Allistor thought about it, looking down at the street, then spoke again to the people he hoped were below. “Listen, we’re going to land this ship a few blocks away, and come back. I promise, we’re not here to hurt you. My name is Allistor. You might have seen a couple notifications about me? I’m human like you. We’re here to help! So… yeah. We’ll be back shortly.”
Kira took the hint and drifted the ship along above E. 32nd Street to Park Ave, just two blocks east. She turned the Phoenix so that it oriented roughly north-south to match the eight-lane wide street, and set her down gently.
“Prime, I want you and your troops to hang back a full block from the Stronghold . I’ll shout if we need you. I don’t want to scare these people. Fuzzy, Amanda, Juanita, Chuck, Bjurstrom, you and your people come with me. Addy and Sydney, you can come too, but stay behind us. Call out if you see anything or anyone.” Allistor quickly created a raid party, inviting everyone including Kira and the children on the bridge.
Allistor and company descended the ramp and began to walk the two long blocks to their destination. The droids followed behind and on either side, scanning the buildings and alleys for any threat. When they reached Madison Ave, Allistor motioned for Prime to hold. “If I call for you, come as fast as you can.”
Prime saluted without a word, and the droids began to move into the nearby buildings and alleys, out of sight in case anyone in the Stronghold stepped out to look. Allistor and the humans, and one bear cub, continued on. When they were within fifty yards or so of the wall where it jutted out into the street, Allistor paused and called out again.
“Hey in there! It’s Allistor again. I’d like to talk to you!” He put his hands in the air and continued to move forward toward the corner, around which they’d find the gate. The others raised their hands as well, and followed. Every eye was glued to the top of the wall as they went, watching for any kind of movement. Just to be safe, Allistor cast Barrier on Sydney, who was walking between Addy and the wall. Sydney saw the glimmer, and nodded her understanding. She lowered one hand long enough to move Addy slightly closer behind her.
Allistor turned the corner, keeping his distance from the wall. As he moved in front of the gate, and his party swung out into the middle of 5th Ave where there was no cover close by, a dozen people with guns rose up atop the wall, pointing their weapons.
“Hold it right there!” A man called down in a clear New York accent. “Keep your hands where we can see ‘em!”.
Fuzzy growled low in his throat, and Allistor whispered, “Easy, buddy. Let’s not scare the nice people with guns pointed at us.”
“Whatever you’s want, we ain’t interested!” The man shouted again. Allistor was able to identify him this time. He was taller than the others, with wide shoulders and a white streak in his otherwise jet black hair.
“I’m Allistor. Ruler of Invictus City, which your Stronghold now sits within. I’ve just come to talk, and hopefully, help.”
The man spit over the wall, but said nothing. The guns remained leveled at Allistor and his party. Allistor decided to try again. “Look, are you the folks who had the Stronghold closer to the Empire State building before it fell?”
“Yeah, so what?”
“So I heard you might have suffered casualties. And maybe lost a lot of your resources. I’m here to see if we can be friends. Offer you a chance to join us. We have plenty to go around.”
“Why would you wanna do that?”
Allistor sighed. This wasn’t going as well as he’d hoped. “Because we humans need to stick together! We need to help each other survive, and get stronger. There are so few of us left, I’d like to think we could find common ground.”
“This is our ground! And you’re trespassing. We don’t need nuttin’ you’s are offering.”
Allistor was about to try again when Juanita lost her patience.
“Hey, moron! Yeah, you, goombah.” she shouted. “This man’s trying to be nice, here. He owns half the damn continent, has something like twenty strongholds, all bigger than yours. Hell, he owns his own damn planet. You pull that trigger, and he’ll scrape you and your people off the face of the earth like gum off his shoe. Get your head outta your ass and get down here! It won’t hurt ya to listen.”
As the rest of the party looked at Juanita with surprised faces, laughter could be heard from atop the wall. “Ha hahaha! You, I like. Hold on, I’ll be right down.”
