Halcyon Rising_Bastion of Hope

by Stone Thomas

  HALCYON RISING:

  Bastion of Hope

  (Book 2)

  by

  Stone Thomas

  Copyright © 2017 Stone Thomas.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication, including the cover, may be used, copied, or reproduced by any means, electronic or non-electronic, in any format or form whatsoever, without consent from the owner of the copyright in this material.

  This is a writing of fiction. All characters, names, places, items, events, and unintentional likenesses are the product of the author’s imagination and are fictitious.

  +1

  Little did I know my morning would start off with a bang…

  ***

  “Come on, little guy,” I said. The donkey brayed and shook his head. I had the bright idea to try something new out here in the woods, away from the curious eyes of Halcyon’s residents. Here, we could give this a whirl in private.

  “The first time isn’t scary,” I said. “It’s just… different.”

  The donkey took another step away, eyeing me nervously.

  “You gotta let me in,” I begged. “I can’t do this without your consent.”

  Something rustled in the branches behind us. I looked back.

  “Are you that desperate?” Vix asked, emerging through the trees with her hammer swinging by her side. “Or should I be jealous?”

  “What?” I asked. “No! Oh, no, it’s nothing like that.”

  “Sure,” she said. “I totally believe you. I for one always stare longingly into the large, doleful eyes of a donkey when I have no intention of shagging it in the woods.” She placed her hands on her hips, drawing attention to the short leather skirt she had equipped. Her long, fluffy fox tail whipped back and forth while she smirked at me.

  “For your information,” I said, “I was trying to skillmeister him. Hotay won’t let me though. He’s being stubborn.”

  “Hotay?” she asked. “Don’t tell me that’s what you named him.”

  “What’s wrong with that?” I asked. “He’s a very important part of Halcyon’s operations, I had to come up with something, and that’s it. Vix, meet the donkey Hotay.”

  “The pleasure is all mine,” she said. “That is, if you haven’t used up all the pleasure by now, Master Arden.”

  “I may have reserved some for you,” I said, stepping closer to the foxkin builder. I grasped her upper arms and slid my hands down to her wrists. I pressed my chest to hers, my blue vest pushing up against the tight leather top that held her breasts closely together. I swept her hair to the side to kiss her neck.

  “Right here in the woods?” she asked.

  “Just like our first time,” I said. My lips pressed against her soft skin, sending goosebumps in every direction.

  “There are people here now,” she said. I kissed again, lower. My mouth grazed against her clavicle on my way down her front.

  “They won’t notice. We’ll be quiet,” I said, not sure we could keep that promise.

  She brought her hands up to my chest and pushed me a few inches away. “Maybe another time.”

  “Ah,” I said, frustrated by how tight my pants suddenly were. “You’re not in heat anymore.”

  “No,” she said. “I’m not totally out of control, in desperate need of getting you in bed and keeping you there. Soon though. It happens every month, after all. For the time being, it’s nice to have my concentration back. I’ve been able to focus on a lot of improvements to our little settlement that I think you’ll like.”

  “Oh really?” I asked. I put my hands on her hips and brought her closer. “Talk builder to me.”

  “I’m building you an office as stately as you deserve,” she said, brushing her nose against mine. “And I’ve been working with the deviser on adding something interesting to the wall we’re erecting.”

  “Oh, you’re erecting, all right,” I said.

  “But the real reason I came out here,” she said, swatting me away playfully, “wasn’t to brag. Nola needs you.”

  Now it was my back that stiffened. “Is everything okay? Is it Duul?” We hadn’t seen any cretins or war dogs since we defeated his general, but I was constantly on edge. We barely survived the last attack, and we weren’t much stronger now than we were then.

  Nola, I thought, hoping the goddess would pick up on my thoughts. What’s wrong?

  “It’s not Duul,” Vix said. “Nola just wants a status update on how Halcyon is progressing. After that, maybe we can work on a better name for this donkey.” She grabbed Hotay’s reins and began the short walk toward the entrance to Nola’s temple.

