52 - Half the Battle (Patreon)

“Explain to me exactly how Water Two Squad’s forces were halved in less than a week,” Roimeldor ordered as he continued walking down the hall of their capital ship still far outside the orbit of Makera. Well beyond the influence of any planetary deity. They had eventually learned to keep their distance when entering any conflict with a planet that had cultivated far enough to develop them; lest one of the concepts-given-sentience try to ruin all of their plans.

Asyamil, his second-in-command, followed behind as she explained, “It seems a local Ivy Caster ascended to Rose shortly after the initial encounters began.”

“They should still be sleeping then,” the Captain growled, trailing his hand along the garden wall. He knew the flowers that lined the living walls in this particular hall enjoyed being petted as people passed and they made that pleasure known by shivering slightly and releasing a sweetly spiced aroma.

“He forwent the recovery and proceeded to annihilate half the squad,” the elf corrected.

“Does he have a death wish?”

“Considering the fact he still lives, I don't believe so,” she answered, trailing her own hand along the wall behind him at a higher point in order to spread the coverage of gentle touches. Then the woman added, “I believe it’s either an insane amount of arrogance or desperation driving him.”

“Little of both, likely,” he grumbled, turning down an intersecting corridor, “Sounds like he would make a good addition to our ranks. Any research on him for this purpose?” he asked, assuming she was already a step ahead of him.

“A bit but, with the assault currently ongoing, it has been difficult to reach all of our contacts still in the city,” Asyamil conceded before adding, “The sensory aura readings sent from one of the ships before he destroyed it didn’t match any in our system, though.”

“Family?”

“Yes. He’s a noble and you know how those can get.”

“Yes,” he grumbled, then asked sharply, annoyed with being forced to clarify, “Anyone that actually matters, though?”

“A sister and an adopted daughter. No mate.”

“A child but no mate?” the man hummed, “Curious but doesn’t necessarily preclude him from inclusion. Is the child a match for him?”

“Unknown, sir,” the elf answered, following closer as he entered the room that had been his destination. The lounge was more noisy than he normally cared for but he couldn’t blame those in attendance. Despite some of their resource losses, they were almost finished with their goal and were looking forward to returning to the reality they would call home. A young land that hadn’t been settled and tainted by gods yet.

Though he still felt separated from the others in the room, being the last of them to achieve their purpose, he could appreciate their happiness as something he wanted for himself. Something he would get back eventually.

“However, it turns out that she’s the other Wayfarer,” his second said quietly but his Hollyhock Caste hearing could easily pick it out even through the dissonance caused by merry banter and heavy drinking.

Roimeldor turned on her, pinning her with a fierce gaze as he half-scolded, “That should have been something you led with.”

She at least had the wherewithal to look down towards the ground in a subtle show of deference, “Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.”

The noise seemed to have dropped by that point as the room took notice of the presence of their leader and one of the other women stood and asked him hopefully, “Commander, are you here to celebrate? Have they found Naira?”

He turned to look at his long-time friend and smiled sadly, “No, but I still hold hope.”

Then he glanced around the room and gave a barking order, “Haldambar, you’re up for a Solo Reaping.”

An elven man in the corner, who had been snuggling up with a young woman, gave a loud groan, “Seriously? Didn’t I just take out that one king on the other planet?”

“Yes, but it’s still your turn again,” he said patiently, “Unless news comes that this target is terribly suited for your skill set, you’ll be heading out within the hour with Marduk.”

“Actually, the target’s attuned to Fire, Light, and Radiant magics. He’ll be taking Bahamut instead,” Asyamil spoke up for both him and Haldambar to hear but it was unnecessary since, even though the other man was lower Caste than he was, Rose Casters still had incredible senses.

“Radiant?” the assigned Caster bemoaned, “You know how I hate dealing with those self-righteous bastards.”

“Then you should have no compunction with killing one quickly,” Roimeldor stated coldly, giving a small flex of his aura to halt any more objections and causing the room to go still.

The next time the man spoke it was more of a beseeching appeal, “Please, sir… I just reunited with Runasu.”

“Then finish your task quickly and return to her side,” he commanded and left the group to return to their premature celebrations. The Commander didn’t pause in his path back to his office as Asyamil quickly followed behind him.

“Sir, about the target and the Wayfarer,” she tried to continue but he held up a hand to silence her until they had arrived at his destination and the quiet it provided. Making his way over to the window where he felt he did his best thinking.

His Second busied herself on the clear pane of glass glowing with information as her hand moved quickly across it until he finally said, “The Rose interference is the goal. We remove him from the board and the rest will quickly follow, including the Wayfarer.”

“The battle for the city itself hasn’t even started, sir,” the woman protested slightly.

“Crushing their hope is half the battle,” Roimeldor said confidently, “We’ll kill him, reap his soul, then do the same to the Wayfarer and he’ll fight for us. They always do.”

Phoenix still wasn’t used to the sight of Paul with red hair like hers. She thought it matched so much better with his Avenger’s regalia, though, he had foregone the cloak due to his wings. However, despite the fact that he looked only a handful of years older than her now, the scowl on his face was entirely too familiar. 

Even though Lord Wayland looked like a young scion, his bearing and attitude made his parental traits completely apparent as he seemed prepared to reprimand both her and Everin as soon as they were close enough.

She preempted his anger by giving a hesitant smile and shouting, “Mission accomplished! Did you see that we even managed to take out the ship?”

The Paladin’s scowl deepened but she saw that hint of a smile tug at the corner of his mouth and she felt victorious. “Please, don’t get me killed,” Everin whispered in her ear and she grinned back at him.

“Are you going to apologize to Tala?”

