Tyler Kimball - Lessgently
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Pallesia - Chapter 158 - Flamestrike.
🕑 Added 2024-07-17 15:14:07 +0000 UTCDeath in the family, I got sick (Still am), and now my basement flooded.... Sorry for the delay... If you want to keep updated, make sure to join the discord.
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As the night went on with discussions of magic, spells, and professions, Lee realized that it was about time for him to find his own place to sleep. It’d been a long day, and he’d grown quite drained from the conversations with his new friend, Captain Karlyle.
The captain was in a similar boat as him, tired from the long day. So, before the day was finally over, just as the dimming sky was fading over the surrounding walls, the good captain took Lee to a small, nondescript building built within said towering walls surrounding the city. It was a very simple room, but more than enough for Lee, who wouldn’t be staying here for long anyways. As long as it had a bed, that was good enough for him.
The next morning, Lee awoke to a knocking on his door. Quickly, he got dressed and opened the door with bleary eyes, finding a younger soldier with a hand raised, ready to knock again. The young woman looked frazzled, eager to get this over and done with to get onto her next task. “Mr. Barnes? General Castana requests your presence with all due haste.”
Still half-asleep, Lee checked his time-piece, noticing that it was four in the morning. As he stashed it back into his Hidden Cache, the young soldier had already gone on her way, speed walking down the bustling road and leaving him standing alone in the doorway.
After quickly getting his morning routine done, Lee left his small and humble temporary abode to meet Fatalina in her office. He hoped that’s where she was, but as he wasn’t told otherwise, that’s where he’d check.
The streets of Selldun were a flurry of activity, with green clothed men and women hurrying to and fro more so than the day before. While nobody appeared nervous, there was definitely a drive and focus prevalent in them all—something had happened, or was happening, and Lee was out of the loop.
When he arrived at the large office building where Fatalina’s office was located, he spotted the general storming out of the front doors with a disappointed and frustrated scowl adorning her face and a few aides following her every step. She didn’t look over toward him or give him any sense of being acknowledged as he approached, but she somehow knew he was there. “Lee, things have happened. Walk with me and I’ll fill you in along the way.”
Doing as asked, Lee joined her group of aides and followed her as she prowled the streets with absolute focus and confidence. ”Unlike the limp, spineless, and ego-striven members of their little group, whoever is in charge of the Healer’s Sanctum is decisive. Not a day has passed since I sent down the order to put an end to them, and they’ve started their retaliation.”
Fatalina’s scowl depended as she turned a corner, entering into a busy street filled with noise. Apparently, she was not scheduled to pass by here, as nobody quieted down until they noticed her presence. All those nearby looked like children with their hand in the cookie jar, in trouble and fearful. She ignored them and continued on her way. “They’ve ordered their healers in Bardum to join the war effort and they’ve also begun striking back in the ways of law—Not that the law is going to do anything for them. A small group tried to infiltrate your hospital as well… Regina and Emthraxiatus killed the intruders with ease, and no harm was done.”
“Sab, go and get the wagon ready. We’re leaving.” Fatalina snapped her finger toward the older, mousey looking woman who stood beside him.
Lee didn’t care about the war. He had little to no reason to… but an attack on his hospital? That was something he needed to know more about. “They attacked my hospital? Why?”
“They were looking for you. Also, it didn't help that they knew you were teaching members of the military. Nothing we can do about that. Now, we’re going to be leaving for Emerson, as it’s a more defensible position, as well as my base of operations. It’ll take an hour or two to get there by wagon and once I’ve settled the ongoing developments of the war, we’ll figure out where your portal is.”
Normally, being ordered around and being told where he is going to go wasn’t going to stand, but he was also in the presence of someone who knew what she was doing. If she was worried about the defenses of Selldun, he was going to listen. It’s not like he was leaving anytime soon without the portal anyways. He had nothing to lose.
As they approached one of the four entry/exit points of the walled city, Lee saw that the trains of wagons were still an ever present staple. Day or night, supplies were being moved about the war. Food, bandages, weapons, armor—you name it. One of these wagons was waylaid off on the side, and he could see the aide, Sab, finishing up with her preparations.
