She stood still and looked at him funny as he turned and headed for the shower.
*****
On a barren pile of rocks and sand sticking up above the waves of the Atlantic, an exhausted swallow set down its heavy burden before dropping into a shallow puddle and taking a drink. Within moments, it fell asleep, leaning against the soft hairs of the coconut.
Chapter 8
During breakfast Amanda encouraged the girls to share their thoughts on how they wanted their attribute builds to progress. Being teens, both girls were gamers, and had definite ideas about what they wanted to become. Both loved to sing, a trait they shared with their father, and were leaning toward becoming bards. They had spent a little time with Scottie at the Citadel, and learned that he’d been putting points into Charisma as well as Will Power, Intelligence, and Dexterity for his guitar playing. Neither of the girls played an instrument, their voices being their focus, so they skipped the Dexterity.
Surprisingly, they had been experimenting along with their father on using their voices to alter some basic spells. When they mentioned this, Amanda got excited. “Show me!”
The sisters looked at each other, giving a brief nod, and began to sing a slow, sad song. As they sang, Sydney cast the Light spell that all of Allistor’s people had been given. Only instead of the clean white globe of light that normally appeared, hers was a muted blue. A moment later the sisters changed their song to an Irish battle hymn, thumping the table with a martial beat, and the globe turned an angry red, with violent arcs of lightning spitting from its surface. When they stopped singing, the red faded back to the standard white.
“That’s amazing!” Amanda hugged both girls as Allistor smiled at them from across the table. “Can you do that with other spells?”
“Well, we figured out if we sing certain songs while cooking, the food tastes different and the buffs change a little. Our Cooking skill is still pretty low, so the buffs are small.” Addy explained.
“It seems to always be about the mood. We’re not sure if it’s the mood of the song, or the mood we’re in while we sing it. Usually they’re the same thing, anyway.” Sydney added. “It’s hard to sing happy songs when you’re sad.”
Allistor mused, “So your songs, or the moods of your music, alter the spells. Maybe amplifies them? This could be huge.” An idea came to him, and he instantly regretted it, but his curiosity overwhelmed his good sense. “Do either of you know the Mind Spike spell?”
Both of them nodded. Addy said, “We’ve learned all the offensive magic we can. We want to be battle bards. We’ve also increased our Strength to five, and our Stamina to seven.”
Shaking his head, he looked at Amanda. “You might want to turn on your magic eye thingy for this. And be ready to heal me.” She nodded, and her eyes began to glow when she activated Internal Analysis.
“Okay ladies. First I want one of you to cast Mind Spike on me so that Amanda can watch the effects. When it fades and I’ve had a minute to recover, I want you to do it again, but this time do it while you’re singing that battle song.”
“Are… are you sure? We might kill you.” Sydney’s eyes went wide, her hands wringing.
“Amanda’s right here. I should be strong enough to withstand it, even though it’s going to suck. But what the hell, it’s for science, right?” He grinned at them all.
Shaking her head, Addy cast Mind Spike on him without warning. Allistor lost track of time and his own actions for the duration of the spell, as all he could focus on was the pain. The world went a fuzzy white, and all he could make out were vague shadows through the fog of pain. When it wore off, he found himself on the floor, with a crowd gathered around him, and Amanda was explaining that he hadn’t been attacked for real.
Holding out a hand to be helped up, he took his seat. “Thanks everybody, we’re just experimenting here. But feel free to stay and watch the show. In a minute, the girls are going to hit me with what might be a supercharged Mind Spike. If I wake up stupid, it’s been nice knowing you all.” There were some chuckles from the group, as well as some concerned mumbling. He held up a hand. “I was kidding. I don’t think there will be any serious damage.”
Amanda added. “He wasn’t all that smart to begin with. Lots of unused brain cells in there. He’ll be fine.” Her words relaxed everyone, and the crowd waited impatiently for the next cast.
