addressed Tish before she could say anything. “We need to establish a safe zone to move the injured. Be wary of further attacks, at least until we can identify the source,” he said as he put his foot on the railing. He pulled out the top half of his spear and thrust it upward. “Cacophony!”

Above him, the form of the owl appeared. It grabbed onto Veximarl's arm with its talons and carried him over to where Gwyn was. Cacophony dissipated into ash as it dropped Veximarl down next to her. He quickly looked around to see what the problem was.

Both Naiov and Anais were on the ground. Shaw was kneeling over Anais and blood was oozing out of one of Naiov's ears. Static was still dancing along the fibers of his clothing, and his feet and hands were giving the occasional spasm.

“Vex,” pleaded Gwyn in a thin voice. “Mister Furrow had been complaining of a headache, and suddenly he grasped the sides of his head and cried out. The lightning started when Anais attempted to calm him down.”

Shaw lifted his hand away from Anais’ neck. She didn’t have a pulse. “I'm sorry, Gwyn... There isn't anything I can-”

“Vex! Please do something!” She grasped onto Veximarl’s arm and shook it.

“... Let me examine her.” Veximarl moved quickly to Anais’ side and knelt down.

“She’s already dead,” replied Shaw.

“That hasn’t stopped me before,” muttered Veximarl.

One of the bolts had struck her. Veximarl put away his spear half and grasped the sides of her neck, angling her head from left to right so he could get a better look. The bolt had entered through her hearing aid and exited her left foot. The vessels along that side of her face had burst from when the blood within them superheated. There were burns around the bracelets she had on her wrists and her foot wasn’t in great condition either.

Anais wasn't breathing. Part of her heart had become dead tissue. Shaw was wrong. Anais wasn’t dead, but she was certainly about to be. However, Veximarl was a necromancer. Reviving a body was no easy task, but he could keep someone who was nearly dead in that state for quite a long time. As long as her brain remained preserved, the body could be salvaged.

He began by reanimating her heart, manually controlling her heartbeat so that oxygen would continue to travel to her brain. Next, he took control of her diaphragm so that she would breathe slowly. This was difficult work, much more so than it should be, but now was not the time to worry about it. As long as nothing broke his concentration, he could keep it up for as long as he needed to. A good enough cleric may still be able to save her through surgery.

Tish landed nearby and gasped at the scene. She looked between Anais and Naiov, taking a step towards the latter. As she did so, Shaw held out an arm to stop her. She had only wanted to treat Naiov, and was confused about why he would interfere.

“He's the one who did this to her,” the paladin said coldly.

“... Why would he do that?” She frowned as Shaw shook his head. “Alright… It looks like you have this handled. I’ll see if anyone else is in critical condition.”

Veximarl closed his eyes and shook his head. “Get Lady Blu.”

Tish paused again. “Doctor Krogastein is closer. Her clinic is only a few streets down.”

“Philomena doesn’t have much surgical experience. I will attempt to maintain this for as long as I can, but only someone as skilled as Lady Blu can save her. Bring her to this spot. I’m afraid I might lose my concentration if we attempt to move her.”

Now that the majority of the crowd had fled, the Braytons squires and the town guard were becoming warier of who was left outside. They were doing what they could to move the injured, but Shaw was ushering them away from Anais.

“What happened?” Ivy put her hand to her mouth. “Is she going to be okay?” Gwyn pulled her away and began to whisper what was happening.

“I’ll be back as soon as I am able!” Tish

Lydia floated down next to Alton. He had stayed out in hopes of using his singing magic to disable whoever was casting those spells. The plan was to use Lydia as his eyes, but it didn’t take either of them long to figure out what was happening once they saw Naiov on the ground.

“He lost control of his powers... Just like Chester had,” whispered Lydia.

Duxton started to bark out orders. “Squires! Two groups! We’ve taken control of that restaurant as a rescue point! All of those with healing magic, report there! Those without, locate the injured and bring them over! Inform the guard of our plans and escort in healers there!”

“Why is happening?” Alton waited until no one was looking his way before he glanced at Lydia. “You said you had a theory.”

“Elementalists are connected to Tyrtain. When he was severed into pieces and put into a torpor, his power was greatly diminished. As a result, the powers of his acolytes also decreased. Since you and Vexi have freed him-”

“The powers of the elementalists are increasing to the point where they can no longer control them,” muttered Alton. “And it's hitting the weaker ones first because the stronger mages already know how to control their powers .” Lydia nodded at his statement.

Duxton had overheard part of Alton’s remarks and turned to look at him. “... What was that?”

Alton couldn't be bothered to explain. “Where is Millie?” He looked around and spotted her still with Basil and Peter. “Zan.” He grasped onto her arm as she started to walk away. “I need you on mage duty. Tell our mages that they need to head back to Braytons and Chi needs to start working on more binding tools immediately. Sybil, please help Zan and Chi.”

“Tell me what's happening first,” replied Sybil.

“Every elementalist is experiencing an influx of power. All of them are going to end up like Compton and Furrow if we don't do something about it,” explained Alton. “We can figure out why later, but we have to move them out of town. Especially before Millie explodes and sets half of it on fire.”

The two nodded in agreement. Zaniyah lifted up Naiov and tossed him over her shoulder. Sybil had already run off to where she had seen Moontear. Alton knelt down by Veximarl so he could see what was happening with Anais. It didn’t look good.

“Is there anything I can do?” If Veximarl was willing to expose himself by using his magic, Alton knew that the situation was dire.

