Arrival

by William Dickey

  “No, you don’t understand,” I tried to say. “I don’t want to be…”

  “Isaac. Isaac. Isaac.” The crowd started up a chant.

  “I don’t want to be your leader. I’m just a normal guy,” I yell.

  “Isaac. Isaac. Isaac.”

  “I’m just here to inform you…” my voice died down, Zelus had cut off the magnified projection of me and the growing chant from the crowd drowned out my voice even to my own ears.

  “Isaac. Isaac. Isaac.”

  You have acquired a new quest: †City Salvation†

  The city of Crystalpeak faces an unprecedented threat. A massive beastmen force approaches and much of the city’s defenders have already been lost. The remaining citizens have decided to follow your lead when arranging the defense. Can you hold the city?

  Difficulty: ********

  Reward: ???

  Rose and the others had convinced me to notify the city of what’s been going on. Next thing you know I’m drafted as their commander. I was less than pleased.

  “Cancel, cancel,” I said. “I don’t accept this quest.”

  You have no choice but to take this quest.

  Mai saw my expression and rolled on the floor with laughter. That pissed me off a little. I knew she’d find the situation hilarious but she didn’t have to appear in front of me and rub it in. If she wanted she could remain invisible and more importantly inaudible, but she chose to be there.

  Nothing else to do, I silently retreated from the balcony. Apparently Rose and Mai shared a since of humor since Rose couldn’t help but giggle either.

  “See what you’ve gotten me into,” I whined.

  “Are you really that surprised?” said Zelus.

  “You are the obffious choice,” Albert agreed.

  “In the Millenius Tournament you were the paragon of underdogs,” said Rose. “You’d only practiced magic a couple months yet you take out people with years of experience. On top of that you used devices that shatter the fundamental laws of magic, overthrowing centuries of teachings.”

  “By all accounts, the beastmen are way more powerful than we are. We have few fighters and will mostly rely on people who were too cowardly or infirm to join up in the first place. We need someone to turn the table. So if anyone has a chance of getting us through this it’s you.” Rose finished.

  “Do you all agree?” I asked. Zelus and Albert nodded vigorously while Titania gave a curt salute, as if my leadership was the most obvious thing in the world.

  “Well then,” I said, resigned. “That’s settled and as a first order of business, I’m making you all my lieutenants.”

  “What?” was the general response of all my friends. A strange mix of confusion and terror spread across each of their faces.

  “Well, I can’t do this myself,” I said. “I need help.”

  “But why us,” said Rose. “I know you didn’t like taking a leadership role but that doesn’t mean you should force us to do the same. This battle is too important.”

  “Look, I know you guys. I haven’t really interacted with very many people. I don’t know how anybody else operates and if we are going to do this we need to start right away. I can’t waste time meeting new people, figuring out how they work, etc.,” I explained.

  “So that’s it?” asked Rose.

  “That’s it,” I said simply.

  The next two weeks were a blur. The city didn’t fall under immediate attack, most likely the group that attacked the Archlord had been a small advanced party sent to scout ahead and the main force was taking their time getting here so they could hit us with strength.

  When the Archlord awoke, I had him describe the catastrophe at Monstone Pass in as much detail as he could remember. From that, I knew the beastmen were turning captured mages into mana crystal factories. This information was something of a mixed blessing. Beastmen with artifacts made much more formidable opponents, but it also meant we’d have time. The last battle expended many crystals. It would take time for them to replenish their stock, especially without as heavily concentrated ley lines as Crystalpeak.

  As for the others, I assigned duties in accordance with their ability. I placed Titania in charge of the knights. She held the most experience in physical combat. We had only a few thousand and needed many more. Fortunately, after my rousing speech, we had no shortage of volunteers and after organizing the veterans into training divisions, Titania had nearly every able-body learning the ways of the sword.

  I put Rose and Zelus in charge of the remaining mages, the vast majority of whom tasked with condensing mana crystals. After losing so many at Monstone, we needed the additional firepower only artifacts could provide.

  The only mages spared from this grunt work were those that specialized in scrying. Scouting was a far better use of their powers. Without a partner broadcasting from the other side, they couldn’t see as far as Monstone Pass, so I had them looking as far out as they could, we needed as much warning as they could give us..

  I put Albert in charge of logistics. He organized housing and food distribution. The first thing I had him do was move everyone into the inner city.

  The nobles weren’t happy. They had to give up space in the absurd number of guest rooms in their mansions and we had to trample over more than a few gardens to make room for tents, but to me everyone deserved the security of the inner walls.

  The second thing I had Albert do was demolish most everything beyond the outer wall. This included buildings, trees, and farms. When it came down to a fight, the structures would only provide cover for the beastmen against our projectiles and the crops would only provide them with sustenance.

  As for myself, I spent the first few days insuring our new recruits were properly armed. Most of the city’s weaponry had left with the army and we needed loads of weaponry properly arm the tens of thousands Titania was training. Normally such a task would be impossible, but I had a secret weapon: the copy machine. First, I raided the treasury and picked out the most appropriate high quality equipment for the task.

