Siege State

Tom and Sesame crashed through the underbrush. Rosa and the rest of the party were slightly behind him, their mounts not as suited for the terrain now that they had deviated from the trade road.

Ahead of him, the sounds of desperate battle rang through the trees. The sounds echoed oddly, the shadowy space beneath the canopy dampening and reflecting noises strangely.

Tom grit his teeth as he watched the man fight for his life against the wood sprites. He used no visible skills, but his movements were fluid, strong and empiric. He was obviously well-trained in combat.

He was young, around the same age as Tom and Rosa, and handsome too, with olive skin, a strong jawline, silky black hair, and dark, almost artful looking stubble. He was the sort of person that would have people clamouring for attention every spare moment back at the Academy.

Tom wondered what he was doing, out here alone. He looked like a Horizoner, but he was extremely far from home if that was the case.

Tom burst into the clearing at speed. Sesame dug his paws into the soft earth, sending up small sprays of dirt.

The man turned as the rest of the party arrived, barely avoiding a swipe from a wood sprite’s branch due to his shock. A moment later, orcs sprang from the treeline on the opposite side of the clearing. This time, the appearance of creatures from legends sprinting from the forest shocked the man enough that he caught a solid blow to his chest and was sent crashing to the ground.

The wood sprites turned to meet the orcs. They were simple creatures, vicious, with only a modicum of intelligence. They were similar to orcs in that way, now that Tom thought about it, though wood sprites were simply extremely territorial rather than outright bloodthirsty.

There was a moment’s pause. The wood sprites didn’t seem to know who to attack. They had a temporarily incapacitated enemy lying between them, but now two hostile and equidistant groups had appeared.

The humans and orcs both realised they were each other’s biggest threats, but neither wanted to attack and draw the ire of the sprites, unnecessarily tipping the balance of the fight against themselves.

Eventually, orc savagery won out. One of the pack couldn’t wait any longer, and charged, howling. The rest of the pack followed suit.

A column of fire exploded amongst the orcs, throwing bodies this way and that. Rosa’s Immolation Mosaic skill was extremely powerful, but extremely costly as well. It was rare for her to use it as an opener.

The Guards moved to engage the wood sprites. One had decided to finish off the wounded man, and was about to blast him with the abrasive green energy common to the creatures.

A sliver of opaque energy lanced forward from Eli’s sword, stabbing the sprite in its shoulder. It stumbled, buzzing angrily, and moved its attention from the wounded man to the guardsman threatening it.

The other two wood sprites had decided the orcs were the largest threat. Fire was inimical to them, and the surge from the midst of the orcs had triggered some primal instinct in them. They wrongly assumed the orcs were the source of the flames.

Gouts of flickering, buzzing energy scoured the surviving orcs. A couple of particularly savage orcs threw themselves at the sprites, heedless of their skin being abraded away. They crashed into the sprites, pulling them to the ground.

Tom and Eli reached the third wood sprite. Eli made use of his field dressing skill, casting it on the fallen man. The skill, when applied to an injury, prevented it from getting worse and gave a small regenerative effect. It wasn’t much, but it would hopefully be enough to prevent the man’s death.

Sesame reared and swiped at a sprite, forcing it back from the wounded man. Tom managed to keep his seat by dint of long practice. During their first few fights they had realised how Sesame’s innate instincts made it difficult to fight from his back.

Whenever Tom rode Sesame now, he subsumed a quarter of Sere’s bodies, granting him increased speed, reflexes and agility, which allowed him to compensate for his familiar’s tendencies to rear and swipe and lunge.

As Sesame snarled and dropped, Tom struck out with his spear. The blade and haft shimmered and rippled like it had been dropped in a pond. Tom had found, on their journey, that his Silence mana was incredibly effective against sprites. The beings were energy-based, created when enough aspected mana was concentrated in an area and given limited sentience by The World. The Silence-wrapped spearhead struck deep wounds in their bodies.

Rosa and Meri fired arrows into the surviving orcs, and Tom directed Sus and Sol to strike at them from above even as he menaced the wood sprite with Sesame. Eli dragged the wounded man back towards their archers.

Markus, who had been protecting their backline, spurred his mount forward as Eli reached them and took over. The lion reacted eagerly, reaching Tom’s side and crossing a quarter of the clearing in a single leap.

