Chapter 34 (265)

  Lately there never seemed to be enough time to address all the issues that were cropping up in her city. Between the rush to increase internal food production, housing issues with the immigrants from the emptying villages and towns, resource shortages, problems outside the wall resulting from the density shift, and the recent shakeup of the military due to its hidden leader making an appearance, City Lord Cosgrave had been unable to focus on the typical nobility issues that normally dominated her schedule.

  Glancing around the Hall of Leadership from her chair at the head of the council, she watched as the latecomers tried to sneak their way into the meeting. Scoffing internally at the sight of them ducking their heads in shame, she recalled her mother’s wisdom like she always did in these situations.

  “Always be on time. Neither early nor late. When you’re late, you look like an idiot and you’re position is inevitably weakened as a result. And when you’re too early, all it does is prove to whoever you’re meeting that you have nothing better to do. Or worse, that you are incapable of properly managing your schedule. So, be on time… always,” she had said.

  ‘Good advice,’ she thought to herself.

  Mentally checking the time, she waited for the final few seconds to pass before she slammed her hand down onto the table with an essence-infused slap.

  “This emergency session of the Council of Leadership has been called at the request of our city’s temporary general Commander Dahl. For those of you who’ve managed to find out what this is about, keep it to yourselves until he’s had a chance to voice his concerns. For those who haven’t, keep your mouths shut until you’ve been briefed,” she said firmly, her voice carrying throughout the chamber.

  She carefully looked around at the circled tables in the center of the chamber, hoping to see some evidence that one of the other councilors already knew what the commander was going to say. Unfortunately, their faces were just as expressionless as hers and gave nothing away. It was entirely possible that they were just as in the dark as she was.

  The surrounding rings filled with the other nobles weren’t nearly as hard to interpret. All across the chamber, she could see panicked nobles whispering to each other demanding to know what was going on. It was obvious that they had no idea why they had been summoned.

  Keeping her tone cool and controlled, she looked toward the petitioner’s circle and ordered, “Commander Dahl, if you would please come forward and enlighten the room as to what this meeting is to be about.”

  Her words and actions were carefully chosen to make it seem as though she was already aware of what he’d be saying. It wouldn’t be good for her to admit that she hadn’t been able to find out why he’d called this emergency session of the council, including the entirety of Dorchester’s nobility with his summons.

  Stepping up onto the central dias, Commander Dahl began his presentation without any hint of hesitation. His tone of voice was even and unbothered, but she could immediately tell he was struggling to maintain his control. The man’s presence made it clear that he was shaken.

  As he continued to speak, the entire chamber quieted down. Between his explanations as to what was happening and the evidence he presented in the form of scrys, everyone in the chamber began shifting in their seats. Even she found herself struggling to keep her expression under control.

  While very few people in Dorchester had spent time studying planar mechanics, the Commander’s presentation made it clear what kind of crisis they were facing. In a way, it was impressive that the army had even discovered the problem. Dorchester wasn’t a city with a technology level that would allow for planar research. So, the only conclusion she could draw was that someone had let something slip in order to give them a fighting chance to handle the problem themselves.

  ‘Possibly the archmage? Or maybe Mage-adept Newbanks? It could even be those former evaluators who decided to join House Walker. They could have easily used an intermediary to hide their involvement if they were willing to risk it.’ she thought to herself.

  After finishing his presentation on what the kobalds were doing, Commander Dahl said, “So, that's it. That’s what we’re facing. I estimate we have three days before I’ll have to recommend contacting the capital and allowing them to handle it.”

  Lord Voltan was the first to erupt. He leaned forward in his chair and nearly shouted, “You’re telling me the army can’t stop this? Regardless of the differences, this ‘anchor’ as you call it is still just a planar gate. The kobalds have been cut off from the lower city, and the gate their opening will be restricted to the size of the former throne room they are using. They won’t be able to bring in too many reinforcements if you act quickly! There is no reason other than cowardice for us to give up our rightful claim to this city!”

  Shouts of agreement rang out alongside the cries of numerous counterarguments. City Lord Cosgave let it all wash over her as she tried to get her emotions back under control.

  Before she could intervene, Commander Dahl’s strong voice interrupted them. “We do still have time!” he shouted, forcing the room to calm down momentarily before continuing.

