by Ian Rodgers
It was a poor shot, and it clattered harmlessly a few feet from the wall, not even reaching the palisade at all, but one of the Soul Oozes flinched, and the crossbow in their hands fired with a sharp ‘twang!’
The bolt did not hit any of the rioting farmers, thank Cynthia for small mercies, but it clearly landed near them, and startled them. Anger quickly became the dominant emotion, and the mob surged forth and they charged.
“Fools, the lot of them,” I swore, before leaping from the tower onto the ground in front of the rushing crowd. As I landed, I slammed the butt of my staff against the dirt, and instantly a great mound of soil swelled up beneath me and rose high into the air, blocking the angry mob from approaching any closer to Haven.
“Back off!” I roared, infusing my shout with a trickle of mana. Killing intent accompanied my words, and over a dozen men dropped their makeshift weapons and tools and fled in fear.
“Get out of here! There will be no senseless acts of violence done on my watch!” I ordered. “And if any of you do anything elsewhere or come back with ill intent I will send Kardale’s Paladins after every one of you!”
The threat of the God of Justice’s elite enforcers shattered the resolve of the rest of the mob, and soon they were pouring away in droves from Haven.
Only once I was sure the last of the wannabe rioters were gone from the area did I return the ground back to normal.
“Gods damned lynch mob,” I growled, before using sticky slime to clamber back up the side of the walls to the tower where I’d left Valen, Katherine, and Rosa.
“Idiot!” Katherine shouted at me as I returned to the top and hoisted myself over the edge.
(Don’t you dare do that again!) Rosa added, pounding me with tiny fists of fury.
“Sorry! Sorry!” I said, quailing under their anger.
After they vented their frustrations out on me, they calmed down, and I informed them of my plan.
“Listen, this may sound ridiculous, but I’m going to visit the other settlements in the area, make sure they’re all right,” I said. As I’d expected, there was an outburst from the women of the group.
“Jellik, that’s suicidal! Going out at night with rioters ready to lynch anything that isn’t human? So very, very stupid!” Katherine exclaimed.
~She’s right,~ Tara said, agreeing with the dwarf woman. ~I understand your concerns, but this is a tricky situation right now.~
“Some of the villages around here have plenty of non-humans who might be in danger,” I pointed out. “Green Stump has a family of gnomes living there, and what about the dwarf miners up at Hole’s Reach? And don’t forget Clover Patch and all the different species who’ve made it their home! They’re all in danger, plus, we need to find out why the mob formed in the first place.”
“He needs to go,” Valen said, speaking up for the first time since I’d turned back the rioters.
Everyone looked at him, Katherine in particular with a look of betrayal on her face, but the twisted look of hurt on the Soul Ooze’s face stopped her short.
“I recognized some of the people down there in the crowd. Traded with them, as well. Most of them are decent people. Willing to swap jokes and talk about the weather after a transaction, but if even they could be turned into a bloodthirsty mob willing to attack a fortified, walled settlement like ours, what in the Hells are they going to do to defenseless people in the other places?”
He shook his head sadly before locking eyes with me. I returned his look with my illusory ones, giving him my full attention.
“Hurry up and go save them. Please.”
I nodded my ‘head’ solemnly at his words, and leapt off the wall once more. This time, however, I did not land on the ground, instead my robe billowed out beneath me as I soared into the sky, a wordlessly cast Flying spell keeping me aloft as I shot off.
My first destination was Green Stump. It was slightly closer than Hole’s Reach or Clover Patch, and of the villages it was the most vulnerable. I swooped down, pleased to see that there were no torch wielding crazies out and about, but I still made my way to the door to Greg, the village head’s, house.
My own fists were too soft to make a proper rapping sound, so I instead used the Noise Maker Cantrip to mimic a loud knock on the door.
After a moment a groggy Greg opened the door, surprised to see me.
“Sir, listen, you need to get people watching the roads. Something’s happened, I don’t know what, but there are angry people out for blood roaming the area. Non-human blood,” I warned.
