Last Bastion

by Rachel Aaron

  "Now do you understand?" Lady Siku said primly, sliding her fan back open to resume the breeze to her face. "Your threats of Armageddon have already been neutralized. There is no force, undead or player, that can beat the Bastion. We are perfectly safe."

  "But for how long?" James asked, snapping his head down. "The Bastion is mighty, but the king can't keep it up indefinitely, and the Once King isn't going to just give up. So long as the traitors remain undiscovered and in position, he can just bide his time and attack the moment the barrier goes down. Even worse, the Bastion will already be exhausted, which means we'll be caught without our greatest weapon. If anything, the fact that the Bastion is already up only makes this situation even direr. You have to warn the king!"

  "I don't have to do anything," Lady Siku said, but her blue eyes strayed to the bag of letters. "You said you had proof of betrayal? Give it to me, and I will judge."

  James's fingers tightened around the sack. "Not until you get us out of this cage and into the castle." That way, at least they could find a way to get to the king even if this white cat betrayed them.

  Lady Siku shrugged. "I could just order my guards to take them from you."

  He froze, suddenly very aware that he was still at less than a third health and staring at five level-eighty NPCs. If she made good on that threat, he'd be at a severe disadvantage. But brute force had never been one of his tools, and James wasn't nearly out of tricks yet.

  "You could rob me," he said, lifting his chin. "But then you'd never get the benefit of everything else I know. This invasion is just the most pressing crisis. I have other secrets that could bring the powers of this world to their knees."

  Lady Siku arched a fluffy white eyebrow. "Such as?"

  "Nothing I'd be stupid enough to speak on the street," James assured her. "But you know I'm telling the truth. During the game, I earned the 'Upstairs-Downstairs' achievement. You were a quest giver in the castle during the Nightmare, so you know what that entails. I know over a hundred quests' worth of Bastion's political secrets. I could be convinced to tell them to you... if you help us."

  That was a seriously shaky limb to go out on. It had been years since James had done the Bastion-castle-intrigue quests, and he had no idea how many of those situations were based on real events and how many had been invented by the developers. For all he knew, the whole thing was worthless. From the gleam in Lady Siku's hard eyes, though, some of the info must have been worth the risk, because she turned to the guards with a greedy smile.

  "Let them out."

  "B-But, my lady," the jubatus guard stammered. "Captain Malakai gave us all strict orders that no players were to be--"

  "I don't obey Captain Malakai," the white feline hissed. "The only orders I take in Bastion are those of the king himself, and he has granted me full autonomy to act in the best interest of our two nations. I have listened to this player and judged his knowledge vital to Bastion's defense, and I will be taking him into custody immediately. If you have a problem with that, you can take it to the king."

  From the looks on the guards' faces, that was the last thing either of them wanted to do. After a final nervous look at the castle wall above them, the taller of the two removed the keys from his belt and unlocked the cage, waving James, Ar'Bati, and Flameboyant out into the street, where they were immediately surrounded by Lady Siku's towering Unciatus guards.

  "Don't make me regret this," the Unciatus lady whispered to James, giving him a final piercing look from above her fan before turning on her heel and marching back toward the castle. Her guards followed at once, closing ranks to make a ring around the three prisoners as they walked past the Royal Knights Lady Siku had already pacified, through the heavy, ancient doors and the dark tunnel that ran through the thick outer wall, and into the royal castle at last.

  James almost tripped over his feet when the main palace finally came into view. He'd been to the castle countless times in-game. The giant fortress had been a nexus of quests for all levels and a clearinghouse of faction reputation-reward vendors for all the game's more eccentric groups such as the cursed schtumples, who lived in lava, or the ichthyian rebels, whose base was inside a perpetual maelstrom. But while he knew this place inside and out, being here "in person" was a hundred times more impressive.

