A Quest for the Stars

26th of Cobre, 10:38pm, 1659

Out of everything that Clara was expecting to see in this adventure, a flying galleon descending towards the ground on the side of the mountain was definitely unexpected.

The descent reminded her of the lift back at the Guild, which was manned by a golem whose roles included escorting students up and down each floor and work on maintenance when necessary. The speed was far below maximum velocity, but it was definitely preferable over climbing down the mountain or walking down the trail for hours. It was fairly fast - approximately 600 feet a minute, she guessed - so there were no complaints.

Lenoria, ever the lovestruck girl, spent her time gazing at Alistair, who was grooming and feeding Chestnut. Cecilia made her rounds around the ship, making sure the pirates were not slacking off after their drinking binge. Her brother Charlie stood at the top of the crow's nest with a spyglass, keeping an eye out for aerial terrors. The dogfolk Vanessa was on a lower deck wiping the cannons while her fiancée Wulf was passing out tankards of water. Temuulen, the boatswain, assisted Charlie once he was finished mopping the upper deck of the ship.

And thus, it fell on the captain himself to steer the vessel. "The mountain is almost a mile tall, so we'll reach land in about 15 minutes," he announced.

Looking out from the bow of the boat, Clara was left alone with her thoughts until Aquamarine joined her. "Oh, hey."

"It's been a while since I traveled by ship," said the magical girl. "It reminds me of my days as part of my own crew."

"Oh, you traveled with your own crew?"

"I was, until I found out they were pirates. They...had me use my powers to steal from businesses." Aquamarine leaned on the railing. "Enough about me, though. How was your trip, Clara?"

"Well..." Clara recounted everything that had happened on her journey so far, including getting evicted from Hammer's Reach, meeting more members of the Blue Jay, Tizoc, and her confrontation with Zep.

"Spiders? Eww, they sound so gross!" Aquamarine made a punching motion. "At least you showed that little creep what for!"

"Thank you. I'm a bit worried about his mistress, though." Clara sighed. "I thought I was fighting Cassiopeia, but it turns out we were fighting one of her minions. She's definitely after Alistair, as well as anyone with a Soulstone."

"I don't see what the big deal is. All we have to do is find her and beat her, right? There's no way we can hide from her forever, so we should face her head on!"

Clara smiled. It was nice to see someone who had a simple solution for such a complex problem. "Thank you, Aquamarine."

Her face flushed, Aquamarine pointed at Clara accusingly. "D-don't misunderstand! It's not like I'm doing this for you or your friends! C-cute heroines such as myself are bound by oath to protect the innocent, and that means helping the police when they request it! We have a reputation to uphold!"

"I appreciate you, all the same." Clara chuckled. She was relaxed now that she had spoken more on the subject with Aquamarine. Even if Cassiopeia attacked in the future, at least someone was ready to face her. "How are my parents? I'm happy to see you, but I've been a little worried about them ever since you joined us."

"Don't you worry about them," Aquamarine reassured her. "They know about the situation with the Order, so Constable Richards posted some of his men close to their house. You can rest easy. As for the Order, the Church of the Hammer has taken steps to announce their crimes to the public, and they have appealed to the King of Helix himself to denounce them for their evil deeds. He's yet to give an official statement, but it's only a matter of time, now."

"The King?" Clara sighed with relief. "Good. Thank you so much for everything you've done for us. I'd hate to impose on you any longer."

"Don't sweat it. Although, if you want to pay me back, you can feed me every day."

"Deal!" Gratefully shaking Aquamarine's hand, Clara moved on from the topic to something more mundane like hair styles and color, to which both discussed at length all the way until Charlie shouted-

"Spider caves, Cap'n!"

"Any hostiles sighted," asked Caesar.

"No, but I see threads that glow like your rope, Cap'n."

