Marquis Flintbender wore loose, purple pajamas. There were huge dark circles underneath his eyes and even his mustache was droopy. Either in an attempt to keep himself awake or because a chair would make him look even shorter, the dwarf remained standing behind his table while signing papers in rapid succession.
“Phoenix academy’s students have arrived Sir,” his secretary announced. She then parted the sea of documents in front of him and stood to the side, right below a double axe that was afixed to the wall. This axe was large even for a giant, with two rows of purple crystals imbedded inside the handle.
“Welcome, welcome,” said the dwarf in a gruff voice while still signing papers.
"Is that real?" asked Natalie.
The marquis signed away, and by the time he looked up, the girl had lowered her hand. “You will be assigned to count Dominic Acker on the left side of the front. This should be easy enough,” the dwarf clapped his hands. “Off you go.”
The three groups had waited for more than an hour for this meeting, and it ended in less than three minutes. The secretary assigned a dwarven policeman to guide them to their next destination. He wore dark-red metal armor and had a one-handed battle axe on his waist .
“If I knew we would be traveling so much today, I would’ve eaten a heartier breakfast,” Michael muttered.
"We'll eat when we get there," sighed Finn.
The normal coming and goings of Trident's citizens created a stark contrast with the crew of misfits. Children of all five species were splashing in shallow lakes, the size of playgrounds. They played with corals, fish, and toys while completely ignoring the disheveled teens armed to the teeth that were walking past them.
“Remember how Miss Martha said the different species hated each other?” Tommy smiled gently. "Perhaps things have changed."
“Hmph,” Luca smirked. "Of course they tolerate each other here. Come by my village sometimes, pretty boy. We'll give you a reality check."
As for why cooperation was so necessary at the empire's border, the answer was a bit further ahead. At a certain point, the city ended and a 100 feet tall, 10 feet wide wall blocked their path.
Dwarven axemen patrolled in front of the walls, and dwarven archers and mages patrolled the top. After the police officer presented them, the group was guided through two sets of gates so narrow, Yeren almost didn’t fit through them.
When they reached the other side of the wall, beyond the beautiful city and its water parks, there was nothing but the desolation of war.
The teens stepped on sand, for concrete was no more. About 50 round, tent-like buildings with tiny windows, and made out of bricks were arranged close to the wall. There was a flag on top of each of them depicting a black trident being sliced in half by a purple axe.
Beyond these buildings was a long beach at the end of which around 200 mercenaries fought significantly fewer enemies.
Finally, a row of old, dust covered catapults and ballistas was placed in front of the military camp in order to exterminate the monsters if they ever got close.
‘Are these just for show?’ thought Finn while he and the others were guided to their tent. It was another empty round building with no bathroom or even carpets to sleep on.
“Report for duty at eight,” the dwarven soldier who guided them pointed at the numbers on the wall near the entrance. There was a blue crystal embedded in the middle of them, and it showed a clock as if it was carved into the brick itself.
“Where do we shower?” asked Natalie.
“Where do we eat?” asked Michael.
“How does this work?” asked Annie while touching and almost disabling the clock.
“Don’t touch that!”
After Annie backed off, the soldier left towards the wall without another word. It took the teens hours of roaming around the camp and getting yelled at by superiors before they finally located the necessary facilities.
By the time evening came around, they were underslept, but at least their bellies were half full and they were clean. Of course, this would not last for much longer.
Warriors from all five species had gathered near the catapults and ballistas. Some carried large shields and spears, others bows, swords, and even staves. There were even a few brawlers among them, usually Giants and beast people with which Yeren immediately became friends.
Everyone seemed relaxed minus the newest arrivals. Luca’s group formed a defensive circle around their leader, and Finn was lost in thought thinking about how everything would play out.
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“Do you see anything?” Annie’s voice pulled him out of his reverie.
Michael and Natalie had climbed on top of a catapult, and Tommy was politely requesting permission from a giant to use his back as a footstool in order to do the same.
“Get down, now!” a woman shouted so loud Natalie lost her foothold and fell. Michael caught her and they both climbed down in a hurry while 20 dwarven knights advanced from the barracks.
They were dressed from head to toe in steel armor, and one could barely even see their eyes. Their leaders, on the other hand, looked slightly different.
One was a buff woman with blonde hair tied neatly behind her back. She wore a red uniform with three medals strapped near her liver and had a simple rapier on her hip with two blue crystals on each side of the crossguard.