“Not unless you have a song that can fix everything, no.” He let out a weak laugh. “Apologies, I cannot speak much while I'm doing this.”

Alton stood up and addressed Gwyn. “There shouldn't be any more bolts now that Furrow is unconscious. Would you grow some shade for them? Being in the direct sun like this isn't doing them any favors.”

Reaching for some seeds, Gwyn went through them until she found a nut. She put this in the ground nearby and it grew into a tall bush that curled over the pair. Even though both she and Ivy had orders to move, neither left the scene. If the worst were to happen with Anais, they didn’t want her to die alone.

Duxton wasn’t moving either. He glared at Alton as the squire surveyed the area. “How are you so certain about what is happening to the mages?” Alton turned and blinked in a surprised fashion. He had been listening to Lydia and didn't quite hear what Duxton had said. “The mages! How do you know that is what is happening?”

Alton cleared his throat, repeating some of the advice that Lydia was muttering to him. “I could be wrong, but both Compton and Furrow are weaker mages who wouldn’t know how to deal with a power surge. Chi has been complaining about headaches ever since we came back from Carapace. Compton said that his headaches had increased since the moment we returned. Something is happening with all of them and it's possible that Kindrick and Pegasus have also been feeling it. Until we’re certain for sure what it is, we should take precautions.”

The prince didn't believe him. “When we return to the barracks, your squad and mine are going to sit down for a long talk.”

“I just told you that I don't know what is going on. That's just a theory,” argued Alton defensively.

“Yes, but ever since our dear Sybil drew that sword, she's been at the center of a lot of strange occurrences. Whether it is bad luck, coincidence, or something else, it's easy for me to tell when you are defending her or a secret involving her. If you expect me to help you protect her, I need to know what is going on.”

Alton narrowed his eyes. “And I am going to stay here with Vex in case he needs anything. Making sure Anais stays alive is my top priority. Not even the crown can move me... You should contact Duke Sickleson and inform him of the situation.”

Unfortunately, Alton was right. Duxton knew that he needed to talk to the Duke. Walking away in a huff, he had plans spinning in his head. They wouldn't be able to avoid him forever.

As for Lady Blu, she took the barrack's fastest horse to Tilrey. Tish led her directly to where Anais was and the cleric knelt down to put a hand on her forehead. “You've done such a good job, Vex.” Her face was flushed with concern. “I believe I can cast a stabilization spell that will allow us to move her someplace sterile. Tish, secure a spot for us and work to make it clean. Vex, keep casting your magic. I'll be done by the time Tish gets back.”

Their work continued until Anais was stabilized. Veximarl was told he could head back to the barracks to rest but he wanted to stay nearby and monitor her condition. Though Lady Blu had stated surgery wouldn’t be necessary, and Anaid was now breathing on her own, he held concerns for what lingering damages her mind and heart would have.

Blu pressed a finger against her cheek in thought. “I'm not sure how long it will be before she wakes up. It could be that she stays like this forever.”

It was difficult to say how bad the damage was. Her brain had certainly suffered. Anais' face was also permanently scarred. The injuries sustained from her blood vessels bursting were to intricate for magic to heal. Her heart had similar wounds. Only time would tell if it would have enough strength to recover.

Veximarl had expected bad news but had hoped that it wouldn’t be so severe. “Once we’re at the barracks, would it be alright if I were to come and check on her vitals several times a day? I would be interested in seeing her progress.

“I would appreciate that. It is embarrassing for me to admit, but you are better than I in that department.” She patted him gently on the shoulder. “Why don't you go talk to her squad? It will be some time before we can move her. Tish and I will handle it from here.”

“Of course.”

Naiov had been dealt with rather quickly, thus order was restored within an hour of the attack. The festival was effectively over. Several of the flower sculptures had been destroyed by lightning. Even if they were safe, everyone’s overall mood had been spoiled. Most of the squires had already returned to the barracks. Only Baron and Macestar remained in the town.

Veximarl exited the inn room and waved at the others. Evan walked past him and into room, with Moss following him. When Ivy tried to follow, Veximarl held up an arm to block her.

“It isn't good to crowd the room,” said Veximarl in a calm voice. “Sir Moss will be informed of her condition so that he may inform her family. Mister Cress is in charge of organizing their transport back to Braytons.”

Gwyn looked up at him. “How is she?”

“If we were to look at the grimmest of possibilities, she may never wake up. I am hopeful that she does but I doubt that she will be fit enough to continue her education at Bra-” He let out a puff of air and stumbled backward as Gwyn shoved herself forcefully against his chest.

“Thank you,” she said. “I know you did everything you could to help her.”

Veximarl was startled by the sudden display of affection. It took a moment for him to respond. One of his hands stroked her hair as the other gently pressed itself against her back. “I'm still not certain I-” He grunted as Ivy forcefully hugged him from behind. “...” He let out a pained sigh. “I am still not certain that I performed my role adequately, but I am thankful for your praise. Macestar Squad will be taking her home. Would you like me to escort you back?”

Gwyn nodded. “Shaw returned for an emergency meeting. First Mister Compton and now Mister Furrow... I can’t understand why this is happening.” Her body tensed up, and Veximarl could tell that she was frightened.

“Alton has asked me to visit Philomena in order to check some medical records. We’ll leave after that,” replied Veximarl. “Our knights are already looking into the phenomenon and are seeing what other magic users have been showing similar symptoms. I will put my faith in them. No doubt that they will be able to figure it out.”