A Place to Belong

The first thing Kieran noticed when he woke was that the ceiling above his was familiar. The second was that everything hurt.

His eyes shifted to the side. Morning light slipped through the shutters, painting narrow golden lines across the room. Dust floated lazily through the beam, drifting above him in the still air.

For several seconds, he simply stared upward. Then the memories returned.

The army, the Tengu, the ruined streets.

Seraphina. Her spell.

Kieran’s body tensed as he tried to sit up. Pain immediately shot through his shoulders and back.

“Ah…” he fell against the pillow again.

His door opened immediately after and his mother hurried in.

“Kieran!” She crossed the room and immediately began fussing over him, checking his arms, his face, and the bandages around his chest.

“I’m fine, Mom,” he winced under her probing fingers, “I’m fine…”

“You’re not fine!” she huffed, “You’ve been unconscious for two days!”

“Two?”

His mother nodded. Kieran glanced toward the window.

“And everyone else?”

She sighed, “Other than a few brave adventurers…” she paused thoughtfully.

“We’re all still alive.” The answer came from his father, who stood in the doorway, watching with a soft smile.

Kieran relaxed, “And what about Sera?”

His parents exchanged a glance. “She’s recovering,” his mother said, “She exhausted herself with that spell. She hasn’t woken yet.”

Kieran stared at the ceiling again. Of course. He remembered catching her as her legs gave out. He had been so relieved that she had survived that he hadn’t stopped to think about what the spell had cost her.

“Can I see her?”

“When you’re able to walk without falling over.”

Kieran frowned, “I am not that bad.”

His father raised an eyebrow as he tried to sit up again. But his entire body protested.

“...Maybe I am.”

His father laughed. It was the first normal sound Kieran had heard since the battle. And somehow, it made it all feel closer.

By the time Kieran was able to leave the house, the town had already begun putting itself back together. The monster army was gone. The Tengu was gone. And what remained was a town that looked as though a storm had passed through it.

Buildings had collapsed. Streets were cracked and scorched. Entire sections of walls had been reduced to piles of stone. There were still blackened marks where spells had struck, and the enormous path left behind by Seraphina’s final attack remained visible long after the smoke had cleared.

There was plenty to do, so they worked. All of them.

Kieran spent his mornings helping move rubble. Akane carried stones that normally required several men to lift, much to the irritation of anyone who tried to help her. Luna disappeared into places nobody else could reach, returning with tools, supplies, and occasionally items that no one had thought to look for. Celestia somehow managed to make even rebuilding a house look like a performance.

“Behold!” A cloud of glittering magic erupted from the tip of her staff. Some people oohed over the spectacle while others ducked for safety, not knowing just how grand this performance might go.

“Celestia!”

She instinctively flinched when Kieran called her name so loudly.

“...I was just trying to entertain the masses.”

“No magic.”

“But, I-”

“No.”

She sighed dramatically.

Seraphina spent most of her time helping wherever she could. She carried small supplies, treated injuries, and worked alongside the townspeople without ever complaining about how little she could do.

Kieran watched her from a distance. It filled his heart to see her so vibrant after such a hard battle. But there was something else he was noticing as well.

The adventurers from the Guild Hall seemed to talk to him differently now.

“Kieran!”

He turned down one of the main roads to find the tall man who just a few days ago was arguing with Akane moving toward him with two shovels in hand.

“I hate to ask you since you just recovered, but,” he offered him a shovel, “We’re clearing a foundation over there and we could use all the help we can get.”

Kieran stared at the tool in his hands then back at him with a soft smile, “Sure.”

Nobody said anything about the rumors. Nobody mentioned the Tengu. They simply went back to work repairing their town. With as much force as he could muster at the moment, Kieran forced the shovel’s blade into the loose earth.

For a while, that’s all there was. Work, stone, dust and sweat. But as the day went on, he began to notice little things had shifted around him.

The man who had stood before him calling him a liar about the approaching army stopped beside Kieran while he was trying to lift a fallen beam.

“Take the other end,” he pointed as he crouched down, grabbing a splintered end.

“I can carry it,” Kieran sighed, wiping sweat from his brow.

“I know,” the man picked up his end,” Still faster this way.”

And this continued on in ways Kieran hadn’t expected. Later, when a group couldn’t decide where to better reinforce the defensive walls around the town, they looked toward him.

“What do you think?”

Kieran was stunned, but gave the best answer based on his memories growing up there and what had transpired recently.

They followed it. No argument, no skepticism. They simply did what he advised.

And it was almost unsettling to him. These were the same people who had once watched him walk into the guild and whisper behind his back. Now they were handing him tools and asking him to guide them.

None of them apologized. They didn’t need to. Their actions rang loud enough in his heart.

The townspeople, though, were different. Most had barely known Kieran before all of this. They had heard the rumors and knew his family, certainly, but rumors were easy to forget when the person they described was little more than a name. Now they knew him as the adventurer covered in dust who helped clear the streets.

A shopkeeper pressed a wrapped loaf of bread into his hands when he passed. A carpenter asked him to hold a beam steady while they nailed it in place. A woman carrying a bucket stopped to thank him for all that he had done for them during the siege before hurrying along.

