The Fell War - Chapter 6

The trip didn’t take as long as Alfre had feared. And the dawn of the fifth day, Basil shouted down into the barracks about having spotted land. They’d be within docking distance in less than an hour.

“I’ll let Sandfur know,” Canus told them. “I’ll be on the shore when you arrive.”

“How will you get there?” one of the Fell of Duty players asked. “Can you swim?”

Canus grinned a wolfish grin. “I have my ways.” He slipped behind and piece of pipe and was gone.

“Stinking Wonderlander magic,” another Fell of Duty grumbled. “We’d save a hell of a lot of time and resources saving these people if we could do that.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Basil teased, heading back up to the wheelhouse. “Best get into place everyone.”

Alfre watched as Alessio’s Wonderlander sailors lowered landing vessels into the water. She could see Canus on the shore, along with a handful of Fell, all of them crowding around to see the ocean liner.

“Miss Alfre.” She turned to see a young sailor smiling down at her. “His Royal Highness has asked that I take you to shore with me. He felt it best that one of you Fell explain what’s going on to the refugees.”

That wasn’t part of the plan, but Alfre had to admit it was a good idea. The Fell in Sandfur’s Den were unlikely to trust Wonderlanders after what’d happened to them.

“Very well,” she agreed. She stepped into the last landing vessel, the sailor climbing aboard with her. The boat jerked a bit as it began being lowered into the water below, nearly knocking Alfre into her shipmate.

They led the other vessels to shore, their little engines puttering along. Now Alfre understood why they needed to gather so many mana crystals. If every engine needed them…well, it was a good thing they grew back.

Canus came out into the warm water, as her boat grew closer, holding his hand out to her. “Welcome to Ahmar, snowbird.”

She took his hand, and it took all her willpower not to squeak as he lifted her from the boat, on hand in hers and his other arm under her thighs. He carried her to shore, where the Fell stared in confusion as the god of the Wilds held a tiny Fell in his arms like she was something precious and delicate.

“That was wholly unnecessary,” Alfre grumbled the moment Canus set her back on the ground, her cheeks tinged pink.

“Didn’t want your boots getting wet,” Canus said, though it sounded like he was teasing her.”

“Shush,” she hissed, face only turning pinker. She turned to the players before her, clearing her throat. “My name is Alfre, guild master of the Alliance of Frozen Stars. Ran has told me your plight. We’re here to rescue you.”

The foremost player, an elven man with golden-brown skin and piercing green eyes, smiled brilliantly at her. “Thank you. My name is Hadi, I’m a guild master as well.” He extended a hand to her, which Alfre readily took.

“We can only carry about three thousand of you,” Alfre explained, her voice carrying an apology with it. “But we are building more ships as we speak. The rest of you will hopefully not have to wait long.”

“Berdea and Kowhai are also building ships,” Alessio assured them. “Berdea has already launched one. They will be coming to help you soon.”

Hadi nodded, his face impassive. He turned to the other players with him. “We should get the youngest players and those with the lowest levels out of here first. The rest of us can defend ourselves if need be. Let’s get moving.”

“Hadi,” a middle-aged dwarven woman called, grabbing Hadi’s arm. “You should go with them to Siniy. Be the guild masters’ voice there. The little ones will need someone they can look to. As much as I appreciate the winter blade’s efforts, we cannot leave our most venerable to strangers alone.”

Hadi glanced over his shoulder at Alfre, attempting to read her. “I agree. Very well. Then you should go to Berdea, Einmora. And Makoto to Kowhai.” He looked to a human samurai woman. “Hopefully, we can meet back in Heart again, when the days are brighter.”

The Fell moved quickly, gathering up the young and the weak and herding them onto the landing craft. The youngest ones, some of them no older than twelve it seemed, clung to each other, sniffling softly. Alfre reassured them when she could with a soft smile or a gentle hand helping them into the boats.

There was the sound of hooves on sand, and Alfre turned to see a ornately armored knight riding towards the group, more than a dozen other riders just behind him. The players shouted in fear, clamoring onto the boats.

“Stay calm, Alfre ordered them. “I’ll take care of it.” She marched forward to meet the rider, leaving Hadi and Alessio to continue overseeing the evacuation.

“Can I help you?” she asked, her expression impassive as she faced down the much larger knight. He was a player, she could tell from the way his steed carried no armor, like so many of the horses of Wonderlander knights did. The riders behind him, however, were knights of Granato.

“Who are you, and what are you doing here?” the knight demanded, pointing threateningly down at her with his lance.

“I am here as an envoy of Alessio of the Kingdom of Saphir,” Alfre said, lying through her teeth. “We are on a trade mission to Berdea, and are simply stopping to let our sailors rest.”

The knight looked beyond her to see the landing vessels full of players as they pushed off from the shore. His eyes narrowed into a cold glare. “Those are not Wonderlanders.”

Alfre let loose her winter, frost cascading out from her in swirling, flowery patterns. “No. They are people, who deserve to be treated with respect. Who deserve to live in their city without fear! We’re saving them. Fuck you if you think you can stop us!”

Alfre drew her rapier, letting out an explosion of cold. She could hear commotion on the boat as her friends saw the confrontation begin. Not a moment later, a small top hat appeared on the ground beside her. From it, jumped Elias, along with Spica and Lance.

“Pulling yourself from a hat?” Spica asked incredulously. “Isn’t that a bit on the nose?”

Elias didn’t have time to respond with anything witty, as the knights came charging in. There was a thunderous cracking sound, and one of the knights flew back off his horse, a smoldering dent in his armor. Alfre glanced over her shoulder to see Ran laying atop one of the sandy dunes, rifle pointed at the oncoming patrol.

