KINETIC

"...tain..."

"Captain!"

"Ah!"

~Cough~ ~Cough~

Leonard jolted awake, every inch of his body was in pain. His breathing was heavy after being startled, causing him to start coughing violently. He coughed up a handful of blood before he finally stopped.

"Who are you..." Leonard asked with a hoarse and pained voice.

"Duke Wesley."

Leonard's eyes went wide in surprise for a moment before returning to normal. "Did we win...?"

"For the most part, yes. General Rune was fighting an ability user the last time I saw him, he hasn't returned yet. Besides that, the battle has ended in our victory." Duke Wesley answered.

"Leo is still fighting? I should... AARGGH!" Leonard tried to stand up but immediatly dropped back to the ground. His body was in too much pain to walk, let alone fight.

"Im sorry but you won't be able to assist any further. You need to take some time and recover, there are more battles to come in the following days and you will be needed."

As the Duke said this, two soldiers came running over with a stretcher and used it to gently pick up Leonard.

They carried him out of the building, making use of the stairs that were partially destroyed. Luckily, they were still intact enough to be used.

He was then carried over to the rest of the soldiers, his own squad having joined them already.

"It's Captain Leonard."

"By the gods..."

"What could have injured the butcher like that?"

"Butcher?"

"Oh right, you wouldn't know. We gave him that nickname a few days ago. What happened was..."

The soldiers continued to talk among themselves, sharing stories about their experiences over the past few months and even the battle that just occurred.

The cart Leonard's squad had been using was standing in the center of the street, William and the healer both still sitting inside.

Leonard was placed inside the cart, his squads healer immediatly starting to attend to his wounds.

He looked to his side and noticed that there was someone else lying beside him. He hadn't seen him before because the sides of the cart were slightly blocking his view.

"Connor...? What happened to him, why isn't he being healed?" Leonard asked, his weak voice carrying a hint of an indignant tone.

"Calm down. He isn't being ignored if that's what you're thinking, the healer isn't able to help him further.

He was poisoned by an ability and the damage it did isn't able to be completely healed through the use of an ability.

His recovery is now completely up to him and his own healing capabilities. Anything could happen but we can only hope for the best." The healer said.

"So that's how it is... I'm sure he'll make it, he's quite strong." Leonard said, his strength returning to him as the healing continued.

"I don't doubt it."

"Look, it's General Rune!" One of the soldiers shouted.

Leonard, after hearing this, immediatly sat up, trying to see where the soldiers were directing their attention.

"Who's that around his shoulders?" A soldier asked.

"It's General Wesley... I thought he was missing." Another answered.

"Snythe!" Duke Wesley shouted as he ran over to Leo and Snythe.

The two of them had come out of one of the alleyways and were now walking down the street towards the group.

Duke Wesley met them in the middle, transferring his son over to himself so Leo wouldn't have to help him anymore.

"Where have you been? You're injured!" Duke Wesley said with concern as he inspected Snythe.

"I'm alright father, I'll explain the details later once I've been healed." Snythe replied. The two of them went over to one of the healers to get Snythe some treatment.

Leo ran over to the carriage where Leonard and Connor were. He could feel that they were both breathing, so his concerns were slightly alleviated.

"Leonard, are you alright? I saw you fighting some kind of large creature when I was falling from the sky." Leo said as he climbed I to the carriage.

"Yeah, I'm okay. It ran away when someone called for it, if that hadn't happened I think I would be dead." Leonard replied.

"Then we should consider ourselves lucky you're still alive. You can get some revenge next time you meet that thing." Leo said with a confident tone.

"Actually, there was something about that creature... I think..."

~Cough~ ~Cough~ ~Cough~

Connor stated coughing violently, a small amount of green liquid was trickling out of his mouth and down the side of his cheek.

Leo held Connors head, tilting it the side. He looked at the others in the cart and saw that they were looking at him strangely.

"What are you doing that for?" The healer asked in as respectful a tone as he could.

"If someone is sick or has something coming out of their mouths for whatever reason, you should always tilt their heads. Otherwise they'll end up choking on the liquid their expelling." Leo explained with a 'doesn't everyone know this' expression on his face.

" Right... That does make sense... " The healer said in an awkward tone.

"How do you not know this? It should be common knowledge in the first place and you're a healer, isn't it your job to know this kind of stuff?" Leo asked.

"Ah... Um, you see... Since I'm able to heal with an ability, the methods used by doctors aren't really necessary." The healer said with a wry smile on his face.

"Clearly you do need to know it since he could have died if I wasn't here." Leo said with an annoyed tone.

"Yes... You're right, I'll take some time to learn more when I get the chance..." The healer said. He felt ashamed that he disappointed the strongest Infernai on their first ever meeting.

"General Rune." Someone called out. Leo turned towards the voice and saw that it was Duke Wesley.

"What do you need?" Leo asked.

"I think it would be best if we head back to the capital. We need to speak with the Supreme Commander and get the wounded somewhere safer. The uninjured soldiers can remain here until backup arrives." The Duke explained.

"I agree. Get everyone ready to move out, I have something I need to take care of before we leave." Leo said.

He climbed out of the cart and jumped onto the rooftop of a nearby building, receiving gasps of awe from the soldiers who saw him jump.

He traveled across the city at a reasonable speed. He didn't have a reason to rush so he wasn't jumping around like a madman, conversely, he didn't want to waste time either, so he was still moving relatively fast.

He arrived at the cemetery and walked through until finally stopping at the entrance to the underground bunker. He descended inside and opened the door to enter.

His Aura had already confirmed that nothing was wrong inside. He entered the room and was greeted by the relieved faces of the citizens within.

"The city has been taking back. There are soldiers who will be staying in the city to defend you all going forward. You're safe now." Leo said.

"Thank you, Sir."

"Thank you so much."

"May the gods bless you."

"There's no need to thank me, I'm just doing what's required of me. Regardless, there were many brave soldiers who fought beside me to take back this city, they deserve your thanks more than I do." Leo said with a smile as he gestured to the door.

The faces of the civilians lit up as Leo spoke. Each of them thanked him as they walked passed him through the exit.

Leo closed the door behind him and followed the people out of the bunker. He then led the civilians through the city at as fast a pace as they could manage, taking them back to the soldiers.

"Where did all these people come from? I thought the civilians had all died or escaped already." Duke Wesley said as saw Leo approach the group with the people following him.

"They were all stragglers that couldn't escape, I managed to save them and kept them safe in your bunker. I hope you don't mind." Leo explained.

"Not at all. It's purpose is to protect people so I wouldn't have had it any other way." The Duke replied with a soft smile.

"There may be some more civilians in the city, check the buildings once we leave and help anyone you find." Leo ordered one of the soldiers.

"Yes sir!" The soldier replied.

"Alright, let's get back to the capital." Duke Wesley said.

Thkse that would be returning to the capital all made their way towards the Gate. Leo placed the crystal inside the stone arch, giving life to the Gate.

One by one, each of the injured moved through the Gate. The last to enter the Gate was the cart, on which Leo and Duke were riding along with a Connor, Leonard, William and the healer.

"Mr Leonard..." William said just before they entered the Gate.

"Yes?"

"What happened to my mom..."