Chapter 86: The White Flames
A few hours earlier...
Sapphire sat on a bench in the garden of the Monastery of the Stars. In one hand she held a book she was reading about the Goddess Eirene, and in the other a half eaten carrot. When she reached the last pages of the book, she leaned back and snapped it shut, staring up at the blazing hot evening sun still glaring down on her from above. She stood up and walked over to the fountain to splash some water over her face and ears and looked around to see a few of the children playing hide and seek in the garden, and spotted one hiding behind a bush who gave her a shushing gesture. Sapphire gave an approving nod and wink and walked away, pretending like she saw nothing as the other kids looked for the hiding boy.
With a yawn and a stretch she made her way into the monastery building through the hall where she saw Josephine having a serious conversation with the Great Prophet, and a large group of Eirene Priests, all fully equipped in Iron Armor.
“What’s happening?” Sapphire asked curiously as Josephine, the Great Prophet, and the priests all stopped their conversation to turn and look at her with expressions of worry and panic.
“Nothing the White Flames of Arallia can’t handle. We’ll be leaving the Monastery for a bit, but it’s safe up here, don’t worry. None of the bandit guilds mess with the priests or the monastery.” Josephine said to Sapphire before she marched out of the building with all of them. Sapphire watched them leave curiously before turning back to the doors of the prayer room. Standing out front of it waiting patiently was Priestess Clara, though she was beginning to nod off.
“Mind if I check on Aegis?” Sapphire asked Clara.
“Oh, nope, go right ahead.” She smiled with a nod, stepping aside from the door. Sapphire squeaked the wooden prayer room doors open to see Aegis still kneeling in front of the statue of Eirene, completely still and unaware of his surroundings. Sapphire walked up to Aegis and gave him a poke, and he had no reaction.
“Hm. Friends list still says he’s not even on the island of Arallia, says he’s in some place called Hrath’mir. Weird quest.” Sapphire shrugged as she saw in her interface she had a few messages from Quinn.
> “Is everything okay up at the Monastery?” Quinn messaged her.
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> “Yup.” Sapphire replied.
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> “Ok good. I just saw an army of guilds and soldiers leaving the city, lead by the White Flames. Looks like something is happening.” Quin said.
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> “Oh, yup, the Great Prophet and a bunch of priests just left as well.” Sapphire added.
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> “Be ready to leave quickly, just incase. It looks like Aegis might be finished his quest soon, based on his livestream.” Quinn replied.
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> “Wait, that means I won’t have time to buy some clothes from Yuki?” Sapphire pouted.
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> “Probably not.”
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> “What if I go right now, really fast?” Sapphire asked hopeful.
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> “Uh…” Quinn took a bit to respond. “Ok make it quick, you’ve still got a bit before Aegis figures it out. That quest he is doing is insane, did you watch his stream?”
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> “Yup, glad mine wasn’t that hard.” Sapphire replied. “I’m running as fast as I can!” She ended the conversation as she closed out of her interface and left the prayer room.
“I’m heading down the city really quick, you’ve got stuff handled here?” Sapphire looked to Clara and she gave a reassuring nod. “Super!” She gave a thumbs up before rushing out of the monastery. With great speed Sapphire was able to hop her way down the mountain and was back in the city of Arallia by nightfall. She noticed a lack of high level players present, and the number of guards around was a lot less as well, but headed to the townsquare and found the line outside of the tailoring shop of the famous tailor, Yuki’s Threads. The line was a lot shorter than it had been before, so Sapphire got excited and got in line. However, when she was 5th in line to enter the shop she watched as Yuki shut the doors and locked them.
“I’m sorry, but I have to close my shop.” Yuki called from behind a glass window in the doors. There were audible groans of disappointment from most of the players, but some near the front started yelling angrily.
“Screw that Yuki, this is going to be our last chance to get one of your clothing pieces!” A player called out to her angrily.
“Don’t say that, you don’t know what will happen.” Yuki replied worriedly.
“Oh c’mon, you really think the White Flames are going to save us?” Another player joined in.
“I think so.” Yuki smiled back nervously through the glass.
“Yeah right, that’s why you’re closing your shop and packing up all your items, right?” A player replied dismissively as the line dispersed. Sapphire watched the entire scene unfold curiously, until all the players were gone. While in the window taking the clothing equipment off one of her mannequins, Yuki locked eyes with Sapphire.
“You’re a high level player, are you not going to help them fight?” Yuki asked Sapphire curiously.
“Hm. I don’t really know what’s going on, but I’m from Kalmoore.” Sapphire shrugged.
“Oh, you must be the ones who arrived on the Airship.” Yuki smiled back at her.
“Yup.” Sapphire nodded.
“You might want to consider cutting your business here short and leaving, Arallia is being invaded by the Abyss.” Yuki said casually as Sapphire’s eyes went wide.
“Huh? Really?” Sapphire replied.