June and Doremi flew over them, carried on some magical wind that danced along to Doremi’s song. June hadn’t even set a foot on the ground before she fired her first arrow. It flew through the air, finding its mark in the neck of one of the oncoming knights.

Canus and Beira darted about, nipping at the horses’ legs in an attempt to knock the knights off their steeds. It worked well for the most part; the Fell knight Alfre had spoken to tumbled off his steed and landed with a great clanging sound. Alfre’s eyes focused on him as the right raged around her. She stalked towards him, Cloak of Night’s Shadows billowing around her. She must have looked like an emissary of Abital himself. The knight scrambled back, barely able to get on his feet before Alfre reached him, stabbing at the point where he’d been lying just a moment before – ice exploding from the ground.

“What the hell is your problem?” the knight demanded, holding up his lance in an attempt to keep some distance between the two of them.

“What’s my problem?” Alfre shouted. “What’s your problem? Who the bloody hell thinks it’s okay to drive people from their homes? Who the hell thinks it’s okay to destroy the city they live in? Who the hell thinks it’s okay to attack people for no goddamn reason?”

“It’s just a quest, brah!” The knight shouted in return, sounding desperate and frightened. “It’s just a quest! Just for fun!”

“Oh, so it’s fun to oppress people?” Alfre demanded, parrying the knight’s lance and flickering closer. “It’s fun to destroy their homes and hurt them and terrorize them?”

“Lighten up, man, it’s just a game!”

“Wrong!” Alfre roared, a frigid wind howling along with her. “It’s not a game. This is life. If I’m wrong...

“Then why are you scared I’ll hurt you?”

The knight shouted unintelligibly, thrusting his lance towards Alfre’s chest. She dodged out of the way, her movements untraceable. She swung upwards with her rapier, leaving a long, thin cut on the knight’s face. The man screamed in horror as frost began to creep along his skin.

“Tell your friends that Spade, Clover, and Diamond have heard of your crimes,” Alfre hissed, stalking forward and nicking at whatever exposed flesh she could find – the frost spreading slowly over the man’s body as she did. “And we are livid.”

She thrust forward with her blade, piercing the small patch of throat exposed just above the knight’s heavy armor, cutting off his screams. There was a heavy silence, a pause that seemed to drag on forever, before the man shattered into a hundred tiny, shining shards of light and disappeared. Only his lance was left behind. Alfre took it, lest one of the Wonderlander knights pick it up. Her winter hummed along the shaft, but Alfre tucked it into her inventory instead. She’d rather not use an oppressor’s weapon.

She turned to the rest of the fray. Izo had ensnared the army in vines. Spica had riddled each knight with poison needles. Elias’s fireballs had scorched the ground around them. Doremi whisked the refugees away from shore with her wind song. The Fell of Duty knights hung back, one final line of defense between the Wonderlanders and the escaping Fell. June and Ran picked off the knights one by one from a distance. There were less than half of the knights left.

With a furious shout, Alfre stabbed her rapier into the ground. The knights gave a cry of fear as ice irrupted from beneath them, spires of frost and frigid cold piercing them through their armor. The last five knights vanished into smoke.

Alfre didn’t feel nearly as satisfied as she’d hoped.

“They know what’s going on now,” Elias said with a tired sigh. “This is going to be a hell of a lot harder.”

“If they actually try to stop us,” Spica reasoned. “Who says they even want these people? What would they use them for?”

“Slave labor,” Alfre guessed. “And if not for that, then for their money. Or to bolster their army forces. There’s any number of things a malevolent empire could do with twenty-odd thousand people.”

The sailor that’d escorted Alfre to shore ran up to them. “We’re just about full. We need to get you lot back onto the ship. After that we can maybe get twenty more. We’ve received word that a Clover ship is about half a day away. They’ll be able to get another three thousand out of here by midnight.”

“Any news from Diamond?” Alfre asked.

“They’ll be launching their first ship tomorrow morning,” the sailor told her, running a hand through strawberry blonde hair. “They hope to be here in about four days.”

Alfre nodded. “And with any luck, Maldrom will have two more ships launched before we get back with those we’ve gotten out so far.”

The sailor nodded. “But first we need to get you lot back on the ship. His Royal Highness will have my head if I forget you.”

Hadi greeted them on the ship. “This is a marvel. How did they realize they could do this? There was never anything like it in the game.”

“Maybe not,” Alfre agreed. “But this isn’t a game anymore. The possibilities are endless once you realize that.” She paused. “Are your people alright? That was quite the scare.”

Hadi nodded. “Yes, they’re fine and well hidden below deck. Luckily no one was injured. None of the knights could touch us thanks to you. I can only hope the fleet from Clover and Diamond are this well protected.”

“I’m sure they will be,” she assured him. “Now, let’s get you below deck. I’m sure everyone is anxious to get out of here.”

Hadi nodded, allowing himself to be led below. A stack of empty crates hid behind them the door into the refugee’s quarters. It was a little crowded, but not uncomfortably so. Small groups huddled together, whispering reassurances to one another through sniffles and teary hiccups. Hadi frowned at the sound.

“How will you house us?” he asked, turning to Alfre. “Once we get to Siniy, where will we go?”

“There’s plenty of empty guild halls to house all of you,” Elias insisted. “Spade was built for far more people than were ever there. We have the room, don’t worry.”

Hadi seemed relieved. “Thank you. I can’t thank you enough for what you and the other cities are doing for us.”

Alfre smiled, gentle and reassuring. “Well, I could only hope you would do the same for us.”