  †Centurion Blade†

  Damage: 130-145

  Durability: 650/720

  Requirements: Level 42

  Additional Attributes: Stamina Boost +10%, Damage when fighting in large groups +20%

  Description: Ancient sword wielded by legendary warriors of a bygone era. Made by dwarves from steel forged in the depths of Mt. Ouesouion.

  †Thick Aluminium Plate Mail†

  Defense: 46-52

  Dexterity: -15

  Speed: -12

  Durability: 1937/2300

  Requirements: Level 37

  Additional Attributes: None

  Description: Armor made from one of the rarest metals on the planet. No one knows who made this gaudy thing but he must have been loaded to afford such expensive armor. Despite the thickness, the material it’s made from keeps it light and relatively easy to use.

  †High Elf Bow†

  Damage: 67-78

  Durability: 422/660

  Requirements: Level 34

  Additional Attributes: Attack speed +10%, Damage vs. undead +40%

  Description: Beloved by all expert marksmen. The wood was sung into shape by high elves of the Kerrikan Forest. In the hands of an expert can hit targets up to half a mile away.

  I selected the items carefully. I needed things anyone could use and made out of materials I could easily get my hands on. The copy machine still required the appropriate elements to construct the object.

  The average level of most of the citizens seemed to be in the low 50’s, a good 15 levels greater than mine, so I picked weapons with level requirements a bit lower so everyone could use them.

  As for materials, the sword was mostly steel so iron and carbon, two common elements. The bow was made out of wood, plenty of that lying around. The choice of aluminium armor was a bit more complicated. As the item description suggested, pure aluminium was rare in nature. Only 150 years ago on Earth, pure aluminium was
more expensive than gold. In reality, aluminium oxides are amongst the most abundant minerals out there and all I needed to do was shovel in a ton of rock and let the copy machine deal with purification. This let me save the rarer iron for blades.

  In addition to physical weapons, I also replicated large numbers of artifacts. I couldn’t create them in as vast quantities as the regular weapons since artifacts contained complex mixtures of gold, silver and other precious metals and required mana crystals which could only be produced by mages.

  Everyone was startled to see the rate at which I was able to churn out the armaments. Thousands of weapons pumped out with no apparent source, but they weren’t in any place to question it. They were just thankful.

  After arming people as best as I could, I went back into research mode. I know I could have spent the time helping organize and train the troops but frankly, such tasks didn’t really suit my strengths. I was a mad scientist at heart and I belonged in the lab not at a podium. Sleek words and sharp looks wouldn’t get me far in this situation. My time was best spent on creating tricks and traps that was sure to throw off the enemy. Backed by the copy machine, I was able to go rapidly from prototype to mass production. This rapid pace allowed me to set up a number of ploys that I hoped would pay off.

  After 16 days of waiting, I finally got the first sign of the beastmen. I was in the lab trying to whip up another idea when I was interrupted.

  Knock. Knock.

  ‘Who’s there,’ said Mai as Rose entered.

  “Sagemeister Parcelles has spotted the beastmen army,” said Rose.

  “Take me to him,” I said. “I need to hear the details for myself.”

  I left my project unfinished and followed Rose back to the Archlord’s great hall. The Archlord was awake but remained secluded to his room. He’d physically recovered, but his mind wasn’t all there. In an instant he’d gone from a man certain of his own superiority one certain he was responsible for the collapse of everything he knew. The world was just changing too rapidly for him. He needed time to catch up.

  When Rose and I entered the hall, Zelus, Titania, and Albert were already there. I’d told them that we would all gather to discuss at the first sign of the enemy and they had beat me here by a large margin. The only other people in the room were Sagemeister Parcelles and one of his assistants, standing in front of an open scrying window.

  “Is that them?” I asked looking at the scrying window the Sagemeister had already opened.

  “Yes, umm… sir?” Parcelles replied hesitantly. “I’m sorry I’m not sure how I am supposed to address you.”

  “Just call me Isaac,” I said.

  “Ehh… just Isaac,” said the Sagemeister.

  “Well it’s my name,” I said.

  “Yes, but…”

  “I don’t really care about stuffy noble formalities,” I said. The Sagemeister scowled. I’d forgotten that he was also a noble.

  “How can you tell that’s the enemy?” I asked. The scene on the scrying window was a large overhead view of the forest, or at least I assumed it was the forest it was just a bunch of green blurs that seemed to sway rhythmically back and forth. I guessed it was the wind, but I didn’t see any obvious indications of people.

  “Look over here and here,” said Parcelles’ assistant as he pointed out two darker blobs in gaps between the green. The darker blobs were slowly moving across the screen appearing in one gap before fading behind green and reappearing in another.

  “It was clearer half an hour ago when they were crossing through a plain,” said Parcelles. “Now that they’re in the forest it’s difficult. If you wait long enough they should move into another clearing.”

  “Where are they,” I asked.

  “They are currently 180 miles north by northeast of us,” answered Parcelles.

  “And how long until they arrive?” I asked.

