AO 4 Ch 7

Chapter 7

I woke up, which in itself was a good sign. After everything that had happened, I had not been quite sure that I would see the world again.

I moved my head back and forth, finding myself on a soft, pillow-like lap. As I shifted, I could see Maribelle's outfit.

The maid looked like she had dozed off, but my movement caused her to straighten and adjust my head, ensuring my comfort.

I tried to look at her face, but there were two large mounds between us, and I quickly realized just how futile it would be to get around them to make eye contact.

Forcing my eyes away from Maribelle’s body, I took in my surroundings. I twisted and pushed off of Maribelle's lap, seeing the woman scowl back at Emlyn as I got my bearings.

We were in a small stone room. Maribelle had me on a stone couch while Emlyn looked like she had been pacing back and forth. Aurelia and Zuri were visible through a divider, fast asleep on the floor. 

"Cozy accommodations," I said. 

"You'll have to complain to Melida. She was the only mage still doing much after you went down," Emlyn replied. 

"The fort?" I asked. 

"If you could still call it a fort. We are where the fort used to be," Emlyn brought me up to speed. "As for the pass and Garrish's side, well, it's all one giant, smoldering ruin. We won't be seeing anything from them anytime soon." 

I let out an explosive breath. "Okay, good. All of that wasn't a waste." Despite feeling like I nearly fried myself the night before, I found that after sitting up, I was actually feeling quite refreshed. 

"Careful, sir," Maribelle said, holding onto me as if she was worried I would tip over. 

I waved her concern away. "Thank you, but I'm fine. Anything from last night is gone. I've completely recovered." 

Emlyn raised an eyebrow from across the room.

"What? Don't look so suspicious. I am just that incredible. Handling that much magic was just taxing on my mind. It was like having to read a hundred contracts in a day," I tried to give Emlyn a comparison. 

"Looked a little more than that," she said. "I was worried about you, Ard." 

I gestured at my body, which was hale, healthy, and completely whole. "As you can see, I am sturdier than that. You have no need for concern." 

"And your soul?" Emlyn quickly asked. 

"Surprisingly, it wasn't damaged," I said, "though Missy definitely gave me a visit. She, too, was surprised that I managed to not fry myself with all of that lightning going through me." 

"That's where I need a little clarification, Ard," Emlyn said. "You were channeling that lightning into your soul?" 

"Into Soulgard, yes," I said after a moment of hesitation. "Only to channel it back out. By bringing it into my soul, I was able to gain a little more control of the magic before I spat it back out. Honestly, it was just like passing water between two buckets." 

"Yes, except that water was lightning that could and would destroy just about everything around it." Emlyn retorted.

"Oh yes. But to my soul and to magic, lightning and water are really one in the same."

Emlyn continued to glare at me. "Really didn't hurt your soul?" 

"Not at all," I said, still kind of shockingly proud of myself. 

"Well, at least that's good," Emlyn said, letting out a sigh of relief. "I think when morning proper comes, we'll have some serious conversations with General Travis and our commanding officer Melida." 

"Yeah, with the old man and Melida," I said, giving them the respect they deserved. 

"Sir," Maribelle said, putting a hand on my shoulder, "come lay back down. We have a few hours until the morning, and you had a difficult day yesterday." 

"If that's the case, why are you two awake?" I narrowed my eyes, but walked over and collapsed back onto Maribelle's lap. I did not feel very tired, but I had to admit it was incredibly comfortable, and everything else around us was stone.

"We took turns," Emlyn said. "If you had woken up a few hours ago, you would have woken in Aurelia's lap. The manticore was surprisingly protective of you while you were asleep."

I wasn't surprised to hear about the manticore's, or rather manti-kitten's, dedication to my sleeping form.

"They made me sleep against my will," Maribelle glared at Emlyn..

"Don't say it like that," Emlyn snapped. "You make it sound like we hit you over the head with a club or something.”

“It would take far more than a lump of wood to keep me away from my mage." Maribelle clung to my body. It seemed all of this action had generated a little more of her possessiveness. She would probably need an outlet soon.

I patted her hands. "It's alright. You, despite how incredible you are, are still human and sleep is important. Thank you for getting some rest so that you are ready when I awoke." Maribelle squeezed me tighter into her lap.

