39 - Traitors (Patreon)

Phoenix already gave up trying to always keep Tala un-merged while in the city. The last “incident” they had, with the small Familiar attempting to steal a sparkly hat off one of the chef’s heads while they were cooking, helped convince her to just glow around the city instead of apologizing profusely to everyone wearing shiny jewelry. So while she was busy fighting down her anxiety about standing out, the rest of her party was raptly listening to Paul’s explanation of what had happened during the raid of the Ruwena Estate and where they were heading now.

“What do you mean they ‘seized the rift’? It’s basically a tear in reality to a pocket dimension. It’s not like they can put it in a box and steal it,” Rayna practically shouted as Paul tried informing the party of the current situation while they all headed towards the AOA’s staging point.

“No, but they can build a box around it,” Paul patiently explained in his gruff voice, “Which is basically what they’ve spent generations doing in order to harness its power and resources for the city.

“Now the main family, bolstered by their branch families and other allied parties, have barricaded the entrance and cut off the ley lines that feed mana to everything. Crippling our enchantments throughout the city.”

The twins gasped in unison and Dazien spoke up to clarify, “You mean the city’s alarms are down? We won’t be able to respond to internal monster spawns?”

“Or power the wall’s weapons,” Uriel added with increasing worry.

“Wait, I don’t understand. I thought all that just used the ambient mana,” Phoenix asked in confusion.

“The magic quality here won’t allow those systems to work naturally. The city of Tulimeir has spent hundreds of years and more resources than you can imagine to harness the power within the Reality Rift, which does have a high enough quality and quantity,” her mentor lectured while navigating the surprisingly empty streets.

“Is that why nobody is around like normal?” Phoenix asked, gesturing to the sparse roads that only seemed to have guards and Adventurers traveling them.

“Yes, the Ducal Administration has ordered a temporary shelter in place while the defenses are down as part of their announcement of the Fall of the Ruwena House. Our primary objective for this expedition is going to be to take back and secure Tulisuda. Ideally, before they blow it up,” the Emerald Caster informed them.

“Question,” Phoenix interjected once more, “Why don’t you just go in and make them give it back? Everyone was just telling me earlier that you’re the strongest Caster in the city.”

Paul shook his head and answered in gruff annoyance, “We want to take back the Reality Rift, not level the city… My powers are not exactly suited for the environment.”

“Where is this Reality Rift exactly?” she finally thought to ask.

Everyone pointed down at the ground in almost perfect unison and she couldn’t stop herself from glancing down at the smooth stone street. Paul expounded further, “It’s below the city. A veritable fortress was built around it and then the city built around that. It is the foundation for the whole area. If I go in there greatsword blazing, I could easily destroy something that would set off a devastating chain reaction and, unfortunately, I’m not knowledgeable enough about the area to know what not to destroy. Besides that, I’m still only a single person. I can’t take on an army of Casters alone.”

The questions halted as they arrived at the staging point to the largest crowd of Adventurers and city guards that Phoenix had ever seen gathered in one place before. The siren raid came close but as it had been the middle of the night, not everyone had joined the call to arms.

Now, however, it seemed like every combat-trained person in the city who hadn’t gone traitor had been gathered to defend their home and reclaim its most important asset.

Phoenix felt uncomfortable as many eyes turned in their direction to watch the man expected to save them once more and the small entourage of Crystal Casters following in his wake. Whispers and mutterings followed after them and she could only make out the occasional sentence.

“–Says she’s a Wayfarer.”

“Outsider, you mean. Which continent do they–”

“–That giant starry bird illusion, remember?”

“I heard they fought off the raiders in Vallinsarvi.”

“–Portaled me halfway across the tundra.”

“Protégé? He chose her?”

“A whole group of orphans training under the Lord Paladin? Must be exceptional orphans to manage that.”

“–Discovered the Ruwena House’s treachery.”

“He’s favored by Warrior?”

“What kind of voxen are they anyways?”

“Do you sense that? She’s an Aurabreaker!”

Uriel nudged her shoulder gently to get her attention and, as she looked up at him, he said under his breath to her, “Remember, you’re a princess now. You should do as Lord Wayland and Daze and hold your head high. It reassures the people watching.”

“I’m not a princess, though,” she muttered in response, glancing at the two men leading the group forward before returning her eyes to the tall cinderen at her side.

The Mage held her gaze for a moment before stating, “You are to everyone who matters,” then he lightened the mood by smirking slightly, “My king has decreed it, remember?”

She rolled her eyes dramatically but smiled despite her nerves as she looked around at the crowd still watching them pass.

At a gesture from Paul, Dazien held the rest of the group back as the noble Lord went to speak with the expedition organizer. They waited patiently despite the general unease of the crowd, knowing that every moment they weren’t reclaiming the Reality Rift was another moment that monsters could manifest and attack the residents.

When an important looking runeforged took to a small platform to address everyone, with Lord Wayland standing slightly behind her to add the weight of his own authority to hers, a hush fell upon the crowd in anticipation of her words, “Adventurers and Tulim Guards, as I’m sure most of you have heard by now, House Ruwena has been revealed as a servant of the Renseres in alliance with the Soul Reapers and seeks to claim Tulisuda from beneath us.

“We cannot let this happen. Each party leader has been given Silencers to assist in capturing the enemy but do not hesitate to put down the traitors. Should we fail to reclaim the Reality Rift in time, everyone you know and love in this city, and perhaps the entirety of the tundra will be utterly annihilated. We cannot let Tulimeir fall,” the organizer stated passionately, whom Uriel helped Phoenix identify as the AOA Director, Agatha Trayvious.

