Hal looked to the north, wondering when they had time to build a parapet up on the ridge. He commanded his Disara forward at a swift pace. Hal hoped any archers would look twice before firing. At least until Noth could spread the word not to attack anything on the eastern ridge.
At his side, Beedle finally came atop the ridge. “Stay low and behind me, Beedle.”
148
Hal did his best to keep his focus forward, but he couldn’t help glancing over the tumbles of boulders and down into the gap below. The entrance to his home was already thick with beasts and monsters of all kinds.
Morbolgers were there, but they weren’t the only monsters in attendance. They were just the largest.
Lean red-skinned creatures, half as tall as a Morbolger, wove through the tumble of bodies. Traps sprung wherever there wasn’t a heavy corpse atop it, but they were already overwhelmed.
Many creatures had made it within reach of the wall at the northern end, but the defenders atop the wall, dwarves, human, koblin, and elves stood shoulder-to-shoulder in solidarity.
Though the defenders were few in number, they drove back the creatures that managed to get close with precise, well-drilled attacks that made Hal feel guilty for not better preparing for the attack. If this was all the Shiverglades threw at them, he would forever feel like he ran away from his duties by pursuing his own power.
“Would you be just another defender upon the wall, then?” Besal asked, his smoky voice echoing in Hal’s head.
“Better to be just another soldier, than to be away when I’m needed,” he countered.
“You still have much to learn,” Besal said. Hal could practically see him shaking his head. “This is not the world you came from. One more sword will do little against such viciousness. Another soldier is another body.
“The magic you have gained, even partial as it is, will be worth dozens of fighters. The Experience you earned will buy your friends time to regroup, to recover. To carry the wounded away before they become martyrs.
“You are not a soldier. You are a leader. You are more than a man. Do not forget that. Your strength comes from your ability to break the limits of your mortality. Unlike those around you.”
Hal was about to argue some more when he spotted Noth gaining the pinnacle of the ridge just ahead of him. Unable to contain the swelling in his chest at the sight of her, the Disara leaped forward, straight through the shimmering veil of the Manaseed’s barrier. It climbed the remaining 20-foot rise to Noth as if it was level ground.
You gain the effect of Founder’s Day.
+25% Skill gain rate | +25% Experience points.
+25% Crafting Points | +25% Gathering Points.
+25% HP | +25% SP | +25% MP.
+25% HP Regeneration | +25% SP Regeneration | +25% MP Regeneration.
+100% Morale | -25% Elysian Point cost | +100% Settlement defense.
Duration: 1 day.
Reining in his emotions, the Disara calmed as it came upon the startled Noth. Hal hadn’t known that it would react like that. It seemed to understand his emotions before even he did, and it reacted to his desire to be near Noth.
Noth, her scythe held out in alarm, slowly began to put it back in the holster on her back. She smiled, though it was strained, as Hal hopped off the Disara. They collided together in a tight embrace.
“Are you okay?” she asked, holding him out at arm’s length and examining his new equipment. “This is new, where did you get it?”
“Later,” Hal said. He motioned to his left, into the gap below. “How long has this been going on?”
“Hours,” Noth said, taking a step back and leading him higher onto the narrow ridge. “It began somewhat simple at first, but they just kept coming. Eventually, even the traps began to malfunction or were buried beneath the bodies.
“We can’t risk going out to burn them, and even if we did, the traps might spring suddenly. I had a few of the Kweh Gang slip in and take care of some of the bodies, but it was too much for a single group.”
“How is Boco?” Hal asked. The last time he’d seen the blue karak, the bird was not doing well.
“Look for yourself.” Noth motioned down to a distant blue oversized bird flinging large rocks with one of its taloned feet. Unerringly, each rock found its mark.
The walls were a hive of activity, an impressive feat considering that the citizens of the fledgling Settlement weren’t great in number.
“Everybody is fighting,” Noth said. “Some behind the lines, but everybody does their part. Nobody wants to see harm come to our home.”
