The rain drummed against the settlement with relentless persistence, each drop adding to the growing pools of water that transformed pathways into muddy streams.
What had begun as a storm now settled into a steady, soaking downpour that showed no signs of ending.
Sarah knelt beside Tom's covered form beneath the watchtower's incomplete structure, her hand resting on the rough canvas that kept the rain from his still face.
8 year old Emma pressed against her mother's side, confusion in her young eyes.
"Daddy's sleeping very deeply," Emma whispered, her voice barely audible over the rain's constant percussion. "When will he wake up?"
Sarah's throat tightened. _How do you explain death to a child?_ It wasn't a question she thought she would have to answer. _How do you tell her that the wolves took away the most important person in her world?_
"Emma, sweetheart," Sarah began, her voice cracking. "Daddy isn't sleeping. He... he got hurt very badly helping other people, and he can't wake up anymore."
Emma's brow furrowed, her young mind struggling with the concept. "But when I get hurt, Doctor Hayes makes me better."
"Some hurts are too big even for Doctor Hayes to fix," Sarah said, pulling her daughter closer. "Daddy's hurt was one of those."
Some kind of understanding slowly crept across Emma's face like shadows at sunset. Her lower lip trembled, then the tears came—harsh, gulping sobs that seemed to echo the rain's rhythm. "I want Daddy back," she wailed, her small fists beating against her mother's chest. "Make him come back!"
Sarah held her daughter as the grief poured out, her own tears mixing with the rain that found its way through gaps in the watchtower's unfinished roof.
Around them, six other families dealt with similar scenes, the settlement's joy and hope of recent weeks replaced by the harsh reality of their new world.
_Tom died protecting others,_ Sarah reminded herself, seeking comfort in his final act of courage. _He saved that family. He chose to stand between them and the wolves._
But the comfort felt hollow when measured against Emma's sobs.
---
Doctor Hayes moved between the wounded, her supplies stretched thin. The rain complicated everything—wounds stayed damp, increasing infection risk, while the humidity made her small clinic feel suffocating.
Kate lay unconscious on the main treatment table, her breathing steady but shallow. The claw wounds across her ribs and shoulder had been cleaned and stitched, but Doctor Hayes found herself checking the girl's pulse every few minutes.
"Her body's still in shock," she explained to David and Carl, who'd refused to leave their teammate's side. "The blood loss was significant, but the wounds themselves should heal cleanly if infection doesn't set in."
"When will she wake up?" Carl asked, his voice tight with worry.
Doctor Hayes hesitated. "I don't know. Her condition is stable, the treatment went as well as I could hope, but... I can't control when or even if she'll wake up."
The uncertainty gnawed at all of them. Kate had proven herself during the battle, fighting the whole time even after the wolf brought her down. Seeing her so still and vulnerable felt wrong after witnessing her courage.
Outside the medical centre, children huddled close to their parents, many refusing to venture more than a few steps from doorways. The sound of rain against roofs had become associated with the terror of the wolf attack.
Janet worked tirelessly to maintain some semblance of normalcy, gathering some of the children for stories and simple games, but the fear lingered in their young eyes.
"The wolves are dead," Maria announced during the morning gathering, her voice carrying over the rain. "All 15 of them."
But even as she spoke the words, everyone knew more wolves were out there waiting for the next opportunity.
---
Construction work ground to a complete halt. The rain made everything more difficult and dangerous. Workers who attempted to continue their fortification efforts quickly abandoned the effort.
"We're losing precious time," Thomas muttered to Catherine as they surveyed the waterlogged construction sites. "Every day without progress leaves us vulnerable to the next attack."
"The rain won't last forever," Catherine replied, though her own frustration was evident.
Several workers developed colds due to their soaked clothes, adding to Doctor Hayes' patient load. The combination of stress, exhaustion, and constant dampness was taking its toll on everyone.
"At least we know we can fight them off," Ethan observed, cleaning wolf blood from his axe.
Victor nodded, though his expression remained grim. "The question is whether we'll have enough time to prepare before the next group makes their move."
The settlement had survived the first wave, but survival felt precarious when measured against the vast unknowns that surrounded them.
How many more wolf packs roamed the region? What other creatures had moved into the territory once protected by the safe zone?
The rain continued its steady assault into the afternoon, washing away the blood from the battle while ensuring that recovery would be slow and difficult.
Under the incomplete watchtower, seven bodies lay covered and waiting for ground dry enough to allow proper burial.
The settlement endured this time, but how much longer could they last?
---
Meanwhile, elsewhere...
Thirty kilometres to the east, an unknown settlement's final moments played out in chaos and terror. Their safe zone's protection had failed three days earlier, but the isolated community had only discovered their vulnerability when the trolls arrived.
Two massive creatures, each standing nearly 4 metres tall, their grey-green skin resisted any attacks the people could manage.
