Gerolf was currently quite terrified.

  They had found out about the attack on them only as it was being thwarted. Some of the less religious now knew exactly what was meant when the priest sermons mentioned the vines 'being her body.' and he heard several guards mention wanting to be more careful around them. Their goddess was spreading quite quickly. Within a year she'd be in every street of Tarnox and going beyond at this rate.

  That was one concern, though not an immediate one. They had a large number of prisonners of war to take care of. Since Aria Taravyna herself said that they should be taken well care of the soldiers donated half their bedrolls so most of them could continue comfortably in their magically caused sleep. They still had guards keeping watch over them and since open fighting was now something they should expect a lot more guards were attentive and watching.

  Then all the blocks to the north of them exploded. There was a two and a half second warning when everyone felt the pressure of something huge and then the all the glass windows and half the wooden shutters exploded. The devestation was concentrated outwards from them, as if someone took a god's rake and uprooted the buildings with it.

  Gerolf ran to try to get the guards in order. Half of them had been ordered to sleep when the attack was dealt with. The chance their enemies would wait for them to all be tired would be too large to risk it. Among those on duty Tarn was trying to divine what had caused the damage, his hands trembling too much to get a good reading.

  "Calm yourself, Tarn." Gerolf put a hand on his shoulder, "If they were trying to kill us then they would have dealt with us already."

  Tarn continued for a moment, then lowered the hand that held the string. Then he slipped into unconsciousness. Overtaxing his mind. He had been quite active even before the

  Gerolf set him on his side and grabbed one of the civilians that had left her quarters with a long knife in hand.

  "There's no danger right now." The weaver woman had a look in her eyes that suggested great doubt, but Gerolf's position won out in the end. She brought Tarn inside so he could rest out of the elements.

  The other civilians were wide awake and a few had minor injuries. They also didn't feel safe returning to the rooms with broken windows that were now exposed. The children and elderly were put in the barracks and the rest were given a few guards to keep watch while they took what they needed from their rooms. They went to the higher levels and those empty rooms, which were drafty, uncomfortable, and crowded.

  The soldiers who were not on guard were busy with helping the civilians, many of whom just wanting the comfort of knowing that their protectors are present. Most of them ended up going to their beds for the night and some of them probably slept but since they weren't bothering him it didn't matter right now.

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  While Gerolf was spending his time with the guards and waiting for the two scouting groups he sent he had a realization of what was concerning him. What was absent from the response to the explosion.

  He ran to the central building, passing the two guards at the door without a word, causing them concern. He leapt three stairs at a time, passing floor after floor to reach the top. When he was at the top floor he stopped for a moment. The building was apparently intact and the door to his father's study was shut. What had stopped the patriarch from intervening or even coming down to check on the situation.

  With a growing dread he opened the door to the study. It was on the outer wall and was higher up so the chance that something broke through was much higher than the lower levels where people had been hurt. Looking into the room a large piece of masonry had smashed through the wall and crashed into the large desk. That was where he spent most of his time and he had left to communicate with the new arrivals to warn them of the increased danger.

  Blood pounded in his ears as he stepped around the desk, expecting to see what was left of the body. Instead he saw a group of vines that had somehow clambered into the top floor room, the sturdy chair laid on it's back, and his father remaining in a trance-like state while he was seated on the tipped over chair.

  Gerolf sat down, exhaustion creeping back, but forced himself to get up and move his father away from the masonry. The brickwork had all it's weight on the desk so it was liable to fall again, probably onto him. He wished to have his father take over all the problems that were ongoing but interrupting the communication would at least cause an hour of migranes with a chance of worse consequences. Most people who could afford it would use enchanted items to communicate, though they often traded initial safety for an increased risk of a security breach. Connecting to an object through an object gave much less feedback as to who was connecting, and all the solutions to that problem reintroduced the risk of feedback when disconnected or didn't actually solve the problem. A token could be forged or stolen.

  His father tended towards paranoia, and as Gerolf forced himself to stand while he waited for his father to return from the communication one of the guards reached the top floor and looked into the room. Seeing the large chunk of brickwork and Gerolf looking down at the ground beside it he came to the same conclusion anyone would.

  "The Patriarch's dead?" The guard stood for a moment as the consequences of such a monumental thing cascaded in his mind, but right when Gerolf noticed him and was going to speak the guard decided that he was not the person with the authority to deal with this and should get his captain immediately, so off he ran.

  Gerolf figured he shouldn't leave the Patriarch alone with a large hole in the wall and the wardings that normally protected him from any threats so he'd just wait here and tell the captain about it when he arrived to confirm and help. the Patriarch could provide his presence as soon as he was done communicating so any problem would be solved when the guards were shown their patriarch.

  Then he heard someone scream and the building noise of mourning so someone heard, everyone would soon be awake, and the chance of getting them to return to rest was unlikely.

  The masonry finished off the desk and settled on the floor while Gerolf hoped that the Patriarch's communication was something important.

  ---

  As explanations were made the vines slowly retreated. The patriarch hadn't overreached enough to be removed and he would be informed of her help. If he were to be willing to rise as a follower instead of a leader he will need to see Taramo's power, but she won't admit his most recent feat as it smoldered across half the city.