“How much is that?” she asked, marveling as I began to cover several people with my blankets.
“These days?” I started to hedge, then gave up. “Over two thousand pounds.”
Her eyes widened in surprise, but then her patient woke up crying and shivering, and she began to soothe the covered woman, telling her that everything was okay now.
The woman seemed to calm as she recognized the Woad Princess, but that made me realize that they’d probably just mistake me for one of my Malus imposters, and I growled in frustration. I settled for draping as many blankets as I could over as many people and fairies I passed by.
When I got to the center of the drained trench, I found Ball-ee quivering next to a smaller blue jelly.
“Di-rec…” it chirped hesitantly, as if it was frightened. But Ball-ee nudged it encouragingly.
“Di-rec-tive!” Ball-ee affirmed. “Yes! Di-rec-tive!”
“Di-rec-tive?” the smaller blue ball inquired.
Ball-ee bounced again, and this time I noticed Val’s jelly had grown even larger, the way it had after purifying every other Pit.
“Yes!” Ball-ee squeaked as it pointed a pseudopod at all of the former victims, many still shivering and crying. “Seek! Save! Heal! Di-rec-tive!”
“Di-rec-tive…” the smaller jelly said experimentally, as if it was getting used to the idea. “Di-rec-tive… yes! Di-rec-tive!”
“Di-rec-tive!” Ball-ee repeated urgently, and bounced toward the sobbing mass of traumatized people, pausing just long enough for the new heal-jelly to keep up. “Show! Save! Heal! Di-rec-tive!”
As they bounced, Ball-ee began emitting its blue mist again. The smaller jelly quivered as if it was watching, and then began doing the same.
“Di-rective!” the new jelly repeated passionately as it copied Ball-ee. “Di-rec-tive! Heal! Save! They continued bouncing closer to the former victims, spraying healing mist all over the place as they did so.
I left them to it as I kept tossing blankets over naked forms, careful not to touch any of them because I knew no one would trust me after what the other Earthborn had done to them.
At one point, I passed by Petal holding another, shivering fairy that kept wailing and wailing.
“It’s okay!” Petal insisted. “It’s over now! You’re gonna make it and get better!”
“How?” the other fairy sobbed, still shivering. “How can I ever feel better? You don’t know what it’s like!”
“Yes I do!” Little Petal said as she glowed fiercely. “Because it happened to me, too! But I didn’t stay broken, and you won’t either! Because whether you feel it or not, you’ll get a little better every time you dare to hope you can make it!”
The other sprite looked into Petal’s blazing eyes. After another moment, she nodded. As they both looked down, I felt them reach inside of themselves for something, find it…
And push.
Here and there, I felt other pulses of power as other rescued victims made the same choice to hope, in spite of what they had just been through. My own soul started to churn as well, and I knew I would Rise again soon.
At that moment, just when it looked like everything was going well, another woman saw me and began screaming.
“Earthborn!” she shrieked in hysteria, pointing a trembling finger at me. “Another Earthborn! This is a trap!”
Others saw me and began screaming as well. These people didn’t have anyone tending to them because there had been just too many victims here for my people to comfort all at once. They all began screaming for me to get away, and that they didn’t want to go back inside the Pit.
Then orange, pink, and golden light spilled out over their heads, and they all looked up to see Breena flying over them.
She had expanded to almost human-size, with giant wings glowing with all the colors of the sunrise.
“Be at peace, children of the Woadlands,” she said in a melodious voice. “The one before you is no false savior. He is the Champion of Avalon, and you are all now under his protection. Behold me, his herald—” she gestured at herself—“and behold how he has already shattered the nightmare imprisoning you. Behold and take heart. All shall be well. Avalon’s Champion is here. The Woadlands’ daughter is here.” She pointed to Merada. “Behold, and put your hearts at rest.”
“A dawn fairy,” someone said reverently, basking in Breena’s glow. “The Earthborn have never captured one of the sunrise sprites.”
