Heart of Dorkness

Scourge Sixty - Walking

“When you said real fighting,” Lily says as she raises a booted foot and brings it down onto the head of some poor ghoul. “I expected some level of actual fighting, not this lazy walking.”

I sniff. We’re not being lazy. It’s just that most of the work’s being done by my monsters. As soon as the Templar back near the gatehouse opened up a passage for us, the monsters I’d picked out for this mission rushed ahead and did as monsters do when faced with a whole crowd of acceptable targets.

It’s not my fault that I made them so well that they’re not leaving much work for us.

No, wait, yes, it is my fault, and it’s a good thing. “This isn’t lazy,” I say as, with a twirl of my hand I send a brace of magical dark bolts up into the sky then back down at a sharp angle to crash into the undead below. “This is efficient.”

It’s obvious that the necromancers have been caught with their trousers down. Their reaction to suddenly having to deal with a lot of monsters and Templars working together has been... kind of awful, actually.

We’re currently walking along one of the broader roads that cuts across Algecante and meeting plenty of resistance along the way. Plenty as in, large numbers, not as in difficult.

“I think that the necromancers have been preparing for a very different kind of attack,” Esme points out. She hasn’t fired a spell off in nearly a minute, though she is keeping an eye on all the second-floor balconies and windows around us, in case something pops up.

Lily stomps a foot down and a few cobbles buck upwards under a group of undead, sending them tumbling down and making it easier for my mantis monsters to skewer them. “Yeah?”

“Yes,” Esme says. My friends aren’t taking well to Lily. Personally, I think it’s entirely Lily’s own fault, so I’m not going to help her any. If she wants to have bad manners then she can suffer the consequences that bad manners bring.

Felix nods along. “Yeah, Esme’s probably right,” she says.

“How do you figure?” Esme asks.

Felix just shrugs. “I mean, when it comes to things that aren’t romance, I just assume that you’re right.”

Esme’s cheeks puff out as Felix and I laugh. I’m not sure if it’s at her expense, even, but judging by how red she’s going, she will definitely choose to take it that way.

“What I observed,” Esme says. “Is that the number of undead, while impressive, skews towards weaker examples. Lots of them. I bet they were expecting the first forces to show up to come from one of the other cities. Something like a standing army that they’d have to fight in the field.”

“None of the cities in the Republic has a standing army,” Bianca says. “At most they have guards and local monster-hunting mercenaries like the Lions we worked with. Some of the noble families might have retainers and cultivators under their employ, but there are proscriptions against a fully trained armed force in the papers that outline the formation of the Republic. I’m certain some families have found some loopholes, but it would take a while for anyone in the Republic to build up a proper army.”

“So they expected to have more time,” Lily says. “You know a bunch about Caselfella then? I’d get it if it was fritzy-hair over there, she looks like she eats books for breakfast, but what’s your deal?”

“Hey!” I snap. “Don’t insult Esme. Only Felix and I can do that. And maybe Aunt Semper and Mom.”

Esme shoots me a look. It’s one part grateful, one part we’re-going-to-have-words-later.

“If you must know,” Bianca says. “I’m a member of one of those families.”

Lily nods along. She is, like us, talking pretty casually, but I have the impression she’s also tense, on guard the entire time. She’s using less fire magic and a lot more earth, so maybe that makes sense since she’d have to be cycling Vigilance non-stop. “A big-wig, then.”

“I... am not wearing a wig?” Bianca says, obviously confused. My friends don’t look any less confused.

“It means someone who’s important,” I explain.

“Wait, does she do Valisms too?” Felix asks.

“Those still aren’t a thing,” I say.

Lily eyes me for a bit, then shakes her head while Bianca goes on to explain. “In any case, no, I’m not important. I was born a daughter, which means that my place isn’t to lead or make grand choices in the Republic.”

Lily scoffs. “Yeah, tell me about it. Ever since I’ve come here... anyway, yeah. This place is much nicer if you’re a guy. For all sorts of reasons. Though some of the Templars aren’t jerks about it. Commander Nunez is one of the only ones who’ll treat people well, regardless of what’s in their britches.”

I glance at her, then decide not to poke. “He seems nice,” I say.

“Yeah,” she says. “Like a second dad, I guess. Or an uncle?” She glares at me. “If you hurt him, I’m going to hurt you ten times harder. I don’t care if you’re Luna or not.”

“Okay, what’s up with that?” Esme asks. “You keep calling Valeria Luna. She’s Valeria, Princess of Darkness. No relation to the moon.”

I consider how much to reveal before I realise that this particular secret isn’t one I really care about keeping secret. I can’t see how it could hurt me to let my friends know. “I think Luna might have been my name, once,” I say.

Lily snaps around to look at me. “You remember?” she asks.

“A little, I think,” I admit.

“What are you two talking about?” Felix asks.

“Oh, right. So, I think Lily and I are from... another world? We both kinda died in... a carriage accident?” I look at Lily who shrugs in a ‘close enough’ sort of way. “Anyway, Heroe then stole Lily’s soul, but I hung on because she was my best friend, so obviously I wouldn’t let her go, but then Heroe shook me off and I guess I was reborn as a monster next to Mom and Lily here was... wait, were you reborn or did you show up all grown up?”

“Before that,” Esme says with some urgency. “You’re from another world? Like a whole other world?”

“Yeah?” I say. “I mean, I guess. Is that bad?”

“It’s weird, but you’re Valeria, so weird is normal,” Felix says with the absolute certainty of someone who doesn’t really care.

Esme shakes her head. “No, you don’t understand! Another world! With its own history and people and maybe gods and... books!”

Ah, I see why Esme’s so interested now.

“I don’t think we should invade another world just for their books, Esme,” I say. She blushes a bit at that, then mutters something about it being worth it. “Besides,” I continue. “I’m not really sure about those memories. They’re all fuzzy and weird.”

“But they’re there, right?” Lily asks. It sounds almost... pleading.

“Maybe?” I say. Thinking back on that’s all weird and fuzzy, and it’s not like I have a great memory to begin with. It feels a little like trying to remember a dream. I don’t really know how much it matters though. That was before, if anything. I’m Valeria now, aren’t I?

“Hey, girls,” Felix. “This whole thing is interesting and all, but maybe we should be a little bit worried about that.” She pointed ahead of us.

Past the shambling undead, of which I’m noticing a lot more than before, is a twisting wall of very thin fog. It’s only noticeable where it’s thickest, but the way it moves, it’s clearly not natural. There are undead moving out of that fog. Big, nasty abominations that seem keen to trample the other undead as they run towards us.

“Oh, shoot,” I say.

“Alley!” Lily says while pointing to the side.

We all charge off down a narrower alley, my monsters folding in to follow us. The wolves manage easily, some of them darting ahead to clear the next road over, but the mantises are big enough that they only fit one at a time.

“What was that?” I ask.

“Necromancer, I think,” Felix says. “I couldn’t touch them much, that fog’s all water that they’re controlling. They’re strong.”

“One of the leaders?” Esme asks.

“Maybe?” Felix replies.

I hesitate for a moment, then keep moving. “Okay, well, if we see them again, maybe we’ll beat them up, but for now, let’s just keep moving.” If I need to fight a strong Fear-cultivating necromancer, then I’ll do it on my own terms.

Also, I’ll do it while less distracted because that’s just asking for trouble.

***