The Fell War - Chapter 20 (Patreon)

Hadi came back about three hours later with news that several guilds were more than happy to allow the army to rest in their spare rooms. He’d also found his own guildhall, which had luckily been mostly untouched. The commanding officers could set up shop there, with him and his guild mates. Alfre was more than happy to abandon her cot for a softer bed.

Einmora also arrived with news from Alessio and the others. They were moving out, though it was rather slow going for them. They had no summoners to speak of, and therefore needed to travel on foot. It’d take them twice as long to reach the city as it had the others. It would be a full two days before they reached the walls.

“That’s disappointing,” Elias said. “But not surprising. Hopefully they’ll make it back safe and sound.”

“Perhaps we could send out a small contingent to meet them?” Ran suggested. “Make sure they have as much protection as they need. We can’t be certain that all the Granato forces ran back to Rubino and didn’t just camp out in the countryside.”

“Ran has a good point,” Alfre agreed. “Anyone willing to take a small force of twenty to thirty fighters out to find and escort them to the city?”

“I’ll do it,” Einmora offered. “Besides, I don’t have a place to stay in the city anymore. My guild hall was in the fifth district.”

Hadi frowned. “You know you’re more than welcome to stay with me, Mora.”

The dwarf shook her head. “Don’t worry about me, boy. Worry about your own guild mates first. They’re your priority. I’ve found my lot places to stay. I can find somewhere after the princeling gets here.”

Alfre frowned at Einmora’s reasoning but didn’t argue. “Thank you, Einmora. I appreciate it.”

Einmora laughed, a harsh, barking sound. “Of course, you do, Commander, your Wonderlander boy toy is among Alessio’s lot.”

Alfre blushed a furious pink. “Don’t call him that! He’s not a toy!”

Einmora’s wicked grin softened. “Relax, snowball, I’m only joking. I know how much the guy means to you.”

Alfre’s blush only darkened. “Just go, you nasty old woman.”

She laughed again. “Better a nasty old woman, than a young one in denial.”

Alfre scowled after her as she marched out of the room. “She’s a menace.”

Hadi shrugged. “She’s at that age where she doesn’t really care to sensor herself anymore.”

“How old is she?” Ran asked curiously. “Her hair is grey, but that’s not necessarily an indicator of anything around here.”

“I’m not sure,” Hadi admitted. “But she’s mentioned her grandchildren getting her into the game. They’re part of her guild, you know. Apparently they were meeting up with her for a minor raid when the Incident happened.  They’re the whole reason she’s been fighting so hard.”

“I can understand that,” Alfre murmured. If her grandmother were here, that woman would take down Granato itself armed only with a frying pan and a pair of knitting needles.

Einmora returned with Alessio and company a day and a half later, having left with a couple of summoners to aide with transportation. There’d been no trouble, she said, seemed Granato had called back their soldiers after finding out what happened at Heart.

“That said, I can’t imagine they’d let this place go so easily,” Einmora said, grunting a little as she helped unload a horse. “They’re bound to be back, and soon.”

“I agree,” Alessio said. “We should send out scouts to see if they can find out where they’re amassing their army and how soon they’ll be ready to march on Heart.”

“Already done,” Alfre assured him. “We sent out scouts not long after Einmora left to get you. Spica and a few assassins located them just a few miles away, in an abandoned temple here.” She pointed to a black pawn already on their map, about halfway between Heart and the river that divided Fell territory from Granato lands.

“How many soldiers?” Alessio asked.

“About three thousand Wonderlanders and two hundred and fifteen Fell,” Spica informed him. “Which makes sense given the seventy Fell we’ve got in custody right now.”

“What did you lot end up doing with them, anyway?” Hadi asked.

Spica smirked. “Ren used Crystal Moon Kingdom funds to purchase the rights to a building in the fourth district that had yet to be destroyed and trapped them in there with admin commands. No one other than guild members are allowed to open the outside door, no abilities allowed, no pvp combat allowed. They can’t kill their captives, nor can they kill each other to escape. And even if they did, they’d just end up back in the cathedral, where they’d still be trapped. We’ve got Henry and a group of druids, bards, and clerics watching over the place. Oddly enough, they’ve not had to recast the spell in days.”

