Here's today's chapter!

There's a lot going on, but I think it's fun. I won't keep splitting chapters like this. I think both these POVs are pretty interesting at the moment, but I know when I split chapters they become kind of like bite-sized. I think it was okay in this case because neither situation is on a cliffhanger (yet.) :)

-Plum

23 – Mutual Aid

When Andy woke, he was lying on his stomach, half off his bed. He peered into the pale morning light and saw a box on his wooden floorboards. It was shiny, covered in some kind of black lacquer, and about the size of a shoebox—the big kind that a pair of hiking boots might come in. Yawning, he turned onto his back and stretched; his sleep had been good, and though he was sure he’d dreamed, he couldn’t remember any details.

He pushed himself onto his elbows and looked outside. It was still early, and though Omar had asked to leave at dawn, Andy thought he was close enough. Yawning again, he moved to the edge of the bed and leaned over to pick up the box. It was heavy. When he shook it, nothing happened, so he put it on his knees and lifted off the top.

The scent of well-oiled leather wafted into his nose, and when he saw the folds of darkly stained material in the box, his mind jumped to his drake-hide coat. When he lifted the leather out, though, and let it fall out of its folds, he found himself holding a blanket-sized piece of leather. It was supple and smooth, and when he set it aside, it draped almost like cloth. Inside the box he found the usual piece of cardstock and picked it up, reading the System’s neat print:

Master-tanned Nightstrider hide. This leather is incredibly resilient and highly enchantable. Additionally, any garments crafted from it will bestow bonuses to stealth-based skills and spells.

“A nightstrider, huh?” Andy didn’t know what kind of creature that was, but it had to be large to provide a piece of hide that big. He folded the leather back into a tight bundle and put it into the box. He figured he’d drop it off with Lydia on his way out.

As he got dressed, it occurred to Andy that he had other things he ought to give to the crafters: the parts from the frenzied dire bear, and the salamander scales he’d acquired inside the dungeon where Seraphine had trapped him.

After he was dressed, he picked up Scirocco and was about to send him into his storage ring, but hesitated, asking, “Hey, do you mind being in my storage ring?”

Inside?

“I mean, when I put you into that room with all my other stuff, does it bother you? Does it feel strange?”

It feels the same as any other place. I prefer to be soaring through the air, or diving deep into the flesh of our enemies.

“Uh…” Andy chuckled softly. “Noted.”

With the spear and most of his other belongings safely stowed in his storage ring, Andy left, hurrying toward the forge area. He knew he’d find someone there, because he could already hear the rhythmic pinging of a hammer on steel. He hurried—sure that Omar was already waiting by the gate. When he jogged into the clearing before the craft buildings, he saw Lydia hard at work at the central forge.

She noticed him approaching and put down her hammer. “Morning, Andy!”

He waved. “Dang, Lydia! Did you even go home last night?”

“Oh, I might have gotten a couple of hours of sleep in, but I was too excited about this Hearthflame Ember.” She nodded to her forge, and Andy figured she meant she’d put the magical flame inside it. “It’s the first time I’ve been able to work some of the ore we’ve pulled out of the mine—not the regular stuff, but the other ore—Star Iron, according to the System.”

“Star Iron?”

“Yep. Dunno if that means it’s got anything to do with stars or space, or if whoever named it just thought it shined brightly.” She gestured to the black bar she’d been hammering. “When you heat it up, it glows like a lightbulb.”

Andy grunted in appreciation. “That’s cool.” He mentally accessed his ring and began unloading the crafting supplies he’d gathered, including his new nightstrider leather. “I have some materials I was hoping you might be able to work with, and if not you, maybe James or one of the other crafters.” He gestured to the black-lacquered box. “Especially this one.”

Lydia pulled off her gloves and walked over. As she opened the box and inspected the card, Andy wanted to say he was in a hurry—Omar was probably getting irritated—but he also didn’t want to be rude to Lydia. After a moment, she nodded and said, “I’m not the best with soft leather. I can make good hardened leather armor, but I think I’ll give this to Bettie. She came over with the folks from Catalina, and she’s a hell of a leather worker. What do you want her to make?”

“Um, I dunno. Maybe a cloak?”

