Shadow Sun Unification: Shadow Sun Book Five

by Dave Willmarth

  He wanted to add some crafting time to the list, but realistically he was going to be busy with more important tasks for at least the next several days.

  And though he was redirecting his raiders, he still wanted to take the Phoenix out himself, along with a team of trainers, to personally meet other groups of survivors. While he could also take along supplies of food and maybe lower grade gear to distribute, knowledge of class spells for combat, defense, healing, and food growth was a much more valuable gift. And his supply of scrolls was limited, with Ramon and his people already overwhelmed just trying to provide them for Invictus citizens.

  He was still contemplating his list when William emerged from his room, still sleepy, his eyes only half open.

  “Hey, buddy.” Allistor got up from his desk and joined the boy in the sitting area. “How are you feeling?”

  “I’m okay, I guess.” His tone was sad, and his gaze was fixed on the floor near his feet.

  “Did you already assign all your new attribute points?” William had quietly informed them the night before that he’d picked up a full twenty five levels from the defense quest reward.

  “No.” William shook his head, but didn’t elaborate. Just the tone of that one word, along with his body language, let Allistor know that there was a serious problem. He sat in silence with his squire for a while as he thought it through, eventually deciding to take things slowly.

  “Not sure where you want to put them?”

  “No, I know what to do.” William’s tone was slightly defensive. “I just don’t feel like it.”

  Allistor sighed internally. William was still a bit young for teenage angst, so he had to assume the reluctance was something else. The squire was normally enthusiastic about assigning his points, pursuing his dream of becoming a knight. Allistor tried to think like a young boy, and almost immediately the obvious answer was staring him right in the face.

  “This is about Amanda, isn’t it?”

  William nodded sullenly, not speaking right away. Allistor let the boy think it over, not in any rush, despite the busy day he had planned. There was nothing more important at that moment than this tough little guy who had already suffered so much loss and trauma. A quick look at the clock on his UI told him that breakfast should be arriving shortly, and he was content to give William whatever time he needed.

  After a few minutes, he finally spoke. “I don’t want the points. Or the levels. They’re bad.”

  “What do you mean, bad?” Allistor already knew the answer, but wanted to hear William work through it himself.

  “We all got those levels because Loki attacked you. Baldur only brought Loki here because of Amanda dying. Getting all that experience…” he paused and rubbed at his eyes, his shoulders hitching up as a nearly silent sob escaped him. Allistor let him work through it.

  “It’s like I leveled up for killing Amanda.” William finally looked up at Allistor, his eyes haunted, tears rolling down his cheeks.

  Allistor moved over to sit next to him on the sofa, grabbing him and pulling him into a fierce hug, rocking the boy back and forth. “Don’t ever think that, William. You are not responsible for Amanda dying. Not even a little bit. You were just as much a victim of that attack as she was. It should have taken your life as well. Amanda would have died no matter what, and there was nothing either one of us could do to change that.” He leaned back and lifted the boy’s chin so that they were looking into each other’s eyes. His voice was thick as he continued. “The fact that she managed to save you by sending you back toward me was a miracle, William. She made sure you’d live to level up, get stronger, and help me protect our people. She’d have enjoyed the way I tricked Loki and got you guys all those levels yesterday. It would have made her laugh. I know she wouldn’t want you to feel bad about it.”

  William nodded slightly. “Yeah, that was pretty smart. She liked it when you did smart stuff. Told me even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.” His lips twitched in a slight grin as he said it.

  “Ha!” Allistor gathered his squire back into a one-armed bro hug. “That sounds exactly like her. So, what do you think? Put all your points into Charisma?”

  William snorted. “Yeah, right. I got fifty points. I’m putting ten each into Strength and Constitution, five into Agility. Five into Adaptability, cuz Amanda told me that was a big part of how you stayed alive at the start.” Allistor nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly while at the same time thinking that Amanda had spent a lot more time talking with William than he’d realized.