After casting a heal on himself, since Amanda had neglected to do so, he took a few deep breaths and placed his hands flat on the table. A moment later, he nodded to the girls, and they began to sing. Again they thumped the table to establish the beat, and Allistor was reminded of war drums. As they reached the first chorus of their song, Addy cast the Mind Spike.
Allistor screamed. He felt himself bite his tongue and tasted blood as his vision went red this time. His head felt like it was going to explode, and he was sure his ears were bleeding. The pain from the first spell was a faint echo of what he felt now. The spell’s effects seemed to last for an eternity. When the pain finally faded, he blinked a few times. His face was smushed against the floor, his body twisted, his fingers curled into claws. His health bar was below fifty percent.
A moment later he felt several heals wash over him, and a dozen or more hands took hold to lift him up. They laid him flat on the table rather than putting him back in his seat. The girls were both crying, and Amanda was whispering to them trying to comfort them. “You see? He’s fine. You did exactly as he asked you to. It was his dumbass idea.” She grinned at him from behind the crying teens, and he rolled his eyes.
Sitting up, he patted Sydney on the shoulder. “Amanda’s right. You ladies did great. Exactly as I asked. I just underestimated how much your modifications would increase the power of the spell. You two are totally badass!” He grinned at them, and both of them ceased their crying. Addy wiped the tears from her face.
“You’re really okay?” her voice was quiet.
“Hurt like hell, I won’t lie. I might have a few nightmares, and I don’t ever want you to do that to me again.” Several people behind him laughed. “But yeah, I’m okay. I just feel sorry for whatever monsters you use that on. Nearly made me soil my shorts.”
This got a small smile from Addy and a brief laugh from Sydney. Allistor leaned forward and gathered the two of them into a hug, which Amanda joined from behind the girls. When he released them, Allistor said, “You two are now our secret weapons. We need to practice this some more, but on some mobs, not on me!” He paused to smile at them again, reassuring them. “I want to find out if that singing buff only works when you guys cast the spell, or whether you could stand behind me and sing while I cast. Imagine if you were singing that battle song and I cast my Storm spell!”
“We can test one thing right now, mister guinea pig. Ladies, try a soothing song.” Amanda cast Internal Analysis again and waited while the girls whispered, choosing a song. She sent them a party invite, and included Allistor as well. When they began to sing, Amanda cast Restore on Allistor.
The rush of healing magic that poured through him was like nothing he’d ever felt before. His muscles relaxed, his thoughts drifted, and he felt sleepy. When the effects wore off, he smiled. “That was much better! Didn’t hurt one bit.” He saw a flashing green icon on his interface, and focused on it. “Ooh, and I got a buff, too. It’s called Peace of Mind and it says my health regeneration rate is increased by ten percent for ten minutes.”
Amanda let the spell fade from her eyes. “So now we know that someone other than the girls can receive the spell boost from their song. But that presents a problem in itself. What if they’re singing and a mob casts at us? Will it boost that spell as well?”
“We’ll just have to test it. Girls, if you’re up for it, we’ll bring you along the next time we clear a building or go somewhere we expect a fight. We can test our theories and get some answers.”
Both sisters nodded vigorously.
Allistor noticed Meg in the crowd, having returned the night before
with her raid crew. “Hey, Meg! Would you mind taking these young ladies to the kitchen for a little experiment. Their songs can also increase food buffs, it seems.”
“Heck yeah! I mean, no, I wouldn’t mind. Let’s see if we can up your Cooking skill while we’re at it.” Meg smiled at the two teenagers, waving them toward the kitchen. The girls got up and followed her through the crowd.
Allistor finished his breakfast, then headed for the lobby. It had become sort of his informal office in the last few days. He could sit there and work, and his people felt comfortable approaching him with questions, or simply joining him to relax and think.
It wasn’t long before Nigel reported in on the raid crews.
“Sire, I have several reports for you. The Florida crew has identified and cleared a resort on one of the islands. They are establishing the Stronghold as we speak, and will be returning with a detailed report shortly.” Nigel paused to make it clear he was changing topic.