“They are almost extinct,” one of the other fairies said, looking up in awe.
“As are the Gaelguard,” another woman said, clutching her blanket and pointing to Alum and his band. “Where did so many Gaelguard come from?”
“We’re saved,” a little girl in a blanket said as she clutched at the woman next to her. “Momma, we’re really saved.”
“We can go home now,” the small boy on the other side of the woman said. “Even if we have to make a new one… right, Momma?”
The tired woman looked down at her two children, bit her lip, and finally nodded. A moment later I felt a new pulse as the three of them all reached inside themselves and pushed.
I smiled at Breena as more and more rescued prisoners threw off just enough of their trauma to be able to Rise, reaping the reward the Expanse gave them for overcoming the Challenge of choosing to hope again. Not every single person did it right away, but that didn’t bother me, because I knew they wouldn’t have to. Everyone recovers in their own way, at their own speed. even if they didn’t believe recovery was possible right now. Even if they weren’t choosing recovery yet.
Failure is non-permanent, the first Universal Law I had learned rolled through my mind, and the others followed suit.
All is not lost.
Greater things are yet to come.
Those laws shuddered through my body as well, increasing the pressure under the weight resting over my soul. I would Rise soon. And I knew that, once again, something would try to prevent me from doing so. But for now, I still had people to get to safety.
“There’s still one hallway we haven’t cleared,” I said to Merada as she walked over to me. “I should have asked more questions about that one,” I added with a wince. All in all, most of the information Felicia’s people had given me just confirmed that I knew more than they did. They hadn’t even realized I’d already slain Raw-Maw.
“Can’t think of everything.” The beautiful huntress shrugged. “Don’t even have the time for it if ye can. But we’ll have help soon enough, I reckon.” She looked up at her fellow Satellite. By the way, nice work on calming all me kittens, Breena.
Thanks! my bonded fairy gushed through the mindlink as she dimmed and shrunk to a smaller size. Gosh, I hadn’t tried to talk like that in forever! I thought I’d lost my touch! She flew down to sit on my shoulder. But I think I’ll wait for the next winter ball before I go all ‘formal Breena,’ again. Do you wanna have a ball when both the Tumults are over, Merada?
That sounds lovely, Merada beamed. She looked out at her people again, and I felt intense relief and gratitude spill out from her mindlink. We’ll have to take the big strong hero as our date, though, or the people he just saved will think we’re ungrateful and riot.
Hurray! Breena cheered. That means matching outfits again!
Wait, Teeth spoke up. Did they just offer to—
I have no idea, I answered him. And that fact frustrates me as much as it does you.
He disagreed and muttered some choice names for me. I ignored him and turned back to the two Satellites.
“We’d better go free the rest of the prisoners,” I said. “And then we need to figure out how to safely transport hundreds of people to…” I trailed off when I realized I had no idea where most of these people came from. “The elven village, I guess?” I shrugged, because at least some of the prisoners had to have come from there. “Unless there are better ideas?”
“There are,” Merada said smugly, but said nothing else. Apparently she became more of a tea
se when she was really happy. But then again, the rest of Stell probably got that way too.
“She’s right, there totally are,” Breena confirmed with a smirk of her own, proving my point. “You should check your mindscreen more, Wes.”
“I just did,” I started to complain, until I suddenly received a message from it. I swore under my breath and activated the notification.
A Challenge has been overcome in the Woadlands. All Icons bear witness that an Outbreak of Horde has been destroyed at the source by Challenger Wes Malcolm. The birth of a life form previously classified as extinct has also been detected.
The Woadlands’ Icons hereby recognize Challenger Wes Malcolm’s actions and acknowledge his status as Avalon’s Challenger. They hereby acknowledge Wes Malcolm’s status as Challenger of Avalon, and adjust their perceptions of him accordingly.
Mother Glade approves of your actions and views you with wary acceptance.
The Stag Lord approves of your actions and grants you provisional recognition.
