I felt rested.


    My body still ached, but it wasn’t as tired as I’d been the day before. Val had also left another filled water container behind, which I drained as soon as I got up.


    Fyga had spent the night watching me. Which was very creepy in my opinion, but also comforting since I knew that she was also guarding me, so I didn’t have to sleep lightly. I shivered as I realized that I was feeling comforted that a Touched had guarded me while I was asleep.


    The field was full of tents, with the two of ours being the farthest away from everyone else. We were in the northwest corner of the sector and there was plenty of room for at least a dozen tents around us. As I walked towards the gate, I realized that the people in the tents closest to ours were the sick or wounded. The blast that happened after I threw a fireball into the plague cloud had hurt a lot of people. It seemed like most of the Humans had tried to hide in their homes, which unfortunately didn’t shield them from the mist that could seep in through the cracks, in the doors, or the chimneys.


    I tried not to think about how many people had died when it blew up. Most of them would have died anyway if I had done nothing, but it was still gut wrenching to see how many people had been hurt by a choice I made.


    The black-haired Touched was following behind me and must have seen the agony on my face because when I stopped to look at the medical tent she leaned over my shoulder and whispered in my ear.


    “Focus on the ones you saved.” The blue-eyed woman patted my shoulder. “They’re all alive because of you.”


    Being alive was a tricky thing because some fates are worse than the finality of death. I was more okay with what I was now, but there were still sometimes that I wondered if I shouldn’t have just let myself die in the Zombie pen in Pline. Technically I was alive, but I would have much rather stayed a Human so I could become a Bokor, than turn into a Touched. But the way I was now, I could help more people. I just hated that I had become an abomination with no hope of ever becoming a Bokor like I’d dreamed of for the last fourteen years.   Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    I kept walking and it was hard not to think that I was being blamed for the explosion by the way people moved away from me.


    “Eveth is already at the docks.” Fyga moved around in front of me and started walking backwards so she could look at me. “We’ll have to clear out anything at the gate, then once we get out into the dead zone, it’s a straight shot to the east.” She tapped her pocket. “I’m going to head over to the crafting sector once I drop you off to try to fix your goggles.”


    “I can get there on my own.” I tried not to sound like I was grumbling, but did a very poor job.


    I was wearing regular clothes like the other Humans. My options had been Human casual clothes or the metal armor that the guards had. Metal was fine for protection, but it was too heavy to move around as fast as I wanted. While I’d get hurt more with just plant-fiber clothing, at least I’d be able to move.


    “I know you can.” Fyga turned around, then glanced back over her shoulder. “Just want to make sure you don’t get sidetracked and blow up the other half of the city.”


    I didn’t have a comeback for that, so I followed her to the gate in silence. When we got there, one of the men in metal suits slid open his visor to look at us. I recognized him as the guard captain we’d met on our first night in the city. He looked at me with less dread than what I’d expected, so Val must have at least partially patched up the fear that she’d instilled in him on our first meeting.


    “Master Bokor! So nice to see you back on your feet!” Even I was able to tell that his smile was forced and I didn’t have a lot of success with reading Humans.


    “Captain.” I nodded at him. “What’s it like out there?”


    “There’s only one outside the gate at the moment.” He looked nervous. “Me and the boys were thinking about taking care of it, but we stayed at our posts like Master Val instructed.”


    I sighed louder than I’d planned. Killing even a single Zombie would require them to open the gate, which was nothing but metal bars on hinges that they’d used two six-foot long four-inch square boards to bar it closed. I couldn’t see the Zombie, but I could feel it. As well as the four other ones that were hiding. If the Zombies weren’t at the gate, that meant that someone was holding them back.


    There was still a Touched in the city.