Theft of Decks 4, CH 23

There is one topic my mind keeps coming back to. Deck manipulation. The intricacies available the first time you erect a Wellspring for your type of deck. The Furyborn elders did promise to tell us about it when it became relevant – but these past weeks have made me think. For a good long while, I believed that the only real customization available revolved around choices regarding your Guardians. Yet, now I must conclude that there is more. A lot more. The ‘Savior’ created an entirely new card from scratch. What about the inquisitor cards that help them hunt down Dark wielders? Are those Wellspring choices too?

Cilia did get her chance to talk about crafting. Apparently, yes, it was acceptable, (if frowned upon,) to become a crafter and not make it the basis of your job. Those who’d made that choice, however, were still expected to participate and pay their dues to society by crafting useful items in one of a handful of smaller crafting locations strewn throughout Salvation. The places themselves were lovely: an arrangement of crafters with stations separated by trade; all tools provided for; all materials granted; welcoming crafters all too willing to share their knowledge.

It was a paradise for any up-and-coming crafter starting out in their trade, with several dozen different crafts represented in each location. Yet, it was also limited, both when it came to the quality of their crafters – not a single one had reached their third Tier – and the quality of their materials. Regardless of how they decided to distribute any rarer crafting materials arriving to Salvation, the crafting stations were so far down in the hierarchy they never saw any of it.

Still, Cilia would have every chance to practice her workmanship, as well as her practical ability to enhance her materials by means of the manipulation of Darkness. They’d welcomed her profusely, given her a thorough questioning to try to understand the options and limitations concerned with Darkness in leatherworking, and promised her a full list of ideas for crafting next time she’d arrive. This way, Cilia sneered, she would get the chance to aid Liberty society optimally. As she explained, there was no encouraging of anybody to experiment, rather, it was all about the common good.

Still, she might get some new ideas from what they’d come up with. Also, there was a chance here of being able to hoard some crafting materials for her own use. While they did limit the crafting materials you were allowed to use, she could use her A Dearth of Materials card to cut down on material use and sneak some back for personal use.

They eventually shot down that idea. Not only did the palace know about her card and its effects – the risk of being observed was also unnecessary, as long as Reen might deliver materials, should they need them.

Their group was slowly switching gears, starting in on planning the activities of the coming day, when Kith shot to his feet. “Deactivate.” He snapped at Cilia, tapping his heart.

Her heart card deactivated in an instant.

“-here? Hello?” The voice arrived from the foyer, merry and bubbly.

“Emilia? In here!” Kith yelled, causing Liam to punch his shoulder.

Emilia strode into the kitchen, a warm smile fixed on her face. “You are here. I was knocking for several minutes.”

Chase‘s mind raced. “Sorry. We were deep in a discussion about our new cards. It got a bit heated, I’m afraid.”

“Ooh.” She actually clapped her hands, like a little girl with a new toy. “I can easily imagine. The Savior truly favors you, for you to be awarded with second-Tier cards already. And for all the opportunities.”

Liam had been stuffing his face with the remnants of the morning meal. Now, he perked up, with a handful of tangerine slices halfway to his mouth. “Opportunities?”

“Yes! We are off for another adventure!”

Whatever controls were still ongoing, it seemed like Emilia at least had softened toward them. This time around, they were afforded the time to switch clothes, scrub their teeth and handle any last-minute necessities. Still, with virtually all their equipment either confiscated following their failed theft attempt or lying back at Reen’s, it took less than ten minutes before they were walking through the late morning of Salvation, Emilia leading the way.

Eventually, she spoke up beyond superficial information, her voice contrite. “I am aware that I was a bit hard on you last time. I apologize for that. Yet, you never know with newcomers. Most are so… ungrateful! But you proved your dedication beyond a doubt. And you saved my worthless hide to boot. Now look at yourselves. Hands, one and all, ready to toil, to lift us all in the right direction.”

Chase fought down the need to roll his eyes. He couldn’t even find it in himself to dislike Emilia. There was no veil there, no filter. She said exactly what she believed and she very much believed. Trying to convince her, to debate her on her positions would be entirely useless. They might as well use her, milk her of all information she could provide.

Right this moment, the information they needed was rather straightforward. “Where are we off to, Emilia?” He asked.

Her smile paled. “To the border. We have an intrusion. A big one. We need your strength to take them down.”

The edge of Salvation lay before them. They could see the new row of houses being painted. A single larger edifice painted in the nuances of the Hearts overlooked a long row of the mass. Right this moment, however, the enormity of the expansion, reaching as far as the eye could see, faded, at Emilia’s statement.

