Monsters fell from the sky, streaks of orange light plummetting all across Cape Aeternia, only to explode as they impacted the shield.
Despite the falling monsters, the most dangerous place in my domain remained directly in front of me. Neither Ari nor Bahama had turned away at the sudden explosion of light, though I did catch Ari flinching slightly. Then she straightened. “Well, what do you have to say for yourself? Do you have any idea what it’s like having someone you love snatched away without a word? You should have seen Bevel. I thought you were a decent person. Dragon. Whatever!”
While the slap hadn’t affected Bahama at all, apparently Ari’s tirade got through to her, since at that she did flinch. Straightening out, Bahama stared down at Ari. “I will not apologize, for I did warn you I would take him away for testing. Yet I do understand.”
That was enough for me to decide Bahama wasn’t going to kill Ari. Ari didn’t seem appeased exactly, still frowning, but a lot of the tension seemed to have leaked out of her.
Which was good, because monsters were still smashing into the barrier overhead. And one had just pierced through. “We need to deal with that,” I said, taking a moment to give Ari a quick kiss on the cheek before dashing for the stairs.
“Sorry,” Ari said as she followed me down, leaving Bahama to stare blankly into the distance.
Seemed she was still on vacation.
“Nothing to be sorry for. That was awesome. You just slapped a dragon,” I said, squeezing her hand as we rushed down to the control room and the Waygates.
“I did, didn’t I?” Ari said, her lips flickering into a smile.
The map wasn’t looking good, glowing red with incoming monsters. There must’ve been thousands of impacts. Most were burning up on the barrier. Only the toughest survived long enough to make it through.
Which… not exactly ideal, that.
Unfortunately, all the refugees coming in meant there were areas people were settling that weren’t a quick pop through the Waygate away.
“Magus Percival, what… what’s going on?” Vednil asked, having pushed up from his desk the moment the map filled the room. That was new. Guess the map wasn’t set to private anymore. A side effect of becoming a citizen? I’d worry about fixing the settings later.
“Monsters are raining from the sky,” Ari said, her voice so calm I might’ve thought she was talking about rain. Then again, she did just slap a dragon. “Starbreaker will deal with those over Mistvale. And I suspect Conflict will do the same in the Wyvern Peaks.”
“You’re sure about Starbreaker?” I asked as I scanned the map.
“We had several extended conversations while you were gone.” Ari pursed her lips before shaking her head. Her hair flipped into her face, causing her to frown, as if only just realizing it was free. She twisted her fingers and it started rebraiding itself, a spell taking hold. “He has agreed to protect the lake in thanks for us looking after his apprentices.”
“Bet it doesn’t hurt those apprentices are trapped under said lake.” Flicking the map, I saw the red icons landing over the lake were indeed being dealt with as fast as they appeared. Similarly, several near Conflict’s chamber disappeared, though it took a few more seconds.
Which only left the most populated parts of Cape Aeternia. And the roads and rail lines. Plus side, the surviving monsters were slow. Everything that moved fast was burning up. Only the thick durable ones survived.
Xoth appeared in the portal, his eyes flicking upwards. His normal composure seemed broken as he strode over to us. “Is that the… nevermind, of course it is. Go. You should be fighting.”
“Someone needs to handle the map. If I-”
“Then make it so I can do it. I am not half the fighter you are.”
A reasonable suggestion. And one I was able to accomodate with my new citizen privileges.
“Stay in contact. Ari, with me?”
“Of course. Bevel was visiting Inertia,” she said, knowing my priority.
“Got it,” I said as we ran out the Waygate to Tetherfall. The time spent transitioning felt much longer than it should’ve, and I realized the number of monsters being torn apart was interfering with the Waygate network.
By the time we got to the surface, I found that Bevel was fighting a hydra of all things. The seven serpentine heads were snapping, unable to catch her. Not that she could hurt it either. What she could do, was keep it from rampaging across the industrial area it’d landed in. Pride rose in my chest. Delaying actions. I remembered that being part of the lessons Calbern had drilled into the guards. If they were smart, they’d be doing the same.
