Last Bastion

by Rachel Aaron

  A better friend would have looked away to spare him the embarrassment, but Tina was too busy cursing her stonekin's indifference to the male perfection on display in front of her. If she dug down to her old self, she could still appreciate how his linen shirt clung to his wet chest or the way his leather armor encased his long legs, but it was only in her mind. Now that the initial shock of seeing him was over, her body was quickly reverting to its usual stony indifference, and that made her want to cry. She was finally here in real life with Haruto, and she couldn't be more than an armored rock. She'd never felt so robbed. She was fighting not to break something when SB finished dressing and walked up the bank.

  "Sorry about that," he said, his face still flushed above his mask. "I wasn't trying to put on a show. I just figured I'd sneak in a bath while everyone was at breakfast."

  "It's okay," Tina said, turning her attention to the water so she wouldn't have to look into his blue eyes and feel nothing. "It's been a gross few days. A bath is definitely in order."

  "This is actually my second," SB said self-consciously. "I washed off last night, too, but I still didn't feel clean, so I decided to try again." He chuckled weakly. "I think being an elf has turned me into a neat freak."

  Tina laughed at him. "What are you talking about? You've always been that way. I mean, you clean your bathtub after every use. Who does that?"

  "People who don't want gross bathrooms, of course," he replied, then his eyes widened with horror. "Wait, do you have a scary American bathroom of doom?"

  "Hey, we clean it occasionally," Tina said defensively. "But I share an apartment with three other girls. Our bathroom is so covered in hair-care-product bottles there's no room for dirt to settle."

  SB made a hand gesture to ward off evil. The motion knocked a damp strand of golden hair down into his face. Without thinking, Tina reached out and brushed the silky-smooth strands back into place. It was a tiny, simple thing, but by the time she finished, SilentBlayde had gone stock-still.

  "Sorry," Tina said, snatching her hand away. "I was just... that is..." She shrugged helplessly. "I'm not used to you looking disheveled, you know?"

  "I should probably brush it or something," he said, running a gloved hand through his unbound hair. "I've never had hair this long. I don't know what to do with it."

  "I bet it dries perfect all on its own," Tina replied with a smirk. "From what I've seen, 'Eternal Good Hair Day' seems to be a secret elven racial ability. I'd be envious, but Roxxy's copper dreads don't even tangle, which is a miracle compared to the rat's nest my real hair used to be, so I guess I can't complain."

  "Your hair was never a rat's nest."

  Tina had to laugh at that one. "Dude, have you seen my hair? It has a mind of its own. I used to break hairbrushes every month. Not flimsy ones, either. I'm talking about the big plastic bastards."

  "Well, I liked it," SilentBlayde said stubbornly. "It looked soft."

  If stonekin were able to blush, the gentle way he said that would have made Tina's face catch fire. "It was pretty soft, I guess," she mumbled, looking down at her giant feet in the grass. "But at least I don't have to deal with it anymore. Nothing about me is soft or fluffy now. Just stone and metal all the way through."

  She clanged her metal glove against her stone temple for emphasis, and SB looked up curiously.

  "What's it like?" he asked. "Being a stonekin, I mean. I just realized I never asked you."

  Tina thought about that for a moment. "Pretty great, most of the time. Being so much bigger than everyone else is a little inconvenient, but the power is amazing. I'm huge, I'm tough, and I barely need sleep anymore or--get this--air. Being able to feel the hum of the ground is also pretty cool when I have time to focus on it."

  She tried her best to keep her voice upbeat, but she'd forgotten how well SB knew her, because she'd barely finished before he said, "But?"

  Tina sighed. "But it can be dehumanizing. I can't eat real food or sleep in normal beds. I try to be careful with my strength, but I still mangle so much stuff by accident, like doorknobs. If a doorknob around here doesn't work, that was probably me. And being in close quarters with the lowbies is nerve-wracking as shit. All it would take is me turning around too fast, and I could kill someone with an elbow to the face."

  She leaned down with a sigh and grabbed a rock to toss into the river. "If I'm honest, I miss being human so much it hurts sometimes. I'd give anything at this point just to drink coffee again. Or break a brush on my stupid hair."