Between them, they destroyed the wood sprite in moments. The other two were similarly dispatched, having been badly mauled by orcs. The rest of the orcs took only a moment longer. A few survivors broke and went sprinting back into the Deep. Sus and Sol glided soundlessly after them. They would not make it far.

Tom and Markus rejoined the group and dismounted. The man was conscious, but clearly in a lot of pain. Much of his exposed skin had been worn away by the wood sprites’ attacks, and Tom would not be surprised if the blow that had knocked him to the ground had broken ribs.

Tanya knelt next to the man, her hands passing over his head, his chest, and his right arm. Tom felt mana flow from her, beginning to work on his wounds. Her skills had no visual cues, but from how she explained them, they had bonuses to identifying and healing the worst injuries on a person and penalties to the lightest.

The man struggled, grinding his teeth against the pain. Then his dark eyes flew wide open, flicking back and forth. Disappointment crawled across his handsome features, and his face collapsed as if he might cry.

Tom was just about to ask the man what he was doing out here, alone, when a soft, glowing light began emanating from his body. His skin grew back over the raw parts like water poured on dry earth. His breathing became easier. Cuts and scrapes wriggled together and closed.

Tanya let out a soft gasp. “Healing…” she whispered.

Tom glanced at Rosa, and she gave him an unreadable look. The man propped himself up on his elbows. From where he knelt beside him, Eli asked, “Care to tell us what you’re doing out here?”

The man looked at Eli, then at each of them in turn. He sat up fully. “Have you any water?” he rasped. Meri furnished him with a flash, and the man drank gratefully. He passed the flask back to her, and sighed.

“I am from Horizon. You might be able to tell.” He flashed Rosa a radiant grin. “I was on my Sunrise Pilgrimage, but we were attacked by these… creatures. They used skills, and our novice-master, he wants us to get more information. The creatures, they are, how you say it… sacreligious, yes?

“We followed them, from the Proving Grounds, and we came to the forest, this Deep place. Here, my brothers and sisters, they were killed.” His mouth made a soft moue of pain. “I was alone. And now you are here. And everything is okay, yes?” He gave Rosa another grin. “Where are you going? Where are you from?”

The questions were directed at Rosa, but she merely stared at the man. Eventually, the silence grew uncomfortable.

“We’re from Wayrest,” Tom supplied, to break the tension. “We’re going to Horizon. You could journey with us.”

“You’ve seen the orcs, then?” Tanya asked excitedly. “Horizon is aware of them?”

The man glanced around at them. He focused on Tanya.

“They are knowing of these… orcs, yes,” he said. “I do not think you should go to Horizon, though. It is not good for right now.”

“What do you mean?” Tanya asked. “Is Horizon under siege too? That explains everything!”

Tom reeled. If Horizon was already under siege, then it would definitely explain why they did not come to Wayrest’s aid. It also meant there was slim chance of Rosa’s family having made it there safely.

“No,” the man explained. “They are not for having siege. But the orcs, yes, there are many in the Proving Grounds now. It is not safe to travel.”

“We need to go there anyway,” Tom said. “Wayrest has been under siege. We sent for help, but none came. We need to find out why. We are looking for loved ones, too.”

“It is not worth it,” the man replied. “Too dangerous. I would turn around, go back to Wayrest. I will come with you there, yes? It is safer.”

“No,” Tom said, getting a little frustrated. “We need to go to Horizon. If there are orcs in the Proving Grounds, then they will be under siege sooner rather than later. We have knowledge they could use.”

The man hesitated. “If you must, you must.” he shrugged. “I am too injured to travel home. I am thinking it is best if I continue to your city.”

“Are you mad? It’s a three week journey, through orc-infested territory! You’ll be killed!” Meri said.

The man glanced from Meri, to Tom, then settled back on Tanya. He opened his mouth to speak, and never got the chance.

Rosa punched him full in the mouth.

“Coward!” she yelled, standing over him. Her hands were clenched into fists. “Criminal!” she yelled at him, and swung again.

Tom was too shocked by her outburst to move. Rosa was fiery, but she never lost control like this. Markus grabbed her, preventing her from continuing her assault. The man lay on the ground, his hand over his mouth, looking utterly shocked.

