Amazon Apocalypse 2: Chapter 56

Half an hour later, the table we’d been sitting at had been smashed through the center. I stood, with my plate in my hand, eating a piece of boar and keeping a wary eye on the increasingly rowdy crowd.

I had been worried about them at first, but Sakura and Bridget fit in remarkably well with the Amazonians. And Sakura had the rare opportunity to meet one of her own kind—a fellow Oni—for the first time.

"Well well well… looks like we have a runt from a dormant bloodline..." the beefy Oni woman said when she first saw Sakura.

This Oni woman stood as tall as the largest Amazonians, and she had two horns on her head instead of only one in the middle like Sakura.

"Who are you calling a runt?" Sakura glared at the woman, though she had to crane her neck back to do so.

"Don't like that, hmm? Well, tell you what, I'll take it back if you can show me what you've got. Give me your best headbutt!" the large Oni demanded.

Sakura tilted her chin up and sipped lightly from her mug of ale. "I can't. I promised the guards no headbutting contests."

"No headbutting contests against Amazonians or orcs! They didn't say anything about headbutting another Oni," the Oni said and then laughed.

She ended up taunting Sakura for a while, holding out the lure of information about her race until Sakura finally agreed to a headbutting competition, to the joy of the crowd. The Oni mercenary Sakura was up against had nearly twice Sakura's levels, but Sakura still put on a good show—admirable enough to shatter the table we'd been eating at. Which was why I found myself standing here, holding my plate in my hands.

Far from being annoyed at the shattered table, the spectacle sent a cheer running through the Amazonian crowd. The whole thing ended up turning into something of a brawl until Kyrina and the Elders restored order.

"I hope you're all feeling a little less full of energy!" Kyrina laughed as she viewed her half-destroyed feast hall. From her tone and expression, it seemed like this was a regular occurrence. The last feast I'd been part of was a dull, quiet affair by comparison.

Or maybe I'd already blacked out by the time the fighting started.

At Kyrina's prompting, everyone settled down, either standing at attention or finding one of the scattered less-than-completely-destroyed seats somewhere around the room and taking a seat.

I pulled several camp stools out of my bag of holding and the four of us sat down.

"Alright, now you all know why we're here. We're going to take this fight to the Shadefall Clan at last and stop their damn summoned ghosts once and for all!" Kyrina raised her fist in the air, and cheering followed.

She waited for people to quiet down again before continuing. “To that end, we're going into Shadefall City to cut off the supplies they need to make their summoning stones. If we cut those off and arrest every supplier providing them materials, it'll be over for them before they know it!”

This was, of course, followed by another cheer.

Kyrina held her hands up for quiet and waited for things to settle down before continuing. “But I doubt the Shadefall Clan will just let this slide. We'll need several special teams to keep their attention off the rest of us while we seize their goods and make the arrests. For that, we'll need several teams of special volunteers. This will be dangerous, but—"

"I'll go." Cyra stood, raising her arm overhead. Behind her, a band of unfamiliar warriors stood to join her.

"And me!" Myrina stood.

The Amazonian warriors we'd been sitting with joined her, as did Sakura and Bridget. I figured this was our cue, so I stood and thrust a fist in the air, as well. A few more groups volunteered for this special mission, and Kyrina waved us all into the back of the hall where the Elders were seated to receive special orders.

"Your two daughters came," said a grim-voiced woman.

Something about her made me think of weathered ironwood, hard as nails. I could tell at a glance that this wasn't her first campaign. Myrina had pointed her out to me during the feast.  This was Elder Thalassa, the gray-haired archer.

"As I'd expect of them," Kyrina said proudly.

Elder Thalassa made a noise of disagreement. "Hmmmph,” she grunted. “It might be better for them to remain behind. They are our best bargaining chips with the other factions, should this expedition go poorly."

"My daughters will not stand by while the clan fights," Kyrina said firmly.

