by M E Robinson
“Normally, we’d just take any otherworlders willing to take part. And for two of the platoons, that’s just what we’ll do,” Alistair responded.
“And fer tha other platoon?” Tom asked, raising an eyebrow.
“That platoon is going to be a little special. We have reports of hobgoblins at one of the bases in our area. As a result, the platoon I command will be comprised of the most elite troops available to us. The majority of the scout unit will thus be in my platoon, as will the most elite otherworlders,” Alistair explained.
“Can the otherworlders deal with Hobgoblins? Can scouts deal with hobgoblins? I thought we needed the kingdoms elite soldiers to deal with hobgoblins one-on-one?” Burgess asked.
“Normally, yes. We’re just going to have to hope we can overwhelm any hobgoblins we encounter with numbers. Ideally, there’s a few otherworlders strong enough to contend with them, but if needed, I will take the field myself,” Alistair said grimly.
“Alistair are you sure? It’s been years since you’ve last fought anything more than a stray goblin, hasn’t it?” Flen asked with concern.
“I can still swing a sword with the best of them. No need to worry about me, boy - I was killing orcs before your father was a speck in your grandmother’s eye,” Alistair responded with a dangerous glint in his eye.
Flen sighed. “Alright. But how are you going to choose the otherworlders for your platoon? Most of the regular militia members aren’t strong enough to keep up with the scout unit. Too large a disparity in strength between the members of your platoon and the coordination will fail. The goblins will run right through you if you use regular militia members to bolster your numbers.”
“Aye. I’ll only be using Kiran, Nora, and Lochlin from the militia. The rest will be scouts and otherworlders. For the otherworlders, I’ll be holding a test two days from now to determine the strongest among them.”
“A test? What type of test?” Craig asked curiously.
“A tournament. It’ll be held at Vindammer town. We’ll use their arena. I’ll advertise it over the next two days to give the otherworlders time to arrive. Lucy, I’ll have to trouble you to ask the mages in Vinbera, Tassebu, and Hamour villages to put up notices for the otherworlders.”
This announcement set off a new round of muttering at the table. Once the chatter died down, Alistair began to outline the rest of the plan. Pointing at the map, he described the routes of attack the assault units would be taking, as well as the division of fighters in each platoon.
“And that’s the entire plan. Gods willing, we can repel the goblin menace and buy the Kingdom enough time to set up a solid defensive line,” Alistair said heavily.
Flen groaned, “I suppose it’s better than simply waiting and allowing the goblins to set up. But not by much. Damn it!”
Tom nodded heavily. “I’d best get back ta the forge. I’ll try me best to get as many new weapons ready fer ya as I can, Alistair.”
“I’ll work on making arrows. A few otherworlders have expressed interest in becoming apprentices recently, so I think I’ll take on a few of them and set them to making arrows too. If you lose, Gods forbid, it won’t be because of a lack of equipment,” Craig promised, grabbing Alistair’s hand firmly.
“I’ve managed to import a few suits of armour since the last meeting. For the sake of Tonbura, I’ll sell them to you at cost, Alistair,” said Burgess, giving Alistair a slight nod.
“Thank you, Burgess, I appreciate it,” Alistair replied gravely.
“I’ll entreat Leralitas for blessings, and I’ll try to create some holy wards. But I can’t guarantee that I’m strong enough to create anything that’s of use against hobgoblins,” Maria said miserably.
“The other platoons will need help as well. Each ward you can create will help save the lives of my fellow militia. That’s all I can ask, Maria,” Alistair said kindly, wiping the tears from the priestess’ face.
Looking towards Lucy, Alistair simply gave her a look. Seeing this, Lucy sighed, “I’ll give you some Wizard’s Fire, and a few bottles of Witches Brew. I can’t make more than a handful of either in three days, so use them sparingly.”
This got a few grins from the rest of the table, everyone looking away as Lucy glared at them, as if daring someone to say something. Alistair smiled.
“That’s fine. Thank you, Lucy.”
“Don’t thank me, I just don’t want to have to deal with goblins at my doorstep. It’s annoying having to cast combat spells. And burning goblin flesh reeks,” Lucy replied with a miffed voice, looking away to hide her growing blush.
