Cheep!?
Chapter 98
Niko and the other Wyldwalkers were currently alone in a hallway, as distant from the others as they could manage. The ceiling had begun to cool an hour ago, and now the only thing left for the various teams to do was wait, watch for any structural failure, and have some time with their own thoughts.
And after their conversation with Ronald’s father, Niko thought they all needed some time to themselves.
“I still can’t believe Greenleaf is just… not going to be there.” Skye said, uncharacteristically quiet as she sat, hugging her knees to her chest with a blanket set down atop the stone to make something resembling a comfortable seat. “Just like that.”
The others were silent, broken only by the shifting of Dachna’s hands and a coin that he sometimes dropped. Niko watched the man as he tried to shift a coin between each finger fluidly, with a rolling motion. He was getting a lot better at it, and Niko frankly had nothing better to do than to watch the coin tumble, because as much as he wanted to know what the soul brand was, he couldn’t make heads nor tails of it.
The dang thing didn’t respond to him at all, it seemed, and while that was annoying, he hoped that Venris had made good on at least ensuring that this thing wasn’t actively cursing him. What that might look like, he didn’t know. ‘And now I definitely have a pissed off God that knows about me. Is Bant a popular god? I only hear curses in his name, so… maybe I’m not that bad off?’ Niko hoped that was the case, but then, he hadn’t heard that monsters could worship a god. The others hadn’t, either, but the question had fallen by the wayside, and Niko wasn’t certain he wanted to reopen that can of worms in light of other pressing issues.
“It’s just a city,” Ronald stated with a little bit more spirit in him than he’d had before, “It can be rebuilt if its people remain alive.”
“Not cheaply,” Skye uttered, “Stella put everything into her shop.”
Niko felt awful for Stella at that realization, ‘It’s a hard thing to lose everything… Pluck, we’re going to have to find a new shop…’ Niko’s own thoughts trailed off as he felt immediately guilty for the thought. ‘I wonder if we can take her with us?... No, that probably won’t work.’ He let out a heavy sigh as he remembered the sight of Stella and many other craftsmen as they looked up at the ceiling. They had looked utterly devastated at the thought of what had just happened, or were otherwise in complete, stone cold denial of what they would find above ground.
“Why did the Guildmaster even have something that could do so much damage?” Mithel asked, “This is Greenleaf, who the hell is he that he just has all of this crazy dangerous stuff laying around?”
No one had any answers for her, but Niko squawked out, “Obviously he’s got a past. I’m not sure that it matters too much at this point, though.”
“Why wouldn’t that… No, you’re right,” Mithel flopped back against the wall frustratedly, “I guess the only reason why things went as well as they did was because of what he had on hand.”
Dachna flicked the coin rolling across his knuckles into the air with a ‘ting’ noise before catching it on the opposite hand and beginning anew. “I think we need to be better.”
Ronald frowned, looking up at Dachna with confusion, “That sounds like something I should be saying.”
“Yeah, well, you’d be saying it out of misplaced guilt,” Dachna teased mildly, “I’m saying it for everything going forwards. How much help did we need to get everything to go our way? How much just coincidentally landed in our laps and made things easier?”
“A lot.” Skye answered flatly.
“It was a rhetorical question, but thank you,” Dachna replied just as flatly.
Skye stuck out her tongue at him before huffing, “What are you getting at, then?”
“Right, well,” Dachna stopped fiddling with the coin in his hands, “I’m betting that the pilgrimage had a lot to do with everything that went well. I’m also willing to bet that as time goes on, it’ll be less helpful, and more harmful.”
“I think more along the lines of challenging, rather than harmful,” Niko threw in, “But I get what you’re saying.”
“Right, same difference to me.” Dachna shrugged, “But, yeah. Point is, we need to get better in general, but we also need to have our own ace in the hole, our hidden dagger,” Dachna gestured wide and theatrically at that.
“Our big, red button,” Mithel nodded along.
Dachna blinked, “Sure? I have no idea what that really means, Mithey, but it sounds about right?”
“So, more like that Lightning Flask you have on you? Or the Hellfire Grenades?” Ronald threw out two examples.
“Yeah, but also more.” Dachna pointed to Niko, who sat up a little straighter, “Imagine what Niko could do with some real armor? Hell, give him his own flask pocket so he can self-dose.”