Elder Thalassa stared at Cyra and Myrina in turn. "Don't die… either of you. That's an order. And try not to take any blows to the face. A bad scar would take a year or more to remove."

I didn't like the way Elder Thalassa's eyes roamed over Cyra and Myrina. It felt less like she was looking at two strong warriors ready to fight for their clan, and more like she was appraising a pair of prized horses she contemplated selling off.

There was something here that I wasn't seeing about the Samhain Clan. Once again, a worm of doubt burrowed its way into the back of my mind. There was more going on here that I still didn't understand. And that probably meant trouble for me.

Another of the elders spoke up. It was Elder Caelia, the small and severe looking one with a short sword on either hip.  She cleared her throat to brush aside the awkward silence. “Cyra, I see you brought your usual crew. Blooded veterans, each and every one. You are obviously qualified for this mission."

Elder Caelia then turned her head to Myrina. "However, you, Myrina... your team is one I'm unfamiliar with. You hired new mercenaries recently?"

"Yep!" Myrina replied cheerily. "Don't worry. We went out and killed some monsters and stuff to test their skill. They can handle this, no problem!"

Elder Caelia looked doubtful. "Two of your mercenaries are barely over level thirty." She stared at Bridget and Sakura.

"They both pack a bigger punch than their level would suggest. And they synergize well with my handsome companion here." Myrina wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "This is Carter! I'm not sure if you've heard about him. He and I go way back! Don't you worry about him either, though. His spells will cut right through—"

Elder Caelia held her hand up. "Yes, your mother has told us all about your... about Carter. He is supposedly a competent spellcaster."

"From no notable family," Elder Thalassa butted in to add.

I felt my jaw clench tight when she turned her gaze on me. Her eyes narrowed and she gave me a fierce glare. I wasn't sure what I'd done, but I was pretty sure Elder Thalassa didn't like me. And I wasn't sure that was something I could change. Myrina seemed determined to try, though.

"It's no secret that Carter's from a newly integrated world! The same world I was supposed to grow up on, if it hadn't been for the Shadefall rebellion."

Myrina met Elder Thalassa glare for glare. "On his own, he's built a sizable faction there. He told me recently that he wiped out all of the foreign factions on his shard. The only thing left to do is clean out some rabble of his own kind, and then he'll rule the whole shard! The System's given him a title, and that'll make it official and permanent. That's not someone from no notable family."

"And you know how quickly newly formed houses rise and fall. Such rapid changes are even more dramatic on a newly integrated world," Elder Thalassa replied.

Cyra raised her voice then, waving a hand to get the Elder's attention. "If I may, Elder Thalassa. We are not debating Carter's background here—only his competency to reinforce Myrina's team enough for her to pull of an assignment as important as this one. And on that front, I can attest to Carter’s combat capabilities.”

The Elder’s brows lifted a fraction of an inch.

“Yes, his level might not be where you'd like it to be, but I've fought and trained with him. His proficiency levels are incredibly high, and he has an epic class with many highly-ranked skills. More than that, he deals magic damage—which is something we sorely lack in fighting the Shadefall Clan. If not for our new Mana Swords and Mana Bombs, we wouldn't be able to fight them at all. Carter doesn't need expendable items, though. Having him on our side will be a great boon to our forces… one worthy of a great reward when all is said and done."

Kyrina flashed her elder daughter a smile. "Quite right, Cyra. When all is said and done, we will make sure to reward Carter quite handsomely for his efforts. His presence in Valkyrie's Watch turned what might have been a disaster into a clear victory. I only hope he can do something similar this time."

Elder Caelia looked skeptical, and Elder Thalassa snorted in disbelief. Elder Elara, the massive woman who had yet to speak, looked me up and down with a critical eye.

"Fine. Myrina, you can come. But I'm including several of my own people in your platoon to ensure you make it out of this mission alive. Their duties will be to extract you, should you fall into danger, not to help you fight," Elder Thalassa declared with a note of finality in her voice.