Clara's hair straightened upward at the sight of glowing spider webs about as big as an elephant blocking a massive cave entrance on the rocky mountainside. She instinctively let go of the railing and darted off to the nearest mast at the center of the ship. "S-s-s-s-"

"It's just the webs of the Goblin-eating Phase Spider," Cecilia playfully remarked. "Don't tell me you're scared of horse-sized spiders-" A blunt object struck Cecilia on the back of the head. When the halfling turned around, she only saw Lenoria innocently filing her nails. "Hey!"

"You mind not scaring my best friend? The next one's going to your face if you keep it up." Lenoria didn't bother looking up while issuing her threat.

"I'm not a wildlife expert, but wouldn't a visible web ward off potential prey," Alistair asked.

"Well," Clara began as calmly as she could, "those webs are invisible, but they r-react to the moonlight. That's why they only c-come out to hunt during the new moon and eat enough to last them through the rest of the moon phases. Though if anything t-touches the web, they w-wake up from their state of torpor and investigate."

"Okay, so we'll be fine as long as we stay away from their webbing." Caesar grinned. "But we can't be too sure. Cecilia, apply the ship's cloaking spell."

"Aye, aye." Still hurt from the rock thrown at her, Cecilia snapped her fingers. A white light outlined the ship as well as everyone onboard. "Did I get everyone? Good. Now don't run off and do something stupid. Even if we see spiders, they won't be able to see us thanks to this spell."

Clara sighed with relief and slid down the mast until she found herself sitting on the floorboards. "Phew. That's handy."

After a few minutes of silent descent, Charlie shouted again. "Land ho!" All eyes looked up at the crow's nest of the ship. "We'll make landfall soon, captain!"

"Thanks! Cecilia, Tem, get ready to toss the anchor!" Caesar stepped away from the rudder and gazed down the side of the ship. The mountain path was distant but fairly visible down below, and the village gate was just coming into view.

A coil of chains slithered when Cecilia pulled a lever, and she and Temuulen grabbed on to them to slow them down. The anchor had been attached on the other side, and them grabbing the chains slowed the anchor's descent to the ground below to prevent any unfortunate accidents. Once the anchor crashed down on the ground, the duo let go of the chains and waited until the ship hovered just a few feet above the mountain path before readying the gangplank.

***

"I hope we didn't draw too much attention," Lenoria commented once she set foot on the mountain gravel. Norwich gate was just up ahead, and the air was much easier to breathe.

Welcome to Norwich!

Population: 746

She was definitely in Thule.

Clara eyed the village walls and gate. "No guards posted at the gate. Maybe they lock it after a certain time? It is the middle of the night, after all..."

"That is unlikely." Alistair crossed the bridge with Chestnut and the wagon right behind him. "There's always someone posted at the gates of each settlement. They probably just went to take a break."

"Wouldn't it be more responsible to get someone to take your place while you take a break?"

"When you gotta go, you gotta go. If it's a quick trip to the privy, then they should be back soon." Lenoria patted her belly. "Then again, if they had anything like Al's spicy cake, then they'll be there for a while."

"I said I was sorry!" Al's apology was interrupted at the sound of creaking wood. The group spotted Aquamarine on top of the wall beckoning for them.

"Hurry up, slowpokes! I hear people up ahead!" With a skip and a hop, Aquamarine went inside the village on the other side of the wall.

"Ugh, she's so impatient," Lenoria commented.

"Right." Caesar, already inches from the gate, knocked on it. The gate creaked open to the dismay of everyone present. "She didn't even realize the gate was unlocked from the beginning." On his way back, he heard a squelching sound as he nearly slipped on something brown. "Ew."

"Still, this doesn't sit right with me. We better get a move on; something's going on, and I don't like it." Alistair nodded to the girls and took the lead with Chestnut by his side. Lenoria followed closely behind, followed by Clara and Tsukuyomi.

"Hold it!" The quartet stopped when they heard Cecilia not far from them. "You have a bad feeling about this? Is there something we should know before going in?"

"Undead tend to be on the prowl late at night. The village is quiet probably because people are staying inside their homes." Alistair's uneasiness could be felt by everyone present. "With that in mind, there should always be guards posted at each gate in the event some of the undead make their way to civilization."

