Chapter 13: Inside The Walls

"Hey Jax, I'm really looking forward to more adventures like that last one," Mira said as she lay next to him, emotions high and the air thick.

"I think watching you smile was the best part," she finished.

"Please stop teasing me, Mira," Jax replied. "We've done this too many times. I get flustered and then you laugh."

"It's not happening tonight," he concluded.

Mira heard that and took it as a challenge. She squirmed in as tightly to Jax as she could, her body pressed against his.

"I'm not teasing you," she said.

"I don't believe you. Why would you? I'm cowardly and quick to spiral out of control."

"You're here. You have been since we joined up together. You've protected me at every turn," she said, somehow closer now. "Jax, I trust you with more than my life," she whispered into his ear.

Jax started to get flustered and stopped, pulling nerves he didn't think he had and rolling toward Mira.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked. "You speak too vaguely."

"I mean…"

"They're inside the walls!" a voice screamed. "Dungeon beasts! Get indoors!"

The duo got out of bed and looked out their window. The city was on fire on the far north side. Screams could be heard faintly.

"We have to help," they both said almost in unison.

They got dressed with haste and headed toward the voices, not stopping until they got close enough to feel the footsteps.

Dungeon beasts were everywhere, destroying shops and houses alike, not caring whether they held life or not.

"Why are they… no, how are they outside of the dungeon?" Jax said. "This hasn't ever happened in any written history book I've read."

"They look weak enough," Mira replied. "I can definitely kill most by myself. Where are the other guild teams at?"

"They probably will show up soon. We can reduce casualties until they do," Jax said, readying a stone spike.

"I can handle that. You actually going to use offensive magic this time?" she asked.

"As long as you slow down and take note of your surroundings, I'll be able to help with damage," he replied, launching several stone spikes toward the beasts.

"Whoa. When did you learn to do that?" Mira asked, looking surprised.

After that moment they separated from each other, Mira running ahead with Jax behind. Frost slashes and stone spikes were yelled out continuously.

"Hey, I'm going to try something new."

"Earth Pit!" he shouted.

The ground beneath a group of goblins turned into sludge, devouring the lower half of the beasts.

Mira followed that up with one fell swoop, taking out all the monsters. She moved like lightning, but colder.

"Good job, Jax," Mira praised from across the area. "That's a new spell. I love it. They couldn't even move," she finished, stabbing a slime behind her.

"I had the idea the other day when Jacob fell in a puddle. As soon as the idea formed, the words came naturally," he explained.

"We'll talk about the spell later. Something other than them being inside the wall is wrong. None of them are attacking back. Their anger isn't directed."

"So they're mindless?" Mira asked. "I wondered why they were so weak. Dang, I thought that trip made me stronger," she finished, looking slightly bummed.

When all the beasts were dead and that side of the city had been evacuated, they showed up.

The third-ranked guild team. A trio of mages, famous in this city. The Ironwind Triage.

"About time you guys show up. We already killed all of them," Mira barked sarcastically. "Why did we beat you here?"

The guild team didn't reply. They started investigating as soon as they got there, never paying the duo any mind.

"Hey, you gonna answer me?"

"Mira, stop. They're probably trying to figure out what happened," Jax said, his voice firm. "Let's let them do their job."

"Cowards," Mira said. "You saw how many there were and waited for the numbers to die down."

One of the trio flinched at the word. He finished writing his report and turned around.

"Miss, you simply were closer. No more," the man said. "You had no problem with the beasts?"

"No," Mira answered, putting her sword away. "They were all fairly weak, never really pushing too hard. Jax seems to think they might have been controlled."

"Controlled?" the man asked. "By who?"

Jax stepped forward, noticing Mira was starting to shake. "It's just a theory, but they weren't looking to feed. It was like they were just set free with no goal."

"I'll add that to my notes," the smaller woman said. "Thank you two for handling this. We kind of dropped the ball and stayed in the town over a little too long."

"We couldn't fly here fast enough. The town is lucky you guys were here," the third figure said in a growl.

"Did you just say fly?" Mira asked, her eyes twinkling. "Mages can fly? Jax, I want to fly someday."

"That depends," the woman said. "What affinity is your magic? Flying requires an air affinity and Clouse's technique. He just finished teaching us yesterday."

"I have a frost affinity," Mira replied. "So far I use it offensively, strengthening my blade and using the ice shards to increase my speed."

"Have you tried using your ice as stepping stones?" the woman asked, closing the distance between them. "Ice affinity is rare. Don't undersell it."

Mira thought for a second and her body started vibrating, her eyes growing wide at the thought.

"I gotta go!" Mira yelled, already two blocks away. "I have to test her theory. I could go even faster, Jax!"

After watching her run off, Jax turned back to the trio.

"Forgive her. She's a bit quick to run off on her own. When she puts her mind on something, she's unstoppable," he finished.

"Is that your girlfriend?" the woman asked, now close to him. "She's a lucky girl if so."

After hearing those words, he turned toward where Mira had disappeared.

For once, he didn't hesitate.

He ran.