Frozen Stars Over Wonderland - Chapter 16 (Patreon)

Alessio paid for the care and keeping of their elk, along with the two small rooms on either side of his where they could rest until the night came. They left through their windows once darkness had settled over the city, Izo having the hardest time with this given his stature. Spica and Traveler moved across the roofs without making a sound, along with Alessio’s female guard, who appeared to be a hunter in class. His other guard, a dark skinned man in his early thirties, was a gunner like Ran. 

They used the narrow alley between the buildings and the wall proper, keeping off the major streets as much as possible. Despite the late hour, there were still people milling about the streets, a good deal of them being those soldiers in black armor. Alfre was happy they didn’t have any knights with them, the heavy armor they tended to wear made too much noise for something this dependent on stealth. She was lucky the direwolf pelt that lined her coat and boots allowed for her to pass virtually unnoticed when she wanted, much like an assassin like Spica would. It worked better in the Wilds, but it did its job just fine here. 

The entrance to the tunnel was a large, loose piece of stone in the road right next to the side gate. It was harder to lift from this side than it would have been to push it open from below, though that was likely the point. The climbed down a rickety wooden ladder and let Alessio’s guards close the opening behind them. The female guard led the way, Elias right beside her with a spell to light the way. The tunnel was dark and dusty, but at least it wasn’t a sewer or catacomb. Alfre didn’t think she could deal with people’s poop water or skeletons everywhere. 

They traveled quickly and quietly through the tunnel. It was unnerving to have the only sound be the echoing of their footsteps, but Alfre refused to let the spooky atmosphere get to her. As they reached the end of the tunnel, she could just barely see another ladder ahead in the darkness. The female guard rushed forward, climbing up the ladder and pressing her ear to the opening, listening. She pushed whatever counted as a lid up and peeked out into the room. She finished pushing it up and aside and motioned for us to follow. 

“Watch your heads,” she warned in a quiet voice. 

The opening was tucked in a space between the two sinks of the bathroom, covered with a marble counter top but otherwise open to the room. The room looked mostly unused, a thin layer of dust covering the tile flooring. They slipped silently through the room towards the double doors that Alfre assumed led into the bedroom. The hunter peeked out and, once deeming it safe, motioned for them to follow. 

The bedroom was empty, save for the furniture of course. The Queen apparently didn’t think the prince’s chambers were good enough for her, and had left them well alone after Alessio had escaped. 

“Where do you think she would be?” Izo asked as quietly as he could.

“Rumor has it that in the evenings she holds private meetings in the throne room,” The male guard whispered. “She might be there now. Either there, or in her bed chambers, the ones where his highness’ mother used to sleep.”

“Try the throne room first,” Elias suggested. “Boss fights tend to happen in throne rooms.”

“What fights?” Alessio questioned.

Alfre patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it.”

They snuck through the elaborately decorated hallways, allowing Spica to apply sleeping poison to any guard they came across. They wanted to be sneaky, and a long drawn out fight was not something that would help them. The palace was large, and there were many twists and turns to their path. They were lucky to have Alessio and his guards with them. Had they had tried this on their own, they surely would have gotten lost. 

They came to a small door tucked away from any other door. A door used for quick escapes from the throne room, should things get rowdy. Spica placed her ear against the dark wood this time, listening intently. 

“There’s three voices,” she informed them. “Two masculine and a feminine. I’m guessing that’s the queen. She’s definitely there. What’s the plan?”

“Burst in and kick her ass before they know what hit her,” Alfre said plainly.

Spica rolled her eyes. “Best get your buffs going then, darling.”

Elias was casting his buffing spells before she even finished her sentence. They opened the door as quietly as they could, not wanting to alert the Red Queen to their presence until it was in their best interest. They could only barely see the Queen’s dress from the angle they were at, but standing before her was a man in samurai armor and a man in no armor at all. There was a glassy quality to their eyes that unnerved Alfre, especially since they showed no emotion on their faces. 

“Take out the samurai first,” Elias suggested. “The other one is just an NPC, don’t worry about him. Then we’ll go for the Queen.”

“No! That’s my father’s oldest friend and military advisor,” Alessio hissed desperately. “Please don’t hurt him.”

Alfre groaned. “If we take out the queen first then it doesn’t matter how many people she has under mind control! We’ll focus on her.” 

“Fine,” Elias grumbled. “But if any of us get killed because of him, that’s on you, your highness.”

Alfre’s eyes were drawn to the queen, who stood from the throne for whatever reason. The reason didn’t matter, because if gave Alfre a good shot at her back. She flashed forward, each step crossing the distance of three, rapier drawn. At the last moment, the queen sensed her presence and side stepped the blow, the blade leaving a long, thin cut in her gown rather than piercing her flesh. 

She really was pretty, Alfre realized absently as she regained her balance. Blonde hair with just the lightest hint of curls, big blue eyes, an hourglass figure that some women would kill for, the Red Queen definitely looked like the kind of woman that people would fall for. 

The queen lifted a finely manicured hand to hide her giggles behind. “Is this really the best Alessio could do? A child?”

“Screw you, ya bawbag, I’ll be twenty before the month is up,” Alfre snapped. 

“It seems your temper is as short as your stature,” the queen drawled. “And my time, like you, is short.” She held out her hand, sending a bolt of lighting in Alfre’s direction. 

