The Capital was burning.

I could see the fire the moment I left the Deep Woods, the tips of the flames licking over the treetops. The looming hulk of the Great Oak was engulfed in orange and red, the crackling of fire audible even from this distance. At the very top of the canopy, I could see an angry storm of lightning. Every so often, a bolt of electricity would spew out from the storm and land amidst the roaring flames of the Great Oak, followed by the rumble of distant thunder.

Random Event!

Theme: Fire

The Seelie and Unseelie Court are fighting in the air above the Great Oak!

The clash of magic is causing unstable constructs to form.

Defeat the constructs to obtain rare loot!

Note: All Capital shops and waypoints will be unavailable during this time.

Expand list to see drop rates.

Oh.

Oh no.

I began to run as fast as I could towards the Capital, using the lightning storm looming over the Great Oak as a beacon. My MP was still recovering from the Carman fight, but I teleported whenever I could, shortening the distance.

When I got to the Wall, there was no sign of the guards. Not bothering with the door, I cleared the Wall in a bound and landed on the other side.

The Outer City was up in flames, the wide expanse of grassland turned to smoking ashes. Houses were on fire. Strangely enough, they didn’t seem burn down, but the sears from when I got too close were very much present.

Prowling the burning expanse were what looked like hulking swathes of living fire. They shifted and wavered between forms mesmerizingly, spreading scorch marks in their wake.

All around me were players. The most players I’d seen concentrated in one place since becoming a Chosen One. Players with name tags and multicoloured gear flocked the city, running after the flame creatures and killing them.

From the brief glances I spared them as I sprinted towards the Inner City, I noticed that most of them were low level players. It made sense. According to past events of this sort, the closer to the source, the more valuable the drops were.

And the more dangerous.

I sped to the trunk of the Great Oak. I was about to scale the stairs, only to realise that the stairs would take too long, with how they wound about the trunk. So I resorted to chaining teleports vertically upwards, pogoing off Candle Flame summons when I ran out of MP.

Vaulting over the side of the railing, I landed on the second level of the Great Oak, where I knew Richard’s smithy was.

It wasn’t much better amidst the branches of the tree. In fact, it was worse.

The fire had sprung up inside the shops and houses, causing what were once quaint little homes to become closed off death traps. Through the windows I could see NPCs trapped behind walls of flames or cornered by flame creatures.

The doors of a burning shop burst open in front of me. A hulking Level 72 Flame Shifter galloped out, shifting from an amorphous blob to a flaming horse in seconds. It turned its head and spit globules of lava behind it. Following after it were a team of players, firing off skills liberally as they went.

A fleeing NPC was caught in the crossfire. Trailing green sparks behind her, she tumbled off the side of the branch and plummeted towards the ground.

I ran in the opposite direction of the players and crashed into the still burning shop. It was a sea of fire no matter where I looked, the flickering reds and oranges licking up the sides of the countertop and scorching the clothes on display.

“Poppy!” I called out over the roaring blaze.

I strained my ears for a reply.

Nothing.

“Poppy, you there?”

“Here…”

I perked up at the weak reply coming from behind the counter. Snapping my fingers, I managed to teleport past the section of burning floorboards, perching myself on the countertop. It was sweltering so close to the fire.

I scanned the room.

“Poppy?”

“Under here!”

The voice came from beneath me. I tried to look under the counter but recoiled, hissing as the tongues of flame burnt my face.

“Ow!”

“Are you okay?”

I didn’t respond. Instead, I jumped atop the backrest of a nearby chair.

There, I saw the Capital’s seamstress hiding underneath the counter, in the one small square of space untouched by the flames. The space was clearly too small for her, yet she had somehow managed to wedge herself in. Her knees were tucked up all the way to her chin, the tips of her toes a centimetre short of touching the burning floorboards.

“Hold on there, Poppy, I’ll get you out,” I called.

“No, no, no, no, it’s fine,” she stammered, sounding small and frightened.

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“Just let me think for a moment.”

“No, really!” she exclaimed, more frantic this time. “This is a blind spot. Nothing ever reaches here. I just have to wait it out…”

“You can’t stay here!”

“Yes I can!” her eyes widened behind her thick rimmed glasses. “I’ve done it before. Go help someone else!”

“But—”

“I’m really fine! Hurry! Before it’s too late!”

“I–”

I contemplated just pulling her out and making a break for it, but it was too risky. She’d already been boxed in completely. If she came out, she’d have to come in contact with the fire. I had no idea how low her HP was. I’d rather she stay in there than risk dying from burn damage.

I could try using Swap to extract her from the gap without setting her ablaze… But the only safe place would be outside the Capital. I considered the long journey down the tree.

…

No, it was risky. If this spot really was a blind spot in the coding, then it was much safer to leave her here.