They shared nervous glances. Was it the Lightborn? Had they actually broken through? Would they have to fend off an invasion? Liam, bless his heart, focused entirely on the task. “What are we looking at?”

Emilia bowed her head. “I am unaware if you are familiar with the term ‘stampede?’”

“A sudden, panicked rush of beasts?” Sera asked.

“Yes. That is one meaning of the word. In this situation, however, it has another meaning.” Emilia cleared her throat. “Usually, Guardians act in packs or on a singular basis, depending on their nature and their specific temper.”

Chase snorted. “Could you perhaps dumb it down a bit? We’re all from the slums, and only Sera and Cilia have any sort of book learning.”

Emilia smiled, nodding. “It means that, even as Guardians, wolves are likely to stay in packs, usually in smaller groups, but sometimes as many as thirty. Gaborns, however, are solitary animals, as Guardians and animals both, that only come together for mating and raising offspring. When Guardians are created, some things change, but they still retain, or gain, some of those animal instincts, even if they no longer need to procreate or, really, act like animals most of the time. Does that make sense?”

Chase wiped his brow. The sun was out in force today. He looked up at the hour-long incline ahead of them leading them up the heights overlooking Salvation. “I guess it does. So, you’re saying that, most often, you’ll only ever see smaller groups of Guardians. Except a stampede is something different?”

“Just so. There are certain… directives, perhaps? Certain unknown reasonings for why Guardians do what they do. Are they led by other divinities? By card wielders? Corralled by armies?”

They shared glances. This was one thing that they actually had learned. It was part of what the Wellspring decided. Among the Lightborn, the Guardians would gather in a cordon surrounding Lightborn territory, defending the Border against any outside Guardians. If the concentration of Guardians along the Border reached a certain critical mass, some of them would take off, hunting for enemy Guardians, soaking up Ænima to survive, until they’d eventually run out or die. Among the Furyborn, it was different, as the Guardians were allowed to live alongside Furyborn people until their Ænima was depleting, and they were eventually sent out against their enemies for an honorable death in battle. Elemental Guardians were used as training dummies, allowing for the protectors to grow and earn Ænima in semi-safe environs. Emilia would’ve known this… if she’d actually managed to become a protector.

Emilia continued, not catching any of the subtext. “No matter the reason, the general lack of overwhelming numbers along with the effect of our Prism allows the hopeful the chance to fight on an even basis against the Guardians. Only, on rare occasions, we experience this. A surge, whether it is a natural phenomenon or not, pushing more than one group to range ahead, disregarding race, natural inclinations and whatnot. Sometimes, they even drag regular animals along with their numbers, although those tend to drop off or die, given their lack of supernatural stamina.”

Kith cleared his throat. “I… think we’ve heard of this before.” Also, fought it. On the Carved Plains in the Furyborn lands, they’d called it a swarm. A naturally occurring phenomenon, leading to life-threatening results. Here, it might be something else. “How many Guardians? And what are the hopefuls doing? Erm. And… what’s our task?”

Emilia walked with her head straight, ignoring the gentle incline. She didn’t respond to the first part. “The hopefuls and the mass are pulling back, at the moment, at a controlled pace. We have called in what hands and Hearts can be expected to aid from nearby villages and towns, yet the stampede has hit a stretch of land that is relatively far from larger settlements.” She smiled brilliantly. “This may seem like a defeat to you. Let me tell you otherwise. Even if stampedes rarely happen, this is entirely normal. Losses among the hopefuls are expected to be entirely within acceptable bounds. The local hands and Hearts approaching add a skillset that will help contain and slow the stampede, yet, they do not hold the power to defeat them. Left to run amok, they would be able to cause actual damage to our lands – but the Savior provides. He always does. When needed, the hearts and minds step in. On rare occasions, the pillars have even been known to come to the aid. Yet, this time, we are able to let them all use their prodigious powers elsewhere.” Her beatific smile lit up her face.

“So that’s where we come in.” Liam grunted.

“You still haven’t said how many Guardians there are. That’s making me nervous, Emilia.” Kith said.

Emilia smiled. “Oh, quite a few. More than two hundred. Yet, that is the wonder of it. With the Savior having just granted you additional access to his powers? I have faith!”

The conversation ground to a halt after that. Emilia didn’t yet have access to information on the power, danger or types of Guardians approaching, but promised that she’d be able to provide that soon. Yet, she was able to tell them about their destination. They were aiming straight east, and would be able to use the roads for almost the entire stretch. Depending on their own speed and the efficiency of the hands and Hearts slowing down the stampede, they’d be able to hit the enemy about two days from now.