"See? All worked out," Emlyn said. "Now we just have to figure out the next few days. With the general here, I can only assume there will be an army coming up behind him."

"One would hope," I said. "However, with the disruption to the Royal Family, I even wonder how much support we will get."

"Don't say that," Emlyn chided me.

"I'm just being honest. How was the general and his wives? I vaguely remember Maribelle healing him.” I waited.

“Maribelle got the general healed enough that he awoke, and luckily he did not fry us all on the spot. After that he healed himself and checked in on his wives. I can only assume they're all okay. But when he lost control of that magic, it really seemed to do a number on them. After they were healed up, they promptly made a small hut and shuffled themselves inside, along with a handful of anchors." Emlyn told me.

"Well, sounds like they're okay to me." I wasn't too worried, as long as the general had woken up. Between his serpent sphere and his overall ability with magic, I assumed everyone would be put to rights as could be.

"And after that, Melida talked with him briefly and then made us lovely accommodations," Emlyn said sarcastically, waving her hand about, "and then made her own before disappearing into it.”

Did we even put anyone on guard last night?" I asked.

"No, neither of them seemed concerned. Though I'm pretty sure Aurelia's aunt was prowling about last night. I guess with everything that had happened to our fort and Garrish's, no one seemed overly concerned." Zuri spoke up. Apparently she had slipped off the floor and snuck up behind Emlyn. "With all the damage that's done, everything will be in chaos for at least a few days."

Emlyn had nearly jumped out of her skin when Zuri had spoken.

I had a big grin on my face. Watching Emlyn get spooked was really amusing.

Emlyn saw my smile. "You couldn't warn me?" She crossed her arms.

"Where would the fun in that be? Welcome to the conversation, Zuri." I lifted my head up just high enough to give Zuri a smile before Maribelle’s hands pushed me back into her lap.

"Thank you. I'm glad to see you're awake and well. We were all concerned. Though Maribelle claimed that you were well, just exhausted." Zuri told me.

"She would have been very correct," I said, rubbing at my face. "I assume I slept through the rest of the day and it's the next morning?"

"That would be correct." Zuri nodded, still looking a little stiff and formal to me. We would need to have the conversation about her mother and father eventually, but I would let her continue to put it off today.

"Now that Zuri is awake, we can start to make some real plans," I said. 

"First things first," Zuri said, "We need to remake the fort and get supplies. But also, it doesn't matter what plan we make, Ard. You have several ranking officers that will be telling you what to do."

I wrinkled my nose. "Like digging latrine trenches?"

"I think that is the least of your concern. Melida is most likely going to make you rebuild her fort."

I shrugged. That was to be expected. After all, I'd already promised to do so. "Supplies, though," I said, pushing her for more. "Someone will probably need to go hunting."

Zuri glanced over at Aurelia, who was still sleeping soundly. There was a soft snore coming from her form, confirming that she was indeed deep asleep. 

"Easy enough." I smiled, feeling like the issue was already resolved.

"Not as easy as you might think," Zuri said. "Given the several dire situations this fort had gone through, I can only assume that nearby game is in short supply."

"Well, maybe we just need a few fish, and I can keep making more."

"Though you managed to stretch the fish for our group, I don't think that's a viable strategy for an entire army, unless we want to have you spending your entire day holding fish flesh."

"Going to be too busy building the fort," I nodded quickly, not liking the idea. 

"Got it. So we need food, and that's going to be scarce." Zuri nodded. "We probably also need someone watching the pass.”

"If they put that on us," I pointed to Zuri, "you two can take charge, that would put Aurelia hunting, and," I glanced at Maribelle, "this one keeping me safe."

Emlyn looked like she wanted to say something, but thought better of it, biting the inside of her cheek and nodding along. 

"Good. That seems like a safe place to start," I said. "And while I'm doing that, I can only assume that Melida is going to come by for a full reporting."

Suddenly, with an idea of what was going to happen for the day, I didn't feel like laying in Maribelle's lap and sitting still. I pushed off of her, giving her a hug, and got to my feet. 

"If that's the case, I don't think I could go back to sleep until there are some comfortably large walls around me," I said, only for Zuri to gesture towards the door. "I don't think getting an early start will make anyone upset. Someone should stay here to make sure Aurelia is safe though."

I waved Emlyn over. "Get a little more sleep. I will seal the door after we leave."

Emlyn grunted, "At least leave me an air hole."

