Unbound

That night, as darkness settled onto Fortress Fenwick, Felix plied the skies.

Sat atop Pit, Felix surveyed the dark landscape. The mountains stretched to the west and north while to the east the landscape dropped down into foothills and fields. Several hundred miles to the east was Pax’Vrell…and Vess’ dad.

A solid portion of their day had been spent settling in and talking to the Viscount and Viscountess Dayne. The Hierei that had deposed the duke was sitting there in Scalebreaker Citadel, directing the Priests and Paladins around the Territory like pawns on a board. Felix needed to get into that Citadel and access the Shadowgate...but he wasn't about to leave Vess' father imprisoned and her home in turmoil.

Action was required—but before that, intelligence.

They flew high and fast, pushing at the boundaries of what Pit’s new Body could do. The night was moonless, a rarity on the Continent, and with both of their stealth Skills active there was little threat of being discovered. Pit took the opportunity to try out some daring maneuvers, showcasing his new prowess and speed. Felix clung to the tenku’s back with ease, withstanding the excessive force as His companion rose and dove in rapid succession, but he doubted others would survive for long.

“Gee force?” Pit asked as he slowed to a cruising speed. “What’s that?”

"G-force is uh...gravity? It's that pressure when you go real fast."

"Oooh. The zoom boom."

"The—the what?"

Felix laughed. "That's called breaking the sound barrier. But, dang. Zoom boom sounds a lot more fun."

"Right? It rhymes. Things are better when they rhyme."

The path ahead was simple enough. Travel through the Foothills and the farmlands was made easier by well kept roads and sanitized wildlands. The Lord and Lady of the Eastern Reaches promised that no beasts roamed their holdings, but Felix was not concerned with beasts. Instead he counted the campfires that dotted the landscape, accompanied by the faint blobs of red alongside them. His eyesight was exceptional but there were miles between them and the full dark of a moonless night. Still, he knew Paladins when he saw them.

The Inquisitors were bad enough, but the Paladins were stronger by far. Felix had fought them in Ahkestria and on the battlefield outside Haarwatch, and each time they proved a menace. Now, he counted hundreds of campfires spread across many miles and roughly estimated he was viewing a force of at least a thousand. That meshed well with the rough numbers the Viscount had provided to them. Ten thousand Priests and five thousand Paladins had invaded Pax’Vrell. An incredible number, even accounting for the few that might have fallen in the initial struggle—and far more than Felix had ever faced with so few on his side.

Felix clenched his hands in Pit’s soft fur. A plan was slowly building in his head, but it wasn't a good one. “I've seen enough. Come on, Pit. Let's head back.”

Pit turned back the way they had come, his four wings pivoting gracefully in midair. “Are we going to fight them all?” he asked.

“Probably,” Felix sighed. He closed his eyes and let the cold wind wash over him. His coat flapped behind him like a standard and he shortened it with a flex of his Will. “But we’ll need the Dragoons to help us.”

“Will they, though?”

“That’s up to Vess, I think.”

The pair of them shot into the west, where the clouds thinned and the Rimefangs loomed. Nestled in the embrace of the first mountain, just above the foothills and crags, was the once mighty Fortress Fenwald. With Felix’s Perception and vantage point, it was almost obvious, though he imagined it was all but invisible to ground forces.

Maybe that’s why it got so beat up.

He’d seen the ruin of the fortress earlier, but something about a bird’s eye view made it far more compelling. The main keep was up against the mountain, while two crumbling walls extended outward. Those were mostly intact, and featured some structures built into their sides. It was the third wall that was shattered, like a toddler’s toy blocks, carelessly kicked aside. The swamp clung around it, spread in the wide areas suspended among the mountains, and it had spread into the fortress itself. Overly eager growth clung to the tumbled walls, covering them in green creepers and moss that faded as it moved closer to the central keep.

Where once there had been multiple turrets on the walls, now there was only one, and it was the highest place there. Yin claimed that the turrets had once housed the Domains of those Dragons too powerful to use the False Nests near the whirlpool entrance. Felix could see the appeal as they approached. The turrets were easy to access and easy to leave.

Pit flew them down fast and quiet, and when they touched down on the lone turret it was clear that no guards had so much as twitched. Nice flying, bud.

Thanks! Pit Masked himself, suddenly becoming a small puppy again. I thought it’d be harder to move around when I’m big, but it’s actually really easy in the air.

Felix sent a pulse of warm affection toward his Companion and slipped into the turret chambers. They were empty of course, likely swept clean a long time ago. There weren’t any Mana crystal deposits they’d found below either, much to Pit’s dismay. He was hungry again.