  “I’m adding eight points to Stamina, for when fights take a long time. I’m also putting five points each into Intelligence and Will Power. And the last two I’m putting into Luck. So maybe nothing like that explosion will happen again.”

  That last comment hit Allistor right in the gut. He was going to need to spend some more time working with his squire, convincing him that the attack and Amanda’s death were not his fault in any way. His first instinct was to turn the guilt into anger, which was what he had done himself. But it seemed wrong to encourage that path in someone so young.

  “Sounds about right. But are you sure you don’t want to put some points into Charisma? I mean, have you looked in a mirror lately? You’re really kind of ugly…” Allistor grinned at his squire, who stuck his tongue out at him, but then smiled back. Allistor gave him a light-hearted punch to the shoulder, and William put some stank on his return punch, his grin widening.

  “Meg says I’m handsome! That when I’m a knight, all the girls are gonna want to marry me.” He shook his head. “But girls are dumb, and I’m not wasting good points on getting any handsomer.”

  Allistor chuckled and roughly rubbed the top of the boy’s head. “Meg’s right, you’re plenty handsome enough for now. I think those are good choices.” He watched as William zoned out for a minute, assigning his points. A moment later he could already see the difference that influx of Strength and Constitution made in the kid’s physique. His shoulders were slightly wider, his arms thicker. Allistor guessed that if they’d been standing, he’d be a little bit taller as well.

  Just then the elevator doors opened, and breakfast came wheeling in on a cart pushed by one of the kitchen staff. Allistor looked toward the girls’ rooms and shouted, “Up and at ‘em, sleepyheads! Come get breakfast while it’s hot!” He heard some faint grumbling in response as he and William began dishing up heaping plates of food. Allistor took it as a sign of the times that he did not know the name of the young man who had brought the food. Meg was adding staff almost daily to keep up with the demands of the increasing population living in and near the tower. So he simply said, “Thank you, this smells delicious!”

  *****

  Helen and Allistor stepped off the teleport pad at Wilderness and began walking toward the gate. There were several shouts of greetings and congratulations from the citizens who were out and about inside the walls. Everyone was feeling the benefits of so many additional levels. Seeing a sentry walking the wall above the gate, Allistor made a mental note to find a way to compensate those few citizens that had missed out because they were on duty someplace other than the Bastion. Maybe give them priority dungeon runs, or epic gear. He’d ask Bjurstrom to make sure they were given extra assistance in leveling up if they wanted it.

  Helen was chatting nervously as they walked the well-established trail through the woods towards Daigath’s home. “The bears are just a quarter mile or so off the path. Not far from the stream. I hope Fiona’s awake this time. Poor thing. Daigath explained a little about what happens when a bond is lost. I don’t know if she’s gonna be okay, Allistor.” She bit her lower lip as she finished speaking, looking up at him with concern.

  “We’ll do all we can for her.” Allistor wasn’t sure what to say. He had no idea how to help the bear, but he was committed to doing whatever was needed. Just as he hoped someone else would do for Fuzzy if he were to get himself killed and leave his cub behind.

  They were just crossi
ng the stream when Allistor paused, a familiar sound causing him to look upstream and reflexively crouch down at the same time, pulling Helen down with him. When she looked at him with raised eyebrows, he pointed.

  Maybe fifty yards up on the right-hand bank of the stream stood two full-grown murder chickens. One had its head down and was drinking from the stream, while the other swiveled its gaze left and right, scanning for predators, or prey. It let out one of their signature calls, half chirp, half grunt.

  Helen whispered, “So there are more of them out here in the wild. That’s good news. We should send a crew out here to trap a few of them. McCoy says the little ones we hatched won’t be mature enough to breed for a couple of years yet.”

  “McCoy?” Allistor hadn’t known the airman was working with the murder chickens.

  Helen grinned, her eyes sparkling. “Yep. Since that drunken escapade when Goodrich got his junk bitten off, McCoy has taken a liking to that momma murder chicken. I know, kind of twisted, right?”