The stony ridge shook, and a great Morbolger slumped to the ground below. Golden rays of light spread across the scudding clouds overhead. Dark fingers, shadows of the mountain peaks, spread across the leaden ceiling.
To Hal’s surprise, the rough and uneven ground soon gave way to perfectly level and smooth stone. It wasn’t cut stone, but the ridge itself had been smoothed and flattened in wide steps that rose to a circular platform. It was a parapet that looked down about three-quarters of the way through the gap.
Noth saw the way Hal was looking at the stone and grinned. “Like it? This is Bardan’s special project. I’m amazed at the progress he made in so short a time. It’s unfinished, of course, nothing a dwarf does is ever truly finished until it’s a work of art.”
Hal had heard the expression before, and seeing the constant tinkering of Durvin’s race long after an item would be serviceable, confirmed it.
“I need to get down there,” Hal said, motioning to the wall.
Angram came up through an unseen stairwell to Hal’s side, the elf looked at Hal with wide ruby-red eyes. “Well, so the reports are true! You beat Elora back home, she won’t be happy about that.”
“Elora isn’t back yet?” Hal asked, alarm in his voice.
“Not to worry, your girlfriend has been keeping an eye on her.”
Hal turned to Noth, who glared daggers at Angram as color rose high on her cheeks. She turned back to Hal. “I’ve had a couple keinse keep an eye on her. She can’t hear them or talk through them, naturally, but she is coming closer. Within the hour, I’m told. If you would like to confirm-”
Raising a hand to stop her, Hal shook his head. “They’re used to talking to you right now, I don’t want to take over anything you already have covered. Tell me what you’re working on, and I’ll see where I can fit in best.”
Angram raised a black brow at that. “Well, something has surely humbled our dear leader! I was just coming out to set out a welcome wagon for Elora and her friends.”
“Friends?” Hal asked.
“She’s not alone,” Noth said. “The keinse struggle to count them, but there is at least a party’s worth of barbarians alongside Elora.”
“Every little bit will help,” Angram said. He patted Hal on the shoulder and took off down the ridge, back the way Hal just came.
Once they were alone again, Hal looked at Noth. “I’m sorry I left you with all of this.”
It was Noth’s turn to stop him from talking. “I actually enjoyed it, after the first few dwarves got black eyes, the rest started to realize my position wasn’t one of nepotism. Besides, it’ll be good for me.”
That set Hal back on his heels, but he recovered quickly. His heart felt a little lighter, despite the grim tidings of war at their doorstep. She had done well. Amazingly well, in fact.
The Settlement was in a state of preparedness that he wasn’t sure he could have ever improved upon. He certainly would not have thought to build up defenses high on the ridges in the way Noth did.
“You did all this?” Hal asked, motioning to the wide area.
“A memory,” Noth said. “From my past. They aren’t fully functional, but we have a few of the Rangers on each side.”
They took a sloping path down to a larger curved level where several dwarves and koblins were loading catapults with heavy stones. Rondo was nearby, directing them.
“Havior is back!” one of
the koblins cried. “Buffrix must be knowing!” Before anybody truly understood what the koblin was doing, the little one pulled out something that looked a lot like a roman candle and snapped it in half over his patchwork knee.
The colorful hollow tube broke apart easily, and the koblin was quick to raise both halves skyward. From within the dark confines exploded a shower of light and cacophonous racket that rebounded off the stones around them, magnifying the sound.
Dozens of people fighting down on the wall turned to look at the spectacles of multi-colored showers of light and sound that somehow managed to illuminate both Hal and Noth but nobody else.
Distracted by the light and sound above their heads, Hal didn’t notice the koblin sneaking around behind them, illuminating them from behind.
As the sound of the fireworks died down, another one rose from below that would have given it a run for its money. A boisterous cheer lifted from dozens of throats, many of them the rich deep rumbling of a dwarf. Hal didn’t understand why, but he wasn’t about to let an opportunity to raise morale go to waste.