Phoenix felt her anxiety continue to rise as the full severity of the situation was spread out before her with each word the director spoke. She felt a familiar furred hand entwine with her own as Saiya moved next to her to offer the Healer’s own form of comfort.

She could feel her friend’s soothing aura slightly expand to encapsulate their small group and Phoenix gave her a small smile of thanks as she felt her body relax slightly. The Wayfarer mentally reminded herself that she had her family with her. Sisters and brothers in arms along with a new parental figure that would make sure to protect her and everyone else on this mission for the fate of the city.

As the speech ended, Dazien led them towards the location Paul had pointed out to him with the other Crystal Caste parties, many of whom did not seem happy with their presence among them. Phoenix wondered if it was jealousy of their new position of prestige or just a general bias to outsiders or maybe it was something different altogether. She wasn’t sure how many details of her involvement in uncovering the Ruwena family’s deception had escaped or what Paul had even told people during his investigation into the noble house.

Their party was placed near the center of the group and Phoenix was concerned for a moment that they were getting special treatment to keep her safe until the Adventurer that was leading their contingent gave an order and she felt the flare of auras being projected as they prepared for battle.

With renewed understanding, Phoenix unleashed her aura which blossomed out to cover the entirety of the Crystal Caste crowd. A swarm of tiny [Starlight Companions] appeared over every shoulder, lighting the area like a sea of stars, with the glittering [Sun Shells] acting as bright suns around slightly blurred cores. With this much light being produced by the other effects and the daylight above, the shadows were struggling to hide her allies.

Many eyes turned to the Wayfarer but she followed Uriel’s suggestion and held her head high as she focused all of her attention on their party leader. That was when she noticed that Dazien wasn’t smiling. He always smiled when others were watching. Instead, he remained steadfast and silent, watching the Crystal Caster that was in charge intently to pass on the orders through the chain of command that had been hastily put into place.

Perhaps he was nervous, she wondered. This would technically be their first expedition and the stakes were high. Not only were they under intense scrutiny from their peers and commanders, but the price of failure was unconscionable.

It was only a few minutes later that the gathering moved, heading towards designated locations to descend into the earth where an entire second city lay beneath the towering skyscrapers above.

As they entered the depths, the little companions became even more helpful in providing more light than the glowstones embedded in the ceilings, which were barely flickering with the meager trickle of mana going to them after the ley lines that had been feeding them were interrupted.

When she noticed a small cloud escaping her mouth in the cool corridor leading downward, the Wayfarer realized they were on even more of a deadline as the citizens might start freezing without the warmth the magic normally provided.

In a sudden shift, as they went through one of the large underground gates, the ambiance of the corridor changed to a warmer red glow and the temperature began to rise. The pipes hanging from the ceiling were rattling slightly as if struggling to function and there seemed to be wisps of steam everywhere causing a severe spike in humidity.

Phoenix was internally grumbling about her clothes sticking to her when one of the walls gave way to clear glass looking over an immense cavern. She could feel her jaw go slack at the site of the enormous network of stone paths, lifts, stairs, and walls that mazed through the underground fortress and brief flashes of light indicated that combat had already broken out below where the few Emerald Casters along with the majority of Sapphires had entered before them from a different side.

Ideally, the Crystal Casters would never need to enter the battle but the enemy’s numbers seemed much larger than was expected and they had the advantages of a fully functional magical fortress on their side.

As she took in the scene unfolding below, she managed to lay eyes on a brightly glowing red portal set into stone bricks towards the center of the fortress that looked like it might lead to the very pits of hell. She could only see it due to their vantage point as they continued descending the flights of stairs. A slight shiver ran down her spine at the sight and her [Guide Book] appeared near her and fed the new information into her via aura.

New Quest: Tulimeir Traitors

Reclaim control of the Reality Rift below the city of Tulimeir.

Objective: Help defeat thirty traitors.

Reward: Rare Crystal Caste Spirit Gem.

Objective: Help reclaim the Reality Rift.

Reward: Rare Crystal Caste armor.

Bonus Objective: Don’t die.

Reward: The rarity of other rewards is increased.

“Again?!” Phoenix unwittingly said aloud and her party tensed as they glanced back at her. She flushed in embarrassment and silently pointed at the book in response, her panic slightly increasing at the words. The last time she had gotten that particular bonus objective, she had utterly failed. She wasn’t looking forward to dying again, especially when her friends and mentor were nearby.

The redhead absently tugged at her braid as they continued making their way towards the battle. Rumbling resonated through the cavern and concerning tremors shook the earth as some stray attacks collided with the surrounding infrastructure.

Phoenix felt her heart leap into her throat as she finally spotted Paul atop one of the fortress's outer walls, expertly wielding his large sword against the enemy forces. He was holding back his more devastating abilities in favor of precision and everyone knew it. What had caught her attention, though, was the change in its appearance. Before it had seemed made of a single piece of pure gold with a flowing crossguard that had reminded her of flames. Now, however, the massive blade was jet black and had glowing gold runes running up the center with a hilt made of the same dark onyx crystal stylized to make the crossguard look like a pair of crow wings in flight.

She felt the comforting grip of Uriel’s hand on her shoulder as he reassured her, “He’ll be fine, Princess.”

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