“Are you seriously threatening me with death if I don’t apologize to your chicken?”

“You know I’m Ruby and can hear you, right?” Paul called up to them, the smirk firmly in place now.

They landed a meter in front of the Paladin and Everin gingerly set her back on her feet as she spoke, “First, we had a mission and Everin was very helpful aside from being a complete jerk. Second, the ship blowing apart was a bonus but we found out they’re doing rituals to spawn monsters in. I think that’s why most of them have been the same Caste as the tundra.”

“I know,” Paul interrupted, “I’ve been destroying them for the last few days now. I’ve seen the ritual rooms.”

“What about the [Corrupted Reality Seed]? Did the other ships have those too?” she asked and was pleased to see him look surprised at the news.

“I found one,” he confirmed, “Though I didn’t know its name. My talent only shows me information about myself and enemies but I recognized it as a much larger version of what we saw in the Reality Rift.”

Before she could ask what they should do about it, he put a hand on her shoulder and said, “I’m proud of what you’ve accomplished here, Phoenix,” then his gaze slid over to the Emerald Healer as he added, “That doesn’t excuse this Rebel Fox from endangering you by suggesting the mission in the first place.”

“Psh, she wasn’t endangered,” Everin retorted with a roll of his eyes, “I would never willingly or knowingly truly endanger her. You know this.”

“We don’t know what these enemies are capable of,” Paul argued, moving towards the Cleric and she took the chance to slide closer to her friends who were doing their best to remain small and unseen in the background of the Paladin’s wrath; all of them standing next to the AOA Director that was silently observing.

“Their rituals and technology far outstrip our own and we know they can cage souls, Everin,” the lord said, his voice slowly rising with every step he took and Phoenix realized then that Paul actually was angry. It wasn’t just posturing as he got into the smaller man’s personal space and asked, “Did you even stop to think about that fact? What might have happened if they overwhelmed you both? What would happen if they captured her soul? What would you have done, Everin?”

“Nobody even got close to her to–”

“WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE?!” he shouted and the entire group winced in sympathy for the target of the Paladin’s ire and crushing aura, “I know your goddess chose her, and that has given you cause to watch her, maybe even fight for her, but would you save her? Would you go to the edge of reality and beyond to get her back?”

“Paul…” the Director began to speak but he simply raised a hand without turning to look back.

“These people, these monsters,” he practically spat, “They don’t care about lives. They don’t care about taking whatever they want. I will not let them just take her! Do you understand me, Cleric?”

Everin’s eyes were staring at her mentor with a swirl of confusion, awe, and terror as his voice lost its usual humor and he responded carefully, “I understand, Lord Paladin,” the voxen raised a hand covered in soft white fur marked with rainbow runes around the wrist as he added, “I swore to protect her, Paul.”

“Good,” the Ruby Caster stated firmly, “Because if you hadn’t then–” his voice cut off as he suddenly stumbled forward and Everin moved fast enough to catch him from falling to his knees.

“Paul?! Are you–”

The Paladin cut off the Cleric’s concerns with a shake of his head as he tried to right himself, “I’m fine,” he snapped roughly.

“You most certainly aren’t,” Director Trayvious retorted as she took a few steps forward, “You need to rest, Paul. Not even the Blade of Pure Wrath can push off the Ascension Recovery this far. How long has it been since before that when you last slept? Even as an Emerald, you could only go about nine days–”

“I said I’m fine!” the lord cut off again, glaring at the runeforged.

Phoenix stepped forward that time, fully agreeing with Everin and Agatha’s assessment of her mentor, as she held her hands up in front of her in a show of surrender and carefully said with a soft smile, “Paul… you know that I believe you’re the strongest person in the whole world, right?”

The Paladin stared at her blankly for a second, blinking owlishly before shaking his head with a chuckle and saying, “You haven’t seen much of the world yet.”

She grinned at him and got closer, reaching out to take his hand in hers, “But you’re going to fix that, right?” he accepted her hand, visibly relaxing as he nodded, “I know you’re afraid of something happening to me and the others. I understand now that it makes you angry to feel that way even though you’re the strongest,” she said calmly, pulling him into a hug and he gratefully wrapped his arms around her as she added, “I’m sorry I scared you but please stop scaring everyone else. They all care about both of us.”

Phoenix felt his nod as he rested his cheek atop her head and she knew he must have been beyond exhausted as he mumbled, “I care most.”

She laughed and patted his back, “I think you need a nap, Paul.”

Another begrudging nod tickled her ear as it caused the loose strands of her hair to brush against it. She felt him give a heavy sigh and she took one as well, breathing in the scent of smoke, cedar, and sunlight, before it turned into a yawn for both of them which in turn caused them both to chuckle with tired giggles.

She glanced back to see her friends smiling at the pair of them and noticed something odd behind Dazien’s eyes. Longing, perhaps? Of wanting this sense of family she felt so strongly with Paul? She could understand that feeling and was about to gesture for him to join their hug when a loud roar echoed across the tundra.

From the northeast, beyond the wreckage of the ship she had just sundered, something was flying through the air towards their battle. She couldn’t make out what it was but from the sound and the height in the sky she knew it couldn’t be good and Dazien confirmed it for her.

“Is that an actual dragon?!” the gemite asked incredulously.

“A dragon that size would have to be at least Ruby,” Uriel said in slight wonder.

Paul gave another heavy sigh, squeezing her a bit tighter in their hug before pulling away and saying softly, “Stay here. Stay safe for me. Watch over the others. I’ll see you again as soon as I take care of this.”

Before she could protest or even wish him luck, he was gone.

PREV          NEXT