Rheba awoke to the sounds of a storm raging and a soft sensation on the side of her face. She grunted and tried to reach for her face, only to bump someone. As the fogginess of waking up cleared, she realized she was lying on the lap of blue legs. She shot up and took a survey of the scene. The crowd of tourists she saved was crowded with her in one of the beach restaurant shacks; they had closed up the windows and doors, but the raging storm outside still spat water in through the occasional crevices. The howling winds seemed to threaten to take down the wooden structure, but Rehab figured it would have been built with the possibility of yearly storms in mind, even if this current storm was uncharacteristically early.

  The blue Aqueenian girl Rheba had saved brushed the warrior's brown hair off her legs. She looked up at Rheba and spoke in a soft voice.

  “We saw the storm coming in but weren’t strong enough to pull you back to the hotel.”

  “No, you all did well to come here. Thank you for your support. I will never be able to repay this debt.”

  “Hey now,” a pudgy Netzian with scales chimed in, “we were just repaying our debt to you for saving us.”

  The others affirmed what he said with nods, grunts, and the occasional yes.

  Other races were always a little more casual than Bentalousians; had Rheba not traveled with a crew of oddballs recently, she might have been a little offended by their dismissal of her honor. Instead, she smiled. It was good to see everyone well after the rogue Needaimus attacked.

  “What about the yellow Needaimus?”

  The blue girl spoke up again, “We left her out there.”

  “Hopefully the storm will wash her out to sea!” another tourist, a Hobusian woman, shouted.

  Rheba decided it was best not to tell them that was unlikely. She tried to move to the door, but her body refused; the last fight was too much, and she overworked herself. The blue girl attempted to catch Rheba, and the giantess had to twist in order not to squish her as she collapsed back down to the ground.

  “You need to rest!” the Aqueenian shouted with similar accompaniment by the other tourists.

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  “My allies are still out there,” Rheba replied with heavy breaths. She knew she wasn’t going anywhere any time soon, and it aggravated her beyond reason.

  “If they are as strong as you, they should be fine,” the blue girl said. She knelt next to Rheba and tried to force the warrior to lie down. Even weakened, Rheba was still too strong and too heavy for the ordinary girl to do anything, but she complied and let he head rest on the floor.

  Were her allies strong enough? Rheba would have liked to believe as such, but she wasn’t sure. Gwyn and Fiona were still missing on top of it, and who knew what else was out there. She could at least be confident that the Needaimus opponent was defeated, so the others would be safe from having to fight such a horrid foe.

  The giantess warrior didn’t want to give in, but her body demanded at least a little rest. She would have to trust the others. They were certainly strong enough to defeat some grunts after all. And Odell was worried about the one fellow, but he shouldn’t be too difficult for the prince with the clear training that he had put in. Rheba nodded and loosened her shoulders. The blue girl sat again with her legs positioned like they were an offer to be a pillow, but Rheba let her head rest on the ground. Tempting as a little comfort might have been, she had to resist while her allies were still engaged in their fights.

  “Who are you anyway? What’s your name?” Rheba asked the blue girl. She could feel herself growing faint as sleepiness once again crept up on her, but she wanted to at least thank them before that came.

  “Oh, me? I’m just a no one from Quenth, my dad’s a fisher, and he saved up so I could go on a little trip and get some relaxation.” The blue girl laughed. It wasn’t the type to suggest she thought of anything comical, but rather one that a person made when they weren’t sure what other sound to make. “But my name is Lah.”

  “And what about you?” She asked the pudgy Netzain.

  “Oh, me, just a simple businessman on a trip with his wife.” He pulled another Netzian close as he spoke. “I’m Javon, and this is Britt.”

  The giantess went around the room getting everyone’s names. Beno, Wade, Rut, Rust, Cady, and many more. So many names and faces that she would never see again, never have another chance if she didn’t say anything now.

  She thanked them all by name, making sure to look at each as she spoke. Her body may have been weak, but her drive was not.

  Rheba wished very much she could jump back into the fray. She wished very much that she could properly thank everyone for their support. She was annoyed by her weakness.

  Zenith had seen fit to grant her pupils, troublesome as they were. It was a major step forward in the Bentalousian military to be granted some, and Rheba was fairly young to be receiving them. A warrior strong enough for pupils would surely be able to get up and fight some more. Rheba felt she should at least be able to do that much.

  Yet her body wouldn’t obey. Now that she was lying down, it didn’t even respond to her will to roll to the side. Standing up was far out of her reach.

  She closed her eyes after thanking everyone and whispered one last thing.

  “Fight hard, everyone. And may Al Omo be with you.”

  Then sleep won out, and Rheba rested.