Withdrawing [Emissary] from its sheath at his hip, Hal raised the blade high overhead and channeled his mana into it, causing the blue-yellow crystal to sparkle and glow brightly. The cheering for their returned leader redoubled in intensity and volume.
149
After that brief display, Hal hurried down through the dimly lit narrow tunnels the dwarves had quickly cut into the mountain ridge. There was barely enough room for them as they doubled-back and continued down the steps.
Every so often, a rough cut tunnel would branch away into the darkness.
“Expansions,” Noth explained as they passed another. Hal could see far enough into that one to still catch the various pickaxes lying at the base of a half-broken hunk of stone. “This entire ridge should be protected in time.”
“Turning a mountain into a castle?” Hal asked, a bit skeptical. The idea was, of course, preposterous. Nobody could do that. Not even dwarves.
Noth shrugged. “That isn’t my decision to make.” She tossed her raven black hair over one shoulder and looked at him with her golden eyes. There was a twinkle of playfulness to them that seemed at odds with their current situation.
“Aren’t we going to end up right in the middle of the gap?” Hal asked as they continued their descent.
“There is another path on the third level, it stretches back behind the wall. Bardan rigged drop stones nearly six feet thick that can be collapsed to secure the tunnel if anything manages to get up here.” Noth turned sharply on the next landing and they took a tunnel that had flickering torches set into cracks in the roughly hewn stone every thirty feet.
It was about that time that Hal realized something. “You never left the party.”
Noth stiffened a little, but otherwise never turned around. “I didn’t,” she agreed.
“But you could have been fighting,” he said. “You had no idea when I would be back after-”
Noth whirled on him, forcing him to stop suddenly. Her golden eyes were aflame. “You wouldn’t abandon me. Us. You wouldn’t abandon us.” Noth’s pale cheeks were burning. “I knew you would be back. And I was right, wasn’t I? All that’s left is for you to decide who you want for the other four members.”
Just as fast, Noth turned back around and marched down the gently sloping tunnel.
Hal, momentarily stunned, hurried to catch up. “Bring me up to speed.”
“Durvin is in charge of the wall, Rondo and Angram the eastern parapet, with Bardan and Yesel on the western side. I figured most of the Rangers would work best up on the high ground,” Noth said.
“Up there,” she continued, “they could deal the most damage while staying out of the thick of things. Besides, anybody high above is going to need better accuracy than those on the wall.”
“And it’s parties of Rangers?” Hal asked.
“They organized themselves,” Noth said. “I didn’t think it prudent to meddle.”
Hal nodded, but he wasn’t so sure about that. As Noth explained where their forces were arrayed, a plan started to form in his head. This wasn’t a simple thing of forming a single party that worked best.
Their forces would need to be spread out, and while Noth had done an excellent job, Hal could already see ways in which he could improve their defenses. Whether it was his Tactician skill or from watching so many movies or reading books, the changes he thought of seemed obvious to him.
The tunnel took a sharp turn to the left, and they found themselves going down yet another set of stairs that emptied out into the darkening twilight. True to Noth’s word, they were behind the wall. Two koblins stood guard on either side of the opening.
When they saw Hal, they saluted, each of them smacking their koblin masks with their mitts. “Havior returns! Glory-days. Kobbie-friends already stuffed His Most Squarishness into the wall for feasty-times.”
Hal paused and turned to the two koblins. “Could one of you run and tell Athagan I will be at the wall in a few minutes?”
The koblins nearly fell all over themselves, trying to answer him first. Hal did his best to calm them and give them his message.
Unlike the keinse, the koblins were remarkably smart people and remembered his orders verbatim. Hal sent them off, and instead of going up to the wall after them, he turned to the north, toward the Settlement.
A lot had changed since he was away. The Settlement was different, the Guild had Leveled Up, and so had the Manaseed. Unfortunately, he couldn’t access any of that while they were in a state of warfare.