“Yes… the dark mist overtook the ledges of the island an hour ago and abyss monsters started swarming on, and just a few minutes ago 5 bosses appeared climbing up onto the island. I don’t know the details, but the White Flames and the guards are warning everyone to pack up their items and prepare for the invasion.” Yuki said as she motioned to Josephine walking through the streets with her army of Eirene Soldiers, and several guards. Sapphire had apparently gotten back to the city much faster than them by hopping down the mountain so quickly.
“Okay, thanks.” Sapphire said to Yuki as she turned to follow Josephine and her small army while opening up her interface to message Quinn.
> “It’s the abyss, it’s invading Arallia. That’s what everyone is mobilizing for.” Sapphire messaged Quinn.
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> “Shit. Okay. Aegis isn’t done with his quest but everyone else is done with their business. I’ll get the rest of them back to the Airship.” Quinn replied.
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> “What should I do?” Sapphire asked.
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> “Try to find out as much as you can about what's going on, and help them out a bit if you can. We need to buy a bit more time for Aegis.” Quinn replied.
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> “You really think I’m going to be able to do anything?” Sapphire asked.
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>
> “Of course.”
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> “If we die here there’s a good chance we lose a lot of our powerful gear.” Sapphire complained. “Shouldn’t we just leave?”
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> “Aegis’ quest is pretty serious, I don’t know if he’ll get another shot at it once he leaves that dungeon. Just do what you can, if it gets too bad, come back to the Airship, okay?” Quinn replied.
>
> “Okay boss.” Sapphire replied as she closed out the menu and continued to pursue Josephine up to the Arallian Palace gates.
The soldiers at the gates opened it for Josephine and her group to pass, but as Sapphire tried to follow in behind them, they obstructed her.
“Halt. You are not permitted to enter the Palace.” A guard spoke, his loud voice drawing the attention of Josephine to turn and see her.
“My guild leader wants me to see if I can help out.” Sapphire shrugged at Josephine awkwardly, and Josephine gave a nod.
“She is with me, let her through.” Josephine ordered the guard. He gave a nod and stepped aside, allowing Sapphire to join Josephine’s group as they headed into the Palace. They passed through a beautiful and colorful garden filled with statues, fountains and wild plants, then through a large archway and into a wide hall until ending up in a magnificent throne room with several high level NPCs and guards. At the far back of the room was a set of three large sandstone thrones. On the largest throne sat a tall middle-aged human NPC with tan skin and short black hair wearing majestic red and white threads and a golden crown, [King Yusaf(Elite) - 100], and beside him on one of the thrones sat a young girl, no older than 8, with long black hair and tan skin and a simple white and red dress on, [Princess Savika(Elite) - 5]. The third throne remained empty.
“How bad is it?” The King stood up from his throne and walked forward with urgency towards Josephine.
“We are not sure, we only have one precedent of such an event happening, and it went poorly. We have to prepare for the worst and take all measures possible to protect the Island Stones.” Josephine replied to him.
“I Agree with Josephine. Every able bodied soldier should be mobilized. If we lose the Island Stones, there is no hope for us, my king.” The Great Prophet said.
“Very well. Royal Guards, you will accompany me to the battlefield. Where is General Galrius?” The King asked Josephine.
“He’s with the leader of the White Flames, they’re preparing defenses around the Island Stone on the north side of the mountain. We’ve been made aware that only one Island Stone needs to survive this attack to keep Arallia safe, so we are focusing our defenses in one area.” Josephine explained.
“That is the wisest course of action. Then, let us join them at once.” The King nodded as he began marching out of the hall, all of the high level royal guards moving to follow him.
“Wait, papa, why are you going?” Princess Savika called out to the thing as she stood up from her throne worriedly.
“It is my duty as the King of Arallia to protect these lands. Stay in the Palace, you will be safe here.” He said to her commandingly. Sapphire watched her worried expression worsen as the King turned and marched out of the throne room, high level royal guards and Josephine’s group following behind him.
Sapphire joined in and tailed the back. They made a few more stops, and by the time they’d left the city they had an army of soldiers with them, leaving very few behind in Arallia to defend it, and were marching around the mountain towards the northern Island stone. As they did, the island shook and quaked several times. There were no murmurs or whispers between the soldiers, or players that had joined this army. Sapphire felt a heavy aura of tension as the Island Stone came into view. As it did, there was a violent quake that caused the entire army to lose its footing for a moment.
Sapphire rushed ahead to Josephine who was walking alongside the King of Arallia and The Great Prophet of Eirene, and other notable figures from the city such as other high priests.
“Our scouts report that the western Island Stone just got destroyed.” Josephine said, and as she said this, another voice chimed in from behind Sapphire, causing her to turn and look.
“We’ve just heard it from the second in command herself, Josephine of the White Flames. One of the five Island Stones of Arallia have been wiped out.” [Jasper - 10] A player spoke as he talked towards his audience. He had a livestream viewership of 1.3 million, the number startled Sapphire when she saw it.
“Josephine, do you think you’d have time to answer a few questions? I’m a reporter with the Virtual Gaming Network.” Jasper asked urgently as he pushed his way to the front of the marching soldiers.
“S-sorry, not right now, we’re busy trying to organize our defenses.” Josephine brushed him off.
