By nightfall, almost everything they had asked for had been arranged. All the sleeping villagers of Silvershade had been moved to a common area, negotiations with the volunteers and healers were mostly complete, and emergency supplies were still being received and inventoried just outside the gates.
The old maid, madam Seren, had awoken from her dead faint sometime in the evening.
She was being monitored by two hefty-looking volunteers from another nearby village - a stony-faced couple whose combined physical strength-boosting talents would be enough for dealing with her weak telekinetic powers.
Arin didn't actually think she would cause any trouble. Even though she was still refusing to speak, there was already an unmistakable air of defeat about her.
Neither he nor Siel had told anyone the details of her involvement - and not just because they themselves didn't know the full extent of it. It was also to prevent the possibility of someone running off and summoning officials before they could get the villagers to wake up.
For that same reason, they still hadn't made the real cause of the strange sleep publicly known. For now, at least, it was safer for everyone - including sir Veylor - to keep vaguely believing it to be some kind of curse.
As for afterwards…
Arin had resolutely put off thinking about that. Not his problem. Future Arin would deal with it when he had to.
Siel, in the meantime, had still not returned. Sir Veylor had merely shrugged a shoulder when Arin had asked after him, saying that he'd gone after that strange, cloaked healer, and hadn't yet come back.
This wasn't an issue, of course. After all, they'd long since discussed and determined that he would be entering the distortion alone this time.
As far as the younger tower magician knew, this was simply because his 'senior brother Rin' was more than capable of dealing with such things single-handedly, and would actually work better if he were alone and unhindered.
In reality, it was because Arin believed it to be better, and safer, to have someone on the outside. Just in case things went sideways and he, for some reason, wasn't able to wake up again.
Besides, as an older brother, he didn't feel right about making the younger magician go through something like that again.
Even though he knew that Siel - as a bonafide resident of this world - might almost certainty have a stronger stomach for this kind of stuff.
Oh well…
After checking, then double-checking everything, Arin directed everyone to gather outside the village.
He looked around at the small crowd. These were all the people who had answered sir Veylor's call and to come to the aid of Silvershade. Some were kindly volunteers, while most others had agreed to offer their services in return for some compensation.
Either way, Arin knew they'd need all the help they could get.
Noticing some of their gazes trained on him, he wondered whether he ought to give some sort of public speech, as a show of gratitude, or encouragement. Having spent much of the day interacting with different kinds of people from the various villages, he'd come to realize that most people considered 'tower magician' to be a respected profession.
Even when said tower magicians hailed from the clearly unknown 'House of Grace'.
That's what that white-haired guy gets for picking such a dumb name for his magicians' tower.
Arin looked around at all the gathered people again. Then, suddenly losing his nerve, he decided he'd just pass his instructions along to sir Veylor instead.
Look, he wasn't nervous! He just wasn't big on public speaking.
Besides, from what he knew of Rin, that man would probably just ignore everyone and leave to go do his thing.
And even though he'd already slipped up several times, and even though Siel wasn't even here to notice at the moment, he had to stick to the role he was playing.
He wasn't nervous!
'You must ensure that no one enters, or even comes near the village, until I have awakened,' he said to sir Veylor. 'I shall leave straight to summon you once I've made sure it's safe.'
The man nodded. He still looked quite rough, his face deeply lined from his several weeks of worry. However, there was no hint of tiredness in his expression, even at the prospect of an unrestful night and the busy morning ahead.
'It will all still take a few hours, so it'll be alright for everyone to get some rest for now. However, all the healers should all be awake and alert before dawn.'
'Finally, if the night ends and I've yet to appear… turn to Siel. He'll tell you what to do next. But, of course -,' catching the man's startled look - as though he hadn't even considered the possibility of failure - Arin quickly followed up by saying, '- it shan't come to that! It's just safer to consider every possibility.'
…
Everything he could think of taken care of, Arin walked back into the village.
Once again, it was still and silent, it's only living residents still lost in an unending dream.
Arin didn't go to the halls where all the villagers had been gathered. He worried that even the distortion might not be able to pull him into a sleep if he were surrounded by the pained, raspy breathing of a village's worth of dying people.
He chose, instead, to settle in the now-empty cabin by the entrance, where sir Veylor had been when they'd first arrived. It was silent, cozy, and would save him time when he finally awoke and had to leave to call for help.
Walking past the small cot in the inner bedroom, and sinking down into the lone chair at the back, Arin took in a deep breath. Then, another. And again, another.
Alone in the small room, in the almost suffocating dark of the night, his mind had gone completely silent.
He'd already done everything, and prepared for all the outcomes that he could think of in the moment.
And of course, he'd already acknowledged the possibility that he'd missed something obvious or important along the way.
If so, there was still nothing he could do about it just then.
And so he remained there, counting down from 10,000 in his head.
…then counting sheep, after he lost count sometime after 9,900.
…then mindlessly repeating the lyrics of the nursery rhyme, Baa Baa Black Sheep, over and over.
This time around, with his eyes shut, there was no warping of light or bleeding of colors. He didn't even fully notice when he started sinking into the chair, disappearing once again into the dream.
Sinking, deeper and deeper.
Good night.