Niko snorted, “So long as it doesn’t slow me down too much I’m fine with some armor. As for the potions… Yeah, that might be a good idea.”
“I can make some general use ones. Antidotes and general salves should be something we all have on us at all times.” Mithel said, following up with, “Though, I’m going to need ingredients and–Oh, damnit.”
The others turned to her questioningly as she groaned, “I just bought a new chemistry kit.”
Niko looked up at the ceiling, “I’m guessing that was up topside?”
“Yeah.” Groused Mithel, “It was.”
Ronald nodded, “Alright, so, new kit. We’ll need to replace a lot of Niko’s gear, too. His big pack was in Stella’s shop for modifications.”
“We should invest in some enchanted gear,” Skye said, tapping her bow and quivers, “They’re pricey, but if I had a stronger bow, I could have taken down the Hobgoblins in one or two shots to the head.”
“It’s a good thing we deposited our money with the guild bank,” Dachna shuddered, “We can at least go withdraw some cash in another city.”
“That might have to wait,” Ronald said, “There’s a fairly good chance that Orson is going to ask us to pay a visit to the beast kingdoms after this, even if it’s just to escort some diplomat.”
Niko had almost forgotten about that. Sasha and Thokk had effectively guaranteed that the hornets found them, pilgrimage shenanigans notwithstanding.
“There’s a lot that they’ll have to answer fo–” Skye started before freezing, her eyes going wide. The group stared at her in confusion as she bolted to her feet, “They won’t be dead yet.”
Niko checked around, making sure that he wasn’t the only one bewildered, and found no one else any more enlightened. “Skye? Fill us in here?”
Skye looked suddenly invigorated, “The people that were taken, there’s a chance that they’re still alive. The hive must have taken heavy losses from the explosions on the surface that Orson set off. They’ll want to do a mass birthing, so that means they’ll need to fill up their feeding pits as much as possible before culling them.”
The group was likewise on their feet, and Niko felt his heart thudding hard in his chest, “The Massacre Hornets? Are you sure? They seemed pretty murder-y to me when I saw them.”
Skye rapidly folded up her blanket and unceremoniously stuffed it into the pack, “My teacher talked about them a lot–he likes bugs for some reason–and said that they always prioritize the good of the queen, and then the hive. On large war parties, they’ll try to gather up a lot of prey at once and kill them in shifts for smaller batches of spawnings,” Skye paused for a second, before shaking her head, “I feel like there was another reason, but it doesn’t matter. Point is, if they lose enough of the hive at once, they’ll gather up their prey for one big slaughter. They’ll even kill their wounded if they’re not going to be able to help the hive any longer. They recoup their losses and can even come out stronger than before all in one go.”
“And they’ll definitely hold?” Ronald asked, hope in his voice as he packed his things along with the others, “They won’t just cull small groups?”
“They could, but they won’t,” Skye was almost giddy sounding, “With enough essence, the pupa will straight up skip the early tiers and be immediately useful to the hive. If they did small culls, they’d be weaker because there wouldn’t be a lot of essence to go around. It’s something unique to the way they drink in essence; I don’t know the details, I just know that we still have a chance to hit the hive and pull people out.”
“We have to tell Orson,” Ronald stated, “Rally anyone who can still fight. I doubt they’ll wait long, and we’ve already been stuck down here for a while.”
“With how many people are exhausted, can we actually do it?” Mithel asked, “I hate to be the naysayer, but, how many able bodied people do we even have left?”
The Wyldwalkers slowed briefly at that, looking uncertainly at one another.
Niko cawed at Dachna, “You did say that we had to be better. No better time than now.”
With a wince, Dachna answered, “You’re right. I did say that.”
—-------------------------------
They interrupted Orson as he was in the middle of a debriefing for the first scout groups to check the surface, and spoke quickly. The man’s eyelids crinkled at the edges with the information Skye provided, and he turned immediately to Crowe, “Is this correct?”
At any other time, Niko might have thought the blatant check with another would be rude. But, considering what was on the line, Niko couldn’t blame Orson for ignoring etiquette.
Crowe frowned, “I… I don’t know. I seem to remember a paper being written on peculiar hornet behavior, but there’s scant little on the topic of their breeding cycles.” As he spoke, Skye looked more and more distraught, up until Crowe addressed her directly, “Who was your teacher?”