“There’s more material here than that. Your gloves are looking rough. What about some pants, too? I’m not sure, but I doubt those jeans are doing you any favors when it comes to self-defense.”

Andy shrugged. “Sure. If there’s enough.”

Lydia smiled. “I’ll tell her to get as much as she can out of it. She’ll be glad to work with something so fine, but you should think of an incentive—something you can give her as a tip, you know?”

“Now?”

“Nah, when you pick the stuff up.” She wrinkled her nose mischievously and said, “By the way, I happen to have some inside information about a certain Paladin waiting for you at the gate.”

“Inside…” Andy tilted his head. “Are you two—”

She winked. “Don’t go spreading rumors. Far as you know, he stopped by for me to replace one of the straps on his shield.”

“Heh.” Andy shook his head, chuckling. “All right. I’ll see you soon, Lydia.”

“Stay safe, and don’t let Omar do anything too heroic, okay?”

Andy’s chuckle became a laugh as he turned and started walking. “You know who you’re talking to, right?”

“Don’t worry—I gave him the same instructions!”

With her words chasing him, Andy broke into a run. The lanes were relatively empty, and the few people he passed were generally subdued, walking slowly and on more than one occasion sipping from a steaming mug. Even so, Andy said hello or waved as he passed, and most of them responded—another sign of how different the post-System world was.

By the time he saw Omar at the gate and slowed his run to a jog, the sun was a few finger-widths above the eastern horizon. He pointed that way and greeted Omar with, “It’s barely dawn!”

The older man rubbed his short, dark beard and shrugged. “Yeah, I guess I was a little early.”

Andy laughed. “You’re too nice, Omar! It’s my fault! Dawn was a good half an hour ago. I slept better than I thought I would.”

He shrugged. “Kinda hard for me to be annoyed when alarm clocks don’t exist anymore.” He grabbed one of the leather straps attached to his new breastplate and gave it a tug. “Thing’s not as comfortable as my old leather vest, but I’ll get used to it.”

“Well, it looks like it’s gonna be a lot better protection.”

“Oh, definitely.” He adjusted his helmet and then took his mace from the hook on his belt, resting it on his shoulder. “We’re gonna use your magic, right?”

Andy nodded and summoned Scirocco into his hand. He turned away from the gate, saw someone watching them from atop Lucy’s Tower, and waved. Then he put the rising sun at his back; even though he couldn’t see the city through the tall mesquites, he found it easier to picture a passage leading to his desired destination when he knew he was facing the right direction. “Ready? For our first jump, I’ll take us to the same place on Wentworth again.”

Omar nodded, lifting his shield. “Ready.”

With that, Andy gathered his mana and began to draw the glyph that represented the Greater Axiom of Passage. It was time to find the undead invaders.

###

“They just attacked them?” Denise asked, shaking her head. “With no warning or anything?”

Lucy nodded. “That’s what Torfal said.”

“How much time do we have?” Simon asked, glancing down the mountainside toward the desert. Lucy had explained that the army was coming from the other side of the ridge, but she couldn’t blame him for looking; the news she’d brought was nerve-racking.

“Torfal said they weren’t moving quickly—just steadily. They didn’t exactly try to chase him, at least. When I left Ria, I could still see their armor reflecting in the sunlight, and they weren’t much closer.”

“So what does that mean?” Vince asked.

Lucy shrugged. “I don’t know! A few hours?”

“Well, we have to hurry,” he said, turning back to his tent.

“Hurry where?” Janice growled, her voice rumbling in her broad chest.

“Away!” Vince whirled on her. “There are a thousand armored soldiers coming! How many Dondalli fighters are there? A hundred? Two? We’re going to get killed if we stick around here.”

Lucy folded her arms across her chest. “We just made an alliance with these people.”

Vince shook his head. “Nothing’s signed. There were no formal discussions of mutual aid.”

Madi stepped forward and, calmly, almost too softly to be heard over everyone’s breathing and muttering, said, “Yes, there were.”

Vince looked at her, his mouth partially open, his face red from his earlier outburst. “What?”

“When I planted my grove here, I swore to help defend this settlement. They swore to defend my trees. I won’t abandon them.”

