Ember breathed in deeply and closed her eyes, taking in the bouquet of the medieval city: straw, urine, manure. The article setting could have stood for a little less realism. The ubiquitous whiteboards were gone, replaced by roughly hewn chalkboards in standing wooden frames, which appeared less of an anachronism against the backdrop. July was bringing up the rear of their little column, and once he passed through the threshold of the door it slammed behind him so forcefully that he was thrown a few paces into the street. Only his natural athleticism saved him from planting his face in the beaten down straw of the road. He brushed himself off to recover some of his dignity and cast an annoyed look back at the door.
“Welcome,” SOFI said, alighting on the chalkboard nearest, the one with the summary and title on it, “to Danzig!”
“That’s not what it says on the thing.” May said, and pointed to the chalkboard SOFI was perched on.
“Oh?” SOFI said, raising her golden eyebrows in mock surprise and flying forward to examine the lettering under her, “I’m getting a little ahead of myself. Welcome to Gdańsk! The year is 1308.”
“Guduhs. I liked the first one better; easier to say.” May said. She covered her nose up as she caught an especially powerful whiff of the local color. SOFI shrugged. Ember was of a similar mind that diacriticals and parades of consonants were hardly endearing to English speakers.
“As you like. What’s in a name?” the little Agent said to May, and disappeared into Ember’s Cell. May contemplated the statement and then blanked out the offending word with a swipe of her hand. She picked up a nub of yellow chalk she found in the tray and changed history with a few arcs of loopy script. Her handwriting was calligraphic in its elegance, which was unexpected and filled Ember right up to her neck with jealousy. Even though she’d worked hard on her handwriting, it never seemed to get any better. May flicked the tiny bit of chalk off into the steel cuirass of a passing knight, who mistook the plink for a drop of rain and glanced upwards. It was an easy mistake given what the damp air and cloudy sky seemed to promise.
Ember inspected the other passersby. There were certainly plenty of peasants, who were on the whole not nearly as offal-smeared and bedraggled as she’d been led to believe by films. She tried to talk to one of them, but when he just shook his head and continued on she felt they were probably uncommunicative props for the article setting. Ordinary soldiers toting lances were the next most common demographic, and they strode around in pairs or threes. The rarest were the knights. Some of them were actually in shining armor. Looking closer she noticed they were Superusers whose Cell was fitted into the upper part of the scabbards swinging at their hips, their one-handed knight’s sword permanently summoned. Judging from their gauntleted hands, they probably weren’t very Cell magic oriented. Potentially, one of them could deliver a deathblow with their blade. Of all the ways she could die, she promised herself that it would not be at the hands of some faceless mook.
“I feel sort of unprotected, by comparison, in this setting.” Ember said, fingering the weave of her wool sweater. She was glad to have it, though, as the temperature was in the lower 40s. She couldn’t imagine how July was feeling in his short sleeved shirt, and she didn’t have to imagine how similarly-dressed May was feeling, because one only had to look at her: shivering, rubbing her arms, frowning.
“We could go find an armorer.” December said, without looking at her. He was still taking in the scenery.
“Oh, lady armor. I want this part cut out.” Ember said, and drew a triangle on her chest. All eyes went to her, appraising whether she could pull it off. July cleared his throat and pretended to be interested in a nearby bucket full of rainwater. December gave a nod of approval with the hint of a smirk. May kicked a fist-sized rock into the road.
“This dump is boring and cold. Come get me when something happens.” May said with a scowl. When she went to open the door it was, as anticipated, bricked over. She spun around on her heels and huffed angrily through her nostrils at Ember. Exactly like a bull.
“What did I do?” Ember said, bewildered.
“Nothing.”
They both stared each other down, then simultaneously completed the Cellblade Gesture and had their hands on the hilts when July moved to interpose himself. The three of them were interrupted when an unfamiliar voice rang out authoritatively.
