The light of morning glinted through the newly uncovered windows. I blinked the swimmers out of my eyes as I spotted the drool staining the report I was reading through. My mind started to boot up, taking in the details of the office around me. It was still bleak, but most of the strange experimental paraphernalia had been moved to another storage area. Samuel was slumped in a beat up couch, similarly half asleep. At the very center of the room, bound by chains and plates of thick metal was the corrupted Metier Crystal. The Dreg Entity.
>Earth fleshbag is conscious<
"That thing is the worst alarm clock!" Sam complained, turning over and pulling a blanket to block out the sun.
>Life fleshbag is weak. Should harden body if they seek to survive<
"We've been over this. If you aren't going to say anything useful, we don't want to hear it," I said, cracking my neck and back as I worked out the kinks of falling asleep at a desk.
>Fleshbag has all the information he needs. He merely lacks the conviction to force his will upon others<
"That's it. Night night, Charcoal." Samuel's hand rose out of the blankets. A spell chain formed around the metal, surging with life mana as the bush hidden by the metal surged with vital energy. The crystal squealed, a high pitched whine that set me grinding my teeth. Just as quickly as it had started, the sound quieted. The malevolent purple glow from within the crystal dimmed.
"Man I'm glad you and the healers figured that out. I was ready to pull my hair out if I had to listen to that pessimistic, conniving piece of rock," I said, rubbing the last of the sleep from my eyes.
"Yeah, we've gotten our fair share of practice. Unfortunately..." Sam drifted off. Snoozing answered after a few minutes of silence.
"Sleep in, big guy," I said, adjusting the blanket over Samuel as I headed towards the living area on the other side of the floor.
A makeshift fire stove had been installed against the wall, a hole punched straight through the building giving the exhaust a way out. I could see some of the previous owner's clothes and knick knacks still scattered around the room, but I pushed past them to the tray set out on the counter. Roasted tomatoes with some cut slices of mystery meat. "Thanks, Danny."
My whispered thanks went unheard, the woman already out on her rounds. I split the meal in half, leaving the rest for Samuel when he woke up. I gulped down some water and walked up to the armor stands against the staircase. One set of armor, one empty stand and a final one where a tactical vest and an H-shaped shield hung stood watch over the stairs. With practiced, mechanical movements I donned my vest, adjusting the rip tape and pulling it snug. I pulled the side strap on my backpack, attaching my shield like a turtle shell and slid the Infused pickaxe under it.
I really need to work on some better gear. Plans floated through my head as I went down the stairs, past the practice dojo of the Wild Guard and out onto the training fields. One tall figure already stood in front of a bunch of trainees. With my increased Perception, I could hear the words carrying across the open space.
"--ppen again? We all need to pull our weight through difficult times. The Guard needs its trainees now, more than ever. I will be instituting some changes to the squads to accommodate for missing members," The voice paused for a moment, looking over her shoulder to see me approaching, before continuing. "In addition, I will be initiating an Infusion course. This will be a mix of free time and research that I hope you all can assist with. More to follow at the evening meal. Now, break and start on your laps. I want even the slowest Geo doing laps on the Flappers. Got it?"
"Yes, Ma'am!" The trainees called back, the strength of their voice shaking the ground before they scrambled for the starting point of the track around the field. Thanks to Devon's and Daniela's instructions, the group had actually started to utilize their Skills to help them increase their movement abilities in a number of ways. I watched an elf zip left and right around a downed mermaid. Another orc blasted fire out of her feet to leap clear to the front of the column before overcompensating and stumbling. None of her peers jeered at her, all focused on getting faster and using their friends to practice their own Skills.
"Should have done this years ago," the orc woman who'd been instructing the trainees said, sighing. With all of them distracted by the laps, I was able to see the weight of responsibility she held flawlessly take its toll. The deep green bruises under her eyes, and the slight slouch in her posture that hadn't been there when I'd met her.
"You did always strike me as the drill sergeant type," I said, trying to lift the mood a bit.
"Ha! I've seen you and Daniela running them through accuracy training." The large orc shivered. "My methods are relaxing in comparison."
"You should meet Danny's mom!" We let out a chuckle, relieving some of the constant stress of the last week. The two of us lapsed into silence as we watched the trainees. Many were now starting to flag in their use of their Skills. The aftereffects of their magic was taking its pound of flesh. Metaphorically speaking.
"That rock tell you anything new?" Sarah asked, still looking at the trainees.
"Nothing but annoying us. Nothing new from Kirby's notes other than being able to trace just who he was giving to the Dreg. Your father has taken it upon himself to contact any of the surviving family personally."
"I saw." Sarah sighed, breaking eye contact with the trainees and moving to a tent that had been set up on the edge of the field. A scattered array of weapons and Infusions laid on a large rough-made table. Scorch marks and deep scratches marked the whole length of it. "Sorry about the mess."
"You should have seen my workspace back home," I said, pulling over one of the nearby chairs and adjusting my gear. "Are we ready to talk about the elephant in the room?"