“Gadus, he’s a druid,” Skye said quickly, “My parents begged him to take me on, but he's a very powerful, if crabby, man.”
Orson and Crowe looked shocked for a split second, before the expression vanished, almost so quickly that Niko wasn’t certain he’d seen it.
“Is that so? Hmmm…” Crowe began, before sharing a meaningful look with Orson, “If it’s that Gadus, then it’s virtually a guarantee.”
Niko looked to Skye, to see her go from being frantic to simply flat out confused at Crowe’s words.
“It appears we have no choice, then.” Orson sighed, looking gravely at the Wyldwalkers.
‘You’re definitely just clucking with us,’ Niko stood, staring flatly at the guildmaster, ‘There’s no way in peck you’re going to just abandon those people.’
He maintained the expression, and out of the corner of Niko’s eyes, he could see the mounting anxiousness from his companions. On top of that, he could see Crowe doing his best to hide a grin, and spotted the wink the man sent at Niko.
“We’re going to need volunteers to go out,” Orson said, “Can I count on you all to be among them?”
“Yes!” Skye blurted, before clearing her throat and looking at Ronald.
The big man smiled broadly, “Of course. We’ve rested up a bit, and we’ve gotten our essence rations already.”
“Camille and I can participate in the rescue as well,” Crowe said, “We’re the only ones that have a chance at taking on the queen and surviving.”
Orson smiled, “Glad to hear that you’ll be coming along as well. The queen should only have her guards nearby, so with the two of you, myself, and Oum, we should be able to clear them out. Or, at the very least, keep them occupied long enough to evacuate everyone.”
“You’re coming with?” Crowe asked, “What about the situation here?”
“Mary can manage in my stead,” Orson stated definitively, “We need to hit that hive as hard as we can, and we don’t have the luxury of holding anything back. With how much essence we have left, we’ll be cutting it close in the first place.” The guildmaster turned to Mary, “Will that be acceptable?”
“Of course, sir,” she nodded, “Just don’t die.”
Orson nodded, “Send for some runners and spread the word. We’re leaving as soon as possible, with or without everyone. Wyldwalkers,” He turned his attention to the group, “Stick close by, we’ll be leaving very shortly.”
“Understood,” Ronald answered the Guildmaster enthusiastically. Orson nodded at that, with something approaching the characteristic twinkle in the man's eye returning.
Niko turned to the rest of his group as a flurry of activity began, not the least of which was a very hurried scouting report of the city overhead. What he heard regarding the state of the city didn’t bode well for what they’d find when they returned, but they now had much more important things to deal with.
In only a few minutes, the gathering of high tier personnel and every able and capable combatant was complete enough that Orson began to reopen the tunnel. The scouts had briefly checked over many others, and unfortunately they were either utterly buried in the sewers, or were in areas that were otherwise impassable.
As they rose upwards, Niko saw why this passage was still standing where the others had failed. Steel and other crystalline plates were exposed on the walls in parts where the stone had melted away. Much of the passage was misshapen, but it was sturdy, not in any small part thanks to the liberal application of alchemical-frost.
When they finally reached the top of the shaft and Orson opened the door once more, Niko still, somehow, half expected some remains of the guildhouse to be present.
Instead, all he saw was a winterland coating of ice and snow, spread across a broad crater in the earth. Niko didn’t recognize anything in the pit they emerged from, he could smell the burning timbers of a town ablaze, he could hear the roar of the flames all around. And then, as he looked upwards, Niko had to remind himself that there was still supposed to be daylight.
“Brace yourselves,” Niko distantly heard Orson as he led the group of nearly five hundred guilders out from under the city.
They moved out to the main road, or at least to where one had been. It looked like some titanic being, perhaps not unlike Vol, had simply scraped away the top of the city around them with a massive, molten spoon. They climbed out of the edge of the crater, and found fires burning all around them. Scattered timber and unrecognizable wrecks that were barely reminiscent of the buildings they’d once been, dominated the former cityscape.
“What the hell did you set off, Guildmaster?” Ronald asked upon seeing the devastation that Niko himself couldn’t help but compare to the after math of a nuclear bomb.
‘A small one, probably. And hopefully not nuclear, otherwise we’re all dead men walking.’ Niko swallowed hard, feeling his feathers itch from what he suddenly hoped was just heat and his own overactive imagination.