“Excuse me,” the female voice said. Ember turned around to see they’d been approached by a trio of knights, and was surprised to see the one out front was a young Valkyrie in lady armor with long, flowing silver hair. She was strikingly beautiful, tall and ethereal, and looked out of place in the otherwise grim and realistic setting. A pair of men in armor followed her, though one of them had fallen back to fix the chalkboard May had vandalized earlier. “Travelers. Welcome to our city. My name is Ui, leader of the Pomerelian Knights, and defender of Gdańsk.”
Ember extended her hand, which Ui shook with her demi-gauntlet, a sort of dexterous armored glove that only protected the backs of ones fingers. She was greatly fascinated by Ui’s shiny getup, the reasons for which she divided equally between form and function.
“I’m September, and this is December, July, and May. Call me Ember.” Ember said, pointing to each. They all shook Ui’s hand in turn, except for May, who just looked at it.
“Pomerelian?” May said. Ui sighed and leaned in towards May.
“Polish.” she said quietly, and drew back. May still didn’t shake her hand, and eventually the lady knight withdrew it.
“The way to the Mandate is in the castle.” Ui said, turning her shoulders to an orange-hued fortress on a distant hilltop.
“Then let’s go—” Ember said. Ui held up her hands, signaling her to wait.
“The castle,” she said, “is held by the Teutonic Knights.”
“Teutonic Knights?” May said. Ui again leaned in to quietly deliver the subtext.
“Germans.”
“Germany invading Poland, huh. Never change, Europe.” July said.
“They will attack this evening and attempt to take over the town. If they do, they’ll put all of us to the sword—young and old, strong and weak. Wherever the Teuton puts his foot, misery follows. We need your help.”
“Finally.” May said.
“On one condition.” Ember said, and raised a finger, “We’re about the same size, aren’t we?”
#
An hour afterwards the Yellow Team had taken over the shop of a tailor for a base of operations. Ember had appropriated Ui’s lady armor and, with the help of an equally female squire, somehow gotten into it. Her estimate that Ui was the same size as her turned out to be lacking, although not to a show-stopping extent. July was taking pictures of her with her own Cell, which was the only way she could think of to get whole-body images of herself without a mirror. There were no mirrors in the article setting.
“Great shot! Blow us a kiss. Natter will be beside itself.” SOFI called from the phone speaker. Ember did was she was told, kissing the demi-gauntlet away from her face. SOFI practically squealed, and activated the shutter herself after it became clear that July had tired of the role of photographer.
“I’m done.” July said, putting the phone down, “I thought you wanted to protect yourself, but it’s looking like that ain’t the case.”
“Perish the thought.” Ember said, touching her hand to her heart in feigned offense, then more earnestly: “…can’t I have more than one motivation?”
Her cream-colored sweater had passed down to May, who eventually grew so tired of swimming in it that she threw it to the floorboards in a fit. When Ember got her phone back, she captured the sweater into her inventory. The armor was pleasantly lighter and more maneuverable than she thought it would be, though obviously there was a price. It wasn’t exactly full plate, either—she wasn’t bound up in a tin can. There were plenty of places left for the Teutonic Knights to get at her squishy parts. She was the only one who had decided on armor. May wasn’t tall enough for that particular ride, and December declined any for himself on the grounds that he preferred speed. If the question became operative for May, Ember imagined she would have a similar response. July was clearly taken with the idea of dressing up in armor, but said he would have felt guilty for using any that belonged to someone else. Ember tried to impress upon him the fact that the only people risking their lives were the four in the room, and though he agreed with her in principle he still could not bring himself to do so in practice.
After Ember’s photo shoot a tense quiet settled in.
“So, a strategy.” she said, then looked to each of them. July—the soldier. May—the player of games. December—the… whatever he was. Could she offer up a strategy that was superior? Probably not. “What do you think, December?”
December had been doing something on his Cell, but looked up to respond when Ember said his name. She was curious about what he was up to, given there was no cellular coverage in the article. Perhaps he’d installed solitaire.