Sarah stiffened. I could almost hear the internal debate going on in her head, but eventually she relaxed. "The one about turning everyone into Dreg Warriors?"
"That's the one. I still need to run it by Tec, not sure if he's got the juice now that he's our acting prison. Hopefully it can at the very least give Implants to all the Fallen old enough to fight. Gift or no Gift."
"Why still call it Gift? We know the crystals call them Skills," Sarah said, deflecting the conversation.
She got one of my eyebrow raises, but she ignored it. I let out a sigh. "As far as I understand, it's still a Gift. Self developed Skills are more flexible than the ones we acquire from the Entity Clusters, at least at the start. Now can we bring it up to your father?"
"He's already brought it up himself," she said with a sigh. "As soon as you told him it was an option, he was practically begging me and the other squads to talk to the crystal for them. But I just don't..."
"Feel comfortable signing them up for a goal this dangerous?" I finished for her.
"Something like that."
"The Entities aren't forcing anything. All they want to do is stabilize the planet and if we want to thrive on the planet more than just survive we will need their help. I don't know how the other larger cities are doing, but it sure looks like this one got the short end of the stick."
"You're right. It's just... This is the first time we've even considered pushing back against everything. The creatures, our own growth and others. Clara's been arguing to support the other towns where possible for as long as she's been a squad leader. Looking back on it now, I'm fairly sure the Councilman was not happy with the success she was having."
"Ex-councilman, Sarah." I added. "Kirby is a criminal. He's probably one of the biggest ones that didn't actually run a country pre-fall. I know it's recent and I know you'll want to question every interaction you had with him but it's not worth your time. We are making decisions for the now and for the tomorrow."
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The orc woman nodded, falling back into silence. When I spotted a groggy Samuel stumble outr of the training building we'd taken over I stood and said my goodbyes to Sarah. "I'll be there for the lesson tomorrow. Were the scouts able to snag all the loot?"
"Yeah. Oliver is still working on separating everything. Dodge the center of town if you can. They were riled up this morning."
A grimace crossed my face, but I walked forward. Samuel spotted me and moved to intercept. "I thought those tomatoes were not that sour," he said lightly.
"No, they were great. The current situation? Not so much," I said.
"Ronan," he practically growled. " Do I need to get Daniela over here for another intervention? You are just one man. Part of the reason we joined up with the Guard and the town was because we realized that without support we would never get far."
"You are right b--"
"But nothing. To quote our eloquent latina companion. 'Don't be such a rock-brain'. We take care of our foundations and then we reach out and crush all the crazy crap we can get our hands on."
Man. If Samuel is the one hitting me with the inspirational speech, I must have been really far up my behind. "Thanks, Sam."
"You are welcome. Now what's the--"
"Duck!" I yelled, calling on my mana and sprouting an
"Sorry!" Someone called out from the other side of my barrier.
When Sam and I extracted ourselves from our impromptu huddle, Daniela was jogging up. Considering the extent of her Mobility, her jog looked more like one of my sprints. When she realized who it was that she'd rained fire hell on, her expression turned sour. My Perception helped me catch the end of her whispered curse.
"--gonna hear the end of this."
Godfrey pulled up behind her, dirty shovel-hammer mix in hand and a guilty expression plastered on his face.
"Oy! I thought you were on patrol!" I yelled, slapping a fire down on my shoulder. Samuel slapped another I missed on my pants leg.
"I did my morning round already. Only Devon can keep up with me on that front. I thought you'd be at the meeting already." Deflecting, huh?
"I might have been, except the weatherman didn't say anything about percent chance of fire rock rain in the morning," I said.
"I forgot my steel umbrella back at the Bunker!" Sam complained from beside me.
"I'm so sorry. I thought I had the angle right, but Daniela's blast had too much power," Godfrey said, hanging his head.
"They are just giving me crap, Goddy, you can ignore them. If they are well enough to complain then they are just fine " Daniela groaned. "On a more relevant note, I managed what you did Samuel!"
"No you didn't. Tell me all about it! You'll be good for that meeting without me, right Ron?" Sam said.
The blonde was already half turned away from the center of town. He didn't even wait for my response. My best friends devolved into hushed and gibberish conversations as they discussed something they had access to: their Freeform Skills. I wanted to listen in, but the pair of them rushed out of sight without a care in the world. Godfrey looked at me, let out an awkward laugh then power walked over to the training grounds. "Hey Sarah, you need any help!"
I rubbed the bridge of my nose, trying to relieve some of the tension my friends put on me. Part of me wanted to just rush after them and listen in on their breakthroughs, but I knew that I needed to put my leadership hat on. It's not like I have my Freeform Skill yet either...