She shot a glance at Kyrina. "That's an acceptable compromise, is it not, Matriarch Kyrina? I would not want to lose Myrina any more than you would."

Kyrina grimaced, but nodded. "Just ensure they don't get in my daughter's way."

Myrina turned to me, brows drawn tight and a scarlet flush heating her cheeks. I could tell she didn't like how that had gone.

"Carter," she whispered, "should we tell them about...?"

I shook my head. "No."

Her shoulders slumped, but she nodded.

I knew what she wanted to do. She wanted to reveal that I was the creator of the Mana Bombs and Mana Swords. Between that and the small fortune I'd earned, Elder Thalassa would owe me respect.

But I'd considered and dismissed that route, long ago. And I was becoming increasingly confident in my choice. There were politics I didn't understand at play here.

The rest of the meeting delved into the specifics of our mission. Elder Elara and Kyrina took the stage, both women being more tactically-oriented and less political than Elder Thalassa and Elder Caelia. Each team leader, including Myrina and Cyra, was asked to come forward to get their specific orders.

Myrina brought me up with her to look over the plans.

Elder Thalassa glared at me. "He's under your command, isn't he? This information is need-to-know only. You can tell him what he needs to know when we're done," Elder Thalassa said.

"Hold, Thalassa." Elder Elara held up a hand.

Given her size, I would have thought her a brute. But when she spoke, her voice was surprisingly cultured. "The boy has the look of a strategist.” Her surprisingly calm gaze settled on me. “I know most of you wizard-types are scholars. Have you read much of battle, Carter Smith? What do you think of our tactics?"

I looked over the map that depicted the various forces arrayed around Shadefall City. It was the same one that I'd seen in the dungeon, not that long ago.

"I see no major flaws in your tactics," I admitted. "However, the lynchpin to this mission will be logistical, not tactical. Each force will need plenty of Mana Bombs to counter the Shadefall Clan's summons. You must ensure that every team has a clear supply line. That was how this battle will be won—resupply will be of greater importance than where you place troops on the field."

The massive woman smiled at me approvingly. "He speaks with wisdom beyond his years. He can stay."

Elder Thalassa reluctantly yielded when she saw clear support for me on both Elder Elara and Kyrina's faces.

So I sat in on the whole tactical discussion. For once, Myrina didn’t look bored as she studied the map intently. Many of the other small unit leaders took a few notes, but Myrina didn’t bother. I could tell from the glances her sister shot her, that Cyra figured she’d have to tell Myrina what she was supposed to do later.

I gave Cyra a tiny nod when she glanced my way. Somehow, I doubted Myrina was the ditz she acted like in front of others. Her class was Amazonian War-Chief, after all. And if she forgot a few details, I had things covered.

Our part of the mission was relatively straightforward. Cyra's team would create a diversion while our group and a few others snuck into the city. We each had our assigned workshops, where they made those ghost monster summoning stones that caused the Samhain Clan so much trouble.

In the workshops, we'd destroy their stockpile of raw materials and steal the tools used to process them. With the workshops disabled, the Shadefall Clan would soon run out of supplies. When they finally ran out, they'd be helpless to repel the Amazonian Warriors from the Samhain Clan and the forces the loyal Elders had brought with them.

If our mission succeeded, Kyrina believed a brief siege would be necessary in a strategy of attrition to burn down the Shadefall Clan’s remaining supply of summoned spirit stones. Once they were running low on summoned spirits, a final battle would see their forces break through the gates. The Samhain Clan would be able to take the city, secure the rogue Elder behind the Shadefall rebellion, and bring peace to these lands at last.

We just had to play our part.

"That will be all for tonight," Kyrina proclaimed. "Remember your orders, everyone. We head out tomorrow at first light!"

We departed, rejoining Bridget and Sakura before heading back up to Myrina's room. It looked like we had a war to fight.