  What’s wrong?, Nola asked. Nothing! You’re doing an amazing job, and my evolution is coming along nicely now that we have a few dozen people here feeding me their yummy vibrations. I mean, sure, I could use some nice clothing. This toga keeps falling off of me and then everyone stares, like they’ve never seen a pair of softly glowing golden boobs before. But that’s— Arden!

  I’m listening, I said. I can’t exactly turn down the volume in my brain.

  There’s something hostile, she said. Something I don’t recognize. And it’s close.

  I clapped a hand onto Vix’s shoulder and spun her around. She let go of Hotay’s reins. “Shh,” I whispered. “We have company.”

  Vix lifted her war hammer and bent her knees, taking a defensive stance. I lifted my spear and bent my knees too, if only because my pants were still tight and standing up straight was super uncomfortable.

  Something in the underbrush jostled, drawing our attention to a small thorny bush. Then it leapt out at us. It was… a bunny.

  Vix relaxed her posture. I dug the bottom of Razortooth’s pole into the dirt. Seriously, Nola?, I asked.

  The small rabbit hopped toward us. Its smooth, furless body was the color of lilacs in spring, making it unlike any rabbit I had seen before. It sniffed at my boot and lifted its head as I bent slightly to get a better look. For a moment, it dawned on me that the small, delicate creature had no eyes on its face.

  Then it exploded.

  +2

  A burst of purple flame erupted from the small creature, bathing me in scorching heat. I took a step toward Vix to shield her from the blast. Hotay bolted toward the temple to escape.

  The creature, clearly not an actual rabbit, had been small, and the explosion was only powerful enough to scorch my boots and my pants.

  “Are you okay?” Vix asked.

  “Yeah,” I said. Aside from some discoloration, my clothing was fine. “I’m just glad you didn’t get hit by the blast. Who knew that thing would be dangerous?”

  I did, Nola said. Remember me?

  How many more of these burny rabbits are there?, I asked.

  Two, Nola said.

  “Vix,” I said, “there are two more.”

  “I’m ready to Wallop them,” she said, standing ready with her hammer.

  A branch twitched in the bushes near us. A moment later, another lilac bunny hopped into view. It sniffed at the ground, oblivious to our presence even though we stood before it, plain as day.

  Vix took a silent step toward it. She raised her hammer in one swift movement. Then, the animal cocked its head to the side. Even without eyes, it had sensed her somehow. It erupted into a minor explosion that threw Vix off her feet. I dropped Razortooth and caught her in my arms before she could hit the ground.

  The bushes were blackened by the blast, but nothing was on fire. I held a finger to my lips, begging Vix to remain silent while I lifted Razortooth with one hand and crouched low. Another branch was moving, and I refused to give the next angry angora a chance to detonate.

  The second that rabbit emerged from th
e underbrush, I threw Razortooth like a javelin. The creature tilted its head toward me as my spear sailed toward its body, but it was too late. The spear’s head sank into the monster’s side before it could blow itself up, releasing a gush of lilac sludge that pooled beneath the slain creature.

  It was then that I realized the full extent of what we were up against. That sludge was pale purple in the same way Duul’s minions leaked black ooze. It was the lifeblood of a creature conjured by a god, but it wasn’t Duul’s signature blackness. This was someone else.

  “Let’s get inside,” I said. “We’re under attack. We were lucky there were only three of them this time.” I led the way back toward the temple’s stone entry door, which Vix had so expertly carved not long ago.

  Already the land around the settlement was changing. A few workers had cleared a large patch of trees, providing the wood that went into our newest buildings. Other workers tilled the soil, preparing it for crops that would sustain our small population in the months to come.

  The farmers glanced up at me as I approached. “Great work!” I yelled out to them, though they didn’t seem convinced I meant it. A few shoots had emerged from the dirt, but they were all shades of yellow and brown. Everything but green.

