Frozen Stars Over Wonderland - Chapter 19 (Patreon)

The farmlands had been extended somewhat, she noticed. The Fell farms remained close to the city walls, but once she passed into the Wilds proper, she noticed new, well-worn paths. Following one curiously, she quickly found herself at the edge of a large, cleared out space in the middle of the Wilds. A village had been built there. It wasn’t much, a few small houses, a windmill, and several barns and plowed farm plots. It was cute, she decided. She probably wouldn’t find Canus here, but her curiosity begged her to explore. This was obviously a Wonderlander village, Fell stuck to the City more often than not. She wondered, however, why she didn’t see more people out and about. It was still light outside, and it was early spring, planting season. 

She tensed at the sound of a scream. Her legs were carrying her in the direction of the sound before she could even register that she was moving. She turned around the side of a barn, discovering why there weren’t more people around. 

A troop of goblins had a young man cornered against the barn. He held his pitchfork out to keep them at bay, but this was a farmhand, not a knight. Alfre’s gaze shifted from the young man to the goblins. Level twenty, maybe. Nothing she couldn’t handle, even without Spica and Elias there to back her up. 

She drew her rapier, the same one she’d found in the Briarwood Thorns. It’d done her well so far, with a few upgrades thanks to Ran’s blacksmithing skill. She shot out a series of freezing needles of ice at the goblins, cutting their numbers in half in a single strike. Even with how easy the fight was, Alfre reveled in the action. How long had it been since she’d fought like this? Too long. It got her heart thumping. Got her blood pumping. This, this is what she’d missed, holed up in Ren’s castle. 

She dove into the crowd of goblins, her rapier moving faster than they could react, one mob fell after the other, so many fell so close together that the black smoke was almost too much to see through. The young man stared up at her with big, brown eyes as the smoke cleared, something akin to awe on his face. 

“You alright?” Alfre asked, reaching out her hand to help him up.

“Y-y-yes ma’am!” the boy stuttered. He was so much taller than her, but he couldn’t be much older than she was, maybe even a year or two younger. His ginger hair was shaggy and unkempt, which Alfre decided went well with his freckle covered face. “Thank you kindly, ma’am.”

“Call me Alfre, I’m too young to be called ma’am by anyone,” Alfre insisted. “What’s your name?”

“Wallace, ma’am…I mean, Alfre,” the young man, Wallace, said. “My mum calls me Wally. I live on this farm here with my family. They left me here to look after it while they went to market a day or so’s journey west with the rest of the village.”

“Ah, so that’s why I didn’t see anyone else,” Alfre said with a hum. “Do you normally have goblin problems?”

“No, not usually,” Wally admitted. “There’s usually a lot of us around, so they don’t get brave enough to do much. I guess they figured I was easy pickings all on my own. I owe you.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Wally,” she said, smiling up at him. “I was just passing through. I’m looking for a friend and I stumbled across your little village here. It’s very nice.”

“Yeah? Well, thank you kindly.” Wally smiled at her. It was a nice smile. Made her want to pinch his cheeks. “We don’t see a lot of Fell out here, though. Who are you looking for?”

“You’ve probably heard of him,” Alfre joked with a grin. “His name is Canus.”

“C-c-c-Canus?” Wallace stuttered and shouted. “Why are you looking for him?!”

“To let him know I’m back in Spade,” Alfre explained blithely. “I’ve been gone for a while, and before he left he told me he’d miss me. So I wanted to let him know I’ve returned. Figured that’d make him happy.”

Wallace reached up to scratch at his head, looking terribly confused by her explanation. “What kinda relationship do you have with him that he’d miss you like that?”

“A fairly friendly one, it seems,” Alfre said with a shrug. “I helped him catch a hunter who’d gone after his direwolf. He’s been fond of me ever since.”

Wallace’s eyes narrowed. “You sure you’re not one of the gods playin’ some trick on me?”

Alfre laughed. She caught the sight of a blush spreading over Wally’s face. She hoped she hadn’t embarrassed him. “I’m sure. Now, I should probably be going. I need to find Canus and then get back to the city to meet up with my guild.”

“What guild are you from?” Wally asked suddenly. “S-so I know who to send requests to if we ever have another goblin problem.”