Thanking the council members for their time, Alistair gathered his map and made his way to the door. Exiting the hall, he was just about to set off for the militia barracks when a hand on his shoulder caused him to whirl about, fist raised in preparation to strike.
“Mind if I talk to you in private?” Flen asked, a somber look in his eyes.
With a gruff nod, Alistair followed Flen to a side door, reentering the house into a small living room. Inside were two large leather chairs, between which stood a small sidetable. The windows on the wall had their curtains tightly shut, denying the daylight from entering, leaving the only light provided by a lamp that stood in the corner of the room.
Sitting down in one of the chairs, Flen motioned for Alistair to sit, before looking at him with a serious expression.
“What are our chances?”
“For Tonbura? Or overall?” Alistair replied.
“Start with Tonbura.”
“Good. Even with hobgoblins present in at least one of the bases, with me leading and with the help of the scouts, our chances are fairly high. The otherworlders in Tonbura are fairly strong as well. Some of the other militia captains have reported that the otherworlders in their own villages are far weaker than the ones here, at least if we’re going purely by the number and quality of monster parts they turn in.”
“At least one base with hobgoblins? I thought you said there were hobgoblins at only one base.”
“The scouts didn’t confirm that there were no hobgoblins at other bases, just that there were hobgoblins at this one,” Alistair said glumly. “Grimarok of the Blood Wolf Clan appears to be the leader, and he’s not strong enough for the Ironfrost King to have given him command of this mission. It’s likely that Redclaw, a member of the Ironfrost King’s Royal Guard is the true commander, though where he may be commanding from, we have no idea.”
Flen sighed. “Great. And our chances overall?”
“Low. Tonbura has both myself and Lucy. Other villages aren’t so lucky. Picto village was decimated in the last war. None of their militia members are veterans, and they have at least one base with confirmed sightings of hobgoblins as well. This operation will only succeed if we can clear more than ninety percent of the bases we’ve found. The goblins know that, which is why they’ve divided their forces among so many different bases. My source told me that there were more than forty different bases discovered by the scouting units.”
“So that’s it. We’re screwed then?”
“Not necessarily. If we can delay the goblins long enough for the kingdom to set up a defensive line, then things will be looking up. I’m just afraid of how many are going to die in the meantime,” Alistair said heavily.
Flen nodded grimly. “Tonbura has been safe for more than eighty years, ever since my great-great-grandfather helped found it. I refuse to allow it to fall in my generation. The village treasury is open to you, Alistair. There’s not much, but please use it to the best of your abilities.”
“I’ll do my best, Flen. We all will. Anyways, I have to go start organizing the assault. I’ll contact you if I need anything,” said Alistair, rising from his chair.
Standing up, Flen offered his hand. Clasping it firmly, Alistair shook Flen’s hand, exchanging a wordless glance with the man before leaving through the door. Sitting back down in the chair, Flen grabbed a pipe from the sidetable. Drawing a rune in the air, he lit t
he pipe, reclining back in the chair as he puffed out a ring of smoke which floated gently upwards, disappearing into the rafters above.
Chapter 20
Staring at his alarm clock with distaste, Eric concentrated, as if hoping he could shut off the blaring tones emanating from the device through sheer force of will. With a sigh, Eric let his head sink back into the pillow, doing his best to ignore the sounds that continued to emanate from the other side of the room as he attempted to re-enter a state of drowsiness that would allow him to flee once more into the world of dreams.
After a few seconds of this, Eric finally gave in, throwing off the covers and rolling out of bed. Pacing over to the alarm clock, he strongly considered putting his foot through the device. Fighting the temptation, he bent down, silencing the alarm clock and allowing blessed silence to fill the room once more.
“Mrow?”
Jeyna decided to make her presence known, peeking her head into his room and staring at him expectantly.
“I suppose you expect that you’re going to be fed now, eh? Just because I’m up that means that you get food?” said Eric, looking pointedly at the cat.
“Mrow,” Jeyna purred, rolling over onto her back and looking up at him with a pair of big round eyes.
Kneeling down, Eric began to pet the cat’s belly, setting off a new round of purrs.
“You’re lucky you’re so cute. Vicious little cat,” Eric told her, picking her up and cradling her in his arms as he made his way downstairs.
