Avuri

I wasn't sure what to expect upon arriving back at the city after escaping the tunnels. Emery had warned me before that the reception we had received at Bastion after rescuing Stena would not be the norm, but it was difficult for me to imagine any sort of greeting beyond concern for the injured.

Admittedly, we weren't returning with any noticeable injuries, so I wasn't expecting the city guards to approach us the same way, but I had still expected some kind of positive reception. Even when Emery's silent message reminded me about the common reception of those tainted by demons, I had trouble imagining people actually shutting children out so brutally.

But as we approached the city walls and were met with the guards looking for identification that no one except Emery and I could provide for ourselves, I realized that we had somewhat cheated our way through the situation with Stena because of the big commotion at the gate before we set out. Many people saw us run out to valiantly save the victims and returned to a heroic fanfare - and the 'celebration' upon our return meant that there wasn't much scrutiny leveled at those we returned with.

This time there was no such cover.

Instead, as soon as we met with the guards at Resin, Emery immediately took control over the discussion as best she could. I remained in the rear, keeping an eye on the children while the two other adults did what they could to move the discussion in our favor.

It really was not going well.

The guards were led by a Sky Realm Cultivator, flanked by two others of the same Realm, and they were nothing but dismissive to both the near-mortal adults and the kids. Worse still, all of the children were actively 'leaking' pure Qi into the air around them. It was no doubt a side-effect of whatever the demonic Cultivators had used them for, and was not normal; but it was exactly the sort of state that would get someone ostracized as 'demon-touched'.

Even Kord and Briar, who had been in the camp for less than a full day, had already undergone whatever sort of forced awakening the demons used. All four of them were, without conscious input, taking in ambient Qi around them, purifying it within their bodies, then leaking it back out into the air because they had no control. In essence, they were basically unwitting living batteries.

Anyone with any Qi sense at all, which would be most people living this far out from the major central cities, would be able to easily sense their leakage.

I did what I could to shield them with my Domain, but pure Qi was difficult to hide. It was like trying to hold water in my fingers, amorphous and slippery, and trying to keep it contained was a losing battle. It simply seeped out and around my hold, regardless of what I did.

"We can't exactly stop you from entering the city, but you'll be responsible for them," the lead guard said. "If they get into trouble, it'll be your neck on the line. I'd advise you to move straight through the city without stopping. We all know there will be nothing we can do if the public gets involved."

"Do you have Qi suppressors here we could borrow? Or purchase?" Emery asked. "If we could at least stop their leaking…"

One of the other guards shook their head. "No," she said, "or, at least, we don't have any that would be useful to you. We have manacles for Sky Realm Cultivators, but if we put those on children it could tear their souls apart." She looked at least a little torn between wanting to help and the same disgust on the other guards' faces.

"There's plenty of Cultivator-serving shops in the city. I'm sure one of them will have something weak enough for them." The leader added. "But if any of your group causes a scene, we'll be forced to remove you from the city. Potentially by force if things get rowdy enough."

Emery narrowed her eyes at the leader, annoyed with his approach to handling the situation. I could feel it wafting off her in waves. But at the same time, she had no way to fight against the approach. The guards were meant to be peacekeepers for the city, and if the residents got out of hand, it would be their job to restore order.

The third guard sneered down his nose at the children and the two adults. "We shouldn't be letting you into the city at all," he said venomously. "Be happy you're getting that far." He added "Demon-touched…" quietly under his breath, knowing full well that we would hear him.

"We need less than a day to gather our things, a few supplies, and leave again. We shouldn't cause any undue trouble." Emery's head dipped a little in an attempt to show acceptance. Hate for the third guard bubbled violently underneath her exterior, though.

The lead guard shrugged, the conversation apparently finished. "Don't stick around." He said, with zero feeling behind it. I imagined he was fully expecting things to go poorly in fairly short order.

"Right." Emery muttered, turning toward the city. "Let's get moving, then."

Once we all entered the city, we made something a mad dash for the Inn he had been staying at. Emery and I had each carried two of the children each as we tried to stick to back roads and alley ways while running as fast as Fal and Risha could manage.

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We drew plenty of eyes as we moved. I imagined some of it was because Emery and I each had a child under each arm, carrying them like a sack of rice as we ran. Thankfully, no one seemed to jump to kidnapping or anything like that, calling for guards. But we certainly attracted enough attention that people would make note of the strange sight.

Once we made it to the Inn, we brought everyone in one at a time through the window to our room on the second floor. There was a small ledge at the bottom of the window that Emery and I could just barely alight on if we were careful, before basically shoving one of our charges through the window. While the kids had no issues tumbling through the window inside, the adults took more effort - mostly to convince in the first place. Risha also took a solid tumble, unable to maintain her footing as she was let in, and bruised her hip.