"It's not like I want to kill you, Emlyn," I said, waving Zuri and Maribelle out with me, as I patted her on the head. "Get some sleep. Thank you all for everything yesterday, and the day before. I know, as the mage, I get most of the credit. However, all of you were beyond incredible. I couldn't have done it without you."

Emlyn gave me a sly smile. "I'm glad you keep that in mind. It would be a shame if your ego got any bigger."

"All right, Emlyn, your jokes are getting bad. Get some rest," I said, walking out with Zuri and Maribelle, sealing the stone box behind me, and punching a few holes in the roof so she didn't suffocate. 

It was before dawn, still dark outside, but I made a gesture of lobbing something upwards, and a ball of light exited my palm and floated above me. 

"How are you on magic, Zuri?" I asked.

"When you get a minute, I could use topping up. Eva had kept me full up until the later stages of the conflict." She told me.

The next step in the process of fort making was simple. I began to wave my hands about, calling for stone to make thick blocks like the city wall, starting from the edge of the cliff. Rather than calling stone from the earth, I pulled it from the pass, creating a deeper trench in front of the fort. I pulled stone block after stone block, stacking them up and into the walls, similar to the city walls that Sienna had let me examine. 

I planned to construct the fort from a multitude of interlocking blocks, braced together. From everything I understood, this allowed the city wall to flex slightly under the strain of great magical attacks. Though I had once been incredibly impressed with such walls, I now understood that no matter how thick a wall was built, it wasn't necessarily strong enough to withstand an earth mage. Something resistant to magic would be required. Then again, I wouldn't be able to build a wall this quickly with a material resistant to magic. 

I stacked the blocks like a child playing with toys. Zuri and Maribelle watched over me, and eventually, I lifted us up on a pillar of stone so I could make the wall from a higher vantage point.

Both of them were relatively quiet as the sun rose behind our backs, stretching our shadows out into the pass. 

With the light of day, unfortunately, came a number of atrocities. I could now see into the pass and observe all the damage that we had wrought. I was both appalled and impressed with myself. Huge gouges had been torn out of the pass. Meanwhile, the space was littered with bodies so burnt they looked more like lumps of coal.

The gruesome sight was shocking, both by how little remained and the total scope of the damage. Before, I had seen great magics. But they were closer to freezing a ship or creating a giant light show. The damage a handful of mages did here to an entire army was staggering. 

At the end of the pass, there was a dark lump that the sun illuminated, completely formless, but I and everyone else knew what those remains represented. The glittering patches gleamed off the melted helmets and armor that had once charged down the pass. 

"Maybe it's best if you don't stare," Zuri said. 

I knew she was probably right. I turned my attention back to the stone wall, building it like a child would build something with wooden blocks. Rather than the haphazard one thrown up previously, I was going to make one that would hopefully last this time. 

As I worked, a stone rose up behind me. Melida floated on a small platform that attached itself to my pillar before merging into it, and another sprouted on the other side to keep it all balanced. 

"Good morning," I said, giving her a slight nod. 

"Morning, Mage Arden," she said. Her stiff tone made me raise an eyebrow. 

"Oh, don't tell me because your grandfather's here we're now going to have to be formal."

"We should always be formal," Melida responded, "unless we're behind closed doors."

"Oh, and what would we get up to behind closed doors?" I put my hand over my mouth, causing her to roll her eyes.

"Say stupid things like that. Good job at starting the wall. When you're finished with that, hopefully we will have blueprints drawn up for you for the fort. And after that, we can work on the mountain."

I grimaced, looking over at the peak that had been shaved off. "I really do think it looks better without the peak."

"The peak," Melida said. "You took nearly half of that mountain down."

"Yeah, well, I needed a lot of sand. And in the end, it worked, didn't it? I saved the fort."

"You didn't save the fort." Melida told me gesturing behind us as the ruins.

I gestured to my new wall. "I think the fort's coming along great."

She sighed.

I had successfully stripped her of the formality and brought her into my own pace and banter. And I took some pleasure in doing so. 

"Well, I guess it is coming back along, given that you've destroyed it two times and rebuilt it once. I suppose if you rebuilt it a second time better than it stood the first, I could forgive you."

"If you change that 'could' into a 'will', I think you have yourself a deal," I said. 