With luck, monsters falling from the sky wouldn’t be a total disaster.
And maybe the sun would rise in the west.
Considering the fact we lived on a stellar engine, that seemed more likely than it should’ve.
The thoughts passed through my mind as I shared a glance with Ari, each of us nodding. Hydras were dangerous for the unprepared, but had some of the most well known weaknesses of all monsters. Fire and acid, applied to the stumps. Unless it was a rare variant then one would work. If it was… well, versatility was important. No hydra was immune to everything.
Ari had more than enough fire at her fingertips. When Bevel spotted us, she helped things along by sending several blades at the hydra’s many heads. Apparently not thinking much of her attacks, the hydra ignored the incoming blades. It lost one of its heads for its arrogance.
Before it could start regrowing, Ari unleashed a bird of fire nearly as large as the hydra. It crashed down on the monster, not just sealing the stump Bevel had severed, but incinerating two more. The rest of the fight was even simpler. I didn’t contribute, other than to serve as an additional distraction, saving my mana for the next fight.
Except it turned out there wasn’t a next fight.
During the battle with the hydra, the monster shower had slowed. The rare monster that struck didn’t make it through, not with nothing else stressing the barrier. After getting tackle-hugged by Bevel, we returned to Xoth for our next target.
Xoth gave me a gentle smile, nodding once. “There isn’t one. We have defended our home.”
In my panic, I might’ve forgotten we had thousands of ensouled across Cape Aeternia. Both Kinya users and ensouled, whether mages and the more sorcerous path Bevel followed. There’d even been a few Frost Riven and their allies visiting Southport.
We hadn’t gotten through unscathed, but it wasn’t as bad as I’d expected.
“It was targetted.” Xoth rotated the map to show the strike pattern, replaying the attack. Most of the monsters had come down directly over the lake, with the density quickly thinning outward from there. “That’s not an accidental pattern.”
“The enemy is testing you.” I hadn’t noticed Bahama standing against the far wall, staring at the map. “They will continue to do so, until you restore the barrier.”
“The barrier’s active,” Xoth replied, his voice even. “It performed admirably, preventing the majority from striking.”
“She doesn’t mean that one,” I said even as I took over the controls. It didn’t take long to find what I needed. Even without my System online, my citizen status was enough to bring up the list of sub-systems I’d need to repair to bring the world shield online.
I could do it, probably. If I had fifty years. Wouldn’t even have to leave Aeternia. All it would cost me would be everyone we were trying to save. Yet if we could get the world shield online, it would protect all of Ro’an. From the monsters, anyway.
Inertia emerged from the Waygate, hissing annoyance at the mess the hydra had made of her industrial work area even while musing over what we’d use its materials for.
My eyes traced over her metalic form. I could repair Aeternia by myself. Or… I could get help from the Forgeborn.
Scene break. Magelord
The next few hours passed in a blur.
While the fallout was better than expected, my expectations had been apocalyptic. The initial estimates were over a thousand casualties, almost all of them in the first seconds of the attack. The impact of a single gigantic turtle with squid-like tentacles that hung around its neck like a mane accounted for the majority. It had hit a night market in Southport and wiped it out. The turtle’s landing had done such a thorough job not a single person died during the fight that came after.
There’d been a time when I wondered why it was called casualties and not injuries or death. As I picked through the rubble of the turtle’s impact, I figured it out. A casualty was uncertain. Until you picked them out of the rubble, you didn’t know which they were. Kneeling down, I rescued another person, my… I’d lost count. The person I lifted the wall off of before healing was at least the thirtieth casualty I’d kept from the dead tally. There were dozens of earth ensouled doing similar all across the Cape, partnered up with healers where they lacked the skills themselves.
So many survivors were a good thing. I knew that, though I was getting numb to it. No time to dwell. There were Vox Knights with me. They handled the lucky civilian’s questions and thanks while I continued onward, picking through the ruined market. Ari was somewhere nearby, with Bevel, the two working together. With every person I pulled from the rubble, every tally mark that didn’t appear, my gratitude they were safe grew.