“A bomb,” Orson answered straightforwardly and somberly, “Two, to be exact. The other was set in the baron’s estate. This is why tier six materials are restricted to what you can obtain yourself, or to the highest authorities.”
“T-tier six!?” Mithel swallowed hard, “How do you even have that?”
Orson’s gaze landed on her, and Niko could almost feel the weight of it. He moved on without answering, and the congregation followed behind him.
Camille slid up beside the Wyldwalkers quietly, startling them as she said, “It’s a story he doesn’t like sharing. Don’t take it personally.”
“Uh, right,” Mithel nodded slowly, “Just so long as there isn’t another one of these just laying around.”
Camille snorted, “Don’t worry, he doesn’t have any more of them.”
Niko turned his eyes on the woman, studying her expression. He pretended for his own peace of mind that Camille’s eyes didn’t have a trace of worry in them.
When they stopped at the edge of the city, marked by a devastated wall that seemed to, still, only be such in name, Niko and the rest of the Wyldwalkers couldn’t help but look back at the remains of the city. Guttering flames and smoldering ruins belched black smoke into the sky as far back as they could see.
“I really hope this is the last time we have to see something like this.” Dachna whispered, “I don’t think I have too many of these in me.”
Skye whispered, “I think even once is too much.”
“Prepare yourselves for everything,” Camille’s voice took on a somber tone, “Sometimes, a destroyed city is the best outcome.”
Niko found that phrase horrifying, but he understood it even if he didn’t want to. Although the only worse alternative he could think of was of a city dying slowly, forced to cut parts of itself off to stave off an inevitable doom. His last life had ended in a place like that, after all.
But as Niko gazed at the smoldering remains of the city for a few more seconds, he thought to himself, ‘If there’s just one thing I want to do in this life, it’s to make sure I’m strong enough that I can protect my home and everyone in it. If that means that I’m going to have to become as strong as one of Alterra’s titans… Then I will.’
Resolved, Niko turned his back on the smoldering ruins of Greenleaf, intent on saving the people taken by the hornets, and in finding out more about his new enemy, Bant, and his Dawr Goblin cult…
Cheep!?
Chapter 98
Niko and the other Wyldwalkers were currently alone in a hallway, as distant from the others as they could manage. The ceiling had begun to cool an hour ago, and now the only thing left for the various teams to do was wait, watch for any structural failure, and have some time with their own thoughts.
And after their conversation with Ronald’s father, Niko thought they all needed some time to themselves.
“I still can’t believe Greenleaf is just… not going to be there.” Skye said, uncharacteristically quiet as she sat, hugging her knees to her chest with a blanket set down atop the stone to make something resembling a comfortable seat. “Just like that.”
The others were silent, broken only by the shifting of Dachna’s hands and a coin that he sometimes dropped. Niko watched the man as he tried to shift a coin between each finger fluidly, with a rolling motion. He was getting a lot better at it, and Niko frankly had nothing better to do than to watch the coin tumble, because as much as he wanted to know what the soul brand was, he couldn’t make heads nor tails of it.
The dang thing didn’t respond to him at all, it seemed, and while that was annoying, he hoped that Venris had made good on at least ensuring that this thing wasn’t actively cursing him. What that might look like, he didn’t know. ‘And now I definitely have a pissed off God that knows about me. Is Bant a popular god? I only hear curses in his name, so… maybe I’m not that bad off?’ Niko hoped that was the case, but then, he hadn’t heard that monsters could worship a god. The others hadn’t, either, but the question had fallen by the wayside, and Niko wasn’t certain he wanted to reopen that can of worms in light of other pressing issues.
“It’s just a city,” Ronald stated with a little bit more spirit in him than he’d had before, “It can be rebuilt if its people remain alive.”
“Not cheaply,” Skye uttered, “Stella put everything into her shop.”
Niko felt awful for Stella at that realization, ‘It’s a hard thing to lose everything… Pluck, we’re going to have to find a new shop…’ Niko’s own thoughts trailed off as he felt immediately guilty for the thought. ‘I wonder if we can take her with us?... No, that probably won’t work.’ He let out a heavy sigh as he remembered the sight of Stella and many other craftsmen as they looked up at the ceiling. They had looked utterly devastated at the thought of what had just happened, or were otherwise in complete, stone cold denial of what they would find above ground.