Lady Titania approves of your actions and cautiously expresses her gratitude over your rescue of her children.
Great Pan welcomes your return and inquires whether you are finally of age to drink alcohol with him.
“Really?” I demanded angrily. “I come out of nowhere, save this many of their people, destroy one of their three major threats and all they’re willing to do is recognize the fact that I haven’t lied on my passport?”
“Aye,” Merada said uncomfortably. “Things have been a wee bit bad ever since the unworthy Earthborn came. But this also means they’ll be sending escorts to take the lost ones back.”
“How nice of them,” I said neutrally, choosing not to point out that these supposed deities weren’t even bothering to send help until after the last minute. “Let’s leave a team here and go free the rest of the people.”
It took a while to open all of the barred alcove doors in the other tunnel with just one key, but we did it. I had a few more blankets that I passed out, but truthfully I had already brought a hundred, and there were far more total captives than that. We just did what we could and used healing magic on the cold and sick prisoners.
The last tunnel proved to be identical to the one we had just come from, jail room and all. These prisoners said that they were going to be traded to the Hoarfolk, confirming that the Malus Order had their hand in both upcoming disasters, and were probably responsible for having that Tumult arise in the first place. I doubted the proof was necessary at this point, though, so we just focused on making sure every rescued prisoner was stable and then spent the next tedious hour making sure every trap was disarmed in the tunnels leading out. We did find a couple more handfuls of gear, including some strange weapons and armor that looked like they were made out of ice. They were too cold to use, though, so I just loaded them into my now-roomier storage so that we could research them later.
When Eadric and Val both declared the tunnels were safe, we carefully began to lead everyone out. Before we reached the tunnel leading outside it occurred to me and Breena that there might have been Horde out on patrol, or some other monster nearby, so we sent small fairy scouts outside to make sure our exit was safe.
It turned out to be one of the smartest decisions all day.
Wes, Breena hissed through the mindlink. Cauliflower says there’s some white-skinned creatures waiting outside the cave. They look impatient.
Did she say what they look like, or how long they’ve been waiting?
She’s not sure how long they’ve been waiting, but she said they looked like a mix of creatures. Two beastlike things, and one regal-looking one that was just a little shorter than you. She could tell they were fey. She would have guessed they were Hoarfolk, but she’s never actually seen one yet. It’s not her turn to be out on the front lines.
Sounds like a safe guess anyway, I thought back. Keep the civilians out of the tunnel for now, but you and Merada pick a team that will trail me just out of sight. We need to veil my features again so that they think I’m one of my own imposters.
At least I had that going for me. Rhodes’ people had sent so many imposters down here that not even their own allies would expect that I was the real Malcolm.
I want to say that’s a foolish idea, Merada grumbled. But that’ll just mean I owe ye a bigger apology for later.
Far be it for me to put undue strain on your conscience, I said dryly, after I couldn’t think of anything wittier to say. Teeth muttered about just what kind of apology we could expect and I ignored him again because I was tired of him acting like a horny teenager when we had a job to do.
But we are a horny tee—
I tuned him out before we could have another fight, and began walking briskly down the hall. I did my best to get into the mindset of a callous, lying, slave-trading asshole just before the entrance of the cave came into view.
Three figures were waiting outside, just like the strangely named fairy said. The one on the left was a blue version of the stereotypical goblin I had killed in dozens of different games. He had a bald head with pointed ears and an ugly, misshapen face, and he was just half a foot taller than the average Horde Wretch. Probably served the same combat role as well, but the submissive way he crouched suggested that he was the errand boy of the group. The one on the right was a massive, shaggy beast, over seven feet tall and completely covered in white wool. Ram-like horns curled around a bear-like head that leered at me with far too many teeth. As the monster shuffled, his club scraped along the ground, and the thing looked to be at least as heavy as two Horde cleaver swords, and probably a good bit longer. He was clearly the muscle of the group, but the bored stance of all three Hoarfolk suggested that his presence was a mere formality.