  "We'll find a way to get you back," SB promised. "I'm sure we can."

  "I wish I shared your optimism," Tina muttered, chucking another rock into the river's blue depths. "The cozy-up-to-the-king plan went out the window the moment we attacked Malakai's camp, which means all the portal keepers, sages, and everything else we need is locked behind castle walls and an enemy army. Even if we win, I don't know if we'll ever be able to get their help after all the bad blood."

  "That's probably true," he said sadly. "But we still did the right thing saving the others."

  "I'm not saying I regret it," Tina said quickly. "But I can't help feeling as if everything we've done has made things worse. We're facing a huge battle, one I don't know if we can win. Even if we do pull it off, there's bound to be losses, and I just..." She trailed off, chucking the next rock so hard, she threw it clear over the river. "People always accuse me of treating them like soldiers, but I know damn well that they aren't. I don't want to lose anyone. If there was a way we could bail out of this, I'd do it in a heartbeat."

  "But we can't," SB said, looking up at dawn-lit city with the Bastion glowing at its peak.

  "Nope," she agreed. "We're an honest-to-god rebel army now. No ruler's going to tolerate something like that. Even if we decided to say fuck it all and leave, there's nowhere to go. This whole world is nothing but monsters and NPCs who hate our guts."

  "It's not all bad," SilentBlayde said, putting a hand on her arm. "There's places I'd love to go with you when this is over. We could visit the Sea Under the Sea or the High Clouds. Remember how we used to hang out under the Gem-Water Cascade to do video editing? I bet it's amazing now that everything is real. And while all the player housing is gone, I can think of a lot of places in FFO that'd be nice to live in."

  He sounded so hopeful, but every word that came out of his mouth felt like a stone settling in Tina's stomach. She knew SB wanted to stay. He'd said as much straight out back at the Order Fortress. The trouble was, Tina didn't. She was sick of this world and its constant problems, sick of being an unfeeling hunk of rock. All she wanted was to get back to her real life with pizza and internet and normal problems like being broke, not having to fight for her life every damn day. Like Neko, she just wanted to go home, but if she went and he didn't, she'd never see SilentBlayde again.

  Just thinking about that made the weight in her stomach double. She knew frustratingly little about Haruto's real-life situation, but the bits she had managed to pick up were enough to understand that it sucked utterly. She couldn't blame him for not wanting to go back to that. He was a gorgeous elf here, young and powerful and in perfect health. If they managed not to die today, he could probably make a great life in this world, maybe even marry a pretty elf girl and have a whole baseball team of impossibly cute elf kids. Meanwhile, she'd be a rock--a big, tough, uncaring rock who never aged or ate or felt.

  Tina was reeling back to chuck another rock good and hard at the water when she spotted a flash of bright green running toward them from the city. Squinting in the morning light, she realized it was Zen. The Ranger was sprinting down the road at full speed. She slowed down a tiny bit when she reached the bridge, but Killbox and the other guards just stepped aside to let her through, leaving her clear to race straight to Tina, kicking up a cloud of dust in the process.

  "Whoa," Tina said, stepping aside to give the green-haired Ranger space as she skidded to a halt. "You just got off shift. Aren't you supposed to be sleeping?"

  "I... w
as... sleeping," Zen panted, doubling over as she fought to catch her breath. "But then one of my Rangers came in with a report, and I figured I'd better check for myself."

  "That fast?" SB said, his voice showing his worry. "You know that--"

  "I know," she cut him off. "The super speed was just for the way back, but this was worth the risk." She took one last breath and straightened up, her face pinched and fearful when it met Tina's. "Malakai's on the move. His army's marching toward us as we speak. I give it thirty minutes, an hour tops before they're on our doorstep."

  "Well, crap," Tina said, looking over her shoulder at the camp, which was still recovering from their all-nighter. "I'd hoped we'd have more time, but at least now I don't feel bad for making everyone work through the night."

  "I just hope we can fight on lack of sleep," Zen said, giving Tina a tired smile. "We're not all stone machines like you."