  Swiping his hand across the hologram hovering in the center of the room which was currently displaying the kobalds working on their ritual, the image changed to display five impressively armored dwarves practically flying over the ground away from their mountain.

  “I’ve been alerted by King Mithrilstrike that he has deployed a team of Battleborns to deal with the anchor portal. They’ll be here within the day,” he said firmly while grimacing uncomfortably.

  He continued on as he ignored the gasps of shock by those few nobles who understood what Battleborns were. “The king didn’t request our leave to let them through the walls so much as warn us that they were coming. He didn’t even bother to use the ambassadorial channels we’d set up, and instead sent word through the communication orb we’d given them for military emergencies.”

  Lord Newling spoke up, “If I recall, Battleborns are the dwarven equivalent of Populators. Why are any of them even here? They are strategic assets that are only used to fight off threats from the underworld, are they not? The Mithrilstrike clan lost their Battleborns in their fight with -”

  On the other side of the room, Lord Peyton interrupted him, “Everyone knows what Battleborns are! A history lesson isn’t relevant at the moment. We need to know if using them to stop the kobalds will violate the city self-reliance statute. If they solve this crisis for us, will our charter be broken?”

  Almost every eye in the room turned to Lord Bennings. As the head of the Tower of Law, she would be the one most likely to know how the specific wording of the statute might apply to interference of this nature.

  Amazingly, Lord Bennings looked just as confused as the rest of them.

  Coughing lightly to clear her throat before she spoke. Lord Bennings eventually buckled under the pressure and admitted, “I have no idea. To my knowledge, nothing like this has ever happened. A foreign power like the dwarves has never intervened in a city’s development cycle. That is if we consider the dwarves a foreign power. They are under a treaty to develop alongside us, so it could be argued that they are just saving themselves as the crisis would also affect them. However, Battleborns are at a level far above what a city Dorchester’s level should be able to deploy, so I have no idea how the courts in the capital might decide to interpret this development.”

  Multiple people shouted out their complaints at her non-answer, demanding a committee to be assembled to investigate the likely outcome if the Battleborn’s interference were to be reviewed by the capital. Others, the smarter nobles in the room, kept their mouths shut, realizing that there wasn’t any time for something like that.

  Once again, Commander Dahl retook control of the room with his booming voice. “It might not come to that. We have a chance to handle this ourselves since we have an assault force attempting to stop the anchor portal from even opening. If they succeed, none of this even matters. The kobalds can’t create another anchor portal without access to the former throne room, and we have sufficient forces in place to retake the upper city if the kobalds don’t get reinforcements.”

  City Lord Cosgrave couldn’t keep the slight frown off her face as she leaned forward in her chair and asked, “I believe you stated at the beginning of your presentation that the likelihood of stopping the portal from opening was minimal at best. You even went so far as to detail the plan you’ve come up with to close it. Why haven’t you included this assault force in your presentation before now?”

  Coughing uncomfortably into his hand, Commander Dahl looked somewhat unhappy with having to answer the question. “My lord, it is because they are not currently acting under the army’s orders. Technically that is. When we heard of the anchor portal’s opening, we allowed for volunteers to try and stop it from happening. We didn’t expect any of our forward operating bases to bother trying. But, they came up with their plan on their own. As of twenty minutes ago, they managed to get a small but sizable assault force through the kobald’s defenses into the upper city’s higher floors. Although it’s unlikely that they’ll succeed, it is… possible.”

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  The entire room was silent as they digested this new development. Requests for more information as to the assault force's chances and suggestions were called out. Some were shouting outlandish demands like ordering the assault to get the old astra-teleporter pads operational so reinforcements could be sent in. Others were shouting that if one team could make it through, more could as well. The entire chamber was filled with chaos as more and more nobles filled the room with noise.

  City Lord Cosgrave on the other hand had been following the subtext that Commander Dahl had been purposefully avoiding. Raising her voice over the shouts of the rest of the chamber, she asked, “And who is leading this assault force if not the army?”

  Looking more uncomfortable by the moment, Commander Dahl replied, “House Walker, my lord.”

  —--

  Nero came out of his meditation to find multiple people gathering around him with smiles on their faces. They were just standing there waiting for him.