Juanita looked at Allistor and shrugged. “New Yorkers. Sometimes you gotta get in our face and prove yourself.”
It wasn’t long before the gate opened, and the man with the streak in his hair walked out. His gun was lowered, held in his left hand. He approached the group, and reached his right hand out to Juanita. “Francis DiMarco. Most folks just call me Big Frankie.”
“Of course they do.” Juanita looked him up and down as she took his hand and shook it. “Juanita. Most people call me Juanita.” Frankie chuckled at that, then turned to Allistor. “So you’re the Prince. Yeah, we been seein the notifications about you. What gives you the right to come here n claim our territory? You ain’t from the city.”
“No, I’m from out west. Way out west. From a town that would barely cover four or five of your city blocks. As for what gives me the right… well that’s a long story. You want to stand out here while I tell it? Or invite us inside?”
“I ain’t ready to let you in just yet.” Big Frankie looked over the rest of group, smiling brightly at Amanda. When he reached out to shake her hand, she stepped closer to Allistor and put an arm around him.
Doing her best impersonation of his accent, she said “I ain’t ready to shake yer hand just yet.”
“Ha!” Big Frankie barked a laugh, continuing to smile. “I’ll give ya this much, mister fancy prince, you gots good taste in women.”
“That’s Prince Fancypants.” Amanda corrected him, pinching Allistor’s butt as she spoke. Allistor did his best not to squirm, but it hurt. Despite himself, he reached around and rubbed the injured spot.
This time Big Frankie was surprised. Fuzzy gave Allistor’s hand an experimental sniff, and the two teenage sisters, who’d also seen Amanda’s pinch attack, tried to stifle their laughter. To Big Frankie, who was directly in front of Allistor, it all looked quite odd.
Allistor quickly changed the topic. “Listen, we have food, we have healers if any of your people are wounded, or sick. We really are just here to help. And there’s no need for the titles. I’m just Allistor. Nice to meet you.” He held out his hand.
For a moment, he thought Big Frankie would refuse. But the man cracked a smile and shook his hand. “And you as well. I suppose you can come inside. Not for nuthin, but a good meal would hit the spot.”
“How many of you are there?” Allistor began to worry he hadn’t brought enough.
Big Frankie looked down at his feet. “Eighty five of us, now. There were over four hundred… before.” He looked up the street toward the pile of rubble. “This place was just an Outpost. Most of us still living were already here when the building fell. Only a dozen made it out of the rubble.”
“I’m so sorry.” Allistor’s voice was quiet.
“Thanks. Anyway, we been getting by okay since then. But this place don’t hold a candle to what we had.”
Allistor pulled some dragon jerky from his ring and handed a piece to the man. “I’ve got enough of this for everyone, plus some fresh fruit. If you’ll gather everyone together, I’ll tell you about us, and what we can do for you.”
Big Frankie took a bite, chewing thoughtfully. His eyes widened a bit when the buff notification appeared. “This is good. The name, though. This is really dragon meat?”
“Yep. Well, drake meat, technically. We’ve had to tangle with a few of them now.”
“Right. Well, that’s worth hearin’ about. Come on in. Leave your robots where they are.” He nodded down the block.
“No problem. I’ll even send them back to the ship if it’ll make you feel more comforta
ble.” Allistor offered, not surprised Prime and his droids had been spotted.
“Nah. There’s all kinds of nasty things walkin around out there. Better they’re close by.” Big Frankie led them in through the gate. Already his people were emerging from the building, and all but a few of those on the wall were climbing down. Half a dozen remained as lookouts. Most were wary of Fuzzy as the group walked closer, but Allistor reassured them by patting the bear’s head, and giving him a piece of jerky.
“Fuzzy won’t hurt you.” He gave them his best smile. A few of them ventured close enough for the bear cub to sniff at extended hands, then give them a friendly lick. The group was led inside the building’s ground floor, into what looked like it had been an Asian restaurant of some kind. There were dozens of tables surrounded by black-lacquered wood chairs with bright red satin seats.