  It was clearly meant to be a compliment, but in the current context, the good-natured words felt more like barbs. There was no time for wallowing in self-pity, though. They had a war to win, so Tina turned and pointed up the hill.

  "Go up and tell people it's game time," she ordered. "Everyone needs to finish breakfast and get into position pronto. This is not a drill."

  Zen nodded and vanished, racing up the hill so fast, she looked like a green streak. When she was gone, SB pulled down his mask to give Tina a smile. "We'll make it through this."

  "I hope so," she said, pulling her shield onto her arm. "Ready for another day of dancing with the devil?"

  SB gave her a thumbs-up. "We'll give them hell. And some high water too."

  His voice was as nonchalant as always, but Tina could hear the doubt beneath it. She knew hers was no better, so she kept her mouth shut, jogging up the hill toward the camp, which Zen had already thrown into a frenzy.

  ***

  Fifteen minutes later, the whole island looked like a kicked-over anthill. Everyone was up and scrambling into their new gear while shoving food into their mouths as quickly as possible. After making a quick circuit of the camp to make sure no one was shirking, Tina walked into the main yard to find Cinco and Assets waiting as requested, breakfast still in hand.

  "Tina," Cinco said around a mouthful of biscuit.

  "Roxxy," Assets said, nodding her way while sipping his tea latte.

  "Gentlemen," Tina said, moving in to close their triangle. "We ready for this?"

  "Not in the least," Assets replied, glaring pointedly at the chaos surrounding them. "We gave it a good go, but it's simply not possible to make a functional army in a day. This is going to be a disaster."

  "The fancy-pants elf is right," Cinco said and shoved the rest of his biscuit into his mouth then washed it down with an entire tankard of something that smelled almost but not quite like coffee. "I pushed them as hard as I could, but the random raids are still a mess. They're basically just dangerous mobs. If they hold their position in any form, I'll be amazed."

  "That's why we're putting them in places where they can't retreat," Tina said with a grim smile. "Even the worst pull together when you put their backs to the wall." The other two raid leaders shared a sideways look, and Tina crossed her arms over her chest. "No complaining now, guys. This is the army we have, and the war is coming to us. It's too late for second guesses."

  "We're not second guessing," Assets said angrily. "But just because we picked the best of bad options doesn't mean it wasn't still really bad. Even if we manage to survive, our future is very short. The warehouses are empty, which means no repairs, and there's only three days of food left. Five if I cut rations to the bone."

  "We'll cross that bridge when we get there," Tina said. "I'm used to the future being measured in hours. Days are a luxury. I can change the whole world in three days. All I care about is 'Can we fight now?'"

  The elf shrugged. "Maybe? We're as good as we're going to get, but I still don't think it'll be enough to--"

  "'As good as we're going to get' is good enough for me," Tina said firmly. "The scouts are saying that Malakai's cavalry is already sweeping through the streets east of us, so I want everyone fed and in position behind CraftyJohn's barricades ASAP. You guys gather your groups. I'll get the Roughnecks."

  "Right," Cinco said, giving her a nod. "Let's do this."

  The three raid leaders broke apart, each going to rally their parts of the plan. Tina went to the central area, where her giant desk was, where most of the Roughnecks had already gathered. Tina sent SB and Neko out to round up the rest, then she pulled Richard to the side.

  "How's the fire-ward plan coming?" she whispered.

  The tall, thin Sorcerer pulled a thick packet of papers out of his bag. "We started by running some single-Sorcerer test wards versus our own attacks to pin down preliminary formulas as concerns ward-based mana efficiency versus magical thermal energies," he said. "From there, we progressed to more specific experimentation involving small amounts of wind-fire powder. From this, we discovered that the powder's explosive properties rely on reaching an ignition threshold based on the size of air magic it--"

  Tina held up a hand to interrupt him. "I'm sorry, Richard. I actually find this fascinating--I mean, you guys are doing magical science, which is amazing--but I don't have time to listen to your report. If we survive this, you and I are going to get a beer and go over the whole thing in detail, but right now, all I need to know is can you do it, and what do you need from me?"