“Stay there until all this is over,” I told her, and teleported back to the door.

I hoped I’d find Richard and his family in the smithy next door, but to no avail. The smithy was empty, and no one responded no matter how loudly I called their names.

Maybe they were somewhere else.

I ran into multiple shops on my way, calling out for NPCs who might be there. Most of them were empty, their inhabitants long gone.

Hopefully, they’d escaped. But knowing the turnover rate of randomised NPCs, it wasn't looking optimistic.

I managed to rescue one of them from a flame creature that the players hadn't found yet. I didn't recognise him. Had probably manned one of the shops I didn't frequent.

I had him grab onto me as I sprinted down the Great Oak. Going down took a significantly longer time than going up did, since I couldn't just jump off the side of the tree if I wanted both of us to survive.

Still, I went as fast as I could, taking shortcuts by jumping directly from one landing to the next.

As I raced through burning fields in the Outer City, a familiar figure caused me to slow my steps.

Marge was running in the opposite direction towards the Capital, her electric blue dreadlocks particularly noticeable amidst the orange and red of the fire.

She stopped and stared.

“Luck,” she said.

I slowed. The man on my back peered over my shoulder and seemed to decide that he wanted nothing to do with this.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

I blinked.

“Evacuating.”

She stared.

I stared back.

There was an awkward moment of silence.

“Sorry,” I said, backing away first. “Gotta go.”

I dug my feet into the ground and dashed past her.

I deposited the NPC outside the Wall, where the line of fire ended.

“Don’t wander off,” I warned him as I prepared to head back for another round trip. “There are monsters in the Forest.”

I could barely hear him reply as the world blurred, and I was off again.

I made a few more such trips, scanning the area for survivors. I didn’t search too thoroughly, since there was a lot of area to cover, and I couldn’t afford to rest until I found who I was really looking for.

With every NPC I found, I hoped that it would be Richard or Lydia, with Emmie hiding somewhere near them. But each time I was disappointed.

Each trip made the next smoother as I refined my route up and down the tree. But each trip also made my worries grow.

The spawn of lower Level monsters in the Outer City had stopped, the monster density dropping to 0 near the Wall. This meant that the lower Level players were starting to migrate up the tree in search of mobs to kill.

On the second trip down, there were one or two between each floor.

On the third trip, there were teams of five.

On my fourth trip up the tree, I noticed that the stairway was beginning to get crowded.

It was just a gut feeling, but I felt that more traffic spelt trouble.

I began using Gift of the Wind alongside my teleports, scouring each floor for survivors.

I checked in at the smithy again, just to be sure.

“Richard? Emmie?” I called as I slammed the doors open to yet another sea of flames.

There was no reply.

I made my way around the abandoned building, leaping on the furniture to keep myself from being burned. No one in the main smithy. No one in the toolshed. No one in the rooms in the back.

I was about to leave, until I caught movement in the corner of my eye.

I turned. A large shadow was hunched next to the door. It was Richard, staring blankly at the wall. Despite how there were no wounds on his body, he seemed dishevelled and defeated.

“Richard!” I teleported across a burning dresser to get to him. “You’re okay!”

I looked him up and down, and behind him, trying to see if Lydia and Emmie were with him. Yet despite my call, Richard didn’t seem to register.

“Richard, hey, buddy,” I shook him lightly. “Where’s Lydia? Emmie?”

Richard blinked at the names of his family, and turned to me, looking like he had seen me for the first time.

“Gone,” Richard’s eyes were hollow.

“Oh… I—”

“She was right here,” Richard said slowly, grasping and ungrasping his fingers. “We ran into the smithy when it happened. A bolt of lightning separated us from Emmie. Lydia tried to get to her but…”

He trailed off.

“I’m sorry, Richard, but we can’t stay here,” I said, beginning to guide him on a safe route towards the exit. “We have to move.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” Richard’s boots were heavy against the floor. He wasn’t resisting, but he wasn’t trying to help either. “They’re gone.”

“Well… Maybe they’re still out there. I can find them, get them back. But I can’t do that until I get you somewhere safe first.”

A spark returned to Richard’s eyes, before promptly disappearing again.

“No. Lydia died in my arms. You won’t find her.”

“What about Emmie? You were separated, maybe she’s still out there.”

“Emmie…” Richard blinked. Once, twice. Then clarity returned to his eyes. “Emmie!”

He began running on his own volition. I hustled to keep up with him.

“Yes! Emmie! I’ll escort you down the tree first, and then I’ll go find her.”

“No!” Richard bellowed, making a beeline towards the stairs leading to the next floor of the Great Oak. “There’s no time. We have to find her!”

“And I will, but first—“

“Now!”

I hesitated. Before nodding.

“Okay. Now.”