"Hang on," Lenoria interrupted. "Aquamarine said she could hear people inside the village, so I doubt everyone is inside their homes at this hour."

"She's right." Caesar peered inside through the opened gate. "It's hard to see, but I think I see torches in the distance. It's definitely a crowd."

"It could be a holiday of some sort," Alistair said.

"Or it could be Starflower." Lenoria's heart raced at the thought of meeting Starflower soon. "I'm getting a bad feeling, too."

"Good. Maybe now we won't have to wait long." Alistair wished to advance, but a tender hand on his wrist kept him from going forward. "Lenoria..."

"We're probably overthinking this, but if it is him..." Lenoria shook her head. "We can't fight him here. We may have a numbers advantage, but he's probably anticipating a big group. If he knows we're here, then we could fall into a trap."

"So, what do we do?"

The group stood in place for a while, unsure of what to do. After some thought, Cecilia had an idea. "Here's a thought. Goodsprings is a relatively safer place, right? How about you three grab your stuff from the wagon and store it in those bags of holding you're carrying?" Cecilia pointed at the galleon behind them. "We can keep your wagon stored in the Argo Navis in the meantime. Any objects kept in there are safely stored inside once I put it away. If you find the wizard inside, or if he finds you, you're probably gonna want to run, right? If you make it to Goodsprings, you can plan a counterattack there."

Lenoria didn't want to admit it, but Cecilia's plan was solid by her standards. "What about you guys?"

"I'll keep the Argo Navis fired up. The captain can shoot a flare if things go bad." Cecilia winked at Caesar.

"I thought the captain was supposed to go down with his crew." Caesar put up a brave front, but his feet were already facing the direction of the ship. Meanwhile, Lenoria, Alistair, and Clara wasted little time to grab their belongings from the wagon and spread them a between their bags of holding. Thanks to the interdimensional space in the bags, they were allowed to carry up to 700 and change in pounds inside three bags that weighed only 25lbs each.

"That's why you're shooting a flare, captain. Should things go wrong, you can fire a red flare or a blue flare. Red means we give you time to go back to the ship, and blue means we go on without you. In either case, we take the ship back to the cable car station and figure out a plan there." Cecilia crossed her arms confidently. "As for the three of you, the elf can escape with her flying eidolon while the happy couple escape on horseback. Oh, and Aquamarine can use her own steed. If there are no guards here, then there's probably no guards at the other side of the village, which means you'll be able to escape uninterrupted. And if there's a blockade of some sort, well, then you're SOL."

"Can I truly leave the wagon with you, then?" Alistair asked her.

"Just who do you think I am? I'm a thief, not a hoarder. I don't need the wagon, so I really don't want it."

"Then we better catch up to Aquamarine. Everyone good with the plan?" Alistair got a nod from everyone before turning around to face the village. "Good. I'm hoping it's nothing big, but this may be our best chance to escape should we meet that wicked wizard."

In the end, everyone saw the wisdom in running away. While Alistair may have a home in Thule, everyone else was out of their element in this new land, which carried the possibility of failing to coordinate a proper attack. And if it was a trap set by Starflower, at least they would be ready. Best case scenario, they're probably overthinking things, but everything felt off even for those who were stepping on foreign soil for the first time. Without further delay, Alistair took one last look at the wagon, now parked inside the Argo Navis, before moving forward with Chestnut, followed by Lenoria, Clara, and Tsukuyomi.

Giving his crew a thumbs up, Caesar ran after the rest of the party. The darkness of the night and the sparse outlines of the buildings gave the village an eerie feel. "Looks like some sleepy backwater town. There's probably nothing exciting going on, anyway."

***

A crowd of all backgrounds and creeds gathered at the town center of the village. Most people in the crowd held up a torch to bring some light to the dark rural area, but some wished they could have kept them off. Men watched quietly in anger, housewives were screaming for someone to stop, and children cried and closed their eyes at the behest of their parents, so they didn't witness the brutality in front of them.

