The Fell War - Chapter 7 (Patreon)

Basil was right. It did not take nearly as long to return to Spade as it did to get to Ahmar. Along the way, they passed two other Spade boats heading south. Alfre’s heart sang when she saw them sail by. Maldrom and Ludovico had kept their promise.

The ship was met with a cheering crowd as they docked in the shipyard. Many in the crowd had brought freshly made food and warm blankets. Alfre couldn’t help but laugh at how flabbergasted the refugees looked when they were met with such open kindness.

“The poor things,” Spica murmured, hiding her smile behind her hand. “They’re so overwhelmed.”

“They’ve been hiding out in a dungeon for months,” Lance said. “I’d be surprised if they weren’t overwhelmed.”

“This is more than we could ever hope for,” Hadi said, a soft smile on his face as he watched his people disembark. He shivered a bit, rubbing at his arms. “But goodness me, is it cold. How do you stand it?”

“Warm cider and heavy cloaks, my friend,” Lance joked, smacking Hadi a bit forcefully on the back.

“Heavy cloaks in summer time?” he gasped dramatically, a joking smile on his lips. “That’s sacrilegious.”

“If you think that’s sacrilegious, then don’t come over to out place for dinner,” Spica warned. “Our dear guild master is a little too friendly with the local gods.”

Hadi laughed. “I can tell. I saw the way Canus carried her to shore.”

“Oh, shush, all of you,” Alfre snapped. “Let’s get you settled. We’ll figure out our next move once the rest of the refugees have been evacuated.”

“How many are still left in Sandfur’s Den?” Alfre asked one month later, sitting at the council’s round table.

“Clover has sent one last ship for the last fifteen hundred people,” June said, rolling out a letter she’d received. “It left port two days ago, according to my sources. It should arrive on Ahmar’s shore within the next day or so.”

Atticus stared at the map on the table, and at all the small chess pieces they’d been using to represent the movements of the ships. “Have there been any more problems?”

“Raids are near constant,” Ludovico announced with a tired sigh. “The Granato have long since realized they cannot get into the dungeon, so they wait until the ships arrive and attack them. Luckily, Diamond and Clover have sent only their best, so no one has gotten hurt or captured so far. Interestingly enough, they seem to be refusing to send more than one Fell in at a time.”

“Fell lose their items if they die,” Cherry, the rabbit familiar guild master, reminded them. “Likelihood is they just don’t want to lose their best items, especially since they’d have to carry them into battle with any other Fell.”

“I think they just don’t want to actually spend the resources on stopping the evacuation,” Hunter interjected. “They’re probably waiting for an attack on the city. What was it that tiny over there said to them? ‘We’ve seen your crimes and we’re livid?’ Obviously they think we’re going to send in an all out attack.”

There was wave of murmurs as many of those in attendance agreed with him. That would be a logical assumption for anyone to make.

“Are we going to make an all out assault?” Ran asked. He and Izo were basically permanent residents of Spade by this point, despite the fact they technically belonged to Ran’s sister’s guild kingdom. But with the operation in full swing, and communication among all parties crucial, the two of them had taken up residence in the city to facilitate such things.

Everyone turned to Alfre, who paused in her petty of Beira’s head. That was something she’d been considering for a long while now. The actions of the Fell in the City of Heart had angered her. She wanted the Granato Empire out of the city, and their pet Fell thrown out with them. Still, she didn’t think the players in Spade alone could thoroughly drive the enemy from Heart.

“I suppose that depends on what everyone else wants to do,” she said eventually. “I agree that the Granato Empire and their pet Fell need to be driven out of the city. But I think we’d need the help of Diamond and Clover and the refugees from Heart to achieve that.”

“What do you suggest?” Maldrom asked, stroking his beard thoughtfully.

“We need a general council meeting, with leaders from Diamond, Clover, and Heart in attendance,” Alfre answered. “Letters are all well and good, but they are too slow for something as important as this.”

“I agree,” Ran said. “We need everyone here. Or if not here than in the same room.”

“We’ll get the message sent,” June assured everyone. “We’ll reach a consensus of where they want to meet and when. Hopefully they all understand the gravity of the situation and act quickly.”

The group disbursed, Ran going off with June and Maldrom to contact their allies. Hunter and Atticus left with their entourages, already discussing battle plans. Alfre sighed, running her hands over her face.

“Do you think they’ll do it?”

She turned to look at Hadi, who stared down at the map like it’d kicked his dog or something. It took her a minute to realize what he was talking about. “It depends, I think, on how well you and your friends argue that it’s needed.”