“Understandable. As you can see around us,” Jasper panned himself around and motioned at the marching army of soldiers and priests. “The White Flames of Arallia have a good reputation with the NPCs of the land, despite the famously numerous bandit guilds that’ve been plaguing this island as of late. It’s thanks to that good reputation that even the King himself, and the Great Prophets and High Priests have all joined them to defend the Island Stones.” He went on talking, and Sapphire couldn’t help but get annoyed at his narration, speaking as if everyone around him was an actor in his show.
“This is a significantly stronger force than what we saw defending the Island Stones in the last invasion. Not a lot of information was gathered last time, as no one knew what to expect - but luckily this time much more preparation and care is being put into the defense. We can only hope that the efforts of the White Flames will be enough. And I’ll be here on the ground until the very end to make sure the world gets to see every last bit of action. So if The White Flames do fail, we’ll at least be able to learn from their mistakes.” Jasper continued.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, ass.” Josephine grumbled under her breath as the marching continued. The Island stone was visible from quite a ways away as they approached under the starry night sky, but when they got closer it was clear that a huge army of guilds was already waiting around the stone, including the bandit guild that had attacked the Sky Darling. Sapphire was surprised to see them all organizing in specific formations and watched as Erikson, the leader of the White Flames, was barking orders that everyone seemed to be following.
“Okay, we have a very specific strategy formed for this battle. I would like to ask that anyone who is not a part of the strategy or not aware of it please leave our ranks now. If you’d like to help or… record a livestream, please stay out of our way.” Josephine shouted to the group. Sapphire saw Josephine lock eyes with her as she said this, and took the hint. She held back with a few other players including Jasper as Josephine marched forward with her troops and joined the others around the base of the Island Stone.
“It’s interesting that you are not included in their tactics, considering your level. Is there a reason for that?” Jasper said as he suddenly turned attention onto Sapphire. Sapphire looked at him awkwardly with raised eyebrows.
“Uhm, I’m not from this island.” Sapphire shrugged.
“I see, I did recall an Airship being at the Skyport. I imagine you guys are planning on leaving as soon as things take a turn for the worst?” Jasper asked her.
“If, you mean if, right? There’s a good chance they will defend the stone.” Sapphire motioned to the army in front of them a few hundred meters away now.
“Yes, yes, of course there’s a chance. We really don’t know what they’ll be up against though, do we? Do you have any theories?” Jasper asked.
“Abyss monsters?” Sapphire shrugged.
“What island do you hail from, by the way young miss?”
“Kalmoore.” Sapphire sighed in annoyance, she’d realized now she was just being used to fill air time and started backing away.
“Oh, interesting, Kalmoore. There’s been a lot of buzz recently with that island, after having an unpopular start. Not a lot of players went there before Winter. And then that Aegis player with the world notification, quite interesting. Have you happened to meet either of those players?” He asked her with hopeful eyes. Sapphire just rolled her eyes at him and turned to walk away, looking around the desert for a better vantage point. Jasper continued to talk by answering his own questions and his voice faded from Sapphire’s hearing as she hopped further away, spotting a tall rocky outcropping not far from the base of the mountain Arallia was built on, though they were now on the north side of the mountain and Arallia was barely visible.
Once Sapphire had hopped up onto the tallest of the stones, she could get a much clearer view of the army to the north of her around the Island Stone, and the city of Arallia to the south, even able to see over the walls. The guards that remained in the city had mobilized and were manning the walls, but the city itself was looking hectic - players and NPCs were running around in a panic.
> “How’s it going? We’re all on the ship now ready to leave.” Quinn said.
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> “They got the king and all the big NPCs to join them, they’re focusing defenses around one Island stone and abandoning the other four.” Sapphire replied.
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> “Not a bad strategy, you think it’ll work?” Quinn asked
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> “I dunno. No one else seems to think it will. How’s Aegis doing on his quest?” Sapphire asked.
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> “Uhm, according to his livestream, he’s getting close I think, he just said he knows how to solve it.” Quinn replied.
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> “Okay. Good, cause, I’m thinking we’re gonna need to high tail it outta here soon.” Sapphire said. As she did, the ground shook violently from a 10 second long earthquake that caused a few buildings within Arallia to collapse.
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> “What was that?” Quinn asked.
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> “I think that’s bye bye to another Island Stone.” Sapphire replied.
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> “We can use the quakes as indicators, so you don’t need to stand near the battle to see the outcome. Just get your ass back to the Airship so we’re ready to leave when we need to.” Quinn said.
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> “Yes, boss.” Sapphire answered.
She took one last long look at the army of players and NPCs around the Island Stone to the north. As she did though, she noticed far off on the horizon, over several sand dunes away, she saw a wave of black mist flowing over the land towards the Island Stone. The sight of it sent shivers down her spine and made the hairs on her bunny ears stand up - she’d watched the beginning parts of Aegis’ quest livestream and already had a good idea of what was in that dark wave of mist. She closed out her messaging interface and took a deep breath.
“Here they come.” She whispered to herself before turning around and hopping back towards Arallia.