“Right now it is a battle of attrition. We have no way of recharging, so we should take the quickest routes and avoid unnecessary fighting. We could ignore the defense of the town and proceed to the castle—our objective—directly. We can assume a majority of the Teutonic Knights will be on the offensive, so we four could skip fighting them. We could even ally with the Teutonic Knights instead, who are said to outnumber the Pomerelians. Alliance with the Teutons is an ideal option, since it would allow us to bypass this portion. We don’t know what lays beyond the castle.”
“Hmm.” Ember said with a nod, “Also, according to SOFI, we are at a disadvantage in that our resources were depleted by infighting. We’re weaker than we might be.”
“Get good!” May said indignantly.
“Hold on right there.” July said, looking suspiciously at December, “You’re talkin’ about goin’ back on our word, and maybe even joinin’ the bad guys?”
“Who cares. It’s just a game.” May said. Ember was apt to agree with her, but it seemed July didn’t see things that way.
“Hold on, May. What did you say?” Ember said, and made a motion of snapping her fingers.
“‘Who cares?’”
“No. It’s a game! Think—when you play a game and it gives you a moral choice, which one is usually more rewarding? It’s the good one, right?”
“Yes…” May said with disappointment. December looked to her, and then back to Ember.
“More rewarding in those fairy stories, perhaps, but in our present situation, with three members below 50% and dogged by an unknown adversary, it might be a choice between a smaller reward and our very lives, rather than one of larger versus smaller.”
“We might not be able to do it without Ui, at all.” Ember said. December breathed in.
“I suppose you all know more about games, and given we are in one I’ll defer to you on the point. If we’re fighting, the two with bows should hang back. July and I should fight defensively, avoiding the drain of recovery, and wherever possible substitute the sacrifices of the Pomerelian knights and regulars for our own.” he said.
“Hang back! Why did I cram myself into this armor, then?” Ember said, and folded her arms. May also looked like she had an objection.
“The only reason I bought the Cellbow was to rush with Storm Arrows. Don’t lump me in with Merida.” she added, just as strenuously. May’s stock of nicknames for September continued to grow.
“Oh, hey, have you got any of those cool arrows left?” Ember asked. May shook her head negatively.
“Can’t say I feel right about puttin’ others in harms way.” July said. Ember could see she hadn’t quite gotten through to him on the point about whose lives were at stake. December put two fingers on his temple and thought for a second, taking a deep breath in through his nostrils as he regarded his young charges. A man who followed his own advice, at least.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“Then, how about this: we go out there, put the Teutonic Knights to bed, and show Noumea and the other teams who their rightful rulers are.”
Ember pointed at him in approval of his plan. Just then Ui stepped through the door of their improvised headquarters in an even sexier set of armor than she had on an hour ago, a set whose aptly named breastplate sported the fabled cleavage window. A bounty of Ui’s perfect skin was on display, and it was safe to say that such a character was not period accurate. The men did not complain, and even normally stoic December took notice. Ember looked to May hoping to share something of what she felt, and found only the girl staring up at her smugly, as if she herself had been the one to show her up.
“You’re going to fight in that?” Ember said to Ui, claws out. Ui simply raised her eyebrows and nodded at her gently. Behind her a few servants filed in carrying various pieces of gear.
“Sir July,” Ui started.
“Just July, if you would. I’m no sir, never will be.” July said. Ui nodded to him.
“A deserter of similar stature left this armor in his flight. Please accept it as a gift, and be protected in his place.”
“Aw. If… it’ll make you happy. I’ll wear it.” he said, rubbing his head and looking down, blushing like a boy. Ui smiled at him. Ember sniffed audibly, finding the scene ridiculous.
“Hey, you found him a full set of armor, and you can’t even get me a shirt? I’m freezing here.” May whined. Ui looked her over with distant eyes, then turned back to July.
“I’ll see you on the battlefield.” she said with a smile, and put a hand on his shoulder.
#
“Something fishy about that Ui.” Ember said as she stalked through the narrow streets of Gdańsk with a frown etched into her face. December and May were close on her heels. The clouds from earlier were shooing off to the west, revealing a low hanging sun whose shining warmth offset the coolness of the early evening air. The three of them had left July behind, where he was undergoing the lengthy process of getting into a suit of armor. May jogged up to get alongside Ember, her expression becoming the Form of smugness.