Alfre smiled winningly. “The Alliance of Frozen Stars.”

Alfre wasn’t very far from Wallace’s village when she found herself bowled over by a very large and very affectionate wolf. It yipped and sniffed at her, licking at her cheek and neck once it found her acceptable. Alfre laughed, recognizing the brown and grey fur of Canus’ wolf form. 

“Hello to you too, Canus,” she greeted, running her fingers through his fur. If wolves could purr, she was sure he’d be doing so now. “Miss me?”

He shifted back into his human form, Alfre’s fingers tangling in his hair. “More than you know, snowbird,” he said, a soft affection in his voice that made Alfre feel all warm and giggly inside. He nuzzled into her hair, breathing in her scent. She still smelled like winter, pepperminty and cold. 

“I just wanted to let you know we’re back in Spade,” Alfre said, finding she didn’t want to disengage from the strange cuddling they were doing on the ground. “Elias, Spica and I, that is. We’re starting our own guild. Spica is looking at a guildhall for us.”

“Then I’ll have a new place to surprise you with visits,” Canus murmured, laying his head on Alfre’s small shoulder. 

Alfre smiled. “You will. Though I’m still not sure why you couldn’t come visit me the last three months.”

“Winter is hard on the wolves,” Canus explained. “And Fell kingdoms are strange. We gods do not have the same power there as we do the rest of the world.”

“You seem fine when you visit me in Spade,” Alfre reasoned.

“That city has been there since the first Fell, many, many years ago,” he said. “It is as much part of the world as the Wilds. But your Fell kingdoms are new. They are not meant for us who belong to Wonderland.” 

Alfre frowned. “I see.” 

Canus sat up, looking Alfre in the eye properly. He smiled at her, not his usual feral grin, but something softer. “But you have returned. And it is spring. I will be able to visit you as often as I like.”

“I look forward to it.”

“How was the guild registry?” Alfre asked, walking up to Elias who sat at June’s table with a large leather book before him.

“Efficient,” Elias replied, patting the book. “We have our own ledger. All of our quests will be recorded here, as well as any of our members. I set you as the guild master, I hope you’re okay with that.”

“It was my idea, after all.” Alfre nodded. 

“How was Canus?” Elias asked, a look that straddled the line between curious and knowing on his face. 

“He’s good,” Alfre said, taking a seat across from her friend. “He missed me. The reason he didn’t visit while we were with Ren is because Fell kingdoms do something weird to the Wonderlander gods. It’s like they’re just normal Wonderlanders there, I guess. Because Fell kingdoms aren’t meant for them, or something like that.”

Elias sat back with a hum. “Makes sense, I suppose. Fell kingdoms, while built into the code of the game, are technically completely player made. The Fell hub cities were already in the game when we got here, they’re more part of the world than the kingdoms are.” 

“I also ran across a Wonderlander village while I was out,” Alfre said. “Saved a farm kid from some goblins.”

“That’s nice,” Elias said distractedly, as if his mind was still on the previous subject.

“What’s nice, magician?” Alfre and Elias turned to the door to see June and Spica walking through.

“Alfre saved a Wonderlander from a bunch of goblins,” Elias answered.

“Did you get paid for it?” Spica asked.

“No?” Alfre replied. “It wasn’t a quest or anything, I just happened upon a situation and helped out. He was kind of in awe of the whole thing, it was kinda funny.” 

Spica hummed. “A shame, we could use the money, especially after we buy the guildhall.”

Elias’ ears twitched. “So it’s good? You approve?”

“Don’t sound so surprised, magician,” Spica said, reaching out to swat lightly at his shoulder. “My standards are high but they’re not unmeetable.” 

“Pretty sure that’s not a word,” June muttered under her breath, earning her an icy stare from Spica. “Anyway, we’ll be able to purchase it at the guild registry tomorrow, it’s probably closed by now. C’mon, I’ve got rooms available to you if you’d like them.”

“That’s quite alright, June,” Elias assured her. “Atticus already has rooms for us back at his guildhall. We wouldn’t want to impose on you any further.”

June huffed good-naturedly, her hands going to her hips in a way that reminded Alfre of her grandmother. “Alright. I’ll meet you at the guild registry bright and early tomorrow morning then, since I’m fairly certain none of you know how to haggle like I do.”