Letting Jeyna go on the table, he made his way to the fridge, grabbing the milk and some chicken. Seeing this, Jeyna’s ears perked up. Jumping down from the table, she quickly made her way over to him and began rubbing up against his leg.
“Yeah yeah. Greedy kitty,” Eric muttered, walking over to her food bowl with cat in tow.
Pouring the chicken into the bowl, he made sure that she had enough water, before setting off to the pantry to grab the cereal so he could make his own breakfast.
Sitting down at the table, Eric watched the cat eat, chowing down on the chicken without a care in the world. Lifting his spoon, he was just about to dig into the cereal when his watch began to vibrate. Who calls this early in the morning? Eric wondered as he accepted the call.
“Yo Eric.”
“Ryan? What’s up?”
“You been on Fate today?”
“No, I literally just woke up. It’s not even 10am yet.”
“They’re holding a tournament near Tonbura.”
“Wait, like a tournament for the world championships? Isn’t that supposed to not start until next month?”
“No, not for worlds. It’s an ingame tournament hosted by the NPCs to determine who gets to join an elite unit for an upcoming militia expedition. There’s apparently prizes for the top contestants as well.”
“Damn really? That sounds awesome.”
“Yeah. Get on Strife in five minutes. I need to call Jun and Rob.”
“Will do.”
Disconnecting the call, Eric began to wolf down his cereal, taking huge bites as he strove to finish the bowl in under five minutes. Shoving the last bite in his mouth, he quickly rinsed the bowl, placing it on the drying towel before pelting upstairs. Taking the stairs two at a time, Eric hurried through his morning ritual, brushing his teeth in record time before racing back to his room. Checking the time, he saw that he’d just made it, with a minute left before 10. Breathing out slowly, Eric grabbed the FateGear, reclining back in his bed as he entered the familiar room.
Greeting Eleanor, Eric flashed her an apologetic smile as he opened the Strife client.
Kyp has joined the room
Mark
Eric
Ryan
Eric
Griffin
Rob
OMGio has joined the room
Griffin
Gio
Mark
Ryan
Rob
Eric
Rob
Mark
Griffin
Rob
Mark
Ryan
Shinvincible has joined the room
Mark
Jun
Ryan
Jun
Ryan
Eric
Mark
Griffin
Ryan
Eric
Mark
Griffin
Ryan
Jun
Gio
Eric
Mark
Rob
Rob
Eric
Ryan
Gio
Eric
Ryan
Eric
Griffin
Mark
Rob
Gio
Mark
Eric
Griffin
Ryan
Gio
Rob
Jun
Shinvincible has disconnected
You have disconnected from the chat
Closing the chat. Eric found himself staring into Eleanor’s eyes, her golden pupils hovering only inches from his own.
“Hey Elle, what’s up?” Eric asked with a smile.
“Nothing. Just wanted to see how you were doing. You seemed pretty desperate to get on Strife. You didn’t even have time to talk to me,” Eleanor replied wistfully, stepping backwards and all
owing Eric room to sit up.
Eric laughed. “Sorry Elle, I had a meeting and no time left before it started.”
Eleanor sulked, puffing up her cheeks slightly and looking away. Eric smiled. He'd made it a point to talk more with Eleanor ever since his first trip to Elysium. As a result, the two had grown much closer. However, as he’d since learned, Eleanor was the clingy type. She was the type who hated being alone, which meant that as the only non-fairy person she could interact with on a daily basis, Eric was automatically her salvation from the eternal boredom of loneliness. Not that Eric particularly minded spending time with Eleanor. She was extremely knowledgeable about Fate, and she was also a witty and engaging conversational partner in her own right. Even if she hadn’t guilted him into talking to her, he probably would have still enjoyed just sitting around and conversing with her while gazing at the ocean.
“So what are your plans for today? Are you going to bring me exploring again?” Eleanor asked, forgetting to pout as she looked at him in anticipation.
“Nope, we’re actually going to be visiting a new town for once. We’re finally going to leave Tonbura village for a little while,” Eric responded with a grin.
Eleanor’s eyes went wide. “A new town? Where? Which one?”
“Vindammer Town. It’s a little ways southeast of Tonbura.”