“Don’t then!” Vince cried. “Tell them to pack up their stuff and come with us!”

Lucy shook her head, answering for Madi. “They can’t do that, Vince. They’ve already started transferring their flowers into the soil. This is their home and they are ready to fight for it. By the way, there are almost five hundred Dondalli, and all the adults will fight.”

“Lucy,” Madi said, “I think you should write a letter to our people; maybe they can help somehow. I’ll have Cheechee deliver it.”

“You can do that?” Vince asked.

“Yes.”

“All right,” Lucy said, nodding.

“What about us?” Julio asked, gesturing to the other Militia members.

Lucy thought about it for a moment, glancing at Vince, and then she said, “I won’t force anyone to stay here and fight. I can understand why Vince thinks this is hopeless, but I don’t think it is.” She paused, looking around, gathering her thoughts. She’d been thinking a lot ever since she’d seen that column of glittering armor out in the distance. Everyone got quiet and focused on her, and she wondered if it was a sign of respect—maybe they just hoped she had some information that would make everything less…dire.

“The Dondalli adults are all around level twenty. Ria told me that when I promised to help them. I know it’s easy to assume that we’re the only ones new to the System, but they haven’t been operating under the System for very long, either. Maybe the army coming isn’t any different. They might be even lower level on average. Maybe the System balanced greater numbers with less individual strength. I mean, I don’t know any of this, but there’s some hope at least.”

“A lot of ifs and maybes,” Vince said, turning back to his tent. “I, for one, will be heading back to the mesa. I’ll let them know what happened here.”

“Typical little man,” Janice growled, thumping her fist into her palm. “We should set up some traps. Do we think they’re going to come around to this canyon and climb this path, or will they climb straight up the other side?”

Lucy smiled at her, pleased that she was so game for the fight, but when she looked back at Vince, he looked a little pathetic—his shoulders curling inward and his head ducking down as he continued walking away. Her smile faded as she responded, “They’ll probably come this way. Torfal said he had to fly up several steep inclines the other way.”

Madi turned and started up the trail. “I’ll go prepare. If those invaders really do attack—if they threaten my grove—they’ll regret it!”

“I’ll get your tent packed up, Madi,” one of the Militia members called after her. Lucy looked at him, smiling. It was the stocky boy—Cary—and when he saw Lucy’s expression, he blushed and hurried over to start breaking down one of the tents.

“Anyone else going with Vince?” Denise asked. When nobody spoke, she added, “Don’t be afraid. Like Lucy said, it’s understandable.”

“Hell no!” Simon growled from inside his heavy metal helmet. “I came on this trip so I could fight monsters or bad guys, and if Lucy’s fighting, then so am I!”

“Hell yes!” Janice roared, thumping him on the shoulder.

Janice’s brother, Benny, held up a claw-tipped finger. “My sister had a good point—traps. Look up there.” He pointed at the southern side of the canyon where the slope grew steep about halfway up. “If we got some people up on that ridge, we could roll boulders down, throw rocks, shoot arrows—”

Everyone was looking at him or at the ridge, so when he stopped speaking and looked past them, Lucy followed his gaze to see Vince approaching, red-faced, but holding his bow. When he saw her eyes on him, he said, “Look, maybe I was hasty. I don’t think it’s exactly the smartest move, but if everyone’s going to stay and fight, then I guess it’s not just the Dondalli—it’s our people fighting, too. I can’t run off while you all risk your necks.”

Lucy smiled, stepping forward to grasp his shoulder. “I’m proud of you, Vince. It takes guts to admit you’re wrong.”

“I didn’t say I was wrong!”

Lucy chuckled, shaking her head. “Don’t ruin the moment.”

“Yeah, dummy,” Janice growled. “Besides, we all know you’re just too chicken to walk back alone.”

“Come on, Janice, be nice.” Lucy jostled Vince’s shoulder, smiling. “Don’t worry—you’re going to have lots of opportunities to prove her wrong.”

“Yeah!” Benny pumped his scaly fist. “This is the kind of battle they write stories about! Like the Alamo!”

“Oh brother,” Janice groaned.

“Yeah, uh, Benny,” Denise said, “I don’t think we want to repeat the Alamo.”