  Multiple pats on the back greeted him as they dragged him to his feet. Based on the context of what he was hearing, they were all congratulating him on his recent level like it was his birthday. Not knowing what to say, he felt like he was back on Earth at an office party nodding in thanks like an idiot while trying to push his way toward his cake.

  While everyone in the immediate vicinity around him was happy, he could tell that there were plenty of people in the back who didn’t feel nearly the same way. He could tell by their essence fields that there was plenty of confusion going around and even a bit of jealousy. The sense that there were individuals spread out through the tunnel who wished they had been the one to level was almost omnipresent.

  What was weird though was that none of the animosity seemed targeted toward him. He would have expected people to feel jealous in a way that he was used to. It wouldn’t have come as a surprise to him to see people angry at his success, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Instead, it felt more like the jealous people were focusing their animosity on themselves for not having done the same. Yes, there was a sense of competition, but it was more… ‘healthy’ than what he was used to. No one seemed to be hoping to see others fail and were more concerned with their own progress.

  ‘The kindergartens here must be on another level,’ he thought to himself while absently accepting the good wishes from the people surrounding him.

  Whatever negative thoughts he’d had about his soul’s continued attempts to beat him over the head with overly obvious cliches were gone by the time he extricated himself from the crowd.

  Making his way into the center of the tunnel, he saw that the front line of the combat had moved well away from the tunnel’s entrance. There was still plenty of fighting going on, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been when they’d made their way through the encampment. In fact, due to the number of kobald bodies that were stacked up, if things continued the way they were heading, the tunnel entrance may end up blocked off with their corpses.

  Frowning in thought, Nero realized that he’d never bothered to check how long his meditations took. Considering how he had a clock built into his brain by the world, that was a massive oversight.

  ‘How long had I been under? It felt like a while. More than a couple of hours at least,’ he thought to himself.

  But, it couldn’t have been that long. Based on how many kobalds had been killed, and how everyone was still looking from the battle, Nero estimated that he’d only been in his soul space for a few minutes.

  ‘Just another weird thing I’ll have to eventually spend time figuring out,’ he told himself before ignoring it.

  Turning away from the sight of the fighting, Nero looked over at the still-meditating healers and mages behind him. There were some already up and healing again, helping the fighters that were rotating among the new front line.

  For a moment, Nero considered helping out but was interrupted by Harry walking up to him along with former Sergeant Blackwood.

  Without any preamble, Harry said, “My lord, congratulations on your level. Your leveling speed is just as outrageous as I’ve been told. Have you fully recovered?”

  Nero, not wanting to get into it at the moment, replied, “Yeah, I’m fine. How’s the battle going? When are we moving out again?” Gesturing at the fighting, he added, “We can’t exactly stay here, can we?”

  Harry replied, “We’ll be moving out as soon as the healers are ready to go. Another five or ten minutes at most. We shouldn’t have any problems holding the entrance, and the scouts and forward troops have already cleared the way. We’ll be making toward the central route to the noble district using the kobald tunnels. There may be some kobald scouting bands that we’ve missed, but I doubt we’ll see any larger groups that would be a problem.”

  Nodding in understanding, Nero changed the subject, “Sounds good, but can I ask you something?”

  “Of course, my lord,” Harry replied, his face remaining cut from stone.

  “Can I call you Harry?” Nero asked with a grin.

  Confused, Harry replied, “My name is Harold, my lord. Is this still about how you should refer to people? I thought we covered that?”

  Waving away the subject, Nero replied, “Yeah, we did. Don’t worry about it, Harry. So, how long until we get to the throne room, and should we be expecting the kobalds to chase us the entire way?”

  Looking decidedly unhappy to be referred to as ‘Harry’, Harry visibly frowned at the sight of former Sergeant Blackwood snickering alongside him.

  Turning back to Nero, he replied, “If we don’t run into any problems, we should be there within two hours. And I doubt the kobalds will chase us. They most likely have been ordered to defend the caverns at the major intersections. As long as they continue to focus on the other assault teams that are maintaining the fighting, we shouldn’t be bothered from the rear.”

  Nero chuckled and asked, “It’s cause they’re stupid clones, right? They are just following their last orders?”

  “That’s my assumption, yes,” he replied.

  “Won’t some of their leaders notice and alter their orders?” Nero asked.

  “Unlikely,” former Sergeant Blackwood said before adding, “The leadership is too busy getting their ritual organized.”