Finn expected her to start dishing out orders, but she kept her pace one foot behind a certain teen. ‘Skinny, out of shape, and dressed like a clown.’ The 19 year old boy looked more like a goblin than a dwarf. His armor had abs and there were so many medals on his chest it almost gave him breasts. ‘You can’t possibly mean…’
“My name,” the bloke started talking, “is Dominic Acker... Junior.” That last word he almost whispered. “My father told me to whip you lot into shape, and by Loki, I will.”
As if on cue, half the crowd stopped listening. Yeren was testing his strength against a fellow giant. Luca started talking strategies with his priests, while Michael tried to kiss Natalie behind Finn’s back.
“Pay attention.” Natalie elbowed him in the gut while staring at the female officer as if she was a second Mr. Griffin.
“You will listen to me,” the dwarf raised his voice. “You will listen...” Nobody was looking at him anymore. “Ah, screw it. Prepare for combat.”
“Prepare for combat!” the woman repeated, and they both retreated behind their knights.
Left on their own, the more experienced warriors took their positions. Melee fighters walked to the front, while mages and archers stayed behind.
“Kids,” a well-built human mercenary with one arm called out to the latest arrivals. “Get in position.”
“What position?” asked Finn
“What are you talking about?” blurted Luca.
The mercenary waved them over with a wink.
Both teens frowned, and Luca started talking. “We can’t possibly be going into battle already. We haven’t had any training. This formation is shit. What’s stopping these amateurs from shooting my team in the back?”
Luca pointed at the archers and the mages that had already assembled, and Finn looked at the sky, pretending not to know him. His thinking was along the same lines, but this was a bit much. ‘At least he didn’t lump me with them.’
“And this guy hates my guts.” Luca now pointed straight at him. “Am I supposed to trust a half-breed with my life?”
‘Now you have trust issues?’ Finn sighed and added: “He’s right. You look like you have experience,” he told the one-armed mercenary. “What’s going on?”
Since Junior was having lunch whilst guarded by his knights, this mercenary was their only chance at an explanation.
“Have you kids ever fought monsters before?” the mercenary asked while scratching his head.
“Yes.”
“Dumb as shit, strong as hell,” Michael clenched his fist and Finn refrained from nodding in approval.
“What he said.”
“Then, you know they act on instinct.” The mercenary pointed towards the north. “Most of those creatures are fighting the Marquis' army in the middle of the front. They go there because the army is there, and the army is there to draw them in.”
“And here?” asked Tommy.
“Stragglers, weaklings, beasts who are too low in the food chain to compete.”
“We leave in five minutes!” the woman officer’s voice resounded through the camp.
“Get in positions,” the mercenary said once more and this time Finn and Luca’s teams complied. There were more than 100 melee warriors in the front and slightly fewer ranged ones in the back. The formation was haphazard and there were basically two lines stretched across the sand.
“Does this remind you of something?” Tommy gave his friends a look.
“We fight together!” shouted the one-armed mercenary. “But, more than anything, protect your own.”
Battle cries resounded in the crowd. Dominic spilled his wine and cut his picnic short. Since the troops were marching into battle without him, he quickly got up and followed along with his knights.
“Remember!” he shouted. “You all answer to me! My orders are final!”
Finn and Luca gave each other a look. Although their thoughts differed slightly, their conclusions were the same: ‘If there’s trouble, we have each other’s backs,’ and ‘If the stick man talks, we don’t hear a thing.’
[Underneath the waves, somewhere in the endless ocean.]
The lone creature had almost reached its destination. Its lips curled up for it was excited to meet its master. Those same lips trembled for much the same reason.
There was a wall of flesh in the middle of the ocean, so the creature made its bubble go up. The flesh parted, and a thousand eyes focused on the tiny creature.
It was close enough to see its own reflexion in those eyes: its green skin and its malnourished body. Surely, a goblin wasn’t much to look at, but the creature felt pride upon seeing its own figure.
On top of the wall of flesh was more of the same: more flesh and more eyes. But, there was also something else, something which made the goblin’s face turn blue.
There was a being at the top playing with two round, black crystals the size of a volleyball each. After a while, the being opened its palm and started creating a third. Mana was sucked into the being’s palm as if into a vortex.
It coalesced and concentrated to an impossible degree until it went from yellow, to orange, to blue, to purple, and finally, to black.
The being noticed the goblin, and the goblin prostrated itself on the mountain of flesh. No words were exchanged, and after a moment, one of the black balls rolled towards the goblin’s bubble.
The goblin took the ball, prostrated once more, and then left.