“Right, yeah? A man fawning over a pretty woman. Never happened before. Weird.” May said, enjoying Ember’s consternation greatly, “Hey Ember, July was like that at first, around you, right? Before he got used to you. You’re a pretty girl, aintcha?”
Ember imagined herself wheeling around and bringing her demi-gauntlet right down on May’s nose. She did not, and let the sweet fantasy go. Violence begets violence.
“What makes you say that?” December said.
“Intuition.” Ember said under her breath.
December remained silent on the point, which was probably the best decision he could have made.
“SOFI, is Ui a Superuser?” she said, trying to work backwards from her conclusions to find the evidence. It wasn’t great practice, but at least she was aware of it.
“No Cell, so no.” came the immediate response from her Eos.
“Odd, don’t you think? All the other ‘knights’ are.”
“It is.” December admitted, “What do you propose we do?”
“Just don’t let your guard down, is all I’m saying.” Ember said.
“Why are you telling us?” May said. Ember bit her lip.
“Because there’s no point in telling him. I’m worried for his safety.” Ember said, stopping and turning around. December nodded towards her.
A bell started ringing continuously, and the first screams began to to rise up. The battle was starting earlier than expected. Just as she was on the point of suggesting they go back for July, the alley they were going down was closed off by three sword-wielding shapes on either side. In the dimming light of evening the Cellblades of their adversaries shone out clearly, making a stark contrast with their period costume. There was just enough light to resolve the thick black cross on the front of their white tunics and the bucket helms that identified them as Teutonic Knights.
In spite of her earlier objections, a natural fear of close combat led Ember to draw the Cellbow Gesture right away. May took time out of her schedule to roll her eyes through her skull in contempt at Ember’s choice, and then went for her rapier. December’s Cellblade, which she hadn’t yet seen, turned out to be a black two handed sword which was probably taller than May herself. The edge was the blue-gray of gunmetal.
Instead of being drawn from, his Gates Cell became integrated into the wide ricasso at the base of the blade, similar to how it remained in the riser of a Cellbow. Summoning it looked to be a two part Gesture—one to get the hilt to form, and another quick diagonal swipe threw the blade out the other end. May and December chose opposite directions, leaving Ember standing in the middle with the decision of who to support.
May bolted off with the energy of a sprinter, while December appeared to be in no particular hurry, resting the flat of his blade on his shoulder. Since he was walking slowly and in a straight line Ember turned to his side and whipped and arrow so close by his shoulder that it might’ve severed a thread on the seam. The thunk sound of stone being thrown against a water-filled bucket was all the sign that the arrow had achieved its mark.
The lead knight on December’s side raised his hands to his throat and then fell forward without a sound, since Ember had taken his voice and jugular simultaneously with a clean shot through the neck. December turned his shoulders towards her to give her a smile and a two-fingered archer’s salute, which she took to mean that he was fine. He then flicked the blade off of his shoulder and went into a ready stance.
Ember turned to May and beheld a lot of sound and fury and a surplus of gymnastic wushu from her side, but little in the way of imminent victory. Between the girl’s shorter reach, dueling-style sword, and thin Gesture library, three opponents simply had too many opportunities to threaten her, and so she became embroiled in defense. Ember doubted it would even be possible to defend from her position if her reflexes and the like hadn’t been heightened.
In her zeal to keep them from getting behind her May was slowly losing ground. Ember waved her bow back and forth, straining at full draw to find an opening. Because of May’s wild and rapid movements, there was no safe way to get an arrow through in support. Eventually she gave up on the idea and went for her Cellblade and her new favorite ability, Shatter. Using it, she broke through the wooden wall of the alley and into a house where a pair of shocked peasants were huddled into the corner. She flashed them a nervous grin and waved, but it did nothing to ease their terror.