“The Michigan crew has reached Higgins Lake without incident. They were able to reach the island with only minor incident, and found no survivors living there. They wish to speak to you when you have a moment.”
“Put them through, please.” Allistor sat forward in his chair, and several of his people perked up a bit.
“Boss, you there?” It was McCoy’s voice.
“McCoy! Nigel says you had a minor incident? Everybody okay?”
The airman chuckled. “I see why you like it here. And yeah. A couple of us got bit by some big mutant fish as we were swimming. Nothing serious, just scary as hell. I got dragged under for a moment, but one of the droids killed the fishy. We just ate it. But uhh… about the island? It’s not really suited for a Stronghold. No big building, just several houses. I’m thinkin’ this is more of an Outpost location, and we can find a place on the shore for the Stronghold.”
“Use your best judgement, my friend. And watch out for the fishies. There’s a section of the lake that gets real deep and cold. Might be some monster fish living down there.” Allistor thought back to the giant sturgeon he’d seen so many months before. “If you pick a spot on the shore, try to find a marina, or a site with at least one long dock that’ll fit several boats.”
“Got it boss. Shouldn’t take us long. We saw a bunch of survivors in Detroit, and ran across a few between there and here. But I haven’t seen a live person since we got here.”
“Then be careful. That might mean a serious predator. Or it might just mean the winter was too harsh up there.”
Allistor finished his conversation with McCoy, and asked Nigel, “Any word from Vegas?”
“The suns are just rising there, Sire. They have awakened and moved on to the dam. The humans exited the Juggernaut approximately thirty minutes ago, and I have not heard from them since.”
The teleport pad flashed, and the crew from Florida stepped off. Seeing Allistor, Lars altered his course and joined him. “Morning, Allistor.”
“I hear you’ve been island hopping.”
“Yep! We stopped at a few islands and found people already there, so we moved on. At one of them, somebody actually shot at us as we approached. But we found a resort that was unoccupied at the north end of Bimini. There’s a building with fifty or so hotel rooms, a nice pool and clubhouse, and a semi-sheltered marina. I chose to reinforce the structure as I built the Stronghold, in case of hurricanes or big waves. And there are other buildings nearby if you ever want to expand. Oh! And we saw some damned big fish out in the open water. One of them bumped our boat and nearly capsized it. The boat was over a hundred feet long, one of those charter party boats, and I think the fish was bigger.”
“Thanks, Lars. With that sighting and the one near Pelican Bay, we’re going to have to warn our people to avoid the open water. At least until we figure out how to deal with those monsters.”
“I think you’re going to like the spot we picked. Sunshine, cool breeze, warm crystal clear water… you can fish right off the wall in shallow water on one side, and deep water on the other. And there are a bunch of small islands nearby with nothing but trees and sand.”
“Awesome! Well done, my friend. I hope you claimed a room for yourself? It sounds like you’ll be spending some time there.”
They chatted for a while longer, then the teleport flashed again and McCoy stepped through with his crew. The droids had stayed behind to guard the new properties. Allistor waved him over.
“All set, boss. Got an outpost on the north end of the island where there’s a boat club and long dock. Set the Stronghold at a State Park with a boat launch in a protected outlet. There’s a narrow channel out to the deep water, so hopefully the bigger fish won’t get up in there.”
“Sounds perfect. Thank you, McCoy. Lars was just telling me about the island resort they claimed in the Caribbean. The fish they found there was bigger than their boat. Like the one on the west coast.”
“Screw that noise!” The man shook his head. “I never wanna see a fish that big again. I’ll take your oversized lake fishies anytime.”
Chuckling, Allistor patted the man on the back. He was about to say more, when Nigel interrupted.
“Sire, a large group of humans is approaching from the north. Several thousand of them, in fact. I believe Jesse has arrived with his people.”