  With Meadowdale under Duul’s control, and Valleyvale still reeling from Duul’s last attack, we couldn’t rely on our neighbors for supplies. I clung to the hope that our farmers could provide for Halcyon before we ran out of provisions completely. It would take a lot of effort for them to help turn this temple into a proper settlement, and there would be setbacks along the way. I was just grateful everyone was pitching in.

  Well, not quite everyone.

  A girl a year or two younger than me sat against a tree, watching the other workers get the ground ready for crops. “Not interested much in farming?” I asked.

  The girl jumped to her feet, tucking her long dark hair behind one ear. She brushed the dirt and leaves from the backs of her thighs and held her hands behind her. “I’m really sorry, am I in trouble?”

  “No,” I said, “not at all. If farming isn’t a good fit we can assign you somewhere else.”

  “My name is Jessip,” she said. “I tried to help, I really did, but I just got in the way. I don’t have any special skills at all.” She sniffled, as if she had been crying.

  “I could use help in construction,” Vix said. “We have a long list of buildings to erect on the hill once we finish leveling some more of the ground.”

  Jessip looked disappointed. “I’ll try,” she said, “as hard as I can. I just worry I won’t be very good at it. I’m so excited to help, I just can’t figure out how.”

  “I didn’t think I’d be great at running a settlement,” I said.

  “He’s still not,” Vix said. I shot her a look before I realized where she was going with that. “He’s learning more each day though. That’s all we can do, keep at it until we’re great at it.”

  “I guess,” Jessip said. “It’s just that, my father was one of the guards in Valleyvale. One of the ones that didn’t make it. When I saw Arden here — sorry, Master Arden?”

  “Just Arden is fine,” I said, “though I have been known to respond to The Handsome One.”

  “As well as The Modest One,” Vix said. “But you were saying?”

  “I saw how hard Arden fought to save all of us, and how rotten the Mayor was for kicking him out without so much as a thank-you. I want to make that kind of difference, you know? Fight to keep people safe, like my dad. And like Arden. I guess that’s silly, I’m just a girl with no skills.”

  “I’m sorry your father didn’t make it,” I said. “It was brave men like him that helped keep the rest of the city safe. What about your mother?”

  “She died when I was young,” Jessip said. “My father was all I had.”

  “Construction may not be glamorous,” Vix said, “but it’s terribly important. The towers we built before the last attack are what made the difference between life and death. Why don’t you meet me up on the hill and we’ll find you a work site. I added a set of stairs that lead from just outside the temple’s entrance to the top of the hill, so that’s the fastest way up there.”

  “Of course,” Jessip said. “I didn’t mean to downplay what you do. I’ll wait up there for you.”

  “Good,” I said. “I don’t want anyone near the forest until we’re sure we’re safe. There are bunnies out there.”

  “Um,” Jessip said, “okay. I mean, I guess everyone’s afraid of something.”

  “And they explode,” I added.

  “Lead with that next time,” Vix said, tugging my arm toward the temple.

  “Everyone take a break!” I yelled at the farmers. “We have a situation down here. Stay on the hill where it’s safe until further notice, and if you see anything dangerous approach, you know to ring the bell at the top of the hill to rally everyone to arms.”

  Vix and I continued toward the large wooden doors that protected the path to Nola’s temple. Inside those doors were six pairs of defense towers, some with fully charged energems set between the stones at the towers’ peaks. Those stones pulsed with energy, waiting for potential enemies to come within range.

  Hanging between each set of towers were gates made of wooden pikes. They were raised with ropes and pulleys embedded in the rocky hill walls that lined that path. Similar gates had been helpful in our last fight with Duul’s minions, and Vix had added more since.

  It wasn’t the only improvement she made. Carved into the hill beside the temple’s entrance, just as Vix had described it, was a set of stone stairs that led to the top of the hill that concealed the temple.