Canus grinned. “You can thank Koseret for that.”

Alfre blinked owlishly at the comment. “Really? How so?”

“Koseret is known as the Great Druid for a reason,” Canus explained. “She’s put her blessing on this campaign. She’s likely using her own magic to keep the tree from withering like it would normally.”

“Oh. Well, next time we see her, I’ll have to thank her,” Alfre said with a smile.

“Think nothing of it.”

Alfre and the others whirled on the new voice, finding Koseret standing in the doorway of Hadi’s guildhall, smiling serenely.

“I simply wished to help where I could,” she said, stepping forward to join the group. “I am not as much of a fighter as the others, but I can certainly keep a druid tree from withering and make land fertile.”

“That’s more than I could ever ask for,” Alfre told her. “Thank you.”

“If you wish to thank me, then perhaps you would be willing to consider an idea I have,” Koseret said, her smile turning into a pleased smirk.

“What sort of idea?” Alfre asked cautiously.

“A way of keeping this sort of thing from happening again,” the goddess explained. “And a way to keep us gods from forgetting that we are here for all the people of Wonderland.”

A single, snowy brow rose on Alfre’s face. “I’m listening.”

“There are four Fell cities and four gods of Wonderland,” Koseret reasoned. “Perhaps, if we were to dedicate each city to one of the gods, they would be more inclined to protect it. And if a city were to have the protection of a god, others would be less inclined to attack it, for fear of angering that god.”

“Do you think Orli would be willing to agree to such a thing?” Alessio asked. “She did not seem too fond of the Fell last time we met.”

“Orli only ever wants to be worshiped,” Abital stated, scowling. “If we told her a city was hers by divine right, she would care for that city as if it were her own child, if only to keep those within the city worshiping her.”

“And how delightfully ironic would it be, if she were to reside over the city of Heart?” Koseret added, giggling a little at her own cleverness.

“Ironic, definitely,” Alfre agreed. “Delightful, I’m not so sure about.”

“Oh, Orli is an absolute darling to her worshipers,” Canus assured her. “She’d give this city everything it could ever need, and more if she thought it would suit her.”

“Would it not make sense for Koseret to reside over Heart, though?” Hadi questioned. “You are already doing so much.”

“Yes, but that is not the point,” Koseret said. “The point is to change Orli’s attitude, since I’m sure I can’t change her mind. And like I said, I’m not a fighter. Should Granato attack Heart again, there’s not much I can do. No, it would be better for me to be Diamond’s guardian deity. It is a far more peaceful continent, with much more room for me to play around with.”

“And what about us?” Canus demanded. “Where does that leave us?”

“Clover is the perfect city for you, Canus,” Koseret assured. “It is surrounded by the wilds. Berdea is wilder than any other continent. And Abital’s dungeon is already on Siniy, it only makes sense for him to watch over Spade.”

“But Canus can’t watch over Clover if he’s with Alfre all the time, can he?” Ren argued.

Koseret smiled blithely. “You shouldn’t doubt the power of the gods, Your Majesty. We are far more powerful than you Fell like to give us credit for. Just because you fight us on a regular basis does not mean there is more to our power than you know.”

“Canus can see through his direwolves, can’t he?” Alfre guessed. “That’s how he knows when someone steps into the Wilds. His wolves are everywhere.”

Canus grinned roguishly. “Aye, and that’s only part of my power. Clover, Diamond, Heart, it doesn’t matter how far from snowbird my city is, I can watch over it and still remain at her side.”

There was a long silence as Alfre pondered the idea. The idea of using the gods the Wonderlanders feared and respected so much as a way of guarding the Fell from attack was a good idea, she had to admit. The Wonderlanders maybe a lot of things, but atheists they were not. If a city was given protection from a deity, there was no way a Wonderlander kingdom was going to just ignore that.

“We’ll try it,” Alfre agreed finally. “I have to admit, the irony is too good to ignore.”