After she got into the main street she doubled back to the fight and flanked the enemies assailing May in the alley. After reapplying Shatter to her Cellblade she lunged at one of them from behind, aiming for his heart from behind. His breastplate broke into hundreds of pieces instantly, and her blade sailed on through as if it wasn’t there. She shucked the man off of her sword and backed away, leaving him to writhe on the ground and still a few moments later. Right through his heart. Of the remaining pair, one of them turned around and crossed swords with her. Now that she was no longer being harried by three people, May overwhelmed her single opponent instantly. With the power of long frustration the girl moved so quickly to jam her pink-edged rapier into his eye slot that all Ember saw of it was the result.
Ember went on the defensive and held off her man, not taking any risks, figuring that May would have an easier time of it from the back. She was right. As soon as the first one toppled, May hamstrung Ember’s opponent and bared her teeth wildly for a savage finish, threading her thin blade through a gap near the back of his neck and then through his spine and torso, as a misericorde. All Ember had to do was watch the girl’s ecstatic face as the last one went down to know that there was something really wrong with her.
She turned around to see December on his end was about halfway through a cigarette. Both of the Teutonic Knights had fallen headless not far from where Ember had seen them last. She was sorry she missed the show, and wanted to imagine they both went out in one swing. Their armor and especially their bucket-shaped helms had the nice side effect of censoring the worst of it. July came up the alley then at a hustle, bedecked in his shining armor. In one hand he had his white longsword with the green edge, and in the other he had a spare heater shield from the Pomerelians.
“Huh, y’all started without me.” he said. December threw the cigarette into a puddle and hiked the sword back onto his shoulder.
“July!” Ember said excitedly as she ran over to him, “You’re okay.”
“I’m okay? You’re the bloody one.” he said.
“It’s not mine. I just thought we made a mistake in leaving you behind.”
“Nah. Looks like the right decision to me.” July looked over at the corpses of the fallen Teutonic Knights, “What are we standin’ around for? Let’s roll.”
They hurried over to where they were to meet Ui and the other defenders. It wasn’t, as Ui called it, a ‘battlefield.’ It was a melee in the streets involving at least three hundred armed men, one in which the Pomerelians were getting the short end. On seeing the volume May and Ember both went straight for the Cellbow, which allowed Ember to prove her decisive superiority in that department. In the confusion roughly one out of every five of May’s black arrows wound up sticking out of a friendly. Ember fared better. She was loosing so many that she was worried they would run out of the yellow arrows in whatever extradimensional storeroom they were coming from. She didn’t know how fast those imps could fletch.
They each scrambled atop the same overturned cart to get some height, and the boys kept the Teutons from getting close. That is, they did until July saw something he didn’t like. Ui, whose whirling silver tresses and sexy armor Ember had been inadvertently following, got the worst of it in an encounter with a gigantic Teuton and tumbled backwards onto the dirt. Her weapon, which was an ordinary longsword and not a Cellblade, went flying away out of reach. Ember heard her girlish cry.
“Ui!” July yelled, and fought through the crowd towards her. Ember aimed the arrow down at the Teuton threatening the silver-haired beauty. Her aggressor was raising a great axe—which was not a Cell weapon either, she noticed—high in the air to deliver a deathblow to the dazed woman. Ember hesitated, considering letting her die. Why not? It was not as if Ui was a real person. Ultimately her conscience interceded and loosed the arrow for her. It was a longer shot and struck the Teuton in the wrist. He fumbled the axe and it buried in the ground next to Ui, and it gave July enough time to make it there and mount a proper defense. Ember noticed May was looking at her with a smug expression, a look which she’d seen quite enough of from the girl.
“I saw that.” she said.
When the battle in the streets wound down, the Yellow Team and the Pomerelians stood victorious, a result not supported by the history written in the chalkboards Ember had been perusing since her arrival. By number of kills she (at 39) had become Death, destroyer of worlds, but according to May (21) archery ‘didn’t count.’ Judging from the reactions of others May might have been onto something, since neither she nor Ember received much of the back slapping that followed the victory. Thanks mostly went to July (12) over his saving Ui, and to an equal degree December (22) simply due to the hugeness of his sword.
