West of Yavin’s Crossing
11:30 AM
Tantalus stood on the platform between the train cars, wind whipping through his black hair. With a probing thumb, he lightly prodded the two stumps that remained where his index and middle finger had previously been. Three days. His fingers would grow back in three days, but combat would certainly be upon them long before his fingers had time to regenerate. The train would reach New Arcadia before then, and their adversary would certainly not allow them to reach their destination so easily.
Reaching across his torso with his left hand, Tantalus withdrew the Luger pistol from his shoulder holster. Testing the dexterity of his off hand, he spun the pistol three times around his index finger before using the momentum of the spin to fling the pistol high into the air. With the ease of someone who had practiced this same technique a hundred times, Tantalus caught the pistol by its grip and leveled it against an imaginary enemy.
“Nice trick,” a voice from behind Tantalus said.
Tantalus turned to see the masked face of the man who had recently removed his trigger finger.
"I wouldn't be much of an S-rank if I didn't know how to shoot with my left hand," Tantalus muttered.
"Yeah, sorry about that," Izanagi scratched the side of his face. Brown stubble had started to form on his chin. "I should have known it was you as soon as we started fighting. The Viper School is pretty distinctive. You Scions were the only ones who were ever any good at knife fighting."
"Funny," Tantalus chuckled. "Most of us never even used knives. Ninety percent of the Scions trained in the Wolf School. Only a handful of weirdos like me decided to train specifically with knives. The rest recognized that reach was actually important in a melee fight."
"The Wolf School," Izanagi said thoughtfully. "It always seemed a bit too conventional for my taste."
"That reminds me. Did you ever get around to naming your fighting style?" Tantalus asked.
"Not really. The working title for now is Ittoryu." Izanagi answered.
"You and I both know that just means 'one sword,'" Tantalus said disapprovingly. Izanagi was about to speak again, but Tantalus held up a hand for silence. Tantalus scanned the nearby city as the train rolled passed.
Izanagi quietly spoke after a moment’s silence. “What do you see?”
Tantalus gestured to a series of buildings that now loomed large in the middle distance. Though the streets were empty, just like every previous settlement the train had come into contact with, large flags arranged in neat rows fluttered over the silent city. There must have been several dozen flags, each planted with military precision, and every flag was pure white.
“It’s time,” Tantalus muttered as he stepped back into the train car.
“Time for what?” Izanagi asked.
“The Deluvians are making their move,” Tantalus responded with grim determination.
----------------------------------------
Over the next five minutes, the train came to a sudden stop, and many of the Greycloaks went to see what caused the hold up. Destroyed vehicles, tree trunks, and other detritus had thoroughly blocked the train from moving forward. A sign, the kind one would expect to find hanging in front of a pub, laid on its side in front of the rubble. A single word was written in English on the front of the sign:
DIPLOMACY.
The train cars holding the Greycloaks were enveloped in chaos as the Captain ran around shouting orders to squad leaders, support staff, and line soldiers. Just like before at Yavin’s Crossing, the squads were told to spread out and look for enemies. This time, however, Tantalus made it clear that his soldiers were not to fire upon the enemy unless fired upon. Instead, they were commanded to return to the train and report the location of the contact.
Within just a few minutes, it was clear that they were completely surrounded. The squads sent out returned almost immediately with reports of Goblin units hiding in the shadows or barely-restrained Orc units stationed near their Ogre commanders.
A meeting - attended only by Tantalus, Izanagi, Maria Feldrast, and General Dogwood - was held. Those not in attendance cannot be certain what was said. There was a disagreement of some kind, but they ultimately decided to go along with the plan of Captain Tantalus.
----------------------------------------
There was a knock at the door. Slowly, Maria Feldrast went over to the door and opened it. A low-ranking officer stood there with a sheepish look on his face. Tantalus subtly holstered his pistol, and Izanagi stopped resting his hand on his sword.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“Sir,” the officer saluted the room in general, “a small unit of Goblins has approached the train. They are all carrying white flags, and they say they want to talk with our leaders.”
“We’ll attend the negotiations,” General Dogwood said gruffly. He was clearly annoyed. “Find our two greatest duelists. They will attend the negotiations as our bodyguards. When the negotiations break down, it’ll be good to have them.” Dogwood stormed out of the room and passed the sheepish officer.
The Greycloaks closest to Tantalus were waiting in the room to the rear of the mobile Situation Room, and they all rose to their feet as Tantalus and Izanagi approached.