  Surrounded on all sides by towering walls, the Holy King's castle was a tall fortress of brilliant white limestone and golden roofs glittering in the reflected light of the Bastion above. The layout consisted of four elegantly curving five-story buildings arranged in a ring around an absolutely massive keep in the center. Towers had been stuck everywhere they'd fit, making it look as if the whole fortress were reaching for the sky. At the highest peak of the giant tower crowning the central keep, the Bastion shone like a spotlight, creating a golden beam that ran straight up into the starry sky and lighting up the stained-glass windows in the tower that surrounded it so bright, the pictures they depicted--a mural that told the story of how the Sun had gifted the Bastion to the first Holy King and its subsequent use to drive back the Birds and later the undead--were projected onto the paving stones below, making it look like they were wading through a lake of color as Lady Siku led them toward one of the outer buildings.

  "This is incredible," Ar'Bati whispered, his eyes wide as he drank it in. "My mother told me tales of the castle, but this is even grander than she described."

  "It is pretty dope," Flameboyant agreed, arching his neck back to stare at the sky. "But why is the Bastion already on? You don't think we're too late, do you?"

  James shook his head. "If the undead were invading, I think we'd know. Armies of skeletons aren't exactly quiet." He dropped his voice. "I'm worried it's on because of us."

  Ar'Bati's face grew grim. "If this is the result of your sister's rash actions against the knights, then she has doomed us all. If the Bastion is not at full strength when the invasion arrives, we will be left helpless."

  "I know, I know," James said frantically. "But there's nothing we can do about it now except keep pushing forward and hope that the Holy King's as big a badass as the game lore makes him out to be."

  No one looked happy with that answer. James wasn't, either, but he didn't know what they could have done better. He was just happy the real Lady Siku seemed to be just as power hungry and reckless as her character had been in the game.

  Every time anyone--knights, guards, minor officials--tried to stop her from bringing James and the others anywhere, she stomped all over them, barging her way across the open court that surrounded the palace complex, into one of the buildings that surrounded the main keep, up several flights of elaborately decorated stairs, through a set of double doors bearing the white paw of the Unciatus Winter Nation, and into an elegant, lofty hallway decorated in furs. But then, just as James started to get excited about actually making progress, Lady Siku turned and unlocked a wooden door banded in heavy iron.

  Inside was a luxurious three-room suite complete with a king-sized bed laden in downy-soft furs, a spacious fireplace, a dining table for four, and what appeared to be an entire room for taking baths. But while the decorations were the height of luxury, the narrow, arrow-slit windows had iron bars behind their glass panes, and the walls were solid stone.

  "There," Lady Siku said when they are all inside. "I have brought you to the castle, as requested. Now." She held out her elegant hand. "Give me the proof of this supposed treachery and invasion. I'll go through it and determine if it is worth his majesty's attention."

  James clutched the bag of letters to his chest. "With respect, lady, we brought these letters for the king him--"

  "Do you really think the Holy King of Bastion will give an audience to two ratty players and a quest-giver from the grass cats? And in the middle of the night?" Lady Siku pointed at the night sky through the barred window, and then she laughed. "Absolutely not. I am your only friend in this place. The rest of the palace sees players as demons. It is by my grace alone that the Royal Knights aren't already here to
turn you into a bloody mess on my carpet. Now, I have done my part. You are in the castle, as requested. Now you will uphold your end of the bargain and hand over proof of this invasion. If I deem it worthy, I will take the news to the king."

  James gritted his teeth. "We don't have time for--"

  "So long as the Bastion is up, we have all the time we need," Lady Siku said, snapping her fingers impatiently. "The hour is too late for this ridiculousness. Hand over what you have now, or go back to your cage in the street."

  James looked down at his sack of letters. He really didn't want to surrender his only proof to anyone but the king himself. At the same time, though, they'd been incredibly lucky to get this far. Lady Siku was an ambassador and a high-ranking noblewoman in her own right. He was a stranger and an enemy, but she was part of King Gregory's court, which meant she probably talked to him all the time. It might not be as direct as he'd wanted, but surely she'd bring this to the king's attention, because everyone lost if Bastion fell to the undead. That put her on their side, right?