“Okay please ask Ramon to join me with as many scrolls as he can carry. These people are going to need the basic spells. Invite Helen and my other advisors as well. Jesse should meet as many of them as possible. Also, please contact Harmon, as I’m sure he’ll want to sell them some weapons or vehicles. Let him know that he and his warriors are welcome at the lunchtime feast as well. Speaking of which, ask Meg and Sam if they need assistance. If necessary, recruit more cooks from the Citadel or other Strongholds to help prepare the meal.”
“Very good, Sire.”
Allistor stepped outside, Fuzzy shuffling along next to him. The bear had napped most of the morning, but now seemed interested in sniffing the new folks who were approaching. Prime emerged from the building behind Allistor, moving to join his Prince as his battle droids moved into a perimeter formation on either side of the street, saluting as the procession of humans approached.
Jesse stepped forward and shook hands with Allistor. “I brought them all. Except for two who are feeling ill, and didn’t want to make the trip. They’ll come take the oath when they’re better.”
Allistor looked out over the still-growing crowd as more and more humans appeared from around the corner and joined the rest. It was the largest group of people that he’d seen in one place since before the apocalypse.
Allistor climbed up on top of the nearest Juggernaut parked in the street. As the last of the people filtered in to fill the street around him, he called out. “Thank you all for coming. And welcome to Invictus! I’m sure Jesse has told you what we have to offer, so I won’t waste your time, except to say that if you’ll hang around until lunchtime, we’re preparing a welcome feast!” He paused for some cheers from the crowd.
“Once you’ve all taken the oath, Ramon and his team will be setting up to distribute some basic spell scrolls. I’m not sure we have enough for everyone, but we’ll make sure you all get them over the coming days.” He looked out over a sea of mostly happy faces. Mostly, but not all. There were some definite scowls and even a few looks of hatred. Allistor tried to imagine what that might be about.
“I see some of you are less than thrilled about being here. Let me assure you that your lives will remain pretty much as they were a week ago. Except you’ll be safer. You’ll have not only the protection of your Stronghold or Outpost walls, but the added safety of Invictus’ walls extending around the southern half of the island. There are now hundreds of cannons and anti-aircraft batteries as well as thousands of battle droids helping to keep you safe. And all I ask is that each of you contribute to the community in some way. Whether that be growing food, hunting, crafting, cleaning, teaching, or any number of other methods of service.” He stopped
when he saw that they were getting bored already.
“Helen will now administer the oath. Just repeat after her, and you’ll feel a little tingle as the system binds you.” He stepped down, and Helen took his place. She called out the words a few at a time, and waited for everyone to repeat them back. When they got to the end, thousands of individual lights swirled around the people in the street.
Helen stepped down, and Allistor got back up. He was about to dismiss them to look around, when Nigel called out.
“Sire. Ten of the humans present did not speak the entire oath, and have not been bound.”
Allistor looked at his interface map, and ten red dots appeared among the multitude of green dots around him. He was just looking up at the nearest red dot, which was right in front of him and had to be Jesse, when a burst of agony blossomed in his chest. He heard a gunshot, then several more, but the first shotgun blast from Jesse actually saved his life by knocking him backward off the vehicle. He hit the pavement hard, his health bar dropped to about sixty percent, and the wind was knocked out of him. He could feel the broken bones in his chest grinding as he tried to breathe, and his blood seeped out from under him in a widening pool. Panicked feet began to rush around in front of his face, a few of them stepping on him.
There were screams, and shouts, peppered with gunshots and the sounds of plasma rifles firing. He heard Fuzzy roar, followed by a scream that was quickly cut short. As Allistor tried unsuccessfully to get to his feet, he cast Restore on himself. The shattered bones in his chest visibly mended, and the skin and muscle began to reform over top. His interface showed the red dots winking out and going grey one by one, but also many of the green dots as well. Too many.
Taking as deep a breath as he could, he shouted, “Hold your fire! Stop shooting the civilians! Aggressors only!”
Shadow Sun Rebellion Page 14