That night, when Emilia was sleeping soundly, they were able to hold a private conversation.

“Please tell me I’m allowed to kill her!” Kith pointed at Emilia’s sleeping form.

“Please tell me that she’s outside the range of your heart card, Cil.” Chase commented drily.

“She is.” Cilia said. “Why do you think I put my bedroll down all the way over here? Also, why would you want to hurt her?”

“The hopefuls are within acceptable losses. We will only lose like a hundred or two. We have plenty of spares.” Kith’s mocking tones made no secret of the fury behind the comment. “What a horrible bitch!”

“It is not entirely her fault. She has been indoctrinated to think like this.” Sera said. “Even so, that was a horrid comment.”

“You think?” Kith snarled. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Sorry. Not your fault.” He waved in the direction they were traveling. “Listen. I’m just throwing this out there. This place sucks. The Savior sucks. People suck. Our lives are going to suck, if we stay here. How about we just shoot past that stupid stampede and run for the borders instead? We’ll be able to escape and make it back to friendly territory, build a real life somewhere. I can run back and fetch Spike tonight!”

Nobody spoke for nearly a minute. They were deep in thought, caught up in their own mental worlds.

Eventually, Chase cleared his throat. Hesitantly, without any of his usual energy, he said. “If that is what you all want? I’ll go along with it. My decision, though, would be that we stay. This might still be us being tested. If we run, a few days away from the border, what are the odds they’ve still got hundreds of hopefuls and other poor suckers ready to fling at us?” He grimaced. “Honestly, I think we could make it, even if it were a trap. My real reason?” A half-smile emerged. “We come from the same place. We’ve been in the shit, literally. When we were back there, all I could think about was how we just needed a bit of power, and we could make a life for ourselves. The we grew stronger, and learned what the world really looked like, and…” He trailed off, continuing at a near whisper. “It’s not enough.” After a while, he repeated, louder. “Fire burn my eyes, it’s not enough! I don’t want to just find a nice safe spot for the five of us, as we watch the Lightborn ruin Ordei and dominate everybody else.”

“Do we really need the bloody Liberty deck for that, though? If we return, right now, we’ve already got four damn decks, and will be able to create a Wellspring stronger than anything the Elementals, Lightborn, or Furyborn have.” Kith asked, colors awhirl in his eyes.

“You know the answer for that as well as I do.” Chase said softly. “We’ve had the same discussions. We’ve spoken to all those in power. Is it possible that they’ll back us, even if we fail? Sure. Is it possible that they’re going to, instead, throw all their power at the plots that aim to strengthen their own kind? It’s a possibility that they’ll back us. But do we want to take that chance?”

For a while, the only noise was that of Kith softly pounding his fist down on the plank floor of their shelter. “I really, really hate this place.” He sighed. “But I guess we’re not in overhanging danger right now.”

“Really.” Liam’s voice was dry as the preacher’s sermons back in the lower market.

Cilia snorted and started coughing. She waved away their attention, wiping tears from her eyes.

“You’re such jerks. What I mean is that, once we’re finished killing these monsters and… now I see your point.” He barked a laugh. “Okay, my mistake. Once we’ve defeated hundreds of Guardians and get back to Salvation, it doesn’t feel like we’ll be in overhanging danger. Besides, the more missions we handle for them, the more I’d say they’re likely to loosen our leashes. I guess, what I’m saying is, even if I’d rather torch this place, I guess I’m up for another go.”

Chase reached over and patted his back. “How about the rest of you?”

Cilia nodded. “We are in a much better position to plan properly now. Count me in.”

”You know me. I’ll do what you guys do.” Liam flexed. “But I would like to show those stupid guards in the palace just how strong I am when their deity daddy isn’t around to save them.”

“If that’s the general gist of it.” Kith said. “I’m going to write – well, I’m going to have Cilia write an update to the Furyborn elders, so they can actually read what we’re writing. Then I’ll send Radine on a long flight with the message, so we can hear how things are going outside the borders of these inbred yokels.”

Sera smiled. “I have said so before – but I am proud of you all. Even with you calling them yokels, Kith. Regardless what your reasoning is, the fact remains, if we pull this off, we will be able to save a lot of people from danger. That is worth quite a few risks, in my opinion.”

“Pfft. Altruism.” Cilia rolled her eyes. “I thought we taught you better.”