  Once Jessip was out of earshot, Vix said, “I can’t imagine what that’s like for her, to end up parentless and leave home with no idea where her talents lie.”

  “A tale I know all too well,” I said. “And one that a lot of other people will experience before this war is over. Let’s make sure we find a place for Jessip. I want Halcyon to be somewhere we can all be safe, but also happy.”

  “We’re on our way,” Vix said. “Though, I think Mamba drank the last of the wine, so how happy we’ll be is up for debate.”

  “We’ll have to send someone out for more when things are safe,” I said. “I like the ideas wine puts in her head.”

  “I wonder if we could grow our own wine grapes one day,” Vix said. “It would take a lot of land, and water, but I could always build an aqueduct to help irrigate. And a tower with a press inside to squeeze the grapes out. With a piping system we could probably put wine on tap inside all of the residences, and the temple of course. We’d need a glass blower before we could bottle it, after all.”

  “Ambitious,” I said, “but sadly, not a priority.”

  “Oh,” Vix said, “right. On that front, I’ve repaired our existing towers, so our defenses are in peak shape.” We strolled past them, each a level lower than the last. There was also a small bridge now, stretching several feet just before the temple’s front doors.

  “This is… cute,” I said.

  “After you blasted a hole in the ground here, I had to patch it up,” Vix said. “We couldn’t have a gaping hole into the temple’s basement. I built a stone column in the middle of all the stone spikes in the meditation room, but I couldn’t get a platform on top of the column that sealed it over completely. I built this bridge to hide the small gap in the rocks until I can figure something else out.

  “On the bright side,” she said, “that gap lets a little light down there, in case anyone wants to lie out on the meditation beds.”

  “Somehow,” I said, “I doubt they’ll be of much use.”

  “I don’t know,” Vix said. “When I was working down there, I found the whole room oddly calming. It might be worth a visit later, but what I really want to show you is what’s underway on top of the hill! That is, when we’re done with our little meeting.”

  Vix smiled at me and rolled the temple’s stone door aside. Sh
e rolled it shut again behind us, cutting off the morning sun.

  “I found him!” she yelled as we stepped inside. “He was in the woods seducing the donkey.”

  “I was not!” I yelled. “I wanted to improve Hotay’s skills, but I’m not sure animals can consent to that sort of thing.”

  The goddess had emerged from her crystal cocoon and was standing before her altar, bathing the temple in the golden glow of her holy aura. Her heart-shaped face was calm, but serious.

  “Hotay?” Mamba asked. “His soul resonates better with the sound of Kong.”

  “That’s an odd name for a donkey,” I said. “I don’t see that sticking.”

  “We can name the donkey later,” Nola said. “It has been over a week since we defeated Duul’s troops on the doorstep to my temple. Since then, I have scoured the land around us to the greatest extent of my psychic abilities. There are no new cretins, no new war dogs, and no new generals in the vicinity, only the old ones that had held Meadowdale captive.”

  I glanced at my boots. Meadowdale. It used to be my home. Until Duul attacked, it was the only place in this world I had ever known. It wasn’t a large village, but there had been over a hundred people there once. I wondered how many survived, only to end up slaves to the angry magic Duul used to control the village’s men, and how many women he had forced to stay there and worship him.

  “I had hoped this might be a time of calm,” Nola said, “a brief respite during which to build our defenses for a time when Duul returns. Now that I’ve evolved, he’ll have even more interest in killing me. I’m sure I’m worth a lot more experience points to him now.”

  “Had hoped?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Nola said. “I’ve sensed movement. I can feel the distance of Duul’s minions, but not their precise location. They seem to be getting further away.”

  “Isn’t that a good sign?” Cindra asked. The negotiatrix rested a hand on her hip, her green skin reflecting the light from the temple’s fire pits. Somehow, everything she said, even a simple question, held the promise of more. A question mark was an invitation in her hands.