Chapter 399 - Direction to Swing

Rachel

Flame Falls

The city looked identical to two months ago when she was here last, passing through. She had missed the fire mana in the air and the brisk air compared to the frigidness outside, but it was slightly annoying to be back so soon still.

She'd sent word ahead of her arrival, so Rachel wasn't surprised to see a messenger waiting for her at the city's gates. The man didn't say much besides urging her to follow, which she did after handing off her mount to a stable hand.

As they moved through the city, one leading and the other following, she noticed that the streets were rather sparse. People walking up and down the avenues or traveling to do their daily shopping were fewer in number than even Emberhold, which was a city more than half the size of Flame Fall.

Everyone's out fighting.

There were still some in the city, obviously, but a bare fraction of what had been here before. Vanessa did things differently than Frostheim with its Orders. She had City Guards to keep order, but she also had a standing Army, which Frostheim didn't strictly have.

The Orders were similar enough, but still different than an Army. They could act like one when grouped together, but they were much closer to the Guilds she had seen in the south.

Guilds of Mercenaries, or the Adventuring Guilds that were starting to form.

Instead of signing contracts to fight for gold or going off on expeditions to go off into the Wilds, they trained and defended Frostheim's lands or went off to war when they were called upon.

They were looser than armies, less restrictive, and less structured. There were no Privates, Sergeants, or Corporals. There was a Captain, who led, and Lieutenants, who ran smaller units, but that was about it. Vice-Captains, as well, which she had forgotten about. Hal didn't have one, and she was most familiar with his Order than the other two.

The relatively barren streets were odd to walk down, but it wasn't long before she reached the Citadel. Its stone walls were bereft of snow, and even a dozen feet away, the heat could be felt. No mundane ice would survive being so close to Flame, and with Vanessa's aura adding to it, the chances were even slimmer.

Rachel shed her outer layers quickly after entering, welcoming the heat into her body. It was invigorating and soothed the soreness that had built up during the heavy ride.

She was led to the elevator, and floor after floor passed by as it swiftly made its way to the top. Vanessa had completely taken over the top floor of the Citadel, where she lived, and her office lay.

When the doors opened, Rachel realized that it now also housed the war room. Papers were strewn everywhere, with some pinned to the walls and others stacked into piles on tables.

There was a small pile of ashes in the corner that was either the result of unwanted messages that resulted in a flash of anger, or ones that shouldn't be read twice.

Noticeably, there was an area on the wall that was interestingly left without any clutter. A wide and tall rectangle left bare, where everything else was marred by at least one thing or another.

Did she take something down?

Rachel didn't know, and she wasn't going to ask to find out. She'd made her stance abundantly clear when Vanessa had asked her to join her Faction. She'd said no then, and she would say no if asked again. Asking about Faction secrets would muddy things that she didn't want muddied. It was best left alone.

Just as the messenger departed and shut the doors behind him, another set opened on the far side of the room. Telekinetically, in a way that Rachel's mana sense was impressed by.

It wasn't difficult to sense the sheer volcano of power on the other side before the door had opened, and it was no surprise to see Vanessa stride into the room wearing a light layer of armor. It wasn't her battle set, but it also wasn't decorative.

Her red hair was tied up, and her face, which normally looked not a day over twenty, seemed weathered in a way Rachel hadn't seen before. Rachel knew her true age was even younger than Chris, which made the change stark and eye-catching.

Rachel [Inspected] the woman. The spell-based [Identify] worked much better than the Common grade skill most still relied on. It didn't give her exact Classes or Professions, but it gave Archetypes.

[Human (Fire Mage) – Level 129; (Viscountess) – Level 118]

Seeing that, Rachel reached out subtly with her mana and felt not only one circle of burning power surrounding her core, but two. Both were rings of flame burning brightly and vibrantly.

She's forged her Second Circle. Has she already reached 3000 Intelligence?

It was possible to do it early, but Rachel doubted it would be by much. With those levels, she had to be close, if not already passed the threshold, depending on the rarities.

Christopher hadn't even reached that far. He still only had a Body of Stone, which was Two Steps, rather than the Three Vanessa had.

"Rachel," Vanessa greeted warmly, "I cannot tell you how glad I am to see you."

The words were genuine and said a relief that was impossible to miss. Things probably weren't going too well if she was this happy Rachel was here.

"I'm surprised you're not out there," Rachel said back, waving into the distance, "You never struck me as the lead from the back kind." She'd been front and center during the test, slinging fire like it was going out of style.

"Oh, I wish I were." Vanessa's face tightened, and a touch of anger shone through, "With so much ground to cover, I have to wait until Zuri pops her head out so I can hammer it back down. If I take the field now, she can just side-step me. We have to be cautious and not overplay our hand, which means we have to wait, no matter how much I hate it."