What survived of the town of Wildwood passed me by. It wasn't actually the main portion of the city, but a community that had been bordered by several lakes and wetlands. The terrain, plus the tenacity of the residents, allowed them to survive through the changes Earth experienced as its species were Attuned to mana. A few of the residents waved, a few stared at me in fear and many simply frowned in my direction. Something within me wanted to reach out to them, to connect, but having been born in a Bunker left me a bit apprehensive about large gatherings. Each time one of us Bunkerites tried to engage someone that wasn't a trainee or a member of the Wild Guard a crowd gathered around. Daniela had somehow acquired a fan club, Samuel was looked at as a divine entity of healing while I was more of an... attraction.
'The Vanguard' they called me. Pretty much everyone thought that I was some degree of crazy. Not even the more dwarf-ish looking Earth Attuned worked to take as much punishment as I did. It didn't help that the Wild Guard and the trainees had waxed poetic about my headlong charge into Kirby's madhouse --where we now were living-- or his warehouse of horrors.
My musing was cut short as I bumped into Oliver and Rommel. The pre-Fall human and the Fire Attuned Orc were as contrasting as one might see outside of some of the neon-colored Life Attuned Fae. Both of them stood watch over the councilmen's office.
"Ronan," Oliver said simply. Rommel grunted.
"Considering you two are here, then both the Councilmen are in?" It was a rhetorical question, of course, since Rommel was assigned to assist Dylan and Oliver, Irwin.
"They've been waiting for your meeting," Oliver replied. The man opened the door, sending candles to flicker.
With a nod to each I went into the room. The blacked out big panel windows on the front allowed for vision out. The hulking form of Rommel took up almost all of one window. Towards the back of the room were two desks where two men sat across from each other. A third lay empty a few feet from the entrance. Irwin, the head of the House of Commerce, and Dylan, the leader of the Council of Wildwood, sat facing each other as they rifled through numerous papers. When the door opened, both rose and rushed over to greet me.
"Please, I would have hoped we would be over these nonsense formalities by now," I said, pulling out Kirby's old chair for the head of the Council of New Earth, and sitting.
Dylan could only scratch the back of his flame hair awkwardly. Both men looked to have aged considerably over the course of the last week. The revelation that their fellow councilman had actually been trading their population to the Dreg for protection had been enough of a shock. When some of the trainees returned changed, and the secret of the Crystal's awareness was revealed, it was almost too much for them.
"Force of habit, sorry," Dylan said, slumping in his chair. Irwin responded with a weak wave, relaxing into his own chair. "Trying to fill in Kirby's old job has been tough. I don't think Irwin or I realized just how much subtle control he had over the town."
"The interior couldn't operate without the Guard or what they gathered," Irwin said, matter-of-factly.
"Understandable. I did think you were grooming Sarah for that," I said, gesturing to Dylan. The man's hair immediately dimmed, hanging down like a close cropped haircut instead of the usual mane.
"I... think we may dissolve the Council as it stands. Too many people are displeased and neither Irwin nor I feel up to fighting the change. Kirby poisoned the well in that way. Sarah taking over... well if she did, I think it would be best if she did it differently."
I combed my growing beard as I thought of the man's words. While the Bunker provided a broad education, the intricacies of political systems wasn't something we covered. It was in part why our arrival to the town, and the way I subsequently crashed straight through the authority of the Council, went less than optimally. The benefit was that it highlighted the corruption lurking around the corner.
"If I have some suggestions I will pass them along. I would say not to change the infrastructure you have set up for now. If we agree in the main discussion of today, there will be more than enough change to go around. Some stability will do the people of Wildwood good, I think."
The two men zeroed in on my words. Some of the energy that had been weaned away by the aftermath of Kirby's betrayal returned in full force. Dylan's hair flared, falling down his shoulders and forming a fiery pair of mutton chops. Irwin was deathly silent except for the feline pupils being hidden by a second set of eyelids, revealing the predatory reptile Traits he was most famous for. Had I been the true target of their energy I might have been truly intimidated.
"Please. You know our stance. If you brought it up, then you have come to a concession," Dylan said after a few seconds, always the politician.
"Indeed. If my conversation with Tec, this Town's Entity Cluster, goes well I think that giving all of the Guard Implants will be the first step. Then the trainees. Finally, the leaders of the various groups in the town, including you two, followed by the general population. While I know Tec looks like a big crystal, the energy of the crystals works differently to our own. I will push as far as it is willing to give. It would be foolish to break our current agreement for it to take Gifted prisoners and watch over the still-unconscious trainees."
Irwin's armchair creaked under the pressure he was putting on it. Deep grooves already marked where his permanent claws had done irreparable damage to the piece of furniture. "How soon?"
"That's my next stop for the day," I said. The two councilmen nodded, each moving to shake my hand. It was somewhat standing on tradition, something I wasn't a fan of, but they both met my eyes with conviction.
Irwin gripped my forearm, moving close enough that I could smell the hints of alcohol on his breath. Even as sharp as the man looked, it made sense that people had to cope with stress somehow. "You keep them safe. You give these children a future, and you'll have all the support these old bones can give you."
My voice caught in my throat for the first time in the conversation. "You know I can't promise that," I said quietly.
"Good. Then you are the right man to trust."