The attack also firmed up my belief that the best thing I could do for those I loved was make it so they could protect themselves. Not that it’d stop me from making our home safer too.
Reaching the Forgeborn would be tricky. Wasn’t like I could ignore that Terra Vista sat between us. Couldn’t afford to take Aeternia’s Shield. Nor could we push a rail line straight through Terra Vista. Not without their approval. Which… I wasn’t sure how that would go, even before Starbreaker and Katanek’s arrival.
Eventually, everything was canvased, and everyone was accounted for. Having full knowledge of every person who set foot inside the borders had that advantage, at least.
The tally wasn’t as high as it could’ve been. Thirty-three marks. Thirty-three people.
Was so lost in my thoughts, I’d almost forgotten about Nexxa joining us for Memory Palace. Which is my excuse for why I stared blankly at her when I found her waiting alongside Bevel and Ari in the observation room back in Mount Aeternia.
“Hear I missed the action. Sorry ‘bout that Per Per.”
“Not much you could’ve done, even if you’d been here.”
“How many?”
“Dead? Thirty-three,” I said. I could’ve named them all. It hadn’t taken any special effort to use Review Scroll on the list. It wasn’t the first time I’d had to add names. It wouldn’t be the last.
“It has been a long night,” Ari said, flopping down on the big soft chair. “May we continue this conversation inside?”
“Yeah. It’s Papa-palace time.” Bevel flopped down on top of Ari, who chuckled and wrapped her arms around our daughter.
“Right, right. So, how do we…?” Nexxa gestured vaguely in my direction while sitting down on her own chair.
It didn’t take long to get her caught up. While I’d been gone, Ari had gotten her the needed spell. There was a bit of a hitch when she joined though. Immediately I could feel the dilation effect weaken. Not terribly, only about ten percent. But combined with the little spike of pain in my head, it was a definite strain.
“Man, you’re a headache even when you’re visiting my imaginary house,” I said before explaining the extra strain.
“Gotta do my sisterly duty.” Nexxa slugged me in the shoulder while looking back at the swirling crackle of lightning that was the portal back to her own palace. “Huh… you know, I think there might be some benefit to seeing our... Giving me some… hmm.”
“That lacked all the important words for a sentence. Maybe the dilation’s affecting you more than me.”
“Shut up. I’m just thinking. The doors are a reflection of our palace, right? Which are a window into our minds? Seeing it is giving me ideas on how I might fix the stupid tail.”
“And catapult yourself towards Djinn, huh?”
“Not ready for that yet. Gonna need to swing by the Golden Halls first. Anyway, that can wait. Come on, bro, gimme a tour.”
Bevel, who’d been waiting patiently to the side with Ari, raised both hands, waving them to get our attention. “Oh, can I show you around, auntie Nexxa?”
Nexxa pushed lightly on Bevel’s shoulder, moving them towards the shop’s yard. “Course you can, kiddo.”
“You okay?” I asked Ari softly as the others walked ahead of us.
She took my hand, leaning her head on my shoulder. “As well as can be expected. Father told me how it would feel when we failed. I thought I was prepared. However, today… I fear I may not be ready to lead. I was more worried about you and Bevel than I was about our people.”
“Think that’s normal. Not like you froze up.”
Ari nodded, though the small frown remained. Unfortunately, it seemed unlikely I could talk her doubts away. “You wanna talk about it, I’ll listen,” I said instead, squeezing her hand.
That earned me a small smile, as we joined Nexxa and Bevel for the tour, the latter putting me to work summoning up drinks and snacks.
Eventually, the conversation swung around to oaths.
“So, conditions are tied to the powers they grant?” Nexxa asked from atop the worn out couch from the office, which she’d chosen to dominate instead of taking one of the lounge chairs I’d summoned.