That sounded more like Vanessa. She was similar to Chris in that way. She wanted action and to be the one deciding that action. Waiting for someone else to make their move was not something she took joy in.

"Well, I just stopped by to ask what you need from me. Chris, and by extension Frostheim, has no interest in taking over any plans or dictating the war. You tell us where you need us, and we will do our part." Rachel said.

Vanessa smiled, "I can do that. I can certainly do that."

A map unfurled from behind her, and what Rachel saw was the frontlines. On it were a dozen markers arranged in an arc, denoting the Forts that had been built along Flame Fall's eastern border.

Of the dozen, six looked to be currently under siege, with markings of four more about to be under attack. It was a good thing she was here then. They seemed to be losing. Slowly, admittedly, but still losing. The numbers were not looking good. Of the twelve, the only two that weren't facing attacks or soon to be attacked were marked Fort Decimus and Fort Sunken.

Behind the arc of twelve Forts, there were six more markers. They were miles back and would be the second line they had to defend. After that, only the City itself was left.

Rachel had known Vanessa had prepared for this, but seeing eighteen fortresses ready to defend her eastern lands wasn't what Rachel expected. The amount of resources and work involved was too much to calculate off the top of her head.

Emberhold was already a hassle to keep up with; she couldn't imagine building from scratch eighteen of them. Yes, Forts were different than Cities, but still...

Starting at the northernmost marker, the Forts read: Fort North, Fort Rain, Fort Tres, Fort Cinder, Ash Fort, East Fort, Fort Sept, Wheat Fort, Fort Thorns, Fort Decimus, Fort Sunken, and Fort South.

The names were... interesting. Rachel wondered where they came from. Wheat Fort sounded like there was a story behind it.

"Jessica is holding Fort North, and Zach is holding Fort South," Vanessa explained and pointed to the northernmost fort and southernmost fort. The flanks of the line of twelve. "Adrian and Lamar are holding Fort Cinder and Ash. Claire is at Fort Sept, and her brother Ian is at Wheat Fort."

The edges, along with the middle, are based on where all of those were located, except Fort East, which was the direct midpoint of all twelve. Jessica, Zach, Adrian, Lamar, Claire, and Ian were all among the ten strongest Vanessa had. Any one of them could be said to be top five at any given time, as they were all quite close in power.

The only one who really set himself apart was Michael, as he had firmly secured his position as the second strongest, pulling away from the rest. Outside of Vanessa and Michael, it was a toss-up for who was number three.

"Where is Michael?" Rachel asked. She was surprised he wasn't among the list.

Vanessa frowned slightly, "I'd hoped to keep him in reserve, but I just had to send him to reinforce East Fort. It has the most numbers of any Fort, but it's also under the heaviest attack."

Rachel nodded in understanding. If the middle was already buckling, sending him was the best choice.

"Where should I head?" She asked, looking at the map herself but not making any assumptions.

"It looks like Zuri's going to try and swing North. Jessica won't be able to hold it all alone, so you should head to Fort Rain to help her. If things get too bad, I can have Adrian and Lamar shift that way to help out, but that will leave the middle strained." Vanessa explained.

Rachel nodded, "Anything I should know before I head out? It shouldn't take me long to reach it. A day, two max." Her horse was tired, but with a quick rest and some food, he'd be able to run for another day or two. The endurance of the beasts was astronomical. The Breeders did great work.

"Jessica uses pure Fire, like you and me, so you won't have any trouble working with her. Adrian and Lamar are both Warriors, though. They can still sling around fire, but they mainly fight up close. Lamar uses Molten Metal, and Adrian is a Fire Berserker. Neither should conflict with what you can do." Vanessa said. "It's the South that I've had to be more deliberate."

Zach was stationed at Fort South and had a Water affinity. He stuck out among most who either had a Fire affinity or something close to it. Beatrice was also in the south, at Fort Thorns, but she was just outside the top ten and had a Plant affinity.

There was just one last thing to talk about before Rachel took her leave.

"I was also asked to relay where Christopher should go. He's currently using a movement skill and will be 'coming in hot'." Rachel explained. She thought 'coming in hot' was an understatement if there ever was one.

Vanessa opened her mouth, but Rachel stopped her.

"Let me caution you." She said firmly and made direct eye contact, "Wherever you point him, there's a very good chance it, and the surrounding area, will be topographically altered by the time he's done."

Warning delivered, Rachel waited to hear which Fort would see the hand of Winter first.

"Have him help Zach in the South," Vanessa said, intrigued about the warning, but didn't ask about it.

With that, Rachel said her goodbyes and sent off a message to Chris.

God help those attacking in the South.