  His logic didn't fill him with confidence, but in the end, there wasn't much of a choice. If they went back to the cage in the street, they'd either be slaughtered by the knights or stuck until the undead came. Either way, they'd be dead, and their mission would be a failure. That was a failure James could not accept, so he reluctantly handed the letters over, wincing as Lady Siku snatched the bag from his hand.

  "Finally," she said, peering into the bag with a curious scowl before handing it to one of her guards. "You will wait here. When I've looked over these letters and determined the validity of their contents, I'll be back to discuss what else you can give me. In the meanwhile, enjoy your comfortable new accommodations. You might be in them for some time."

  She flashed them a lovely smile and walked out, leaving the guards to shut the reinforced door behind her.

  As the heavy iron lock clicked into place, Flameboyant flopped down on the bed. "Well," he said optimistically. "At least we're in the castle. That's something, right?"

  "Don't be a fool," Ar'Bati growled, glaring at the barred windows. "We've merely upgraded our cell."

  Chapter 11

  Tina

  Their first night as an encamped army was nothing like Tina expected.

  She'd thought there'd be fights, but no one wanted to start trouble with the PVP all-stars of the Red Sands guild walking around like they were just waiting for someone to give them an excuse. She'd thought there'd be thievery since there were loads of desperate folks, but Assets had gotten everything truly valuable under lock and key with world-class efficiency. The self-proclaimed High Warlord of Economic PVP seemed to possess a nearly psychic ability to spot and foil any embezzling or graft that wasn't his. He had their stores accounted for down to the kernel of corn and the fletching of each arrow by midnight, and anyone who tried to filch so much as a molecule more than their appointed ration was reported to the Red Sands police and forced to dig latrines next to a sign that read Food Thieves Club.

  The Royal Knights hadn't been a problem yet, either. Tina had thought for sure they'd be in for a fight tonight, but though her scouts reported lots of movement on the Royal Mile, no serious threats emerged, leaving the Roughnecks free to help Zen set up a mini-hospital in the former first aid trainer's hut to take care of all the cuts, bruises, and scrapes that were too minor to waste healing on but still dragged down battle capability. The whole camp was running incredibly smoothly, actually, which sucked, because Tina had been counting on a constant stream of disasters to keep her mind off SilentBlayde.

  He still hadn't come back. She'd thought for sure he'd pop in after the sun went down and it was easier to sneak through the city, but while new players had been pouring into Camp Comeback all evening, drawn out of their hiding places in the city by word of a safe haven, SB hadn't been among them. Neither had James. By the time midnight rolled around, she'd given up even the pretense of being in charge and started pacing the bridges, questioning everyone who came through about whether they'd seen an elf Assassin in raid gear or a jubatus Naturalist traveling with a stupid NPC, but no one knew anything.

  The anxiety was so bad, Tina found herself wishing for an attack so she could do something with all the horrible, nervous energy building up inside her, but the night stayed infuriatingly peaceful. There was no clank of armor or creak of siege weapons being rolled into position, just the gurgle of the river and the wind blowing down the mountains, which was infuriating in its own way because the peaceful noises did nothing to cover up the moans and grunts emanating from the camp behind her.

  Of all the annoying problems Tina had anticipated from gathering a giant army of players together, rampant sex hadn't been one of them. Again, though, Camp Comeback had surprised her. Every time she walked around a corner, opened a closet, dug behind a pile of crates, or went anywhere that wasn't in direct line of public sight, she'd caught naked or half-naked people in the act. Now that she was alerted to the problem, Tina couldn't not hear covert noises of pleasure wherever she went. They were even out by the water, furiously pawing at each other on the grassy riverbank just out of range of the bridge's torches.

  Tina hated every second of it. She couldn't technically complain since people were still doing their work--guards were at their posts, watches were being kept, and so forth--but aside from being really embarrassing, the reckless screwing was a serious logistical problem. Even assuming their new bodies were clean of whatever STDs existed in this world, characters in FFO didn't come in forms other than young and maximumly healthy, which meant they were in for major baby-daddy drama a few months down the road if people didn't knock this shit off.

