bookpower Book 1-13.1: Cut Off
Book 1-13.1: Cut Off
“You look a mess,” Krystal said again. “You’ve got blue ick all over you.”Yuriko shrugged. “I’ll wash up when we find a stream. It shouldn’t be too far.” The stench was getting to her though.
“Uhm,” Orrin walked up to them. “I think I can help.” He held out a finger, the tip of which was glowing a dim red. “May I?”
“Go ahead,” Yuriko said, bewildered.
His fingers touched her cheek and felt her skin tingle as something seemed to crawl away from where his fingers touched. Orrin had the tip of his tongue sticking out the corner of his lip in an expression of sublime concentration.
Plink, plink.
Droplets of blue blood flew away from her cheek. Orrin then traced his fingers over her cheek, crossing over her forehead, and to her other cheek. His fingers were soft and gentle as he touched her nose and lips.
“Ahem.” Krystal coughed. Orrin’s face coloured faintly and he moved a bit faster, but no less gently. Orrin was sweating by the time he finished. He ended up tracing his fingers until her collar bone; the intimate touch had made her a bit uncomfortable but there was no denying that being clean felt great. She held out her hands, too, and he used his Facet to make her skin repel the blood.
“Thank you,” Yuriko beamed and Orrin blushed and stuttered.he Watchtower at Faron’s Crossing had the most contact.
“Accursed cold.” Rorke shivered.
Kale couldn’t help but nod. It wasn’t supposed to be cold; the Season of Fire was already in its third week. It should have been a sweltering night. Not that last night was anything but pleasant in the tower’s climate-controlled interior.
Kale fingered the hilt of the massive two-handed sword on his back. The weapon was taller than he was but it was the required implement of his Facet. There was something off about tonight, he just couldn’t put a finger on it.
The night sky was its normal soft, silver glow and the moon was almost full but not quite.
“Anything interesting happened lately?” Rorke asked.
“Not that I know of. Commander Davar still isn’t back and I still don’t know my schedule next week.” Kale shrugged. “I want to hunt some Wyldlings actually.”
“Why? You could just buy shards.”
“Some theories say harvesting a shard fresh has its benefits.”
“Unsubstantiated theories.”
“Good practice anyway.”
The walk around the perimeter wall was about two longstrides, broken every five hundred paces with an artillery tower. They were supposed to make one full round every hour, but that meant going at a leisurely pace. Several pairs of night watchers were spaced evenly on the walls, and there was a pair every fifty paces or so. The pair in front of Kale and Rorke had just entered the artillery tower.
The chill breeze was coming from the border, Kale realized. The colour of the air above the border seemed washed out against the moonlight but Kale could make out the swirls and whorls even as far away as he was.
He had been staring at the Tidelands border for a while now that he missed a step when the wall changed elevation. The heart-stopping feeling of stepping and not feeling anything under his feet nearly made him screech.
“Ancestors!” he gasped.
Rorke snorted in laughter, “Serves you right. Watch your feet, boy!”
“Shut it, you!”
A few minutes later, they arrived at the artillery tower. It was about a dozen paces higher than the rest of the wall and housed a couple of plasma carronades. Those were powered by Animus stored in green jade, which was the only variety that could store Animus for any significant length of time. More advanced plasma artillery was powered by imperial jadeite instead which preserved both the Animus and its Intent. The carronades here were on a swivel that allowed them nearly ninety degrees of movement--more than enough to cover the field around the wall.
Kale and Rorke tapped their fists to their hearts as a salute to the officers manning the siege weapons. They returned the salute but one of them yawned. Kale frowned, though he only did so out once he was out of sight.
“Discipline’s getting a bit loose,” he remarked.
“Feels fine to me.” Rorke shrugged.
Halfway down to the next artillery tower, both of them froze when they felt a strong wind blast.
“What the...:?”
If Rorke said anything, Kale couldn’t hear it from the strong winds battering them. He almost lost his footing but his friend grabbed his arm. The wind had come from the border and when they looked, Kale’s jaw went slack.
The air above the border should have been a multi-hued banner spanning the entire sky. Now, it was a uniform green. Not even the green of leaves but a pale, sickly green that gave Kale the shivers.
“What in Chaos?!” Rorke shouted above the wind. Though mid shout, the buffeting winds cut off as if they never were and his voice shattered the sudden silence.
Reddening, Rorke glared at the border and then he gasped.
Kale squinted as he tried to make out what Rorke had seen. His senses weren’t as sharp nor did he focus on any enhanced sense technique. Still, it didn’t take long for him to see a line of darkness from the border. It was moving towards them, undulating strangely as it covered the uneven ground. Bigger blobs were scattered along the line, towering over whatever it was that they were looking at.
“Swarmlings!” someone shouted.
“Ancestors!” Rorke breathed.
“All of those?” Kale gasped.
Swarmlings were significantly smaller than Wanderers. They were about the size of a large dog, at least. Older or stronger ones eventually grew as big as a person.
‘How many thousands are there?’ Kale wondered and, for a moment, he thought of how much wealth those things represented, at a few GiJin of dust in each one. Then, the abrupt realization that there probably weren’t enough people at the Watchtower to kill all them before they were overrun.
“To arms!” someone shouted. A wailing cry rose from the Watchtower, something quite impossible to ignore.
His training reasserted itself and Kale headed off to find his commanding officer. Heart heavy and shoulders threatening to slump, he wondered if he would even make it back to the Academy after the Harvest Festival.
Rorke laughed as he clapped a hand on Kale’s shoulder, “Come brother, it's time to earn our keep.”