Chapter 28 - Ocean Fog
As Lilly and the guard made their way to the harbor, her thoughts raced uncontrollably. Would she be able to do this? Were Gramps and Mia safe? Or would they search for her during the chaos overtaking the city? And where was Eolande?
The streets were chaotic, filled with people rushing to their homes to barricade themselves in. Most of them were running away from the harbor, and the guard leading Lilly had to shout repeatedly to be let through.
Lilly was relieved that she didn’t have to run the entire way, she didn’t feel up for that at the moment. And some time to prepare herself might be just what she needed right now.
She hated seeing the intense worry in the faces of the people they passed, and hardly recognized the usually peaceful surroundings. The safety of the city had been brutally uprooted by the approaching threat, and Lilly felt a deep worry.
The smell of salt water eventually notified her that they were close, and she tensed up a bit again. ‘This is it… I can’t fail here,’ she thought, trying not to think about what would happen if she did. But that made her even more nervous.
The nerves started showing again, and her hands were trembling. ‘Gods, Lilly, get it together! Flame, are you ready for this?’ She had never gotten a response before, so this was more of a desperate attempt to calm herself. She tried to fool herself into thinking the warm feeling she felt in her chest was the flame’s response, and it did help a little bit.
"Right this way, miss," the guard directed, leading her up wooden stairs to a platform overlooking the sea. This was where Lady Selene would have stood, commanding the city's defense.
The platform was relatively simple in design, with ample room for someone to stand in the middle, and quivers with some imposing arrows standing ready to the sides. The view of the port was excellent, giving a clear line of sight to every part of it. The port itself was shaped sort of like a sock with the hole being connected to the sea. The platform was located in the bend, at the heel of the sock.
There were no signs of the enemy fleet just yet, but it had likely been spotted not too far away. Warships were usually equipped with magical engines for sudden bursts of speed when attacking, so they were probably approaching rapidly.
The guard guiding Lilly was talking to another guard stationed here, telling her about the situation. The stationed guard seemed horrified by the news of Lady Selene’s state, and not very optimistic about Lilly taking over the role. But Lilly empathized; she felt much the same way.
Knowing that time was precious at the moment, she took a position in the center of the platform. She looked towards the guards to warn them. “You should get away from here, It’s going to get extremely hot.” They both hesitated slightly, but did as she asked in the end.
Lilly turned her attention back to the flame in her core. ‘I don’t know if you’re sentient or just extremely good at understanding what I want, but now we’re going to need all the power we can use. Don’t save anything, and do whatever you can to sink the enemy fleet and protect the city!’
The flame responded, and it flowed out of her like an endless flood of fire, lighting up the surrounding buildings. It was a majestic sight, with the incredible outpour of flames gently dancing around like smoke. It didn’t act just yet, but it was ready.
Lilly could feel the emptiness within her after completely emptying her core, and she felt an exhaustion take hold of her body and mind. ‘No way am I going to faint right now!’ She staggered slightly, but managed to stay on her feet.
Lilly looked around the sea to orient herself again, and then, for the first time today, she felt an intense anger. She had finally spotted the attacking force. All the exhaustion vanished in the blink of an eye, and she felt invigorated.
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The fleet of Dortfell had appeared on the horizon, rapidly approaching the city. There were anywhere between 50 and 100 ships, Lilly thought. The ships, relying solely on their magical engines, sliced through the water with unnatural speed, and their masts stood bare in the wind.
Lilly found herself momentarily transfixed by the sight. Their dark hulls stood out against the churning sea, presenting an ominous picture of Dortfell's military strength. But Lilly, now fueled by a resolve to protect the city and its townspeople, was undeterred.
‘You… You dare attack our city!? You dare try to destroy what we’ve built!?’ Lilly could feel the scorching anger take hold of her, while thinking back to the attack on her and Lady Selene, and the fear etched on the faces of the townspeople.
It was unlike her to feel such anger, but she felt justified. She had worried about how she would feel, taking so many lives. But sinking someone who intended to cruelly attack civilians in a city, her city especially, felt like it would be a breeze.
‘Oh Vermilion Flame, this is my most important command yet: Sink those invading ships, and protect this city!’
The flames responded with agility, converging into a focused stream as they soared toward the ships. A piercing shriek could suddenly be heard reverberating throughout the city, heralding the arrival of something magnificent.
The flames had condensed into the shape of a giant bird, and it had taken a moment to announce its appearance. It was truly a majestic sight, moving like a lord of the skies and flames. Now fully manifested, the fiery bird fixed its gaze on the enemy fleet. It surged forward with incredible speed, rapidly closing the distance.
‘A bird? Is that the true form of the flame? Is it a phoenix?’ Lilly wondered, awestruck by the unexpected transformation.
The ships of the fleet seemed momentarily unresponsive, but then they started putting up barriers for protection. The shimmering shields looked sturdy, but they seemed to consume some of the energy used to propel the ships forward.
The fiery bird seemed unimpressed, and just barreled straight ahead, going through both the barriers and hulls of two ships in its path.
‘Holy gods, that bird is strong!’ Lilly thought, eyes wide with amazement.
She could see some water being manipulated near one of the ships, presumably by a mage onboard, which was sent flying towards the bird. It turned into vapor before it could hit its mark though, instantly boiled by the heat of the flames.
The bird let out another shriek, and it was clear from the sudden ignition of the ships and the steam rising from the ocean that it had increased the temperature of its flames drastically. The color of the flames seemed to deepen, much like they had in the experiment that had melted Mia’s forge. The barriers on other ships nearby simply vanished, unable to withstand the intense heat.
Screams could faintly be heard from the ships now, bothering Lilly slightly. She had to convince herself repeatedly that this was justified and deserved. If she was sent to invade a city at any point, she would be fine with getting attacked. It was justified.
One of the ships suddenly sent a cannonball hurtling towards the city, but luckily the barrier deflected it with ease. Lilly was still a bit worried though, because the shot had seemed to be perfectly aimed at her.
She looked back at the fleet, but most of it was covered by the vapor from the sea now, like a big blanket hiding the horrors inside it. She could occasionally see flickers of flames appear, but it was hard to even guess what was going on.
Two more shots were sent towards the city, still in her direction, but they still just bounced off the barrier. It seemed to strain a bit more this time though, so Lilly hoped the battle would be over soon.
Sounds of impacts could still be heard coming from the fleet, and it was clear that they were in an intense battle against the flaming bird. One more shot was sent towards the city, but this time it was way off, hitting a different spot entirely.
Soon enough, the ships started to clear the fog, still traveling at high speeds. But it was clear that they no longer posed a threat. Every ship appearing was covered in flames, reaching tens of meters in height. Some had giant holes in their sides, while others were missing most of their material.
Eventually it was clear that all the ships had suffered the same fate when the entire fleet cleared the foggy area, engulfed in flames. The sight of so many ships, ablaze and decimated, was staggering. If Lilly didn’t know she was the one responsible for it, she would have been terrified by the spectacle.
The bird was nowhere to be seen now, probably having spent all its power in the battle. But it had accomplished its goal perfectly, and Lilly could finally feel elated.
‘I did it! I really did…’ Those were the last thoughts going through Lilly’s mind before fainting on the spot.