  Nero looked over at the former sergeant and quickly used part of his mind to delve into the link in his pocket. With a little effort, he was quickly able to locate the man’s full name.

  “Your name’s Terry Cooper-Blackwood? How does that work?” Nero asked in confusion as he hadn’t seen a hyphenated name before.

  Surprised at the question, Terry looked over at Harry as if to silently ask him if he understood what was going on. Harry responded with the slightest of shrugs making it clear that he had no idea.

  Turning back to Nero, Terry replied, “Well, my lord. My father was the former Lord Blackwood. My mother was Constance Cooper, the thirteenth daughter of House Cooper. She is a Wayfinder out in the town of Illendorn. Although, like the rest of the town she is returning to Dorchester due to the evacuations. If you are worried about my ties to House Blackwood or are under the impression that I hold any malice toward you due to my father’s death, you needn’t worry. I have cut ties with House Blackwood and am now loyal to House Walker.”

  Speaking up in support of his friend, Harry added, “I assure you, my lord, Wacko Blackwood is as trustworthy as they come. He’s given his life oath and dedicated himself to your house’s future along with the rest of us. You needn’t worry about his loyalties.”

  Nero, realizing that he’d given them the wrong impression of what he’d been asking, replied, “That’s not what I meant… Wait, that Blackwood guy was your father? Did I already know that? Nevermind. Sorry about your dad, but I didn’t kill him, I just survived him. Blame the city lord or whatever. No, what I was asking about is why you have two last names. How does that work? And when did ‘Wacko’ become a title?”

  Terry, still totally confused, replied somewhat woodenly, “Um. Well, my lord. I was named after my father, Terrance Blackwood. He met my mother when he was out surveying his lands. She was -”

  Nero interrupted him before he got his family's entire life story. “No, that’s… You know what? Forget about it. It’s not important.”

  Around them, people were still moving about with purpose as they were either being healed, repairing their armor, or seeing to their supplies. The sounds of combat were still coming from the battle lines, and more and more people were being cycled out for fresher troops. Occasionally, there were sounds of abilities going off like fireworks.

  This wasn’t the time for Nero to learn about more weird customs of the locals despite how confusing and offputting they were.

  ‘I really miss Nick,’ Nero thought to himself with a sigh.

  Returning his attention to the two large men, Nero asked, “So, we’ll be heading out in a few minutes and then storming the throne room to stop the ritual. You said two hours, right? Isn’t that going to be cutting it a little close with the estimates of when they’d be done?”

  Nodding grimly, Harry replied, “Yes, my lord. We may not make it in time to stop it, but as you said… we might, and therefore it is worth it to try. If we fail and fall, we’ll have at least tried. And if we succeed, then we’ll have done something worthy of being recorded in the archives for future generations to look back on and be inspired.”

  Terry’s eyes were hard as ice as he added, “May I say, the fact that you’re willing to put your life and the life of your burgeoning house at risk is admirable, my lord. No noble that I’ve ever heard of would be willing to do the same. You’re an inspiration.”

  Nero, thoroughly uncomfortable with the flattery, replied, “Yup, that's me. I’m all about inspiring the masses and stuff. But, I have to go over there now, so just let me know when we’re heading out.”

  Without another word, Nero disengaged from the conversation, leaving them to stare in confusion behind him. He could tell that there was more Harry had wanted to speak with him about, but he’d had about all he could take and he felt like his social batteries were on power-saving mode. Besides, he needed to find Merrick and get some answers to some of his questions about his soul space. The guy wasn’t Nick, but he’d at least been to school for this kind of stuff.

  Using his perception field, he quickly found Merrick, but unfortunately saw that the guy was deep in meditation. Looking around, he could see that basically all the people he recognized were busy doing something. It made sense, as they were still in an active war zone.

  Standing there in the middle of the cavern uncomfortably, Nero wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be doing. And the longer he stood there, the more people were starting to pay attention to him. He could feel their attention weighing down on him.

  At the sound of a particularly loud ability going off, Nero turned away from the sight of everyone getting ready to move out. Cracking his knuckles in anticipation of the upcoming violence, he thought to himself, ‘Well, I did promise myself that I’d leave the kobald clones with a few nightmares. Best get to it. I’ve got like ten minutes. I can do a lot of damage in ten minutes.’