A hooded man cloaked in blue was beaten with stonelike fists from a slightly larger and muscular bull of a man, who stood over nine feet in height. The bull man wore a breastplate with a crimson sheen and wore a gold ring through his nose. With the cloaked individual bleeding from the mouth and nose, he was tossed aside at the feet of a woman wearing peasant's clothes and a ghastly pallor for her skin. A group of children huddled at her feet, five in number, frightened by the limp corpse of the hooded man.

The children were two boys and three girls; one of the boys had the red skin of a devil while the second had a furry hide and tail, and cat ears near the top of his head. A rat-faced girl, smaller than the rest, timidly clung to the leg of the adult woman with her while the second bared her orcish tusks and teeth to project her anger at the crimson men. Lastly, a young human girl sat by their feet with a pained expression, seemingly unable to stand on her feet.

Once he was done, the bull man waded through more hooded corpses and took his place next to an older man. This other man wore crimson pauldrons, and a cape draped over everything below the neck area. He was balding with gray hair and appeared to be getting close to venerable age, but despite being just a little over five feet in height, his presence alone had cowed everyone else present. Flanking him opposite of the bull man was a red-haired human male wearing similar armor and wore a circlet instead of a helmet. Behind the three of them was a small squad of men in crimson armor, five strong.

"You...you got what you wanted!" The woman with the children had somehow managed to find her voice. "You came here after the rebels, and you killed them all, so please leave us in peace!"

The old man calmly darted his eyes between the fallen hooded individuals. "That's funny. My informant told me there were seven rebels in this little village. Math may not be my best subject, but I count six here in a pool of their own piss and blood. Where's the seventh?"

***

Aquamarine had observed everything from behind a patch of trees with thick undergrowth and waved at Alistair and the gang once she caught sight of them coming from the opposite way. "There you are," she whispered once they snuck their way through the trees. "Now that we're all here, we can teach those guys a lesson."

"They look too well-dressed to be bandits." Lenoria took a moment to process the events unfolding in front of her. The children were close to the danger but at least they were unharmed for now. There was also no sign of Starflower anywhere, and she was so glad to be wrong about something for once. "At least it isn't Starflower."

"No." There was trembling from Alistair in that single word. That's when the girls noticed their paladin friend - usually brave and strong - shaking uncontrollably. "We've...we've stumbled upon someone much worse. Aquamarine, we must leave this place at once while we still can."

"W-what?" Aquamarine's voice was broken not by fear, but laughter. "What are you saying? I'm counting five thugs, two bigger thugs, and some old fart. I can't just ignore them when they're doing something so cruel."

"No, Aquamarine." Clara could sense something sinister coming from the men in crimson, though she could not place her finger on it. "It's not like Alistair to behave like this. There's something seriously wrong here."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were scared." Lenoria waited for some kind of rebuttal, and her concern only grew when she received none. "Al?"

"There's a fine line between fear and survival instinct. And the latter is telling me to run as fast as I can." Alistair wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "That man is Count Demetrio, one of Thule's Three Judges and the most powerful necromancer of the land. He holds jurisdiction over this portion of the continent and holds power greater than that of Lady Gabrielle."

Alistair had said a whole bunch of words without actually saying much, but Lenoria knew this was a bad sign. To make matters worse, Pearl's voice called out to her. "Lenoria, I have terrible news."

"I'm kind of in the middle of something here. Can't they wait?"

"No. I'm detecting two Soulstones within two hundred feet of us, straight ahead."

"Don't tell me..." Lenoria looked back to the situation ahead of her. Her eyes moved past the woman and the children to the old man, then the men in red behind him, and lastly on the duo flanking the old man. Her Soulstone reacted to the last two, emitting a brief, green-colored glint in response to something similar coming from them; a yellow glint coming from the red-haired human, and a gray one coming from the bull man. "Aw, crap."