Day 1 of the Falling

It had been a mad dash, a scramble with little rest.

Tara had arrived from the Tower with news of the Falling Fields. The first Orbs would arrive in the Wilds to the south of Pittsburgh, west of Baltimore. The region in question was rugged terrain, hilly and forested. There would be long stretches where travel by Footfield would be difficult or impossible, and armies would be hindered. Some Fallings were like that, with armies featuring less as teams of Griidlords raced from Orb to Orb. Other Fallings occurred in wider, flatter zones, and there the game was dominated by Griidlords moving troops into position to possess and protect Orbs.

In terms of logistics, it wasn’t terrible but was far from ideal. The eastern location of the Falling Field would hinder Western cities. Their Griidlords would have to travel further and longer to return to their home Towers with Flows or for healing. Their supply trains would be more complicated. For Boston, the distance was moderate. The challenge lay in the proximity of other cities. It would be a busy, frantic Falling. Our supply train wouldn’t be so challenging but would be at risk of interception with so many cities nearby. Cities like Baltimore, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati would have substantial advantage. They would be within easy reach of their home cities. If they captured an Orb, they would be able to deposit their Flows and return to action quickly.

The journey to the Falling Fields was only a few hours. We had made our first camp far to the west of New York.

Darkwater and Ironveil had knowledge of the area. They directed us to a hilltop that was defensible with good sightlines. The first task for the thousands of men that accompanied us would not be to fight, but to build.

When we arrived at the hilltop, the machinery of the Boston military took over. Scout riders departed in teams in every direction. They would attempt to locate and identify the encampments of rival cities, scour the land for Orbs that had fallen, and watch the skies for signs of Orb Falls. The bulk of the men were put to work sawing trees and unpacking barricades that had traveled on wagons. In hours, the hilltop would become our home from home, a makeshift fortress that would give us refuge.

I stood among the bustle. Everywhere I looked, men were moving with urgency. The nobles that traveled with us trotted through the activity, their eyes watchful. They issued no orders when they saw something not to their liking. They passed their comments to officers and allowed the officers to arrange the corrections.

I stood, lost in thought, my eyes straining to the sky, seeking the first sign of the first Orbs. The pressure I felt was indescribable. It all started to matter now. All the chants and cheers the crowd had heaped on me during the Choosing felt so long ago, and yet I remembered the words, the feelings, the hopeful faces with terrible clarity. They had hailed me as the people’s champion. They expected me to make something out of this season, to make things better for them. The common man on the street had no appreciation for the progression I was expected to go through. There was a childish belief among the lower classes that the fortunes of Boston could be reversed in a single season.

I was too distracted to feel the boots crushing the grass behind me. When the huge, heavy hand slapped my shoulder, I visibly jumped with fright.

Chowwick almost shouted, “Are you excited, lad? Can you smell it? There’s battle coming. Battle and glory and fortunes to be made.”

I turned to him and smiled weakly. When he saw the conflicted expression on my face, his own boisterous vision dissolved with empathy. “Now, lad, don’t be like that. It’s exciting. We know what we’re in for this season; we’ll take what we can get. You’ve a long time in the suit yet to be showing the world what you can do. I don’t doubt it’ll be something. But it’s not all about today, or this season.”

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I had no response for him. I wanted to tell him that it did matter. That there were people back in Boston waiting for us to change things. That there were fields to be worked. That there were coffers to be refilled. I wanted to tell him that there were people who doubted me, who didn’t believe in me yet. I didn’t know how to explain to him how important it was to me to correct those doubts, to prove to them all that I was the right choice for Boston. But I couldn’t find the words. I knew how childish and inexperienced I would sound if I proclaimed my intentions to do more than maintain the status quo.

Chowwick stepped up alongside me and joined me in surveying the sky. He said, “I’m gettin’ a sense of you, lad. You leveled up like a monster the last few weeks. I shudder to think about what your limits, your ceiling might be. You did a lot for the city by gaining those levels. You won’t be useless to us this year, and that alone is a boon that’s hard to reckon with. But you need to keep an eye on yourself. I know I sure as shit will. You’ve got a demon in you, lad. Taking Doom on all by yourself… You got notions… The Falling is about picking your battles. The Falling is all about living to fight another day. If there’s an Orb we can’t claim, it does us no good to get knocked out of the fight for days or weeks and still not win it. Do you ken?”

I nodded. “You want me to be prepared to retreat if we can’t win a fight.”

“Not just that, lad. I want you to be thinking about it all the time. Let those fat arses call the shots. It’s not their first go-round the merry-go-round. Every time we fight for an Orb and don’t win it, we’ll take damage, we’ll lose men, and then we’ll be less ready to take another one. It’s about picking our fights and knowing when to let go of ’em as well.”

I noticed Magneblade stalking towards us. His sulking aggression had transformed into something more like an excited eagerness. His helm was unfolded, his rough face and short ragged beard exposed to the air. I had noticed over the weeks that Magneblade and Chowwick had a tendency to pass time together. There was something shared between them that I couldn’t identify.

Magneblade surprised me when he spoke. I had expected him to contradict Chowwick. Magneblade seemed to have been waiting for the next Falling since the last had ended. The man existed for battle in a way the other four of us could hardly fathom.

Magneblade said, “When a retreat is called, retreat. We, Chowwick, Tara, me—we won’t pull out of a fight without you. You’re our Sword. You might be a child, but you’re one of us—our leader, our family. But consider this: if you stay in a hopeless fight, force us to stay with you, then you risk all of us. Don’t do that for nothing.”

I said, “I… I didn’t expect that from you.”

Magneblade cocked an eyebrow.

I said, “Retreat talk. You live for this stuff. It’s obvious you’ve been waiting for battle…”

Magneblade looked at me. Those fierce eyes narrowed, and I nearly flinched. I feared I had made a mistake, insulted him. Then his face relaxed, and his mouth burst open, barking laughter. “You think I’d have lived this long if I didn’t know how to give up on a lost cause? I do love it! I love fighting. I love the smell of blood, the feel of meat parting beneath my axe. Crossing blades with a worthy foe is better than bedding a troop of fine women. But I know when my match is met as well. If you don’t know when to get out, you’ll never live to see the next fight.”

Chowwick elbowed me. “He says that now, lad. But wait till he’s got an enemy Sword in his sights, or another Axe to knock the shit out of. Watch how hard it is for him to peel himself away from battle then. Watch how easy he doesn’t come running when the horns blow retreat.”

Magneblade seemed almost sulky at that. He scowled darkly. “I still leave when I need to leave.”

Chowwick slapped him on the shoulder as well. As big and powerful as both Magneblade the man and Magneblade the suit were, the blow turned him. Chowwick said, “Aye, you will at that. But don’t go tellin’ the lad it’s easy. He’s got a little bit o’ your disease. He wants it all.”

Magneblade looked at me, assessing me. I think Chowwick’s comment had raised me in his estimations.

Magneblade opened his mouth to say something else but stopped as a cry went up from the camp.

“Orb Fall!”