  She was already planning to ask Zen about checking to see if this world had some kind of contraceptive potion or spell or whatever. For now, though, there was nowhere in the base that didn't feel like being off camera at a porno shoot. Tina ended up spending the entire night pacing the base's three bridges while alternating between crippling panic over SilentBlayde and her brother and rage over the irresponsibility going on behind her. The only positive note so far as she was concerned was that at least she had time to think up all the quests she needed people to do.

  When dawn broke at last, she stomped up from the bridge into the main hall to drag the large table from the alchemy classroom into the open yard between the clustered buildings. She grabbed paper and a quill from the scribe's workshop and struggled to use the stupid feather and inkpot to make a list of all the tasks she'd come up with. She worked fast because she assumed people would be eager to get to work. After all, quests were the only way any of them were getting new equipment or vital survival items like potions. Surely everyone would be in a rush to get their hands on the good stuff before it was all snatched up, but by the time she finished her list, the only one who'd emerged was Frank.

  "Morning, Roxxy," her fellow tank said cheerfully, fastening his dented breastplate back onto his muscular torso. "Sleep well?"

  "I slept great," she lied, glaring over his shoulder at the grassy slope under the trees where bodies still lay nestled together under cloaks despite the bright light of the rising sun. "Please tell me we're not the only ones up."

  Frank chuckled. "Well, people were pretty busy last night. Lots of horizontal tangos going down, if you get my drift."

  Tina dragged her hands over her face. "This is ridiculous. I didn't bring all these people here so we could have an orgy!"

  "Aww, don't be too hard on them," Frank said, flexing his biceps at her. "We're all so young and good-lookin'. Add in the mortal peril and away-from-home parts, and I'm not surprised one bit that folks are all over each other. We're just like a bunch of sailors at port."

  She looked at him in horror. "We? Have you been in on this too?" The words were barely out of Tina's mouth before she realized how rude she was being.

  Thankfully, Frank just grinned. "Naw," he said, not even blushing. "Don't get me wrong. I was something in my wilder days, but as young as this new body is
, I'm not interested in flings. I like my women like I like my whiskey: mature and complicated."

  Tina could only groan at that. "I'm going go kick over some blankets and make people get clothes on." she muttered, standing up. "The sun's getting high, and we don't have time for this bullshit."

  But as she turned toward the part of the camp she'd started thinking of as "Inappropriate Sex Hill," Frank grabbed her arm. "That's not what's really bothering you, is it?"

  She gave him a warning glare, but as always, it rolled right off him. "Maybe I'm out of line here," the old tank said gently. "But you're not normally the kind who gets flustered by the small stuff."

  Tina did not consider three hundred people screwing and sleeping in when they could be attacked at any moment "small stuff," but that wasn't what Frank was asking.

  "You're missing your fella, ain't ya?"

  "SB's not my 'fella,'" she said bitterly. "And of course I'm worried. I sent him out alone to get James yesterday, but he's still not back, and now the Bastion's up, which means he can't stealth. He could be trapped or captured or dead or--"

  "You know he ain't none of that," Frank chided. "Not being able to sneak around like usual might slow him down a bit, but your Blayde's a bright boy with a silver tongue that could sell milk to cows. I'm sure he'll clever his way back to your side soon enough. Meanwhile, you should try relaxing a bit as well. We're finally safe, and no offense, but you look like your rock's been wound too tight. It ain't like an army's gonna pop out of the river. Why don't you take a page from everyone else's books and relax. Go get some breakfast from the kitchen or something."

  Tina's mouth was already open to tell him she couldn't possibly relax when she processed the last thing he'd said. "Wait, kitchen? Since when do we have a kitchen?"

  "I don't know," Frank said with a shrug. "But it's real popular. Everyone who's not still asleep is in there--"

  Tina whirled and stomped toward the buildings. "Watch my table!"