Fatalina wasted no time, fluidly hopping with a singular graceful jump into the back of the wagon. Lee and all the others who were traveling along with her awkwardly took turns hefting themselves up. Whether it was luck or happenstance, Lee ended up with the seat right next to the lithe half elven general.
She extended a hand off to her left, opposite of Lee, and without a word and within a second, a clipboard was handed to her. She flipped through the papers with intense focus, scanning the pages for every single detail laid therein, and ignored Lee for now.
After an hour of pretending he didn’t exist and watching the others talk about the ongoing efforts afforded to the war, what needed to be changed or adapted too, and the enemies movements, Lee never wanted to be in a wagon ever again.
As he was about to check out his status for any updates on his XP, Fatalina shot out her hand at a speed which he couldn’t follow, grabbed his robe around the nape of his neck, and launched him out the back flap of the wagon with herculean strength, sending him tumbling through the air.
Then as he reeled from the sudden attack, his wisdom blared its alarm. Quickly, Lee cast Anesthesilosurge just in the nick of time as he slammed into the hard grassy ground of the plains that made up their surroundings. Then, before he could even right himself, the brunt force of scathing heat from an enormous pillar of flame, which lanced upwards into the sky several hundred feet into the air, scorched and engulfed the wagon and those left inside.
Realizing that Fatalina had just saved his life, Lee decided to make the most of it while he had the chance. Several Walls of Earth and Water Wave Walls rose around him, creating a bit of defense as he suddenly found himself in an open plain. Next, Lee cast False Data - Life on the off chance that the enemy had a way to tell his health, and then finally he cast his gaze around for any survivors.
The towering pillar of flame blinded him even during the day, obscuring his vision as drying out his eyes as he tried his best to find anyone—friend or foe.
The first person he saw was Fatalina, who was crouched low in a combat ready stance with two twisting Kris daggers in each hand. Surrounding her were two of the aides she’d brought along, and Lee could see the other two frantically sprinting toward her location.
Not seeing any foe around, Lee created a path toward Fatalina and the group with a tunnel system of Water Wave Walls. The rolling water ate the brunt of the horrendous heat and deflected the blazing fire light away from his eyes. As he made it to them, Lee’s brain decided now was the appropriate time to freak out. “What the fuck is that!”
Fatalina glared up into the sky, near the top of the flaming pillar of destruction. Her frown couldn’t have been deeper. “A Flamestrike—Ritual casted.”
Without tearing her gaze away from the pillar of fire, Fatalina reached into her breast pocket, withdrawing a thin slip of paper. She put the strip into her mouth, then tore the paper in half like she was tearing through a tough piece of jerky. She spit out the half stuck in her mouth, and as Lee watched the two thin strips flutter toward the ground, he saw large arcane sigils flare, before the two strips went up in colorful green flame. One of the aides clearly saw his confusion and answered his unasked question. “Spell Strip. A one time use spell.”
After flicking on Medical Attention, he saw that some of the aides and even Fatalina herself had taken some damage. Not wanting to waste mana or use Healer’s Beacon to become a literal target, he simply used Healer’s Touch the old fashioned way and laid a hand on them all. Fatalina didn’t register him, simply staring into the sky with a frown.
Looking between the conflicted face of those nearby, Lee just had to ask. “So, are we just going to stand here?”
It was then that Fatalina tore her eyes away from the towering pillar of fire. “Yes. Others will arrive in a few moments… Now, I’d like to know how we were targeted. The casters—Or caster who casted this Flamestrike—far. Very far away.”
“How do you figure?” Lee asked.
“Just trust me. I know what I’m talking about. Sab, wagon incoming due north. Two minutes away. Go intercept.” She nodded off up the road as she stashed her two daggers back into the sheaths attached to her hips in a flourish.
Lee looked back at the flame pillar and could feel the sweat running down his back. “Is this a common occurrence? You being a target of assassination?”
Fatalina looked him dead in the eyes and said the most chilling sentence Lee’d heard in a long, long time. “That spell wasn’t aimed at me.”
Dreading the answer, but still having to ask, Lee cleared his parched throat. “Who was it aimed at?”
Fatalina didn’t joke around, neither did she cushion the blow. “I think you already know the answer. You.”
Comments
Wintermelody
Thanks for the Chapter