But he could enact the abilities the Settlement had at its disposal, and with their boon of Elysian Points he could do a lot to bolster their defenses.
The worst was yet to come, he could feel it in his bones. The wall was holding easily. And that didn’t seem right. With so few people, they should be nearly overrun.
“Where are you going, Hal?” Noth asked. “I thought you wanted to get on the wall?”
Hal shook his head, Noth hurrying to get alongside him. Something she found more challenging to do as Hal used Convergence to increase his AGI and his speed.
“I need to check on the plants.”
“The plants?” Noth echoed, and then a moment later, she understood. “Do you think they’re ready?” There was an edge of excitement to her voice. After all, it wasn’t often that you had Treants fighting with you.
“I’m not sure,” Hal admitted. He hoped they were, but he also wasn’t going to unnecessarily risk them. “That’s what I’m going to check on. Shouldn’t take too long.”
Beedle fluttered overhead, keeping an eye on them and largely out of sight now that it was dark. The Disara, on the other hand, had stalked down the rough mountainside and was now loping easily to catch up to Hal and Noth.
The sudden appearance of the beast startled Hal and Noth for a moment until Hal realized the truth of the matter.
“New friends of yours?” Noth asked.
“One,” Hal agreed. He hiked a thumb at the Disara and its glowing Gold Kol’thil brand upon its forehead. “That one will stay loyal until tomorrow, but the one above us? His name is Beedle.”
“Beetle?”
“Beedle, with a ‘D,’ not entirely original, I know, but it seems to fit him. There was a game that I used to love playing as a kid, he reminds me of that character. Always lugging around loot and treasure.”
“One of these days, I would like to play a video game,” Noth said wistfully.
“Once things are settled, maybe Orrittam can smuggle something in for us,” Hal said as they reached the glade in record time.
Just as before, a haunting, soothing melody filled the air and welcomed Hal. A sense of love, warmth, and pride filled him but also fear and trepidation.
The Manaseed knew something was wrong. Despite the darkness of night all around them, there were motes of glowing sapphire light that danced in the air, illuminating the space.
Pools of water glistened
in the light, tiny rivers babbled soothingly to each other. And there at the center of the glade was the Manaseed. No longer a tiny sapling, it was nearly 8-feet tall with silvery bark and wide emerald-green heart-shaped leaves with traces of silver.
Hal did his best to soothe the Manaseed’s worries. He would never let any harm come to it. He would die before that happened.
Reading his heart, the Manaseed was comforted. Hal could no sooner lie to it than he could himself.
Turning his attention to the various planted items, Hal noticed with a heavy heart that they were still growing. The Wortlings were formed, but he didn’t know how much damage a single Wortling could do on its own. And if it died, he risked losing it for good.
Pale of bark like the fledgling Manatree, the Treants and the Wortlings were beautiful to look at. The [Treant Seeds] he had planted were sprouting into Treant Saplings, small reedy little things that could whip fiercely with their green braches but do little else.
There was one that was almost full-grown, though. The [Bag of Treant Cuttings] had grown into a small pale barked tree nearly 10-feet tall. Hal regarded it curiously, and likewise felt the gaze of the Treant fall upon him.
A brief sparkling of sapphire motes drifted and alighted upon the Treant. Hal felt the Treant’s approval, a fondness like an extension of the Manaseed exuded from the creature.
Though no words were used, Hal knew that the Treant would do as he asked without the need to force it. They were, in a way, a part of the Manaseed.
“I’m going to need your help,” Hal said to the Treant. “When we’re done, you can return here and continue to grow until you’re big and strong with all your younger siblings around you.”
The Treant liked that. And like the Manaseed, it sensed there was something wrong. It wanted to do its part.
Hal only hoped that he wasn’t making a mistake pulling it out so soon. He had hoped for more, but a single Treant - even one as small as his - would have a role to play.
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