Allistor emptied the food and drink from his ring onto a large table near the center of the room. “Please, help yourselves.” He said to the gathering crowd. Amanda stepped forward and added some bread and pastries he hadn’t known she had. She just smiled at him.
Big Frankie motioned to another round table near the window, and they took seats, watching as the food was quickly distributed, and the residents took seats of their own, most of them murmuring thanks of some kind. Two of the children were sent outside to deliver food to the guards on the wall.
Big Frankie stood and said, “This is Prince Allistor and his people. You’ve all heard o’ him. He’s here to make us some kind of offer. I’d told him we’d listen, but that’s all.” He sat down with an air of finality.
Allistor got to his feet, once again wishing he’d put more points into Charisma.
Good morning, everyone. I’ll get right to the point. Big Frankie here asked me to explain how I came to claim this part of Manhattan as my Capital City, which is called Invictus, by the way…”
He spent about fifteen minutes relaying the highlights of his story to the gathered audience. He spoke about fighting void titans and drakes, seizing the gold depositories, and taming the murder chicken matron. He talked a bit about the friends and family they’d lost, but mainly focused on all the ways he’d helped his people get stronger, and all they’d accomplished. Then he spoke about Leila’s stronghold, and his regrets for not helping them sooner. When he was done, he added, “And that is why we’ve come here this morning. Any questions?”
A woman sitting two tables away leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. “It sounds like bullshit to me. No way you did all that.”
Juanita started to get up, but Allistor shook his head. “Which part don’t you believe, miss…?”
“I ain’t no miss. You can call me Deborah. I don’t buy most all of it. Friggin leprechauns. Pull my other leg!” Several in the crowd nodded their heads and spoke quietly to each other.
Allistor thought for a moment. “Okay, well… you’ve just eaten dragon jerky, so will you accept that at least the part about killing drakes was true?”
Deborah looked around at the others for a moment, then nodded her head. “I guess so.”
“Good! That’s a start. Now, let’s see. He opened his inventory, looking for a specific item. He’d ignored it when he first looted it, being busy with other things. But it would come in handy right that moment. When he found it, he pulled it out from his ring and stepped toward the woman. “Do you know how to use the Examine spell?”
“’Course I do.” She glared at him like he was stupid.
Allistor simply handed her the item. “I looted this when we cleared the depository. Could you Examine it please, and read what it says to everyone?” Deborah took the item and stared at it, her eyes crossing a bit as she read the description.
Leprechaun Clan Mother’s Wand
Item Quality: Very Rare
Enchantment: Greater Illusion
This wand was crafted for the matron of a leprechaun clan.
It can cast a powerful illusion of her choosing that will last up to one hour.
The room was silent as she finished reading and quickly set the wand on the table. A few seconds later, a man cackled loudly, making everyone jump. In a strong Irish accent, he called out, “Ha! Leprechauns be real! I knew it!”
This got everyone chuckling, and broke the serious mood in the room. Allistor just looked at Deborah with one eyebrow raised as he held out his hand for the wand. She grabbed it like she didn’t really want to touch it, and thrust it back into his hand. “Fine! The leprechaun bit is true.” She grumped.
Next Allistor pulled the staff he’d looted from Goblin Chief Borzgl. He handed it to a random man seated nearby. Without needing a prompt, the man read the description, then handed it back.
“Fine. I agree, you’re not totally full of shit.” Deborah pronounced, earning more laughter. Allistor noticed she was struggling not to smile herself. “So what do you want from us?”
Allistor turned a full circle, meeting the eyes of as many of the survivors as he could. “Well, what I’m hoping for is that you’ll all choose to come join us as citizens of Invictus. You can live in the tower here in the city, or one of the other buildings we’re clearing. Or you can live at any one of my Strongholds, including one of those on Orion, the former goblin planet where I got this staff.”
Not ready to give up quite yet, Deborah followed up. “And if we don’t wanna join you?”