“Rosa! Stop!” Markus grunted. Rosa struggled a little longer before she got a hold of herself. Markus tentatively let her go.

She stalked straight back over to the Horizoner on the ground, Markus hovering behind her anxiously.

“You,” she said, thrusting a finger at the man. “Are fucking full of shit! You are on your Sunrise, you say. You say you found orcs, and killed them. Yet you do not want to tell the monastery of your discovery? But you also say Horizon already knows of them? So why are they sending Sunrises to fight orcs? It makes no sense!

“You know what I think? I think you are a criminal! Some kind of convict, escaped, or some kind of coward, running when he hears of orcs! Shame on you! Your city needs you! Your brothers and sisters, dead for nothing!”

Rosa trailed off, panting slightly in her anger. The man had cringed in on himself under her tirade, wilting like a flower.

“Okay!” he said, seeing the sceptical, wary expressions on everyone’s faces, waving his hands emphatically. “Okay. I see I am discovered.” He heaved a great sigh, and scrubbed his hand over his face, shoulders slumping. He drew in a deep breath, and set his shoulders again.

“I am a monk,” he said, offering up the words as if they explained everything. Rosa hissed through her teeth. Everyone else looked confused.

“It is not what you think!” he stammered out, forestalling another tirade from Rosa. “I manifested Damage, perhaps one year ago. This is good, yes?” He looked around at them expectantly. “No!” he said, making a slashing gesture with his hand.

“My skills… they are to do with healing,” he said. His face fell, as if remembering a death in the family.

“That doesn’t sound so bad to me,” Markus ventured.

“You do not understand,” said the man. “We Bloody Monks, we train from when we are small, yes, very small, to be the strongest, to be the best fighters, to… to prove ourselves.” He looked at them to make sure they understood. “I am being skilled with the sword, better than my brothers. I dreamed of my Sunrise, where I would become from novice to monk, and battle with my brothers and sisters. Bring glory for the Bloody Dawn.

“And then… Damage.” He sighed again. “Damage with the healing skills.”

Rosa snorted derisively. “Healers in the Bloody Dawn are the holiest of holy. They are given a pampered life in the monastery, so they may keep their brothers and sisters always fighting. They want for nothing.”

“Sign me up,” Eli said. “Reckon field dressing would be enough?”

Rosa snorted again. “No, they want several skills- stronger- sorry Eli, and you must be a monk, besides. This fool has run away because he wants to spend his life in battle and be killed instead of being honoured.”

“Honoured!?” the man said, his face flushing. “I will not be some kitten to be kept at home and handled gently while my brothers and sisters fight for their lives!”

He regained his composure. “It no longer matters. I thought, ‘Damage, is okay, I will manifest my skills, and not all will be Healing’.” He chuckled self-deprecatingly. “Only skill I have that is not is familiar.”

Rosa had explained that Horizoners looked down on ritual familiars. Too similar to the mana-beasts their religion vilified.

“We had a messengers from Wayrest come to our city. They spoke of orcs and great danger. They said it would find its way to us, too. I thought to myself, ‘here is an opportunity’. Before they could make me into a pampered infirmerer, I ran away.” He lifted his chin defiantly. “I thought if I can find danger, I will manifest another Ideal, and I will be useful. Some monks are allowed to be battle-healers, yes? Perhaps I could be one.”

Rosa gasped, and grabbed the man by his breastplate. “You had messengers from Wayrest. The Raventos family, was it them?”

The man went wide-eyed from the intensity of Rosa’s reaction. “I am not sure,” he began. Rosa shook him violently. “I do not know!” he protested. “I swear it! I left the city as soon as I heard of the orcs!”

“You will be coming with us,” Rosa said with finality. She released him, and he slumped in misery. Tom could see the renewed purpose burning in her eyes. She would want to move twice as fast, now.

Suddenly, a few loose ends came together in Tom’s mind. “You just manifested an Ideal just now, didn’t you?”

The man nodded sombrely. “Yes,” he said. “A great disappointment: Healing. Now I will never be a warrior.” He looked like a kicked puppy.

Tom decided he didn’t like the man. He had manifested an Ideal that would be seen as a great honour in his city, and he spat on it and ran away.

“What’s your name?” Meri asked.

“Darius,” the man replied. “Darius Gallo.”