  “That’s difficult to say,” said Parcelles. “An army always moves slower than a small band. They must carry supplies, set up and take down camp, and conserve energy for fighting. If it was a human army I would say at least 15 days but the beastmen are known to move faster, by how much I cannot say since we have never seen them move in these sorts of numbers.”

  “Just give me a best estimate,” I said, cutting to the chase.

  “At least 4 days, maybe 5, maybe longer. There’s a mountain range ahead that may slow them down,” said Parcelles.

  “And how many of them are there?” I asked.

  “I’m not sure,” said Parcelles. “Several thousand. As you can see, the scrying isn’t too clear. Besides beastmen have large variations in size it’s possible many of them are in the shapes of birds, foxes, or other small animals that won’t appear with this level of resolution.”

  In the last engagement, the beastmen used an estimated 30,000 to defeat a human force of 40,000. It was unclear precisely how many beastmen were killed in the fight, the transmission had been cut a bit early, but it didn’t seem like very many. If we were lucky, we’d be dealing with more like twenty thousand than thirty. ‘Several thousand’ didn’t reveal anything.

  “Is there anything we can do to get a better picture?” I asked.

  “Wait,” said Parcelles. “When they get closer the scrying will be clearer.”

  I sighed.

  “Very well, I want updates on their progress every six hours. Notify me immediately if anything strange happens,” I said.

  I dismissed the diviners and was left with Rose, Zelus, Titania, and Albert.

  “So, they are finally coming,” I said. “Do you think we’re ready?”

  “More ready than we were,” said Zelus honestly. That much we could all agree with, but it wasn’t a ringing endorsement either.

  “How’s the training going?” I asked Titania.

  “Good considering,” she said. “Of the 70,000 volunteers, 80% have completed basic weapons training and have learned the formations. Will fight but don’t expect to be close to the same level as those with experience. If we keep working them sure will...”

  “No, cut the training regimen in half. We don’t want our troops exhausted even before the beastmen get here. Let them rest a bit,” I said.

  “Very well,” said Titania.

  “The spheres,” I said turning to Rose.

  “Already set. They’re spaced every 5 feet like you asked,” she said.

  “And my latest gadget,” I asked Zelus.

  “Setting it up now,” said Zelus. “It’ll be ready in a day, two at most. Well before the beastmen arrive.”

  “Is there anything I’m forgetting?” I asked.

  The room was silent for a few awkward seconds before Rose spoke up. “Stop worrying. We’ve set up everything as well as we could. All we can do is wait and see.”

  We all left the great hall. I headed upstairs to a guest room I was staying in. I crashed onto the bed, suddenly feeling quite drained. Rose’s final words resonated with me. The pieces were all in place. All I could do was wait and see.

  Chapter 34: Scorched

  I woke to a knock at my door.

  “Come in,” I said, permitting the entrance of a bumbling young man.

  “Excuse me,” said the youth. It was Parcelles’ assistant from the previous evening.

  “Yes?” I asked a bit annoyed at the disruption to my peaceful slumber.

  “Sagemeister Parcelles wishes to speak with you,” said the young man.

  “Do you know what this is about?” I asked.

  “Yes…” the young man hesitated.

  “And…” I prompted.

  “Sagemeister Parcelles wishes to tell you himself,” he said.

  “Just tell me,” I said as I got up and splashed some water on my face. “We don’t have time to waste.”

  “The beastmen have… ahhh… advanced faster than anticipated,” said the assistant.

  ‘Oh, shit,’ said Mai, voicing my thoughts with perfection.

  I dropped everything and headed out the door
, leaving the assistant behind.

  “What’s happened?” I asked the moment I entered the hall. Like before the Sagemeister had opened a scrying window in anticipation of my arrival. The window was focused on the beastmen army. This time the image was much clearer. Not only could I make out all the individual beastmen, but I could also see what form they took and what they were doing. I spotted one particularly large hairy fellow pick his nose, both nostrils simultaneously. I’m all for multi-tasking but there is a limit.

  “Now you have to understand the beastmen are rather unpredictable,” Parcelles started.

  “How close are they?” I cut to the chase.

  “70 miles,” said Parcelles.

  “70 miles!” I exclaimed. “But just last night you said they were 200 miles away.”

  “The beastmen move faster than anyone could have predicted,” Parcelles tried to explain away.

  “Still, why haven’t I been notified until now? I told you to keep an eye on them and let me know immediately if there were any changes,” I said. Seventy miles was a sobering figure. The beastmen had traversed over a hundred miles in less than fourteen hours. At this rate, they could have been on us by nightfall.

  “They must have marched all night. The scrying window sees things as they are. I couldn’t see them in the dark and had to wait for sunrise,” Parcelles explained. “Then since they’ve moved so much it took me another hour to relocate them. I sent Gerald for you as soon as I did.”

  “Very well,” I said. Passing out blame wouldn’t achieve anything. “Have you notified my lieutenants?”

  Parcelles started to answer but it wasn’t needed. As if summoned by my very voice, Rose, Zelus, Titania, and Albert entered the room.

  “What’s happened?” asked Rose, worry clearly present in her voice.

  “The time table has moved up,” I said. “We don’t have 4 or 5 days. Most likely they’ll be here tonight.”