Chapter Thirty

They followed the woman’s instructions for a couple of streets until they made it to the shelter. An impressive gray stone building with metal doors that looked to be at least two inches thick. The town had to have paid a fortune to construct it. The doors creaked open as they approached, and a blonde dwarf ushered them in.

The woman turned back to them; her child still clutched in her arms. “Thank you.”

“Gemma. Come on. We can’t let any of them birds in.” The dwarf grabbed her by the arm. “You in or out?” He stared at Cyrus and Moira pointedly.

“We’re out. We’ll bring back any other survivors we find,” said Cyrus.

The dwarf nodded, dragging Gemma the rest of the way into the shelter and slamming the door shut behind them.

A weary silence settled through the air. The quiet before the storm.

Duke growled, sensing something.

A strange rustling echoed through the air, like fabric rubbing together. Or like thousands of birds suddenly taking flight. Moira looked up in horror as they blocked out the moon.

“Son of Dadga. They were bidding their time.” Cyrus muttered.

“What?”

“They were scouts. The birds we fought—it's why they were so weak. They were just meant to scare the townsfolk. Round them up. This—this is the real attack. And it’s going to be a massacre.”

They looked up as a mass of birds descended.

“Cyrus.”

“What?” he said, his sword poised to attack.

“They can teleport.”

“They can—they need line of sight to teleport,” he said, sounding more like he was trying to convince himself than her.

“What if they don’t,” she whispered.

In wordless horror, the birds disappeared as one and the sudden screams behind them made it clear where they’d reappeared.

Moira slammed her hands against the gate. “Open the door.”

Screaming continued as they helplessly remained locked out. She pounded against the cold metal. Nothing.

Her heart raced. Gemma and her child. They’d almost made it. She had to save them.

Moira slammed her fists against the gate in frustration. The townspeople were either too panicked to open the door, or they couldn’t.

She stumbled back a few steps, gesturing for Cyrus and Duke to back away from the door. She focused on a skill. Energy grew as she concentrated on her palm, letting the skill do all the work. She released it with a yell, watching as Mana Blast slammed into the stone building.

Bam!

The explosion threw up debris, blocking the building and the impact of the blast from view.

“Did it work?” she asked.

The dust settled.

“No.”

The Mana Blast burned black scorch marks into the stone wall. An inch-thick dent marked the metal gate.

“It wasn’t strong enough.” She turned to Cyrus. “What now?”

He grimaced, “I don’t have a skill strong enough to break through that gate—maybe Myles could—but it’d take all his Mana, and there are other townspeople still out there.”

Moira stepped back. “Are you saying that we should leave them?”

Duke growled darkly.

“I’m saying… I don’t know how to save them.”

Her brow furrowed, and she stepped forward until she was inches away from his face. “I will not leave them.” She met his gaze, unwavering.

He looked away. “We aren’t the only people with levels. They could save themselves.”

A part of her wanted to believe him. Wanted to just walk away, that if something happened to them, it wasn’t their fault. That they’d tried. That these weren’t her people, and this wasn’t her world. But a larger part of her reared its head, pushing back against that voice. She couldn’t leave them.

“I won’t take that risk.”

She turned away from him and flexed her hands. Duke took his place at her side.

Moira placed her hand on the gate and closed her eyes. If they couldn’t force their way through, there had to be some other way to open the door.

She focused on her palm, stretching out her senses for any trace of Mana. She didn’t have much Mana left after using Mana Blast and Creeping Vines. The cold metal gate stayed firm beneath her hand. Her breath hitched as she kept searching for any trace of vibration, any hint of a way in.

Panic welled up inside her as her mental wall started to break down, sending images flashing through her mind.

A phone call. The scent of burnt cinnamon. The sound of broken glass.

She’d searched half the gate. No vibration. No hidden opening.

“Moira.”

“No. I can do it.” She steeled herself, pushing back against those thoughts, blocking them in another layer of bricks.