With the six of them deposited in the room, Emery and I walked through the main entrance to the building to keep up appearances and greet the staff, just in case they kept count of those coming in and out.

Once we made it up to the room safely, we launched straight into a discussion of what to do next.

"We need to get you all less conspicuous clothing, for starters." I said, my eyes roving over the careless sacks they all wore.

"I'm hungry…" was the only response, coming from Briar.

"We can bring some food back as well." Emery said, patting the girl on her head. "But we need you all to stay put, alright? It's dangerous to go outside, especially dressed the way you are."

The entire group nodded.

"Is there anything else you need?" I asked.

"I realize it's asking a lot, but if you could bring me a spear or sword, I would be grateful." Fal said, his head bowed. "New clothing and a weapon should be enough to allow me to find my footing here."

"We can bring you Cultivator robes and a weapon, sure." Emery nodded.

"Clothing and a small stipend would be enough for me, I think." Risha said, her eyes sweeping over the children. "I feel bad about leaving the two of you with all four kids, but I don't believe I'm in any position to take care of them."

"It's alright." I smiled. "Don't worry about them. We can handle that."

Neither of the adults had any tell-tale signs of demonic contact, so they were probably right; they should have little issue getting back on their feet, so long as they were able to mentally get past whatever trauma they carried now.

As I thought about the fight in the caverns, a flash of despair threatened to drag me down and I had to suppress the feeling quickly. We couldn't get sidetracked now - there simply wasn't enough time.

As Emery and I prepared quickly for a short shopping trip, the kids looked around the room warily. They seemed hesitant to actually touch anything, but all four of them made a circuit of the room together, sticking mostly together. I smiled, watching Karn trying to keep up with the others despite falling behind, while Kord held tightly to Briar's hand, pulling her along. Enrik seemed content to walk alongside Kord, the two of them having become pseudo-leaders of the little party.

"We'll be back soon," Emery spoke mostly to Risha, who nodded in response. "Let's go."

I met my wife's eyes in agreement, and we were off. "Are you sure they'll be alright?"

"They should be fine. There are natural artifacts that give off pure Qi the same way the kids are, so as long as no one pries into the room, they'll be safe. And we'll be quick."

"Right."

Emery was not kidding about being quick. We made our way to and through the market of the city very quickly, making use of our Cultivator speed rather than walking normally. We had no issues at all gathering the few things we needed.

We bought a few larger, sharable dishes for food and stashed them away in our storage rings. Clothing was also very easy; we were able to get simple robes that would fit a wide range of sizes, so we didn't need to worry so much about measurements. While they would be noticeably lower quality, they wouldn't draw suspicion the way their current makeshift clothing did.

Picking up a simple weapon for Fal wasn't hard either. While it wouldn't win any awards for craftsmanship, there was a smith's shop in the town that sold unremarkable but solid weaponry that would last. The spear that Emery chose would no doubt serve the young man well.

Our next stop was at a Cultivator-focused shop that sold a variety of artifacts and other treasures. Thankfully, they did indeed carry suppression talismans, though weak ones. They wouldn't be useful for the vast majority of people, especially when most people living out this far were generally Awakened.

The talismans were, however, strong enough to work on children that had forcefully manifested cores and were now leaking with zero control. The shopkeeper seemed relieved to finally sell the slips of paper, even after I haggled him down to below what I figured they were probably worth.

We already had a fair bit of mortal money squirreled away in storage, too, so we could cover what Risha asked for as well. It would leave us with little to make the trip home, but we probably only really needed enough to cover food for a few days at most. We'd have to feed six people, but that still felt manageable. We just wouldn't be eating anything fancy.

With the necessary stuff purchased, we began to make our way back to our room at the Inn. Once everyone at least had a change of clothes - and the kids had the suppression talismans - they should be able to be out in the city without drawing too much attention.

Emery stepped up beside me as we walked and slid her hand into mine, our original haste forgotten once we had completed our errand. I smiled and leaned into her a little as we walked in a comfortable silence.

It was typically impolite to let one's Qi flow freely in a crowded place, but curiosity got the better of me as I reached out toward the Inn, which was still a few blocks away.

I felt the bottom of my stomach drop out as my Qi stretched over the street in front of the Inn, and I squeezed Emery's hand tightly. "We need to go. Now."

I felt Emery's confusion through our linked hands, but she didn't hesitate to follow at my heels when I leapt up the roof of the nearest building and sped toward the Inn at my top speed.

The brief moment of warmth I had felt while we walked together turned sour in an instant. Apparently, our streak of poor decisions had not ended when we escaped the tunnels.

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