His sleepiness evaporated instantly, and he nodded resolutely.
“I’ll find the Keebelis and bring them into my house for now,” he said, and I bowed my ‘head’ towards him in thanks, before passing over a handful of vials filled with pale red, almost pink, liquid.
“Minor Healing Potions, just in case,” I said, and he thanked me profusely before running off towards a bell on a post and rang it, alerting Green Stump’s residents of potential danger.
As he did so, I shot back into the air and headed north towards the mining community of Hole’s Reach.
I arrived amidst a flurry of activity, numerous short and stocky people rushing around in the streets heading towards the entrance of the mines. It seemed the dwarves were already aware of what was going on. There were no signs of violence going on down below, so after a carefully glance I headed away, content that they had it all in hand on their own.
As I flew, I passed over a few scattered groups of people, men and women, holding torches and weapons, prowling about the roads. No signs of blood on them or their tools, so I only stopped briefly to befuddle them with a Sleep spell or two.
At every mini-mob I came across I made sure to knock out over half of the group, so the ones left standing had to stop their hunting to take care of their suddenly sleeping companions.
I prayed that that would be enough to save a few lives, and shot towards Clover Patch as my next destination.
As a place to live, Clover Patch was lovely. Fields of clovers and wild flowers surrounded the town, and the landscape was nice and flat, perfect for farming. It was almost a town in size, with over a hundred different families living there, and had its own simple wood and sod wall surrounding the perimeter.
In my mind, it was a wonderful place, because it had so many different species living together in harmony. And it had an Adventurer’s Guild branch, so it was well-defended from the occasionally wild animal and monster.
But, as I drew closer, I started to see uncontrolled flames and frantic action taking place within, and I felt despair as I came to realize the town was not safe from itself, or the anger of bigots.
There was a commotion down by the gates, as a mob of Clover Patch’s own had managed to force their way in. Or maybe they’d been let in by a sympathizer or someone they’d fooled. Didn’t know, and would find out later. At the moment, they were being held off by members of the local militia, but there weren’t enough of them to stop all of the rioters from entering.
I chose to intervene there first, and created a barrier between the mob and the gate by doing the same thing I’d done at Haven. Only this time, the rapidly growing mound of earth bucked and heaved as it rose, which threw off members of the mob.
I’d carefully placed the brand-new hill directly in front of the open gate, and the few who were still on the inside of the town were quickly subdued by the guards. As for the people trapped on the other side, they angrily tried to climb up the slope, but a quick Slippery Slime spell coated the hill in a thin layer of frictionless liquid that made it impossible to gain traction. Even stabbing a weapon into the hill to try and support one’s self while climbing wouldn’t work too well as the tool would eventually slip out.
That part of my mission complete, I landed next to the militia who gave me a combination of wary and thankful looks.
“Jellik, C-rank adventurer,” I said, flashing my silver identification badge. It gleamed in the firelight and the guards relaxed when they confirmed
it was real.
“Thank you for the assistance,” one of the men said, wiping sweat from his brow.
“It was no problem. A mob much like this one tried to attack the town of Haven earlier, where I was staying. I drove them off in a similar manner, and am now going around the area making sure the riots don’t spread,” I explained.
“Thank Cynthia!” the guard gushed, several others muttering thanks to various deities. He then became somber. “You said this was happening elsewhere?”
“Yes, at Haven. Nothing at Green Stump, and I think Hole’s Reach has it all in check from what I glimpsed, but there are wandering parties of angry people out on the roads, so I’m worried about the homesteads and other minor settlements,” I said softly.
“Please, do what you can to help here,” the guard begged. “Before we realized it, riots were happening throughout the town! Most of the instigators are from this mob of outsiders, but a few scum from within are helping them!”
“Where do I start?” I asked.
“The Adventurer’s Guild is sheltering as many non-humans as they can inside, but they don’t have enough space or manpower to stop all the problems,” the man explained. “Start with stopping the fires, if you can! Now that the gate is plugged up we can round up the rest of these troublemakers!”