Her hand passed the upper right corner of the gate. There. What was that? It was subtle, like a butterfly landing on her hand. It felt like some sort of magical hinge, keeping the heavy door in place. Moira slammed her palm against the spot. The vibration was quiet, a dance of changing notes.

She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her Mana forward, slowing the vibration to a stop. A small burst of energy exploded from the corner of the door.

Duke grabbed the back of her shirt, yanking her back just in time as the gate fell from its hinges, slamming into the ground.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Inside, a swarm of birds stood in their path. Behind them, barely visible between the swarm, stood a wall of dwarves, weapons raised, bravely holding their ground.

“Thank the gods.” The blonde dwarf yelled. “We can’t keep holding the line. There’s too many.”

Moira took out her bow. It rumbled with pleasure in her hands. “I’ll pick them off. You and Duke hit them on the downswing?” she asked Cyrus.

“With pleasure.”

Duke grumbled in agreement; teeth bared.

They battled on two fronts. The dwarves protecting their line on one end, and Cyrus, Duke, and her cutting down their numbers from the back. A war of attrition against the void birds.

But it wasn’t enough. One dwarf fell, then another. Duke dodged a close call. They were losing. There were just too many.

She panted with exertion as she shot off another arrow, narrowly missing a bird as it dived toward the line. Her arms quivered. She didn’t know how long they could last like this.

“Need some help?”

She turned, Myles and Sloane stood together, Ethan behind them.

Cyrus withdrew when he saw them approach. “Myles, use your flames to take them out of the air. We can pick off the downed birds from the ground. Ethan, Moira needs a Mana boost.”

Myles and Ethan nodded grimly. Sloane gripped her twin knives tightly in her palms.

They forged forward as a team.

Myles blanketed the birds in fire. They squawked, falling to the ground in a heap. He had the crowd control skill they’d been needing.

The rest of them darted forward, stabbing the birds before they could take flight again. Within minutes, the swarm was dead.

Sweat glistened on Moira’s forehead as she leaned against the stone wall of the shelter in relief. Most of the villagers in the shelter had survived. Five from the front line had died. Their bodies dissolved into ash, leaving nothing left for their families to bury.

It could’ve been worse, Moira told herself. It would’ve been worse if they hadn’t broken down the door.

Ding!

Quest: Save the villagers from the Void Birds. Complete!

252/300 villagers survived.

Reward Loading…84% success rate.

Party Reward Calculated!

(1)Partial Shard of the Forgotten Realm

“What is that?” she asked.

Ethan furrowed his brow. “I’m not sure.”

A brilliant orb of light appeared in front of them. She covered her eyes as Cyrus darted forward. The orb disappeared with a Pop! Dropping something to the ground.

Cyrus deftly caught it, holding up a pale blue crystal cylinder.

“I guess this is it.”

#

Ethan paced through the half-lit tavern. “I don’t understand. The dragon—and now this. The barrier between worlds must be breaking down. But why now?”

“Maybe it was just a matter of time?” Myles asked.

“No. That can’t be it,” he muttered. “It’s integral to our world, to reality itself. It can’t just eventually break down.”

“Then how?” Sloane rubbed her arms, goosebumps marking her skin.

Moira squirmed in her chair. The way the birds had gathered the villagers together, like they’d planned their attack. It was—strange.

Cyrus leaned against the bar across from her, as if he’d read her mind, he met her cautious gaze.

His eyes widened.

“Could someone break the barrier from our world? Form a portal on purpose?” Cyrus strode toward Ethan.

Ethan stumbled. “You think someone did this on purpose? Planned an attack? I don’t see—they’d have to be insane.”

Cyrus grabbed his shoulder. “But is it possible?”

“The void birds, it was like they’d corralled everyone toward the shelters. Like the attack was planned,” Moira said.

“If the break in the barrier was natural, would it leave a portal?”

Ethan looked between them and swallowed. “Yes. Until someone could close it, a portal would exist.”