None of it felt particularly important. And somehow, that made it all the more impactful. He wasn’t being treated like some legendary hero. He was simply being treated like a person who had helped when needed.

By evening, the streets were quieting. The hammers stopped. Carts disappeared into the alleys, and the last of the workers carried their tools home while discussing the day’s labors. The smoke that had hung over the town all day thinned beneath the evening breeze, revealing patches of orange sky between the damaged rooftops.

Kieran returned to the place where his party had settled for the night. Seraphina was already there. She sat wrapped in a blanket, looking warm as the campfire’s glow lit her cheeks. Her silver hair was let free behind her, no longer constrained by her usual braid.

“You should be resting,” Kieran said, taking a seat next to her.

“So should you.”

“I’m fine.”

“You always say that,” she gave him a tired smile.

For a moment, neither spoke, just watching the smoke rise above the crackling fire.

“You had me worried there when you collapsed,” he finally spoke.

Seraphina glanced at him, her cheeks rosy. But then her smile faded in, “You had me more worried the entire time.”

Kieran met her smile with his, “Fair enough.”

She leaned back against the crumbled stone wall. “I am just glad we were able to save our town.”

Kieran looked out over the ruined street. Most of the debris had been cleared, but there were still cracked stones to be replaced throughout.

“So am I.”

Beyond them, the last rays of sunlight turned the smoke hanging over the town orange. They sat quietly as the town settled around them. Akane sat against a wall, running a whetting stone along the length of her blade. Luna was busy munching on a piece of bread larger than her head. Celestia stared thoughtfully into the dancing flames.

“I think this fire needs more color.”

Kieran immediately looked at her.

“No.”

“I still haven’t done anything yet!”

“And that’s why I am saying no.”

Celestia sighed, and pulled her knees up to her chest as she pouted, “You’re no fun.”

Luna giggled while Seraphina smiled at them all. Kieran leaned back against the wall, frustrated, but very content.

Around them, the town would continue its slow recovery. Broken buildings stood beneath the evening sky,their damaged walls glowing faintly in the firelight. Fresh timber had begun replacing what had been destroyed. The work would continue tomorrow, and the day after that, and probably many more days after.

For once, Kieran didn’t mind. He looked around the fire at his entire party sitting with him. They were an odd group. Reckless, stubborn, loud and sometimes completely impossible. And somehow, he couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.

From somewhere ahead of them, a voice drifted up through the street.

“That’s them,” a voice hushed the others around them.

Kieran looked up to see a couple of townspeople standing further down the road, speaking quietly.

“..the party that took down the monster's army.”

“I heard they fought the whole army themselves.”

“No, the guild helped.”

“The girls did most of it, didn’t they?”

“I heard the Wolfkin is an incredible scout.”

“And the swordswoman? They say she’s unbelievably strong for her size.”

“The mage too?”

“The silver-haired one? Isn’t she Lucien’s sister?”

“Apparently she’s the one who killed the Tengu.”

There was a pause, followed by a couple of shifting steps and a soft laugh.

“If those girls are really that strong,” he glanced over his shoulder and looked directly at Kieran, “Imagine how strong their leader must be.”

Instantly, Kieran felt his face flush. Unable to get his body to do anything else, he rocketed to his feet.

“I am going to bed,” he announced when all of the girls turned to look at him with concern in their eyes.

“But it's not bedtime yet?” Luna got through between chews on her loaf.

“I’m tired.”

“You’ve been tired all day.”

“And I still am.”

Akane glanced up with a cocked brow, “Is something the matter, Master?”

“No,” he shook his head and turned away as quickly as possible.

Celestia tilted her head, “No, you are acting strangely.”

“I am not.”

Seraphina looked up at him with genuine confusion, “Kieran, what has gotten into you all of a sudden?”

He glanced toward where the townspeople were milling about, but they were already gone, having moved away towards their homes. It seemed like none of the girls had heard them nor noticed them watching them earlier.

“Nothing,” he shook his head, but continued toward his home once more under redoubled effort.

Luna hopped to her feet and grabbed his sleeve. “Big Bro!”

“Luna…” He looked at the Wolfgirl before looking at his party who were watching him with concern written all over their faces.

Finally Seraphina smiled softly. “Come sit down,” she patted softly beside her.

He sighed while Luna tugged on his sleeve until he finally gave in, returning to the fire and sitting down. Luna clambered up his back until she sat on his shoulder, offering a bit of her bread to him. He shook his head, but took a chunk off while the rest laughed contently at the sight.

He could feel his face getting warm again. It was mortifying. But when he looked around the fire, he couldn’t bring himself to care very much.

For weeks now, Kieran had thought he needed to prove himself before he belonged anywhere again. Now he looked at the four people sitting beside him and realized he hadn’t noticed when they stopped being people he needed to complete a mission and became people he couldn’t imagine leaving behind.

Even Celestia while she began explaining, once again, why the fire would be better with magical sparks.

Luna while she leaned down to offer him more to eat from her bread.

Seraphina leaning close to his other shoulder, wrapped tight in her blanket.

Akane nearby, sitting quietly and sharpening her sword.

Kieran smiled. He stayed where he was.