I nodded and hurried off to quell the rampaging flames. A few shops were burning, and each bore signs that they been looted. I hastily turned one of my ‘arms’ into a noodle-like hose, and quickly spewed out all the water I had stored within my Dimensional Pocket for later use in the Divine Flesh Descent ritual. A heavy spray of water drenched the buildings, putting out several fires.
There was no time to worry about being noticed as inhuman. The flames needed to be contained before they spread.
Unfortunately, my stored water quickly ran out, as I’d already used up a lot of it in my earlier failed attempts. After that was no longer an option, I raised my Urdrai bone staff and reached out for the moisture and mana in the air.
“Quench the raging thirst! Oh heat, be quelled by the tears of morn! Let each drop be an enemy defied! Dew Drop Cascade!” A Level Four spell that created little ‘bombs’ of water and mana, Dew Drop Cascade filled the hot, smoky air with hundreds of fist sized bubbles, each one bursting as the fire around me overwhelmed them. Each time one popped, however, a cup or two of water was released, quickly drowning the flames as well as drenching the embers and flammable materials, effectively halting the spread of the fire.
Steam soon replaced smoke, and the immediate threat of Clover Patch burning down was abated.
Still, there was work to do, and criminals to catch, and I darted through the streets, paralyzing everyone carrying stolen goods or who looked ready to commit atrocities.
Moving through the town, I started to hear the clash of metal on metal accompanied by furious roars and shouts. After a quick look around to orient myself, I realized I was getting closer to the Adventurer’s Guild.
Before heading that way, I sent an inquiry to Rosa about the state of Haven. Her response was better than what I’d feared, but less than what I’d hoped.
(Because you drove off the meanies, none of the Soul Oozes got hurt. They’re still on the walls though watching in all directions in case of more mobs, but so far nothing bad has happened,) the Ruby Carbuncle explained. (But there’s a lot of tension in the air. They’re all scared.)
‘Curses on these bigots!’ I swore, mostly to myself. ‘Rosa, continue to keep an eye on them, alright? If necessary use your magic to create a tunnel or something for the whole town to escape through.’
(Got it! I won’t let you down!) Rosa said, and I swear I could feel her salute all the way from Haven.
I chuckled in spite of myself, and turned my attention back to the situation in Clover Patch. I flared my magic and shot into the air once again, and got a good look at the mess going on near the Adventurer’s Guild. About ten people in armor were arrayed in a semi-circle in front of the building’s doors, keeping a much larger force away. I could detect dozens of people huddled within the walls of the guild house, and I refused to let anything happen to them.
I dove in towards the mob and pelted them with a volley of Stinger hexes, a Cantrip that sends searing pain through the point of contact. It was perfect for clearing a rowdy crowd. Startled by my sudden attack, the mob faltered, some breaking and running only to be nabbed by the guards who were finally making their way here.
Rather than let any of the rioters get away, I hurled Paralysis spell after Paralysis spell into their midst, striking them down, their bodies locking up as jolts of electricity shocked their muscles and created painful spasms.
Thankfully, these people were all commoners without a drop of decent magical power, so unlike when I’d fought Theep the Dragonewt, these people stayed down when I hit them. I landed in front of the guild house, feeling somewhat drained. Flying around for hours while slinging spells took a lot out of me, even with my abnormal amount of mana.
“Thank the Knight-God! You saved us!” one of the senior adventurers uttered in relief as the last of the rioters fell.
“No problem, I was just doing what I could to help,” I claimed, wobbling a bit as I landed.
One of the female adventurers, a willowy tanned half-elf with a bow, rushed over to support me so I didn’t fall flat on my ‘face.’
“Thanks,” I said, forcing a weary smile to form with my illusions. She nodded silently, and helped me over to the rest of the adventurers. I reached into one of my robe’s pockets and discreetly withdrew some healing potions from my Dimensional Pocket before passing them over to the haggard adventurers.
