Some of us didn’t strive for survival. Some of us simply wanted to watch the world burn.
Wilfrid Pember - Historian- The Start of the Apocalypse
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1. Silas Wycliffe - level 35 - Duellist
2. Sabine Gantzmann - level 33 - Blood Fist
3. Natalie Svoboda - level 31 - Cryomancer
4. Dominic Wood - level 31 - Squire
5. Iris Azer - level 30 - Healer
6. Faris Jabbar - level 29 - Mounted Archer
7. Ernst Kiefer - level 28 - Dragoon
8. Josh Thompson - level 28 - Antimage Brawler
9. Peng Qi - level 27 - Monk
10. Elise LeBeau - level 27 - Minister
11. Yuri Dmitriev - level 26 - Cleric
…
231. Tessa Flowers - level 18 - Alchemist
…
485. Rolf Ruttering - level 13 - Tactician
…
801. Feng Lan - level 2
Ernst’s voice rang through the otherwise silent hall. “We’ve got the horde coming in four hours so be on your best behaviour,” he said with a slight chuckle. He was a knife-thin man with curly blond hair and piercing blue eyes. Formerly a captain of Mike’s goons, he had defected to Sabine and benefited greatly from her rise.
Sabine, who was staring at the map, took over from him. “You know the drill - just kill them all and we’ll be done.”
There was a long pause in the hall until Josh pointedly coughed and spoke up. “Shouldn’t we at least have a plan? Where to position ourselves and what to do in case they break through? Rolf’s done it before for us.” The Tactician next to him lowered his head at the mention, self-aware of all the gazes turning to him.
“Plan? We don’t need a plan to squash insects, especially not from a coward who’s never fought in his life,” Sabine replied with equal amounts humour and contempt. “It won’t be difficult. All we have to do is wait around the portals and slaughter them as they come.”
Rolf’s cheeks flushed bright red. He swallowed his reply and bowed his head lower, his greasy hair dangling across his face. His glasses drooped off, and he had to hold them in place.
“Don’t tell me the mighty Antimage Brawler is scared?” Ernst taunted. Next to him sat Peng, the other captain from Mike’s faction who had defected. The stony-faced Asian smirked at his partner’s comment.
Frowning, Josh blinked at Ernst, then figured the fool wasn’t worth his time.
Sabine must have agreed with him as she barked at the Dragoon. “For fuck’s sake, shut your mouth and let’s get going - I’m getting bored just sitting here.”
****
- Seven hours later -
Knocking firmly, Josh waited some moments before Elise opened the door. The former mayor of Riverside welcomed him in and showed him to the living room. “We’ve only got water. Is that alright?”
“That’s fine,” he said, leaning back into the armchair. Hearing unsteady steps, he turned and respectfully nodded as Dom tottered into the room and dumped himself into a seat.
The former captain of the Riverside Constabulary took a moment to catch his breath. He was pallid and slighter than before, his face covered in a sheen of sweat which pasted his pencil moustache to his upper lip. The right arm which had used to spin his mace was now a pitiful stump - he had barely survived the fight as Iris had closed up the wound at the last moment.
“How are you doing, man?” Josh asked.
Dom shrugged. “Oh, I’m getting by, mate. I was just thinking about that fight again.” He wiped the sweat off his face, a bleak lack of light in his eyes. “Still, as Ellie says, no point in dwelling on the past. You must have finished the horde by now, right? How was it? Our new overlord didn’t give you trouble, did she?”
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“No trouble, at least not directly. Did Rolf come by earlier?” Josh asked.
This drew a chuckle out of Dom. “I don’t think he has the balls to face me, even now in my pitiful state. So, no, he didn’t come about.”
Elise came back and passed out cool glasses of water. “He’ll grow past his nerves with time,” she rebuked. “Why do you ask? Has something happened to him?”
Josh sighed and put his drink aside. “The horde was different this time, and we didn’t have a plan to account for it. It was giant crab things, but there were different types of them. These bulkier ones came out first and pushed us all back, only then followed by ones which could shoot water jets out of their mouths.” The blond waved at the numerous holes ripped through his armour. “I’ve got pretty high constitution, so I’m alright but a lot of the others.” He shook his head solemnly.
“How about Sabine’s goons?” Dom asked.
“Oh, they’re alright, at least Sabine, Ernst, and Peng. Their upgraded classes have enhanced their strength massively, but their lower-levelled members took a nasty beating like everyone else.”
Elise sipped at her drink. “I’m guessing she doesn’t care?”
Josh nodded. “Says it’s their own fault for being weak.”
“If I had an arm now,” Dom said in a grim tone.
Her eyes widening, Elise turned to him sharply. “Even if you had your arm now, she would murder you all the same. You saw what she did to Mike.”
“She’s left us alive because she wants to be challenged, so I might as well give her what she wants,” he replied just as hotly. “I’m not going to simply watch as she breaks apart everything we put together!”
Elise rolled her eyes. “Well, there’s nothing you can do, anyway.”