“Yep. They can be finicky, but Keeper’s willing to hammer out the details once we work out the rough framework.”
Ari held up a list of the existing oaths we’d gotten out of the devil-like being, handing a copy to Nexxa. “That it is so willing to help create new oaths… it does concern me.”
“Keeper’s cool,” Bevel stated from where she was hanging on the car hoist. For some reason, despite knowing she wasn’t able to come to serious harm in the palace, her hanging there bothered me. Possibly decades of respecting equipment that could’ve crushed me in an instant.
“Ari’s right. Just because you like him, doesn’t mean we should abandon caution.”
“You like him too, Papa.”
“Yeah, okay. I do. Still applies. You can like someone and still respect the fact they’re dangerous.”
“So, is this what you had in mind?” Nexxa asked, tapping one of the oaths.
I looked at the oath on my own sheet. “That’s one of them, yeah, though it doesn’t seem quite right. An oath for seeking out and destroying monsters wherever you find them is cool, but it doesn’t say anything about saving people.”
“I mean, I can still do that, right? This just means that my oath’s benefits and duty have to do with fighting monsters. And I can swear a new one if we run out, unlikely as that seems.”
“Keeper implied it wasn’t that easy. Oaths take time to settle into our souls. The longer we live with them, the stronger the benefits. Tweaking an existing oath that’s similar can transfer some of that strength over, but not all.”
“Good. I like this one. Doesn’t need any changes. Plus the name’s… what did you say, Bevel? Cool.”
I looked down at the oath again, squinting at it. It was for an order of Magus that had existed before the Protectus. “You want to be a Magus Exterminatus?”
“Scourge of the horde. Don’t leave any of the fun bits out.”
“Okay. Sure.” If any ensouled would be able to scour life from an entire planet in the future, it’d be Nexxa. “We can go see Keeper once we get out.”
“Nice. Now on to the important stuff. Have you seen the spells they’re bringing up from Spellford?” Nexxa asked, leaning forward as she projected a complicated spell matrix in the air in front of us.
One I was pretty sure had something to do with… dicing vegetables?
“Oh, I know that one,” Bevel said, dropping off the hoist and stepping closer. “It’s for making salads, right?”
Nexxa shot finger-wands at Bevel with both hands. “Got it in one. A third Order spell just to make salads. How crazy is that?”
Ari was still looking over the oath sheet as she answered, “It’s rather normal for Shapers to have specialized cooking spells in their grimoires. In fact, I believe my father has more cooking related spells than any other in his repository. By a sizable margin.”
“Third Order, though? Do you have fourth Order cooking spells?”
Setting the sheet aside, Ari tapped her chin. “I believe one of our most sophisticaed spells is a sixth Order baking spell. Apparently, baking spells can get quite complicated.”
The conversation continued, though it would be more accurate to say that we drifted into spell theory. It was both educational and fun. When we started extracting bits of cooking spells to be used in modulating energies for the custom spell I was building for my ascension, it even became productive.
Despite the reduced time caused by Nexxa’s presence, we got a lot done before we were forced to leave. It was only five days of effective time, but that had been a lot to… well, I was going to need a day just to get everything I wanted to build set up.
Luckily, no more emergencies had occurred during the couple hours we’d been inside.
“You know, that was the most relaxing week I’ve had in… years,” Nexxa said, her arm slung over my shoulder. “Amazing how much easier it is to relax when you’ve got so much time to do so.”
“Glad it was good for you,” I said, rubbing my forehead. And I really was, but my head felt like a dragon was trying to crawl out. I’d seen the thermostat climbing when we’d been inside, but I’d once again underestimated how hard the buildup would hit.
“We need to get you to Hydra. Bet that’d go away.”
“Yes. That is the sole reason I need to get to Hydra.” Despite the time that had passed, my thoughts immediately went back to the tally. And to making sure no one I loved ended up added to that list. Not for a very long time.
“Only one that matters,” Nexxa said, tugging me towards the exit. “Now, what do you say we go see a devil about an oath?”