Down the steps and into the fortress proper, they soon exited onto the walls and walked calmly past chatting guards huddled around a hidden fire. A few words caught Felix’s ears, almost making him trip over his own feet.

They were talking about him.

“Those Windcallers sure get around,” he muttered. The wind whistled across the mountain, and it carried the exact tone of a distant, cawing bird. “Yeah yeah.”

“I think it’s neat,” Pit said. They hopped from one wall across a gap nearly thirty feet wide. It was easy. “The Raven isn’t so bad. She’s just…chatty.”

“That’s one way to put it, yeah.” They were in the central keep now, carefully dodging the soldiers that bustled away from their destination. Felix turned himself sideways to slip between two Hobgoblin farmers arguing quietly about their ruined crops. They didn’t even look up as he spoke, his Abyssal Skein too much for their senses. “Ah, c’mon, the doors closing.”

In a burst of speed, both of them slipped through the double doors leading into the Viscount’s offices. Vess, Evie, Archie, Beef, and Yin were sat in varying places across the wide room, each eating the last of whatever meal had been cooked up. Lady Verona and Lord Patrim were there as well, of course, along with a number of guards bearing their personal livery. It was blue and silver, featuring a lion rampant amid a field of lilies.

Harn and the rest must still be below, Felix noted. The man had been intent on fixing the forge, and the Chanters were likely still investigating the murals down there.

Hallow and the Eidolons too? Pit asked.

I guess. Frankly Felix was just happy that Tarok and the Dragoons hadn’t returned. They’d left after his declaration of deicide, which was…fair. It sounded crazy to him too. Felix hadn’t heard from them since, though he’d spotted plenty of movement from their part of camp.

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“Hello everyone!” Pit announced, dropping his stealth and shrugging out of Felix’s Abyssal Skein. Felix followed right after, rolling his eyes as he dismissed his Skill entirely.

The guards startled, but they were as steady as the blades they pointed in Felix’s direction. He gave them an apologetic smile, but they only sheathed their side swords when Patrim gave a nod.

"How was the view?" Evie asked, shoving what looked like an entire blue pear into her mouth.

“Expansive. And troubling,” Felix said. He relayed what he’d seen, from the campfires to his rough estimate of enemies. “And that is just what is within the next few miles. I assume there are a lot more towns closer to the city?”

“A great deal more,” Vess confirmed.

“A thousand is not small, but at least some of those are likely the Dragoons,” Patrim said. His wife clenched her jaw, but didn’t disagree. “Which means the bulk of their forces remain in the city itself.”

“That’ll be a problem,” Beef said. “Right?”

Evie shrugged. “I mean, it ain’t good.”

“That’s underselling it a bit,” Archie said. “How’re we supposed to face thousands of troops with, what? Six hundred locals and us?”

Evie burped and slapped her bicep. “I’ll handle a thousand myself. Beef, you got the rest?”

“Yup.”

“Incredible. I am so glad I’m traveling with such powerhouses.”

Felix ignored them and focused on the Viscountess. “Tell me about the Hierei.”

“Mivun Tal,” Verona said, her expression darkening. “Hierei of Levantier and the Ghreldan Hills. A giant of a Human by all records, and as fastidious as he is powerful. He, like all Hierei, is a Grandmaster and is the head of the Priesthood of the Pathless.”

“Is that why there are so many that came with him? Ten thousand Priests is…” Felix groped for the right words. “It’s wild. Why not send more Paladins?”

“They are likely spread thin, considering what your aides told us of their movements around the Continent,” Patrim said. “The Priesthood is not commonly known for its combat strength, though our reports indicate that all that arrived in Pax’Vrell are at the Journeyman Tier or higher.”

“Ten thousand Journeymen could do a lot of damage, no matter how bad they are at fighting,” Vess agreed. “Is the Hierei a true threat?”

Verona blinked at her niece. “He is a Grandmaster, child. Of course he’s a threat.”

Felix grunted. “We can work with that. The real worry is what he might do to his prisoners.”

“My brother would gladly die for his people, but I refuse to allow that,” Patrim said, his voice firm. “Are you truly willing to aid us in taking back our Territory?”

“Yes.” Felix had already talked to his friends about it, and they were all in agreement, even if some of them had to be bullied into it. “As I said before, we didn’t show up here by coincidence. There is something I need in the Citadel.”

“Vess described it to me, yes. An artifact of mysterious purpose.” Verona peered at Felix with her dark eyes, and despite sensing zero active Skills, he felt like she was boring into his soul. “What does this artifact do, Autarch Nevarre? She refused to say.”

“All I can say is that access to it is the price of my help.”

“I do not like secrets.”

Felix merely spread his hands, as if helpless. “Neither do I, but here we are. You have the soldiers and I have the experience fighting against Hierocratic forces. If we work together, we can both get what we want.”