“Why did the Guildmaster even have something that could do so much damage?” Mithel asked, “This is Greenleaf, who the hell is he that he just has all of this crazy dangerous stuff laying around?”
No one had any answers for her, but Niko squawked out, “Obviously he’s got a past. I’m not sure that it matters too much at this point, though.”
“Why wouldn’t that… No, you’re right,” Mithel flopped back against the wall frustratedly, “I guess the only reason why things went as well as they did was because of what he had on hand.”
Dachna flicked the coin rolling across his knuckles into the air with a ‘ting’ noise before catching it on the opposite hand and beginning anew. “I think we need to be better.”
Ronald frowned, looking up at Dachna with confusion, “That sounds like something I should be saying.”
“Yeah, well, you’d be saying it out of misplaced guilt,” Dachna teased mildly, “I’m saying it for everything going forwards. How much help did we need to get everything to go our way? How much just coincidentally landed in our laps and made things easier?”
“A lot.” Skye answered flatly.
“It was a rhetorical question, but thank you,” Dachna replied just as flatly.
Skye stuck out her tongue at him before huffing, “What are you getting at, then?”
“Right, well,” Dachna stopped fiddling with the coin in his hands, “I’m betting that the pilgrimage had a lot to do with everything that went well. I’m also willing to bet that as time goes on, it’ll be less helpful, and more harmful.”
“I think more along the lines of challenging, rather than harmful,” Niko threw in, “But I get what you’re saying.”
“Right, same difference to me.” Dachna shrugged, “But, yeah. Point is, we need to get better in general, but we also need to have our own ace in the hole, our hidden dagger,” Dachna gestured wide and theatrically at that.
“Our big, red button,” Mithel nodded along.
Dachna blinked, “Sure? I have no idea what that really means, Mithey, but it sounds about right?”
“So, more like that Lightning Flask you have on you? Or the Hellfire Grenades?” Ronald threw out two examples.
“Yeah, but also more.” Dachna pointed to Niko, who sat up a little straighter, “Imagine what Niko could do with some real armor? Hell, give him his own flask pocket so he can self-dose.”
Niko snorted, “So long as it doesn’t slow me down too much I’m fine with some armor. As for the potions… Yeah, that might be a good idea.”
“I can make some general use ones. Antidotes and general salves should be something we all have on us at all times.” Mithel said, following up with, “Though, I’m going to need ingredients and–Oh, damnit.”
The others turned to her questioningly as she groaned, “I just bought a new chemistry kit.”
Niko looked up at the ceiling, “I’m guessing that was up topside?”
“Yeah.” Groused Mithel, “It was.”
Ronald nodded, “Alright, so, new kit. We’ll need to replace a lot of Niko’s gear, too. His big pack was in Stella’s shop for modifications.”
“We should invest in some enchanted gear,” Skye said, tapping her bow and quivers, “They’re pricey, but if I had a stronger bow, I could have taken down the Hobgoblins in one or two shots to the head.”
“It’s a good thing we deposited our money with the guild bank,” Dachna shuddered, “We can at least go withdraw some cash in another city.”
“That might have to wait,” Ronald said, “There’s a fairly good chance that Orson is going to ask us to pay a visit to the beast kingdoms after this, even if it’s just to escort some diplomat.”
Niko had almost forgotten about that. Sasha and Thokk had effectively guaranteed that the hornets found them, pilgrimage shenanigans notwithstanding.
“There’s a lot that they’ll have to answer fo–” Skye started before freezing, her eyes going wide. The group stared at her in confusion as she bolted to her feet, “They won’t be dead yet.”
Niko checked around, making sure that he wasn’t the only one bewildered, and found no one else any more enlightened. “Skye? Fill us in here?”
Skye looked suddenly invigorated, “The people that were taken, there’s a chance that they’re still alive. The hive must have taken heavy losses from the explosions on the surface that Orson set off. They’ll want to do a mass birthing, so that means they’ll need to fill up their feeding pits as much as possible before culling them.”
The group was likewise on their feet, and Niko felt his heart thudding hard in his chest, “The Massacre Hornets? Are you sure? They seemed pretty murder-y to me when I saw them.”