  Allistor chuckled, the sound startling the two creatures upstream. Both heads turned to laser focus on him. Sensing that the noisy two-legged beings were clearly more powerful than themselves, the murder chickens wisely dashed off into the brush, heading away from the humans. Allistor shook his head. “Seems like just yesterday they would have been a serious threat. When we fought the others, and the matron, we almost didn’t make it.”

  “But you won, and they were delicious.” Helen smacked him on the back. “Let’s go.”

  Allistor followed her as she left the path and picked her way through the brush, thankful for her friendship, and for the distraction. From the day they’d met, Helen had never treated him like he was special. At least, not seriously. Like Amanda, she enjoyed teasing him about his royal status, and the fact that she was the one responsible for it.

  It wasn’t long before Allistor heard a greeting chuff from his bear cub. A few seconds later he stepped out of the brush behind Helen and into a small clearing. Both bears were sitting upright, staring at him and Helen as they approached. Fuzzy showed none of his usual enthusiasm at seeing either of them, and made no attempt to beg for treats. A clear indicator to Allistor that something was wrong.

  “Hiya pal.” He stepped forward and petted his bear’s head, giving his ears a gentle scratch. “I’ve missed you.”

  Fuzzy butted his head against Allistor’s chest, enjoying the treatment. He sent Allistor an image of Amanda’s face while making a questioning grunt. Allistor focused on his memory of Amanda being launched out into space. And while he didn’t inflict the image on his bear, he did let Fuzzy feel his sense of sorrow and loss. The bear whined softly and pawed at the ground.

  “Good morning Fiona.” Allistor tentatively reached a hand toward the other bear, but she shied away. Not violently, but enough to keep him from making contact. Helen, on the other hand, had more success.

  Walking up to Fiona slowly, she held out one hand while speaking softly to the bear. “Hey baby girl. I know you’re hurting. We all loved Amanda, and all of our hearts have a little hole in them right now…” her voice was just a murmur, but more than loud enough for the bears to hear. Fuzzy growled softly and leaned away from Allistor to rub his massive body up against his smaller companion’s. Fiona let out a plaintive whine, but leaned forward slightly to lick Helen’s hand.

  Fuzzy moved his head back under Allistor’s hand, demanding more scratches. When Allistor obliged, he got a surprisingly clear visual message from the bear. It showed Helen and Fiona walking together through the Wilderness gate. Allistor was instantly reminded of a similar vision Fuzzy had shown him the day Amanda and Fiona had bonded. Fuzzy had made it clear that Helen was a good backup if Amanda didn’t want to befriend the bear.

  Instead of asking a question, Allistor just held his tongue, watching Helen try to sooth Fiona’s sorrow a bit. She scratched her ears, then her muzzle, moving down to give a vigorous scratching of the bear’s jowls, Fiona raising her head a bit to give easier access. Helen kept up her quiet banter the whole time, speaking to Fiona as if she were a human. Allistor guessed that the bear didn’t understand most of what Helen said, but did understand the tone and the intent behind the words.

  Eventually, Helen moved to sit with her back against a tree. Fiona immediately adjusted so that she lay next to the woman, placing her head in Helen’s lap. Fuzzy chuffed once in approval, then moved to the berry bushes and began to nibble, clearly stating that Fiona was in good hands.

  “We’ll be okay here for a while. Why don’t you go see Daigath?” Helen suggested, her eyes slowly closing as she ran her fingers through Fiona’s thick fur. “When you get back, we can give Fuzzy a bath in the stream.”

  Allistor grinned as Fuzzy snorted, shooting Helen a dirty look before resuming his harvest of the sweet berries. He gave Helen a little wave and turned to head back the way they’d come. Once he reached the trail, it was only a short hike to Daigath’s home tree.

  “Greetings, young Emperor.” The elf’s voice called down to him as he entered the small clearing. Allistor looked up to see Daigath sitting in a chair that looked like it had grown directly out of the tree on a ledge about thirty feet up. “Please, join me.” He motioned toward a stairway that began at the base of the tree and wound around the trunk as it rose upward.