Verona watched him for a few tense moments more, before taking a step back. “Very well. It is located in the heart of Scalebreaker Citadel. I will have a map made up for you.”

Felix inclined his head to the exact degree Vess had taught him. A foreign king acknowledging a local dignitary. “Thank you.”

“You’ve trained him well, dear,” Verona said, glancing at Vess nearby.

The spearmaiden blushed. “I–he wanted etiquette training. So I provided it.”

“She’s a great teacher.”

Verona pursed her lips but a smile hid behind it. “Mhm.”

“Ahem, yes, well.” Vess clapped her hands. “If we wish to have any chance against the Hierocracy, we need to prepare ourselves. Better weapons and armor, as well as healing supplies and potions. Do you have any of those resources?”

Her uncle scratched his cheek, looking confused. “No, and yes. The only armor and weapons is what we carry, and none of my smiths were able to flee with us. We do have a pair of alchemists, but they’re only Apprentice Tiers and they’ve had supply issues. Not enough stock to keep up with recent injuries while hunting.”

"Or injuries from exploring the fortress," Verona said with a pointed look at Vess.

“I apologize for taking down your men,” Vess said with a sigh. “I assumed you were raiders inhabiting this fortress. Our scouts confirmed as much.”

Evie grimaced.

“Good. That is what I want to look like,” the Viscountess said, sitting in her chair with a relieved groan. “Raiders are far less of a concern right now than our people. If the zealots found us, we'd be slaughtered in an instant; but lone hunters in the mountains? Low priority.”

“Who is maintaining the illusion on your soldiers?” Felix asked.

“Strong and perceptive,” the older woman said with a secret smile. "No wonder you like him."

“Auntie,” Vess said, a clear warning in her tone. Felix cleared his throat uncomfortably while Archie snickered somewhere in the back.

“The illusion is mine, and something I take pains to reapply each day. Some of our soldiers, the common conscripts, for instance, truly have patchwork armor that we’ve scrounged up during out flight out of the Territory, but the Dragoons are too noticeable. The illusion lets them hunt and scout with our people. Train them, though they’ve done little of that.”

Felix leaned forward. “Interesting. It’s a mass illusion Skill?”

“It is.”

“Don’t worry about the armor stuff,” Evie said. She had an entire loaf of bread and broke it over her knee. She tossed half to Pit and started munching on the rest. “Harn’s workin’ on gettin’ that forge up and runnin’. If he got some helpers and materials, he could probably churn out quality stuff in just a few days.”

Patrim drummed his fingers on the map table. “We can arrange for helpers, but materials will be tough.”

“He’s workin’ on that,” Evie said, waving her bread dismissively.

Felix looked to Vess. “Will the Dragoons help?”

Yin snorted twin streams of smoke from her shoulder. “They’d have to stop hiding in their tents, first.”

Verona frowned at the Wyrmling. “They will come around. Tarok is dedicated to Pax'Vrell as much as any of us, and those below him will follow. His pride is wounded and the events of this past month have pushed us all past the breaking point. The most immediate problem is that they do not trust your...Companion. Nor you, my dear.”

“Feh.”

Vess ran a finger down Yin’s chest, and the Wyrmling reluctantly leaned into it, before starting to purr. "I understand. It took me a long time to come to terms with my new situation. But we have been fed lies, Auntie. The Dragons did not betray us. We betrayed them."

"So you've said, and I know that you believe it...but you ask me to trust you based on the enemy's memories that we cannot experience. The order will need more than your word before it changes centuries of tradition designed to keep our people safe."

“My word is as golden as the scales upon my back,” Yin declared angrily.

“Dragons cannot be trusted,” Verona shot right back. “We are taught that from birth. It cannot be overturned in an instant, not on word alone.”

"And the word of a Dayne is not worth much either at the moment," Patrim said, his tone sharp and bitter. "Many see the invasion as the duke's fault, despite that not making a lick of sense."

"I will convince them. I promise you that," Vess swore. "I'm positive there are records somewhere here."

"There are Skills to verify the provenance of such records. If you are able to find them, then we will have an easier time convincing the order as a whole."

"What about their Oaths?" Patrim asked. "Those traitors are bound to the Will of the Hierei or else they will die. I fear it will come to brutal fighting."

"Leave that to me," Felix said. "We just need to find out who issued the Oath."

The Viscount and Viscountess shared an incredulous look, but let it slide. "The Hierei himself did it. To break their Oath will shatter their foundations." Patrim made a gesture over his heart. "May Siva have mercy on them all."

Siva. Felix swallowed the growl he felt bubbling up. I doubt she’ll like what I have planned at all.

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