“Here, these should perk you up and fix the minor wounds you have,” I said, offering the potions. “And I have more if any of the people inside the building need medical assistance.”
“Many thanks for these. I’m Donali, a C-rank adventurer,” the man who’d greeted me stated after taking the potions and passing them on to the other who needed them. He was the oldest of the group, looking to be in his forties with a thin streak of grey at his temples. He was still fit, though, and he held his axe and shield with professional poise.
“Jellik, C-rank,” I replied.
“Really?!” another adventurer shouted in surprise. I glanced at the human wearing dark blue robes and also carrying a brass mage’s cane. “How is that possible?! You were flying around and shooting off dozens of spells at once! You’ve got to be at least a B-rank with that kind of power!”
“Yes, I really am a C-rank. Haven’t had the time or inclination to rank up. Also, I just started adventuring a few years back,” I explained. The other mage looked put off, but nodded at my words all the same.
“How are things elsewhere in the town,” Donali asked, cutting in.
“I put out the fires and stunned a few looters,” I said, going over the events of the night. “Before that, though, I raised a mound of earth to seal off the gates so more rioters couldn’t enter. Speaking of which, I’ll have to deal with that before I leave.”
“And we’re most thankful for all of that,” the guard officer I’d spoken to back at the gates said, walking over and giving me a salute in appreciation. He then cast a disgusted look over the unconscious and paralyzed bodies around us. “We’re busy rounding up the last of these idiots. When will whatever you did to them wear off?”
“Give it an hour or so. I didn’t put too much power into the spells,” I said. “But they will likely have headaches and be sore for a while.”
“That will be the least of their problems once the magistrates and Paladins round the lot of them up,” the guard uttered with a growl.
“Why did they do this?” the archer supporting me asked softly. “What purpose did any of this serve?”
“Well, let’s wake one and find out,” Donali suggested, striding over to one of the paralyzed rioters. He kicked him with his foot to make sure he was really unable to move, before binding his arms and legs with coarse
rope.
“Can you undo the spell?” he asked me, but before I could answer the other mage, who I saw had the wispy beginnings of a beard on his chin, stepped forward.
“Leave that to me. Jellik looks half-dead on his feet, and it would be best if we let him rest and recover his energy,” he suggested. I merely nodded, and waved him over to signal he could do it in my stead.
He bent down and tapped the tip of his cane against the man’s forehead, who let out a gasp as his body went limp as the Paralysis spell came undone.
“Let me go!” he shouted, but the mage smacked him across the face with his cane.
“Shut up! You’re already in a lot of trouble, so why not make it easier on yourself and explain what in the Hells you were thinking, participating in a riot against non-humans!” the mage shouted back.
The bound man struggled against his bonds for a bit, but when he realized he was unable to escape, he eventually settled down.
“You heard the mage. Spill. Why did you do this?” the guard asked.
“This isn’t over! We’ll have our revenge!”
I tensed, and the people around me did so as well. Now we were getting somewhere with the interrogation.
“Revenge on who? Why? Speak sense!” Donali shouted.
“As if you don’t know! You’re all guilty! They’re all guilty!” the man was practically foaming at the mouth, and the mage smacked him upside the head, shutting him up by rendering unconscious.
“He was getting hysterical. We weren’t going to get anything of use out of him,” he said, and we all nodded.
“Next one?” the guard suggested.
“Next one,” I agreed, and we approached another paralyzed figure.
Our luck was not good, however, as each individual we tried to interrogate either refused to speak or was like our first member, and babbled on about justice and revenge. We did get one word from them, though. A name that sounded somewhat familiar to me.
“Does anyone know anything about this ‘Ryegrid?’” I asked, as the latest interrogated individual was dragged off in chains.
“It’s a large town to the north-east of us. A major trading hub for this part of New Castella. Everything that goes to Windfish City or Pollastra goes through it at some point,” Donali explained.