  Allistor climbed the stairs slowly, touching the trunk and testing his footing as he went. The stairs were as solid as stone and didn’t even creak as he placed his weight on them. Soon enough he was standing on what he thought of as a balcony that extended out about six feet from the trunk, looking down at his mentor. He’d been right about the chair, it was formed from several small branches that had twisted themselves together to form a comfortable looking seat.

  “Good morning, Master Daigath.” Allistor bowed his head to the elf, who remained seated. “Your tree is really amazing.”

  “We are making progress, yes.” Daigath smiled at the tree, patting the trunk. “Your admiration is appreciated.”

  Allistor’s eyes widened. “He understood me?”

  Daigath shook his head. “Not your words. He’s not quite that aware yet. He more… felt your appreciation of his alterations, and I felt that he is pleased by it.”

  Allistor started to reach out a hand to touch the trunk, then paused to look at Daigath, seeking approval. When the elf nodded, Allistor placed his hand gently on the bark and said, “You are the coolest, most beautiful tree I’ve ever met.”

  Laughing, Daigath motioned for Allistor to sit, which he did, with his feet dangling off the edge of the wooden ledge. “How is Fiona?”

  “I’m not sure.” Allistor admitted. “Helen is sitting with her now. She seems quiet, mostly sad. But she’s letting Helen pet her. So I guess that’s a good sign?”

  “It is indeed.” Daigath’s head nodded slightly. “I will continue to hope for her complete recovery.”

  Allistor debated with himself for a few seconds, then asked, “Fuzzy sent me an image of Fiona and Helen walking together. I’m not sure if he just meant that Helen was helping, or that Helen should try to replace Amanda and bond with Fiona. Is that even possible?”

  “Yes, it is possible. Fiona’s bond with Amanda was recently established, and not nearly as deep as your bond with Fuzzy, for example. Having Helen as a surrogate might be a very good idea. Though I would suggest Helen wait a few days before attempting it. Fiona will let her know when she’s ready.”

  “Thank you, master.” Allistor let out a relieved sigh. That was maybe one less thing to worry about. Being able to keep Fiona in the family, so to speak, would be a great relief. Allistor paused before changing the subject. “I… wanted to ask you about yesterday. It feels like you’re angry with me for the way I handled things.”

  Daigath took his time answering, staring out across the clearing. Finally, he spoke in a patient tone. “I am not angry, exactly. What you chose to do yesterday was risky. Not just to you, but to your people as well. Consider the possible ways it
might have gone wrong. For example, what if your people had actually attacked Loki before you stopped them, and a stray shot struck Baldur instead?”

  Allistor’s eyes widened. He’d planned their displayed ‘hostility’ ahead of time, but it wouldn’t have been possible to spread the word to the entire crowd of thousands in the short time his people had to get ready, even if he had allowed his raiders to share the plan with everyone.

  “Or you might have been wrong about Baldur’s character, his level of understanding and patience. Had Odin been standing in his place, you and your people might now be ash drifting through that park.”

  Allistor opened his mouth to respond, but the elf held up a hand to silence him. “I am not saying your actions were wrong, exactly. What you did was intended to benefit your people, and your state of mind was influenced by your hatred of Loki, which is understandable. You are a young and sometimes foolish member of a young and immature race, with almost no experience in these matters. I am frustrated with myself for sometimes forgetting this, and with the situation in general, just as I am concerned for your well-being. I wish to impress upon you, young human, the dangers you court when you confront such powerful entities.”

  “I’m sorry to have disappointed you, master. I am…” Allistor stopped, unsure how to proceed. “Since our world was seized, and my family was killed, every day has been a struggle. Nearly every choice I’ve had to make was life or death. I was nobody before this, with almost no responsibilities, certainly none with the weight I carry today. I’ve been in survival mode, risking everything again and again to gain whatever advantage I could. I… I guess I’m still doing that. But I’ll try to do better.”

  Daigath nodded. “And I will try harder to properly prepare you for the challenges you face. We’ll both do better.”

  “Does that mean you’ll be trying to talk me out of killing Loki in a month?”