“Then I hope we can be allies. You can stay here, live your life. We’ll trade with you, and you’ll be mostly protected inside the City walls. Though it’ll be some time before we’ve cleared all the monsters from all the buildings, tunnels, and so on. You won’t get the same benefits of a citizen, but we’ll leave you in peace.”
“What kinda benefits?”
“Well, that would take quite a while to explain. Let me tell you this, instead. I mentioned Leila’s people earlier. Right now, they’re poking around my various properties, asking questions and deciding whether they want to join. I invite all of you to do the same. My ship is just a short walk down the street, and I can have you all back there in just a few minutes. Then you can ask any random person you see, whatever question you like, since you seem to have a bit of trouble believing me.” Allistor smiled, reaching down to take Deborah’s hand, then kissing the back of it while waving his free hand with a flourish. She snatched it back, blushing slightly.
Standing straight again, he spoke more loudly. “That invitation is for all of you. We’ll go wait outside while you discuss it. If you want to come investigate, grab whatever gear you want to bring with you. We’ve got enough rooms for you to spend the night. You can all eat a good lunch, then explore until dinner.” After a pause, he added, “And while you talk, I’ll give you all a small gift. I’m about to send each of you an invitation. Please accept it.”
A minute later he motioned for his people to follow him, gave Big Frankie a nod, smiled at Deborah, and exited the Stronghold. Knowing it would take them a while to talk, he walked back to where Prime and the droids were waiting. Prime stepped out and saluted. “I am glad to see you safe, Sire.”
“Thank you Prime. We have a little time while the folks inside make up their minds. Would you please have your droids clear these buildings as quickly as possible? I’m looking for as many kills as you can rack up in… the next hour?”
“It shall be done, Sire.” Prime saluted again, and disappeared into the nearest building.
Allistor led his group back to the Stronghold gate area, where they took seats on some of the larger chunks of concrete that littered the street. It wasn’t long before the sounds of battle echoed down the block toward them. Allistor grinned to himself, and settled down to wait.
Fifteen minutes later, Big Frankie walked out to join them. With a big grin on his face, he said, “You oughta see them in there. They were talkin’ all serious-like about whether to join you, then they started poppin off, one after the other. Started with the kiddos, leveling up again and again. Then some of the ones who ain’t been out huntin’ m
uch. Pretty much everyone’s leveled up at least once since you walked out. Lemme guess, the droids, right? I gotta hand it to ya, that was clever.”
Allistor returned the grin. “Just one of the benefits of being a citizen of Invictus. We send our low level people in behind the battle droids to clear buildings. They get experience and loot, with minimal risk. And there’s always a healer with them, just in case.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m guessin’ I don’t need to tell ya that we’re joining yous for lunch. They’re grabbing their gear and will be out in a few.”
“Great! There’s room for everybody on the ship. I don’t know how much of a wilderness guy you are, but I recommend taking the portal to Orion and having a quick peek around. There’s a whole planet that is basically empty.” Allistor held out a hand, and Big Frankie shook it.
“Thanks, but I’m a city boy. Eighth generation of DiMarco’s born here in this city. This fancy-schmancy high rise you talked about sounds like my kinda spot. Think I’ll settle in there and see if I can’t start the ninth generation.” He gave Allistor an exaggerated wink.
It wasn’t long before the survivors began to emerge from the Stronghold with packs on their backs. Even the kids had makeshift bundles made from sheets slung over their shoulders. When they’d done a head count and confirmed everyone was out, Big Frankie first locked the building entry, then closed the Stronghold gate behind him.
Even as they walked down East 32nd Street toward the Phoenix, members of the crowd continued to level up. Most often it was the children, but several of the adults were surrounded in the golden glow before Allistor called out for Prime to form up and escort them the last block back to the ship.
Because he had the other Stronghold on his mind, Allistor asked loudly if anyone knew anything about another group of survivors south of Central Park as soon as he had everyone in the cargo bay. No one spoke up, and a moment later they were all distracted as the ship lifted off.
Shadow Sun Progression: Shadow Sun Book Four Page 5