Skye rapidly folded up her blanket and unceremoniously stuffed it into the pack, “My teacher talked about them a lot–he likes bugs for some reason–and said that they always prioritize the good of the queen, and then the hive. On large war parties, they’ll try to gather up a lot of prey at once and kill them in shifts for smaller batches of spawnings,” Skye paused for a second, before shaking her head, “I feel like there was another reason, but it doesn’t matter. Point is, if they lose enough of the hive at once, they’ll gather up their prey for one big slaughter. They’ll even kill their wounded if they’re not going to be able to help the hive any longer. They recoup their losses and can even come out stronger than before all in one go.”
“And they’ll definitely hold?” Ronald asked, hope in his voice as he packed his things along with the others, “They won’t just cull small groups?”
“They could, but they won’t,” Skye was almost giddy sounding, “With enough essence, the pupa will straight up skip the early tiers and be immediately useful to the hive. If they did small culls, they’d be weaker because there wouldn’t be a lot of essence to go around. It’s something unique to the way they drink in essence; I don’t know the details, I just know that we still have a chance to hit the hive and pull people out.”
“We have to tell Orson,” Ronald stated, “Rally anyone who can still fight. I doubt they’ll wait long, and we’ve already been stuck down here for a while.”
“With how many people are exhausted, can we actually do it?” Mithel asked, “I hate to be the naysayer, but, how many able bodied people do we even have left?”
The Wyldwalkers slowed briefly at that, looking uncertainly at one another.
Niko cawed at Dachna, “You did say that we had to be better. No better time than now.”
With a wince, Dachna answered, “You’re right. I did say that.”
—-------------------------------
They interrupted Orson as he was in the middle of a debriefing for the first scout groups to check the surface, and spoke quickly. The man’s eyelids crinkled at the edges with the information Skye provided, and he turned immediately to Crowe, “Is this correct?”
At any other time, Niko might have thought the blatant check with another would be rude. But, considering what was on the line, Niko couldn’t blame Orson for ignoring etiquette.
Crowe frowned, “I… I don’t know. I seem to remember a paper being written on peculiar hornet behavior, but there’s scant little on the topic of their breeding cycles.” As he spoke, Skye looked more and more distraught, up until Crowe addressed her directly, “Who was your teacher?”
“Gadus, he’s a druid,” Skye said quickly, “My parents begged him to take me on, but he's a very powerful, if crabby, man.”
Orson and Crowe looked shocked for a split second, before the expression vanished, almost so quickly that Niko wasn’t certain he’d seen it.
“Is that so? Hmmm…” Crowe began, before sharing a meaningful look with Orson, “If it’s that Gadus, then it’s virtually a guarantee.”
Niko looked to Skye, to see her go from being frantic to simply flat out confused at Crowe’s words.
“It appears we have no choice, then.” Orson sighed, looking gravely at the Wyldwalkers.
‘You’re definitely just clucking with us,’ Niko stood, staring flatly at the guildmaster, ‘There’s no way in peck you’re going to just abandon those people.’
He maintained the expression, and out of the corner of Niko’s eyes, he could see the mounting anxiousness from his companions. On top of that, he could see Crowe doing his best to hide a grin, and spotted the wink the man sent at Niko.
“We’re going to need volunteers to go out,” Orson said, “Can I count on you all to be among them?”
“Yes!” Skye blurted, before clearing her throat and looking at Ronald.
The big man smiled broadly, “Of course. We’ve rested up a bit, and we’ve gotten our essence rations already.”
“Camille and I can participate in the rescue as well,” Crowe said, “We’re the only ones that have a chance at taking on the queen and surviving.”
Orson smiled, “Glad to hear that you’ll be coming along as well. The queen should only have her guards nearby, so with the two of you, myself, and Oum, we should be able to clear them out. Or, at the very least, keep them occupied long enough to evacuate everyone.”
“You’re coming with?” Crowe asked, “What about the situation here?”
“Mary can manage in my stead,” Orson stated definitively, “We need to hit that hive as hard as we can, and we don’t have the luxury of holding anything back. With how much essence we have left, we’ll be cutting it close in the first place.” The guildmaster turned to Mary, “Will that be acceptable?”
“Of course, sir,” she nodded, “Just don’t die.”
Orson nodded, “Send for some runners and spread the word. We’re leaving as soon as possible, with or without everyone. Wyldwalkers,” He turned his attention to the group, “Stick close by, we’ll be leaving very shortly.”