Alfre thanked whatever gods existed that she’d piled so many points into speed as she side stepped the bolt and ended up on the other side of the room. The queen gasped, whirling about to try and find her. Alfre took the chance to charge once more, coating her rapier in cold. Her strike was truer this time, landing a blow on the queen’s shoulder blade. Frost crawled down her arm, making it unusable for the time being. 

The queen shrieked, calling for her guards. Elias and the others decided now was the time to get involved, Izo forming a wall of thorny branches over the entrances to the throne room. Spica slid into the room, putting the samurai and the other man to sleep. Alessio’s guards moved them out of the way as the queen’s guards threw open the doors and began hacking and slashing at the branches that blocked their paths. Taking advantage of their preoccupied state, Elias cast several debuff spells on them, sapping them of their strength and speed. Those had hacked large enough holes in the branches were ticked off one by one by Traveler’s elemental sniper rifle. 

That left Alfre with the queen, trying to keep her attention off Alessio.  The queen threw bolt after fireball after icicle after Alfre. Most of the attacks missed her by a mile; those that did hit did far more damage than Alfre liked. Maybe Spica was right and she should have put more points into her defense stats. She felt the cool healing magic Izo sent her way, more that happy that he was on her team. Her strikes were quick and generally of minimal damage. It didn’t help that the Queen seemed to have a plethora of hit points. Spica helped out where she could, but the queen seemed immune to poisons, at least those that mainly caused damage. Alfre was more than grateful for the debuffs Spica placed on the queen. 

“You little trollop!” the queen hissed, a dark aura spilling over her skin. “How dare you scar my beautiful body?! How dare you try and steal my kingdom from me?!”

“To be fair, you stole it first,” Alfre reminded, a wild grin she’d picked up from Ren on her face. 

“SILENCE!” The queen threw out her hand, a storm of needles made of the same dark aura that surrounded her darting towards Alfre. 

“Shit!” Alfre zipped out of the way, but not quickly enough. A handful of needles caught her leg. She fell to the ground, skidding some distance away. The pain crawled its way up her leg, stinging and burning like nothing she’d ever felt before. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes, the room blurring before her eyes. 

The queen laughed triumphantly. “Let’s see you scurry around the room now.”

Alfre hissed in pain, trying to keep sobs from escaping her throat. There was a crashing noise as the queen’s guards finally made it through Izo’s barrier. Her friends focused their efforts on keeping them at bay. She was on her own. Dammit, where was the cavalry when you needed it?

“Leave her be, witch!” 

Alfre blinked her eyes as clear as she could get them, staring up in awe as Alessio stole the still sleeping samurai’s sword, brandishing it at the Red Queen. 

“Alessio, you idiot!” Alfre shouted at him. “Get out of here!”

“I will not have you risk your life for me while I cower in the corner!” Alessio shouted back. “What good am I as a king if I don’t fight for my kingdom?”

“You’re nae good as a king if you’re dead before you can sit your arse on the throne!” 

“Ran’s right. Your accent does get more pronounced the more upset you are.”

Wha-?” Alfre looked up to see Izo kneeling over her, the coolness of his healing magic seeping into her leg. 

Izo smiled at Alessio. “Thanks for the distraction, your highness.”

“Any time, friend.”

The Red Queen gaped at them, before her scarlet lips twisted into a scowl. She raised her hand to gather the dark magic again, but Alfre didn’t give her a chance to cast her spell. Ice and frost gathered around her sword, incasing it and her hand in a giant icicle. She dashed forward, the room going by so fast it was almost like she had tunnel vision; the only thing that was clear was the Red Queen and her unprotected chest. 

“Claidheamh Deigh!”

The great sword of ice pierced the valley between the queen’s breasts, her blood painting the clear blue surface of the weapon red. Alfre stood frozen for a long moment as the Red Queen gave her last shuddering breaths; that finely manicured hand wrapping uselessly around the frozen blade before falling limply to her side. Alfre pulled her blade free, the ice melting away from her sword as the Red Queen faded into the same smoke that all of her defeated opponents did. As much pain as the queen had caused Alessio and his companions, in the end she was no different than any other mob in the game. 

And wasn’t that a depressing thought? The queen certainly had more personality and a greater goal than any goblin or boar, but even she was just an obstacle to be defeated and sent off where ever the defeated went. She didn’t even have a name, now that Alfre thought about it. Just a title, a designation. Like goblin, or Ursa Major. 

“Are you alright?” Izo asked softly, a heavy hand on her shoulder. 

“Dunno,” Alfre admitted. “It’s weird how she didnae even leave a body. Like she wasn’t even a person.” 

Izo flinched, retracting his hand and letting it grip his staff. “This world is strange. I’m afraid I don’t have an explanation for you.”

“I doubt anyone does.”

The guards that had been attacking the door stood around dumbly, almost as if they were unsure what they were doing there. The old samurai man woke suddenly, his eyes far clearer than they had been before. His eyes teared up at the sight of Alessio, who embraced him like family. 

The prince turned to the party with a smile. “Friends, I have no words to express my gratitude. You have restored me to my throne and you have returned my people to me. Thank you.”

He turned to his male guard, who carried forward a small wooden chest. He opened it for their inspection, and they found it brimming with gold. 

“Your payment, as promised in my request,” Alessio said. “And what’s more, if you find yourselves in need of aide, you may call on Sapfir. We owe you a debt I could not even begin to repay.”

“The gold is a good start,” Spica said, only partially joking as she took the chest.