Sensing this was a conversation they had chewed over several times, Josh cut in. “How’s your arm though? Any better?”
Dom exhaled heavily like a bull, the anger blowing out of his nose as he took back his drained appearance. “Kind of, mate. I’m just waiting for Iris to reattach it - since it was chopped into pieces, she has to create the flesh to fill in the gaps and apparently that takes longer than just reversing the cut or whatever she usually does. Anyway, it’ll be at least a few more days until it’s done. Was she in the fight, by the way?”
“Oh, yeah,” Josh said. “I was with her; I escorted her home before coming here. She’s been down recently, but I guess it’s the same for all of us. She just wants Silas to come back and take back everything.”
Dom snorted and shook his head. “No point on waiting on him. Who knows when he’ll come back, if ever - maybe he finds his siblings and decides he likes their village better. No, we need to take back Riverside by ourselves. I’ve been thinking about it: Sabine’s still going ahead with the assault on the quarry, right? We’ll strike then.”
Groaning, Elise turned to him. “And what happened to Mr I won’t sink to their level?”
“And look where it got me, Ellie. Look where it got all of us,” he replied, this time with more grief than anger. “We can try to play fair but in the end, they’ll always dump us into the dirt like they did to Lazzaro, God bless his soul. There’ll always Graces and Mikes and Sabines readying to take our village and bring it down to ruin, and we won’t get anywhere if we hold dearly onto our dignities. Damn right I’ll sink to their level if it means someone like you is mayor again, if it means the people get a say again in the council, if it means the police stop harassing and start protecting again.” He paused and looked directly into Josh’s eyes. “What do you say, mate?”
Josh took a deep breath, then nodded. The common man had no future under Sabine, just like he had no future under her rule. He hoped he was doing it for the people, but even if he wasn’t, it didn’t change the fact that the Blood Fist had to go.
****
“Hey,” Faris said, offering a strained smile. He stood nervously by the doorway of what used to be Mike’s study.
“Come, take a seat,” Sabine said, amused. He sat down with care, his eyes darting between her and the chair as if it was a trap she was luring him into. She leaned forward, and he shrank back, before taking control of himself and holding still. “I heard you went with Silas and Raven to Lyfort?”
He visibly relaxed, tension bleeding from his posture. “Ah, yes. We went to hunt a troll but got caught by Order there. We woke up in Lyfort after that.”
“So you’ve seen their forces?” she asked, eyeing him closely.
He blinked at her and spoke slowly. “Sure? Maybe?”
“Pfft,” she rolled her eyes and leaned back. “What I mean is how much of their army came to aid us during the ratkin attack?”
“Oh, right. Well, I’d say a small part of their army considering they had thousands and thousands of people in Lyfort,” he answered.
“So you don’t think we can take them on?”
Faris forgot himself in that moment and chuckled, waving dismissively. “Not a chance - they would crush us. Why? Were you thinking about attacking them?”
Her lips curled wryly, “Maybe.” Kore had sent her his congratulations on becoming mayor, but she had no goodwill towards the Order. In fact, she had very little goodwill towards people in general: they were either tools to be used or fools to be fought. Ernst was a tool, Silas a fool who had gotten away, Dom a fool still in her grasp, and now she knew the Order was neither for the time being: she couldn’t use them, nor could she fight them for fun. Peering over at Faris, she wondered which the Arabian archer was.
“I heard you’re a bit of a playboy,” she said casually, relishing in the way his eyes widened and he flinched away from her.
He chuckled nervously. “Me? Oh, not a chance. I’m faithful to my late wife, may Allah have mercy on her soul.”
She raised an eyebrow pointedly. “Are you saying I’m lying, Mr Jabbar?”
Flustered, he waved his hands in front of him. “Not a chance, ma’am. I was simply—”
She moved to him in a heartbeat and slapped him crisply. “Good, I don’t like being called a liar.” She grinned wolfishly. “Now pull down those ugly trousers before I slap you again.”
____
I don’t know where Silas is, and I don’t think he’s coming back anymore. Sabine has taken over the village completely, and everyone’s scared to go against her. They hear the tales of what happened, and they hide in their houses, but their fear is nothing on us who saw her crush Mike’s head.
I can’t believe that this is the same Sabine as at the start. She was always eager for battle and derisive, but now she’s become cruel and bloodthirsty. Even worse, her attitude rubs off on her goons, especially on Ernst who’s been going around stirring up every hornet’s nest he could find. I think he’s always been this way, only now his upgraded class gives him the power to back it up.
Actually, I lied earlier: there is someone who’s willing to go against Sabine, but I think he’s just acting stupid again. Dom’s changed since his arm got chopped off - he’s becoming brooding and darker. I’ve heard rumours he means to take on Sabine as soon as he gets his arm back, so I’m taking my time in healing it. I guess I don’t really know what I’m stalling for, but maybe I can think of something in that time?
Iris Azer - Diary - Day 32 on Idroa