The middle of the group was a hair shorter than myself, and by far the most sophisticated. He wore white, clean-looking leggings, frosty blue boots, a long-sleeved snow-colored shirt, and a scale cuirass that looked to be made of icy crystals. The sheath of what looked to be a long, thin sword hung at his side. His face looked very much like the stereotypical elf’s, arrogant and pointy-eared, with the exception that it looked white like uncolored art, save for a blue tint in his eyes and near the base of his hair. His arms were crossed, and he looked to be waiting impatiently.
“Well?” he asked, and his voice was surprisingly harsh, sounding apathetic and annoyed. “Where are they? We’ve been waiting for them already.”
As he spoke to me, I felt my mind suddenly kick into overdrive as a rush of processing power surged straight to my brain.
The Challenger is entering negotiations with another official. The Leader Profession and Path of Kings are engaging to enhance his ability to negotiate.
“Waiting?” I snorted arrogantly. “You all just got here.”
I knew I was right. He couldn’t have been here long or he would have already gotten suspicious. The Horde caverns echoed like crazy, probably a design feature. We had to walk them carefully or every step would announce our presence throughout the entire tunnel. There was no way this icy jerk was stupid enough to ignore the sound of me throwing lightning bolts and fireballs, or Eadric disarming traps the brute-forced way. In fact, if I hadn’t sent a scout when I did he would have already heard a hundred rescued prisoners march their way down the main tunnel, crying and talking about their new freedom.
“You’re still supposed to have our prisoners ready by the time I arrive,” the ice elf sniffed, his voice taking on a lofty air. “Is that really too hard for your people now?”
“Well I don’t know,” I retorted, sounding just as arrogant. Mr. Jack Frost was already arguing with me, which meant this sort of exchange had to be a frequent occurrence. “It seems like there are a lot of things your people are supposed to have done by now. Management’s wondering just how much of that is too hard for your people?”
“What are you talking about, Earthborn?” the hoarfolk snapped, and I thought I heard ice break as he spoke. But I felt he was being defensive, ins
tead of surprised, so I snorted in contempt.
“We’ve already talked about this,” I risked saying. “You know what numbers we want. You know you’re not hitting them.”
Naturally, I was the one who didn’t know what he was talking about. But I knew enough of Warren Rhodes’ people to know that they were greedy, pushy, and constantly unsatisfied. They would have tried to wring everything they could out of their partners.
“And you should know that your so-called numbers are nonsense!” the winter fey blasted vehemently, and I knew my guess had been right on the mark. “As we have told you before! We have driven the Woadfolk out of a full fifth of their territory! We are already marching ahead of schedule, and you know that! And if you want us to raise our palaces faster, then you had better be willing to provide triple the number of slaves you currently do!”
“Triple,” I snickered, crossing my own arms. “For this small amount of gain? Management would have my head. The last guy’s already in trouble for just how badly you all have underperformed.”
“So that’s what happened to him,” Frosty the Snow-Bitch sniffed apathetically.
“But I’ll tell you what,” I continued. “My bosses are more impatient than they are disappointed right now. They’re prepared to offer a fifty percent increase of their usual shipment.” My opponent’s eyes narrowed in suspicion, but he also leaned forward as I spoke. “If you can give me a meaningful exchange. Something that will make me and my own boss look good. So that I can avoid the other guy’s fate.”
“I see,” the pretentious popsicle replied. “We’re making that sort of deal now. Such wisdom is long overdue.”
“Hell,” I tossed, “if you could raise another palace tomorrow, I’d triple our usual offer.”
“Tomorrow is impossible and your leaders already know that,” the hoarfolk replied effortlessly. “It doesn’t matter how many different ways they ask. The next palace will already rise before the end of the current moon-month, even without your help. But triple the usual number would let us raise it within a fortnight, and allow us spare power to raise the next one even faster.”
Woad Children (Challenger's Call Book 3) Page 39