Hadi’s angry expression fell into something more somber. “Why must it fall to me?”

Alfre shrugged. “I ask myself that everyday. But I think it falls to you because it’s your city. You are the one who was driven away. The rest of us…don’t really understand how that feels. But if you can show us, or explain it well enough, that might be enough. But first you have to decide if fighting is really what you want. You could just live here, with us. Spade could be your home. Or Clover, or Diamond. It doesn’t matter really.”

Hadi shook his head, dark hair fly about his face. “No. Heart is my home. And I want it back.”

Alfre stood from the table. She turned to leave, taking a moment to reach out and squeeze his shoulder. “Then the fight for it starts here.”

“You’ve been spending a lot of time with Mister Hadi lately,” Wally said out of nowhere later that evening.

Spica and Elias were out…somewhere. Alfre didn’t know where. It wasn’t any of her business what her friends did when she wasn’t around. That left her and Wally alone in the guildhall – save for Beira, who was lying in front of the fireplace, one curious eye opening at Wally’s words.

“Am I?” Alfre asked. She hadn’t noticed if she had been. It was possible, but mainly because Hadi was something of a leader among the players from Heart, and Alfre was the so-called leader of the Spade players.

Wally hummed in confirmation, continuing to wash dishes as if nothing was bothering him. Not that he could fool Alfre, she’d long since learned how to read him like a book – which wasn’t terribly hard, the young Wonderlander wore his heart on his sleeve. Alfre let the book she was reading drop to her chest, contemplating Wally’s words.

“Well, he does have a big hand in this whole mess,” Alfre said, referring to the refugee crisis and the war that loomed on the horizon. “And I’m up to my chest in it. We’re bound to deal with each other a lot, all things considered.”

“Do you…like him?” Wallace asked carefully.

Alfre sat up from where she’d been lounging on the couch, looking over the back of it into the kitchen. She watched him silently for a long moment; the young man never stopping in his quest to scrub the dishes spotless.

“No,” she said finally. “Not in the way you’re thinking at any rate. He’s nice enough, though, and a good ally. But no, I don’t like him.”

Wally gave a tiny sigh of what Alfre could only assume was relief. “I see.”

The next question was Alfre’s. “Would it bother you if I did?”

Wally twitched, his hands finally stopping, simply laying still in the warm, soapy water. “I suppose it would.”

“Why?”

Wallace pulled his hands from the water, drying them on the towel he’d laid over his shoulder. He wandered into the lounge, his expression contemplative. Beira sat up more fully, watching the Wonderlander carefully.

Wally came to a stop just on the other side of the couch, resting his hands along the back of it. When he spoke, there was a playful, and yet almost sad smile on his face.

“I suppose, Miss Alfre, it’s because I like you.”

Alfre swallowed thickly, unsure of how to respond to that. “I…see.”

“Yeah,” Wally sighed. He stepped away, still smiling, though this one seemed far less sincere. “I know you don’t see me that way, Miss Alfre, and that’s okay. I just…wanted to be clear.”

“You don’t know that,” Alfre argued. “I don’t even know that, so how could you!”

He blinked owlishly at her, confusion evident on his face. “I…what?”

“I’m still figuring out how I feel about this whole thing,” she said, trying to be clearer. “You and Abital and Canus and me. This whole mess. I’m still trying to figure out my own feelings about it. So don’t go assuming them. It’s rude.”

Wally blushed, unable to keep himself from stuttering when he spoke. “Y-yes, ma’am.”

“And stop calling me that,” Alfre ordered, standing from the couch and abandoning her book on the cushions. “If you like me, act like it, instead of hiding behind some formality that only you insist upon. You’re not my servant; you’re a member of the guild. Act like it.”

“O-okay. I’ll try.”

Alfre nodded approvingly. “That’s all I can ask for, I guess.”

Wally nodded, glancing over his shoulder at the kitchen sink in an attempt to find an escape. “I’m just gonna…gonna finish the dishes.”

He nearly sprinted out of the room, closing the door behind him harder than he probably meant to. Alfre sighed, looking to Beira with a tired expression.

“How is it I’m the only reasonable one in this whole mess, and I didn’t even know it existed until recently?” she asked the direwolf.

Beira simply huffed, settling her head back down onto her paws. Alfre sighed again. What she wouldn’t give to be able to ignore the human drama like Beira did. But, she supposed that was impossible, given she was at the epicenter of it.