Myles shook his head. “There isn’t one. We checked the whole town during the attack.”

“Then someone opened a portal to the void.”

“But why would they attack a small village? Why go to all this trouble?” Sloane asked.

“Maybe it was a test run?” Cyrus replied darkly.

“We need to get to Mons Caput.”

#

Moira stumbled back to her room just as the suns were beginning to rise. She quickly showered off the grime and blood from the night. She let the warm water drown her face, trying to temper the memory of the look on Gemma’s face as her husband dissolved into dust. The dwarves who’d held the line, protecting their families against the swarm. She squeezed her eyes shut, letting the water beat down on her. Washing it all away.

She didn’t bother to dry her hair, letting it drip onto the floor as she collapsed into bed. She slept fitfully, her dreams filled with cawing birds and darkness. Pure darkness that coated the world, covering it with slick and oily night that seemed to fill her dreams. She awoke after several hours, panting, her bed soaking wet.

Duke lay beside her, staring up at her with his big brown eyes. She stroked his head, his curls soft against her hand.

Sloane was gone, probably getting food. She stretched and peered out the window. At some point, someone must’ve cleaned up the broken glass. A gentle wind blew into the room, and she shivered. It was dark out. She must’ve slept through the day. Her stomach growled.

“Come on Duke.” Duke jumped to his feet and followed her out of the room.

They headed down the stairs to the tavern. Moira noticed Sloane sitting at a table off in the corner. Myles sat closely beside her. They talked in hushed voices, heads tilted close together. Myles grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly. Moira flushed and turned, taking a seat at the bar.

Larry was at the counter, quietly leaning against the bar. He looked up at her as she sat down. The bar was in disarray. It hadn’t escaped the chaos from the night before. There were broken chairs and tables pushed to one side of the tavern piled haphazardly against a wall. Glass was scattered across the floor.

She must’ve missed that last night.

Larry filled a glass with an amber beer and set it in front of her. She sipped it gratefully. He scooped up two bowls of stew, handing one to her and setting the other down in front of Duke. She nodded in thanks and picked at the stew; her stomach still hadn’t fully settled.

“Did you lose anyone last night?” Moira quietly asked.

“My Pa,” he replied as a tear slid down the curls of brown fur on his face. His large eyes staring sadly back at her. Moira nodded and patted his arm in understanding. “If it weren’t for your party, so many more would have died. We can’t thank you all enough for what you did.”

“I only wish we could have done more.” Duke nudged her with his nose and nuzzled against her leg. She stroked his head. Larry watched Duke for a minute.

“It’s no use wishing for things we can’t change. We can look back at the impact we’ve made.”

“Thanks Larry.” Moira nodded at him and turned back to her beer. She quietly nursed it, trying to block out the screams that still echoed in her ears. Cyrus eventually appeared, walking down the stairs into the tavern. He sat next to her at the bar and gestured to Larry.

“Can you let the village council know we’re planning on heading to Mons Caput tomorrow morning? We’ll warn them about what happened here. Try to prevent something like this from occurring elsewhere.”

Larry nodded. “I’ll let them know. Do you have any idea where they came from? I’ve only ever heard myths about the void creatures.”

Cyrus glanced at Moira, shaking his head in warning. “I don’t know. It could be that cracks are forming between our world and the void, and the creatures are slipping through.”

He didn’t want to scare them, Moira realized. To know there was someone creating tears in the void, would cause chaos.

“If they slipped through, then there’s a chance they’ll slip through here again, right?”

“I don’t know.” Cyrus said.

Larry sighed heavily and leaned back against the bar. “I’ll let the council know your theories. We don’t have a lot of highly leveled people here. As you said, we’re just a small outskirt village. If they could come through again, then we need protection from the city. Can I join you? To make our plea for protection?”

Cyrus nodded, “Of course. We leave at sunrise tomorrow.”

He nodded in thanks and went to grab a bowl of stew and beer for Cyrus.