While the knights and soldiers reformed to march on the castle on the hill, Ember dragooned Ui’s squire into getting her out of the lady armor. It was ultimately uncomfortable, hadn’t helped her, and only reminded her at every turn how she’d been decisively shown up. When she caught up to the formations July was alongside Ui, whose side he had taken since her near death experience. The castle was a shorter structure of red brick, with long straight walls and rounded parapets. It looked like an especially nice library compared to the masterworks of late medieval fortresses, albeit one with no windows. Near the castle gates and in the company of stray enemy arrows, SOFI delivered a typically tardy bit of advice.
“Are you thinking of using Shatter on the castle gate?” SOFI said. Ember held her Cell out parallel for SOFI to come out and stand on, which the fairy did.
“Yes.” Ember said, and blinked. Why not? Why not use Shatter on everything. She was thinking about using Shatter the next time the door was on the wrong side of the room.
“Shatter and other scalable abilities have a variable battery cost. So if you Shatter something that big, it will cost you dearly.” SOFI said.
Ember covered her face.
“Could you have told me this earlier?”
“I could tell you lots of things. A good teacher picks her moment. Otherwise it’s all, ‘Hey, Listen!’ The longer I wait to tell you something, the more you appreciate it.”
“I think it’s the right moment to tell me how much this will cost.”
“As do I! You have 38% battery. After you break the gate you will have 10% remaining.” SOFI said.
“10%! That would make me nervous if I were out taking selfies with my friends. SOFI, that’s not even enough to recover after a severe injury, and we still have to fight the Mandate guardian.”
“Do you see any siege engines lying around? You are the siege engine!” SOFI said.
Ember turned to December angrily.
“What are your Gestures, anyway? Do you have any?” she said. She’d seen December cut quite a swath with his impressive sword, but had yet to see him use a single Gesture.
“Miss, be thankful that one of us has kept his powder dry.” December said.
Since it was up to her, Ember gritted her teeth and rolled out the Cellbow. She made the Gesture for Shatter and at full draw she saw the golden yellow arrow take on a glowing blue tip and vanes, signifying it was infused with the process effect. She sent it sailing off towards the tree-thick door of the castle and it stuck in it with a thud. For a moment nothing happened, then a multitude of dendritic fissures spread across it accompanied by a chorus of cracking sounds. With dismay she watched as the numbers of her remaining battery rolled perilously backwards, a hard landing at ten percent accompanied by a loud boom from the castle. The door had broken apart, and then lots of cheering and battle cries. There would be no siege. December, May, July, and the Pomerelians poured forth into the lightly manned castle, and Ember stood behind in a daze.
“I’m disabling Bluetooth, WiFi, cellular, dimming the screen, and going to sleep. That means I won’t be listening unless you hold down the center button to wake me. This will help save our remaining battery.” SOFI said.
“Okay.”
“Oh come on September. Buck up! You’re still alive. With an attitude like yours, however, that could change. SOFI out!”
“SOFI.” Ember said. No response. She held down the center button and SOFI popped out. No chiton dress this time—crescent moon print pajamas, and a pillow she held in front of her.
“What’s up?” SOFI said.
“May and December know I’m weak.” Ember said, “July doesn’t seem to be on my side either. You—the wisest—have you got any advice?”
“Nice to finally see you recognize my wisdom. You can’t change the things that have happened already, but you can change your reaction. Even those wolves will see you through a time of weakness if you promise them future strength.”
Ember took a deep breath, as someone once recommended to her. The promise of strength. She saw now that was what she laughed at when she laughed at May. She laughed because it was funny how wrong she herself had been, she who’d been endlessly told by the peddlers of platitudes not to give up, and who thought she understood, but had never seen what it meant in all its absurd, humiliating glory until she happened upon someone who really, truly, didn’t. Unreasonable, unintuitive, indecorous, unacceptable persistence. If she had even a drop of the medicine that inoculated May against shame. Not the whole dose, mind you. That’d be crazy.
She looked down at her little Agent and gave her a nod. By the time SOFI dove back into the Cell, Ember had missed the eager press inward and was the only person who remained outside of the castle gates. She drew in another deep breath and passed the threshold.