“Understood,” Ronald answered the Guildmaster enthusiastically. Orson nodded at that, with something approaching the characteristic twinkle in the man's eye returning.
Niko turned to the rest of his group as a flurry of activity began, not the least of which was a very hurried scouting report of the city overhead. What he heard regarding the state of the city didn’t bode well for what they’d find when they returned, but they now had much more important things to deal with.
In only a few minutes, the gathering of high tier personnel and every able and capable combatant was complete enough that Orson began to reopen the tunnel. The scouts had briefly checked over many others, and unfortunately they were either utterly buried in the sewers, or were in areas that were otherwise impassable.
As they rose upwards, Niko saw why this passage was still standing where the others had failed. Steel and other crystalline plates were exposed on the walls in parts where the stone had melted away. Much of the passage was misshapen, but it was sturdy, not in any small part thanks to the liberal application of alchemical-frost.
When they finally reached the top of the shaft and Orson opened the door once more, Niko still, somehow, half expected some remains of the guildhouse to be present.
Instead, all he saw was a winterland coating of ice and snow, spread across a broad crater in the earth. Niko didn’t recognize anything in the pit they emerged from, he could smell the burning timbers of a town ablaze, he could hear the roar of the flames all around. And then, as he looked upwards, Niko had to remind himself that there was still supposed to be daylight.
“Brace yourselves,” Niko distantly heard Orson as he led the group of nearly five hundred guilders out from under the city.
They moved out to the main road, or at least to where one had been. It looked like some titanic being, perhaps not unlike Vol, had simply scraped away the top of the city around them with a massive, molten spoon. They climbed out of the edge of the crater, and found fires burning all around them. Scattered timber and unrecognizable wrecks that were barely reminiscent of the buildings they’d once been, dominated the former cityscape.
“What the hell did you set off, Guildmaster?” Ronald asked upon seeing the devastation that Niko himself couldn’t help but compare to the after math of a nuclear bomb.
‘A small one, probably. And hopefully not nuclear, otherwise we’re all dead men walking.’ Niko swallowed hard, feeling his feathers itch from what he suddenly hoped was just heat and his own overactive imagination.
“A bomb,” Orson answered straightforwardly and somberly, “Two, to be exact. The other was set in the baron’s estate. This is why tier six materials are restricted to what you can obtain yourself, or to the highest authorities.”
“T-tier six!?” Mithel swallowed hard, “How do you even have that?”
Orson’s gaze landed on her, and Niko could almost feel the weight of it. He moved on without answering, and the congregation followed behind him.
Camille slid up beside the Wyldwalkers quietly, startling them as she said, “It’s a story he doesn’t like sharing. Don’t take it personally.”
“Uh, right,” Mithel nodded slowly, “Just so long as there isn’t another one of these just laying around.”
Camille snorted, “Don’t worry, he doesn’t have any more of them.”
Niko turned his eyes on the woman, studying her expression. He pretended for his own peace of mind that Camille’s eyes didn’t have a trace of worry in them.
When they stopped at the edge of the city, marked by a devastated wall that seemed to, still, only be such in name, Niko and the rest of the Wyldwalkers couldn’t help but look back at the remains of the city. Guttering flames and smoldering ruins belched black smoke into the sky as far back as they could see.
“I really hope this is the last time we have to see something like this.” Dachna whispered, “I don’t think I have too many of these in me.”
Skye whispered, “I think even once is too much.”
“Prepare yourselves for everything,” Camille’s voice took on a somber tone, “Sometimes, a destroyed city is the best outcome.”
Niko found that phrase horrifying, but he understood it even if he didn’t want to. Although the only worse alternative he could think of was of a city dying slowly, forced to cut parts of itself off to stave off an inevitable doom. His last life had ended in a place like that, after all.
But as Niko gazed at the smoldering remains of the city for a few more seconds, he thought to himself, ‘If there’s just one thing I want to do in this life, it’s to make sure I’m strong enough that I can protect my home and everyone in it. If that means that I’m going to have to become as strong as one of Alterra’s titans… Then I will.’
Resolved, Niko turned his back on the smoldering ruins of Greenleaf, intent on saving the people taken by the hornets, and in finding out more about his new enemy, Bant, and his Dawr Goblin cult…