  The cutoff didn't seem to bother Richard in the slightest. He just flipped to the last page of the thick packet he was holding and turned it around for Tina to see.

  "The ward you requested is quite possible," he said. "But it requires twenty Sorcerers in Dead Mountain Fortress-level gear. Since players of that caliber are needed for battle, they won't have the mana needed to deploy the ward on call. To solve this problem, I have assembled five dozen mid-level Sorcerers to serve as mana pumps. I spent all night laying as much groundwork as possible within the bounds of secrecy, but it will still take thirty minutes to reach the required critical magical mass. If you can give me that, though, we can surround this island in a fire ward so powerful, not even wind-fire powder will be able to pierce it."

  He finished with a proud smile, but while Tina was very impressed with his work, she wasn't sure if she was happy or not that the wind-fire-powder plan was a go. Ace in the hole or not, a magical nuke was still a nuke, and not once in history had the use of weapons of mass destruction resulted in a happy victory. That said, she wasn't in a position to turn down any chance at victory, so she forced a smile onto her face and gave Richard a thumbs-up.

  "Good job. Thanks for putting everything together so far. I don't think anyone else could have done it."

  To her surprise, Richard smiled back, the first real emotion Tina had ever seen him show. "Thank you, Roxxy," he said earnestly, reaching out to shake her hand. "This was the most fascinating project I've ever worked on. I intend to devote much of my time to additional study in the days ahead."

  "I'm looking forward to seeing what you find out," Tina said, grinning back. "Now, let's make sure we get to see more days."

  "We are ready," Richard promised. "The Roughneck Sorcerers are a talented and dedicated group. We will not let you down."

  "I know you won't," Tina said, hoping silently that the same could be said of her.

  ***

  Fifteen minutes later, Tina was standing on top of her table, looking down at the nearly four hundred players who'd be fighting today. Asset's support raiders, who were all sporting white headbands, had already herded the low-level players and NPC refugees into the stone storage buildings for safety, which meant only the fighters remained. They didn't look much like an army, but overall, Tina was pleased with how clean and well-fed everyone looked. Weapons were sharp--or brand new--and armor gleamed. Holes had been patched, and everyone's backpacks were full of ammo, water, and food. It was as good as they were ever going to get, so Tina banged her shield to get their attention, s
tanding straighter as six full raids' worth of eyes locked on her.

  "Listen up," she said, speaking slowly to make sure she didn't flub the speech she'd come up with for this. "Today's the day the tyrant will try to put us down. The king and his knights have already tried to exterminate every player in this city. Now they're coming for us, but we're not helpless victims taken down by the transition, who'll lie still while our throats are cut. We're fighters, survivors, but even more than that, we're gamers. Before any of this happened, all of us spent hundreds of hours in these bodies, fighting desperate battles against way scarier odds. People always told me I was wasting my life playing FFO, but the fact that we're all still standing here alive today is proof that that's bullshit. Every one of you is a badass motherfucker who's already overcome the worst of what this world can dish out. We're the few, the proud, the hard-core! We are the last things standing between those murderers and the thousand terrified people huddled in the buildings behind us. The only ones who can get justice for all the friends, family, guildmates, and comrades that the knights have already killed. We are the final line, but we are the greatest. We're players, and together, we're going to show those NPCs what it means to mess with us!"

  A roar went up from the crowd. Tina answered it, drawing her red-glowing sword and stabbing it into the air above her head.

  "This isn't just about survival," she reminded them. "If we beat the king today, we're going to take him for everything he's got. The castle, the portal keepers, the magical library--it'll all be ours! For those who want to go home, this is the first step. For those who want to stay, this is the fight to show we won't be pushed around. But stay or go, none of us have a future if we don't win now, so put on your game faces and get into position, because today's the day we teach this world not to fuck with us."

  She jabbed her sword higher into the sky, and the whole field yelled back. Players brandished their glowing weapons, and a few fireballs shot into the air. Tina let them go on for another half a minute, then she sheathed her blade and waved at everyone to get moving. When she was satisfied everyone was going where they should, she jumped down to the grass where the Roughnecks were already gathered.