The trolls enormous clubs crushed buildings and people with equal ease. The 47 residents who'd called the place home scattered like leaves before a hurricane, but the trolls were faster than their bulk suggested.
By midday, only the empty ruins remained, bodies scattered among the wreckage of what had once been a quaint community.
---
Somewhere to the south, the Oakenheart Safe Zone faced its own extinction. Lightning wolves prowled through streets where families had lived peacefully, their electric-blue fur crackling with dangerous energy.
Each one of their long ranged attacks could stun multiple humans simultaneously, leaving them helpless as the creatures closed in for the kill.
"The nest!" screamed Blake, the settlement's former leader, as electrical energy coursed through his body. "Dammit, if only we knew about the monster nests sooner!"
His words were cut short as a wolf's jaws clamped down on his throat, ending both his life and any hope of salvation for the 93 people who'd trusted him to keep them safe.
---
On the northern continent, far beyond the reach of the storm system that plagued the other settlements, Greenward Keep experienced its own catastrophe under clear skies.
Velociraptors had emerged in unprecedented numbers, their sickle-shaped claws and razor-sharp teeth tearing through the settlement's populace.
The raptors showed little of the wolves' intelligence and none of the trolls' raw destructive power, but their individual lethality proved equally devastating.
Each creature was a relentless killing machine, overwhelming the humans with their speed and savagery. The settlement's 72 residents fought bravely, but courage meant little against such predators.
By sunset, Greenward Keep joined the growing list of communities that existed only in memory, its protective safe zone as useless as morning mist against the tide of creatures.
---
To the south of AJ's settlement, not far from the Titan's Spine that pierced the storm clouds reaching for the sky, the Obsidian Sect's homebase stood untouched by the chaos that consumed lesser settlements.
They never had a safe zone to rely on and so they had been pushed to build proper defences since day one. The creatures that plagued other communities avoided their territory entirely, as if sensing the power that emanated from within the carved stone halls.
Kael stood on her command tower's highest balcony, rain streaming from her dark robes as she observed the distant lightning that marked other settlements' destruction.
Her cultivation had progressed to the Earth Realm months ago, and the power flowing through her felt as natural as breathing.
"The weak settlements fall one by one," she murmured to Darius, whose massive frame filled the doorway behind her.
He had reached the Earth Realm as well, his body now shimmering with unconcealed power. "As we predicted they would."
Below them, over 200 sect members moved through their daily training routines despite the rain. A large majority of them had achieved the Realm of Man.
Lira appeared beside Darius, her twin daggers gleaming as she twirled them in her hands. "The creature nests continue spawning their broods," she reported. "But none approach our territory."
Kael nodded, unsurprised. The sect's collective power created an aura that lesser creatures instinctively avoided. Where other settlements struggled against isolated packs, the Obsidian Sect commanded respect through pure strength.
"Let the world burn," Kael said, watching distant flashes illuminate the storm clouds. "From its ashes, we'll build something worthy of our vision."
The rain that brought misery to countless others was merely weather to the Obsidian Sect, their power placing them above such mundane concerns as mere survival.
---
The Iron Vanguard's temporary shelter felt more like a tomb than refuge. Water dripped steadily through cracks in the cave's ceiling, creating a constant percussion that mixed with the sound of rain outside.
The 53 survivors of Marcus's once-proud mercenary group huddled around small fires, their supplies dwindling and their morale lower than it had been since the dragon's attack months earlier.
Marcus sat near the cave's entrance, watching the river that had become their guide through this transformed landscape.
"How much further downstream do you think we need to go?" Rhea asked, settling beside him despite the water that pooled on the stone floor.
"Until we find somewhere defensible," Marcus replied, his voice weary. "A flat area near the water, maybe elevated ground we can fortify. Somewhere we can rebuild our fortress."
Garrett emerged from deeper in the cave, his blacksmith's tools clanking softly in the makeshift pack he'd made from salvaged materials. "The river's flowing pretty fast down there," he observed.
Marcus nodded, his mind calculating the risks of continuing their journey versus the dangers of remaining stationary.
They'd lost another 12 people since fleeing their destroyed compound, picked off by various creatures during their constant movement.
The Vanguard that had once commanded respect now consisted of exhausted survivors whose greatest ambition was finding somewhere they could sleep without posting triple watches.
"We move downstream at first light," Marcus decided. "The rain's got to stop eventually, until then we rest."
Rhea studied his profile in the flickering firelight. "You really think we'll find somewhere suitable? Somewhere that isn't already claimed by the creatures roaming around out here?"
Marcus was quiet for a long moment, listening to the river's persistent murmur beyond the cave entrance.
"We'll find something," he said finally. "We have to. The alternative is watching what's left of us disappear one person at a time."
Outside their shelter, the rain continued its relentless assault on a world that was undergoing another transformation.
The Iron Vanguard would travel westwards following their river downstream, searching for sanctuary in a landscape where safety had become the rarest commodity of all.