“How did it go?” Eska asked.
“The conversation was a bit harsh, but they agreed to go along with my plan,” Tantalus said. “We’ll be deploying in the Regicide Formation.”
Redgrave and Synthwave nodded in acknowledgement before leaving the crowd of Greycloaks without a word. Most of the soldiers present did not understand the significance of these actions, but they didn’t ask any unnecessary questions.
“I want four others to come with me to the negotiation,” Tantalus said as he fiddled with the sword strap on his belt. He removed the rapier from his belt and handed it to FullDan without comment. “Naturally, I want Izanagi, FullDan, and Gator to come with me, but I’m not sure who the fifth should be.”
From his pocket, Tantalus gingerly removed the wand he had looted from the Wendigo. A look of dread passed over the Captain’s expression as he pulled his right arm’s sleeve back and revealed the forearm underneath. He grit his teeth in preparation as he grasped the wand with the three remaining fingers of his right hand.
“What are you doing!?” Pixie asked in alarm, causing others present to turn to her in confusion.
“Attunement…” Tantalus grunted without looking away from the wand.
Riemann let out a low whistle before saying, “Voluntarily? You’re braver than me, Captain.”
“Am I the only one who doesn’t know what ‘attunement’ is?” Gator asked.
“Second,” FullDan raised a hand.
“The primary purpose of this wand is to make the user more efficient when casting a certain kind of elemental magic,” Riemann explained. “I have only shared my findings with Tantalus and Pixie’s squad. In the process of investigating the wand, I accidentally attuned to it myself.”
Riemann pulled back his own sleeve to reveal rows and rows of Iron Script tattoo’d into his forearm. Some of the lines of script had been replaced with terrible horizontal burn marks that deformed the area just above his wrist.
“Even after twenty-four hours, I have barely any fine motor control in this arm,” Riemann said. Though his face appeared cheerful, the memory of pain burned behind his dull blue eyes. “The pain of attunement is… terrible. Imagine getting a tattoo all along your arm in a matter of three seconds. Actually casting a spell through the wand is much worse. The ink within your skin ignites as the spell is cast. To anyone without a healing factor, a single use of the wand would be permanently debilitating.”
“This game was designed by sadists…” FullDan muttered in terror.
“Here’s the thing,” Tantalus said, trying to suppress the anxiety in his voice, “it multiplies your casting potential by ten. We need that multiplier right now. And…” a grim smile appeared on the Captain’s face, “I’m not going to use this arm for anything else in the near future.”
Tantalus redoubled his focus on the wand and took several deep breaths. Just before he started the painful process of attunement, a voice broke him out of his trance.
“I’ll do it,” Pixie cried out. “I know all the same spells as you, Captain, and my mana pool is twice yours.”
Character Sheet
Name Pixie_Chix Level 10 Blood Points 100/100 Mana Points 45/45 Race Revenant Fortitude 10 Strength 8 Agility 13 Wisdom 14
Attribute Modifier: Mana Training (8)
“Is that right?” Tantalus said, considering it. “You’d lose use of an actually functional arm. Plus, we’re really going into the belly of the beast. You could die.”
“Don’t insult me,” Pixie said angrily. “My resolve to fight won’t falter just because things are dangerous."
Tantalus chuckled for a brief moment. He turned the wand over in his hand and threw it over to Pixie. “You have ten minutes, soldier.”
----------------------------------------
Ten minutes later, the delegation of Revenants and NPCs had formed into a single unit outside of the train. Tantalus cast a sidelong glance at Pixie who was trying to hide her left arm under her cloak. He had stood in the other room as Pixie attuned to the wand and tried to ignore the sobbing and pained screaming.
“It’s done?” Tantalus asked, confirming the situation in as few words as possible. He didn’t want to give Pixie cause to focus on the painful memory any more than necessary.
“Yes,” Pixie said, trying to sound brave. Her eyes were red with recently shed tears, though her resolve remained unbroken.
To the Captain’s other side stood the group of NPCs. Feldrast held a gnarled wooden staff in one hand, and General Dogwood wore a necklace and bracelets that Tantalus had not previously seen. The jewelry was all inset with expensive gems, and the Captain assumed that each served an important combat function.
One of the flag-wielding Goblins gestured for the group of Revenants and NPCs to follow. They followed the Goblins deep into the city. Soon, they would come into contact with a caliber of enemy for which they could not possibly be prepared.