She smirked and held out a hand as if she had just won the conversation, and I realized she somewhat had won. At the same time, she was also my military superior, and I was gonna do what she told me regardless. Perhaps this way, she was going to get less lip from me.

"My grandfather is going to get up here soon. When he does, we're going to have a working meeting. You can work on the wall while also giving both of us a complete update of what happened."

I bobbed my head. "Sounds fair. I like old man Trevis."

Melida visibly winced when I referred to her grandfather with my nickname, which only made it ten times better. 

"Right. Make sure that you don't upset him. There was just a significant ordeal yesterday, and the last thing we want is my grandfather upset. I suspect that if it hasn't happened already, there are plans to move forces to help cover the fort, and likely the base, down on the other side of the desert."

I made a face and glanced at Zuri out of the corner of my eye to see if she had a reaction. However, my anchor stayed admirably stoic through the mention of the base her parents had been stationed inside. 

"All right, I'll leave you to it." Melida stepped back, stone forming under her feet, and helping her glide down slowly to the ground. 

"You don't have to look at me like that," Zuri said as soon as Melida was out of earshot. 

"Oh, nothing," I said, continuing to work on the wall with a new focus to avoid that conversation. It seemed I couldn't escape it. 

"They will send forces, and they will verify, and perhaps there will be survivors. Of course, we must do our due diligence and confirm everything. It would be an absolute shame to not verify and leave anyone potentially stranded," I rambled. 

Zuri, however, nodded sharply and continued to look out over the pass. Nothing moved except for the wind blowing several piles of ash closer to the cliff face. It was somehow incredible to watch nature clean up our messes.

It wasn't much longer before several more pillars of stone attached themselves to my platform, giving it the stability it needed as it expanded. General Trevis came up to the platform with a small contingent.

I counted what I guessed were two other mages, four anchors, as well as Melida. Neither of her anchors had come up with her. 

I turned. As I saw the old man, a grin broke across my face. I held my arms out wide. "Old man, pleasure to see you." I walked up and gave him a hug. He gave me what I liked to think of as a grandfatherly smile and hugged me back quite fiercely, enough to make my ribs ache, before he patted me firmly on the back. 

"Well, if it isn't my little troublemaker. And the one who keeps him out of trouble." He glanced at Zuri and gave her a nod. She nodded back, falling into a parade rest. 

"General," she said. 

Melida followed suit, hands behind her back and feet positioned just slightly outwards and shoulder length apart. 

"Well, I don't know if I'm trouble, or if the world is just trouble. The last two days have been something special indeed," I said. 

"I would say the last... how long has it been since you were deemed a mage?" 

I shrugged. "Half a year?" 

He nodded. "The last half a year has been eventful." 

I flashed him a smile. He was making it sound like it was all of my fault. "Maybe four sphere mages just come out in times of turbulence," I tried. 

"Either way, the last two days..." he held up a hand. "Why don't we go back a little further? I'd like to hear about your trip to the capital and some of the events that transpired there. I got a few mixed messages. It seems your status in the Adlis family dropped precipitously before you left." 

I winced at the reminder. I had been put in a tough situation. Two Aldis mages had been captured by Carmilla and she had been attempting to use that as a wedge into the Aldis family and likely to make my mother look bad. But my grandfather, rather than letting my mother take the hit, called me forward instead. I happily took the hit, killing both of the mages before resurrecting them in the basement and quietly sending them away so others wouldn’t know about my abilities. To the rest of the Aldis family, I had killed two of our mages. 

I told him the story, including the fakeout. Now that Carmilla was dead, it was likely something that was going to be amended in the future. Well, as soon as we could find a way to figure out a solid lie, because I didn't want people knowing that I had resurrected them and bringing me every lost family member and pet.

"Anyways," I continued the story and told how my mother handily crushed Carmilla, leaving out my own involvement. Then I moved through our trip to the fort, our heroic pursuit of Melida, rescuing her from Colin, and facing the army. The rest was pretty apparent when he had arrived and began his attack. 

The old man squinted at me. "You knew the letters were wrong because she didn't put a pun?" 

"Yep," I said. "I'll have to show you some of the letters later." 

Melida cleared her throat. "That's not necessary, Ard. Perhaps we should get to the plans for the future?" 

"Of course. Of course, no one wants to read your silly puns anyways." I smiled at her before turning back to the general.