Sure enough, the trio were up early the next morning, snagging breakfast from the Burning Oak dining hall before heading out into the streets of the City of Spade. Only a few people were out and about that early in the morning, most of them merchants doing morning preparations in their shops or bakeries and cafes who were open for breakfast. Alfre decided this was the type of atmosphere she liked best, this and late into the evening when everyone was closing up and only the drunks stumbling home from the pubs and the tired merchants were out in the streets. 

The registrar looked…not unhappy to see them, but like she really didn’t want to be dealing with people already. June, however, was perky as ever, parrying each and every tired offer the young Wonderlander made for the guildhall they were attempting to purchase.

“One hundred thousand gold,” she started. 

June looked appalled. “Are you kidding me? This building has been on the market since the Incident! It’s tiny and doesn’t even have a shop front! Fifty thousand gold.”

The registrar’s eyes narrowed. “Eighty thousand gold.” 

June grinned at her. “Sixty thousand.” 

“Seventy five thousand,” the Wonderlander snapped. “And that’s as low as I can go.”

June leaned back from the counter, a pleased smile on her face. “See, now that sounds reasonable. Isn’t it wonderful that we could come to an agreement? Alfre, do you have the gold?”

Alfre and her companions pooled the money they’d been saving for this and shoved the bag across the counter. The registrar hefted the back, feeling the weight. She peeked inside, counting the coins too quickly for any normal person. 

“Very well,” she said finally. She disappeared into the back, depositing the gold and returning with a roll of paper. “Guild master has to sign for it. Just sign your name and the guild’s name at the bottom of both deeds. One for you, one for us. Yes, thank you.” She snatched up one of the deeds and tucked it into her bell sleeves. “The property is yours. Please try not to burn it to the ground.” 

Alfre muttered her thanks, tucking her copy of the deed into her inventory. They left the registry, saying goodbye to June and letting Spica lead the way to their new home. 

It was surprisingly well kept, considering it’d been unoccupied since before the Incident. There was only a thin layer of dust on the floor and other surfaces. Alfre was used to seeing much more dust in abandoned places, like her cottage and the farmhouse. The first floor seemed to be a standard living space, an open foyer to the three levels above, a kitchen in the back that was far bigger than the three of them needed, seeing as none of them were chefs (Alfre still hadn’t decided on a subclass, the way she was going she probably never would), and something akin to a library or lounge. The walls were lined with built in bookshelves, all of them empty. Two sets of curved staircases led to the next level, which consisted of several smaller rooms and an overly large bathroom. A wide, fairly shallow tub took up half of the room. Alfre sat in it, her head sticking up over the edge. When Spica did the same, her shoulders rose above the edge. She didn’t seem terribly bothered, in fact she was rather amused that all three of them could fit in the tub at the same time with room to spare. 

The next two floors were bedrooms, closets with sliding doors built into their walls. There were more than necessary, but certainly less than a standard guildhall. Most guilds had upwards of a hundred bedrooms in their halls. This building had maybe ten at the most between the two floors. But it was the rooftop that excited Alfre the most. The view of the city was awfully nice and she was pleased to see that the planter boxes and the greenhouse were still in good shape. 

“So, what’s the first order of business?” Elias asked. “Other than a good dusting?”

“Claiming rooms, I suppose,” Alfre said. “I liked that one on the fourth floor, with the big bay windows. That one’s mine.”

“Fine, I suppose I’ll have to go with my second choice,” Spica complained, though Alfre knew she wasn’t really all that upset. “I did quite like the one with the fireplace.”

“Just don’t go burning the hall down for your aesthetic,” Alfre warned. 

Spica sniffed. “Why do you two have such little faith in me?” 

“To be fair, I’m pretty sure no one has faith in anyone in this guild,” Elias admitted with a chuckle. “I’ll take the room with the bookshelves. Hmm, the fourth floor must have been made for the guild leaders, considering how much nicer they are than the rooms on the third floor.”

“Those rooms will probably never be used,” Alfre mused. “I doubt anyone’s gonna want to join our merry little band.” 

“You never know,” Elias said.