Chapter 44 War

There was a commotion coming from the gate as I slipped out behind Urin. The little girl, Urin’s daughter, waved at me. I grinned back. There were raised voices, what sounded like spells being cast, before a familiar roar. I raced alongside the vandal chief, to see Miggy, Larry, and others of the Komo tribe. I realised, with a pang, that Ayla was not with them.

Miggy had a shaman’s staff in his hand. “We know you have him!” he snarled. “Bring him out or we kill all of you!” Larry roared, as two vandals who had been drifting closer jumped back. An arrow fired, and Miggy conjured a shaman’s shield with his primal magic. Weapons were being brought forth. Larry, that savage look in his eye.

“Stop!” I raced forwards, putting myself directly between the vandals and the Komo tribe. Another arrow fired, striking my armour. Didn’t penetrate, but still annoying. I glared at the vandal, high up on a little perch. He lowered his bow, looking solemn.

“Chief!” said one of the vandals. “They bring the great enemy! The humans mean to destroy us!”

Miggy was staring at me. Clearly confused. I’m sure he couldn’t fail to remember that this was the same village I had once saved him from. Voices were rising. Urin staring savagely at Larry.

“No!” I said. “We are not enemies.” I knelt beside Larry, speaking to him directly. “This is not where we fight.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” said Miggy in a low voice, as I got to my feet and came to stand beside him.

“Do you trust me?”

“Depends how hard you hit your head when you fell down the mountain.” I stared at him. He rolled his eyes. “Seriously? Reave, when are you going to actually examine the functions of the party chat? At this point, it kind of feels like you’re making a choice.”

I turned back to face Urin. He hadn’t taken his eyes off Larry. “You don’t owe us anything,” I said to Urin and his vandal tribe. “You’ve no reason to trust us, and we certainly haven’t given you one. Just give us the chance to speak.” I stepped between Urin and Larry. Reluctantly he peeled his eyes away from the sovereign beast, and to me. “Please.”

I didn’t know what the next word out of his mouth was going to be. No. Attack. Die. Instead he simply said,

“Enter. Leave your weapons at the gate.”

“Do as he says,” I commanded Miggy and the others of the Komo tribe.

A broad vandal stormed forwards, his voice raised in that native language of theirs. I watched as Urin slowly closed his eyes before opening them, tension etched onto his face. Then, like an explosion, he rounded on the vandal, beating him with his fists.

No one, human or vandal, had any objections after that.

Miggy told me what had happened. It was as I had expected. The moment Kaleo had died, the system had recognised Ironclad as the new Warlord. They hadn’t needed envoys, or messages to be sent tribe to tribe, village to village. The system had simply updated, and all the mobs, all the natives had received this information simultaneously.

I understood now, or at least I thought I did. This place, the Stone Epoch needed a villain, a person to fill the role of the main quest, that last obstacle needed to be cleared for those wishing to advance through the Stone Gate. Kaleo had understood the system better than anyone here.

He’d played his part. Reluctantly perhaps, and with enough authenticity, enough cruelty that the system recognised him as valid. Now I saw we were seeing what happened when that same power was given to someone without such restraint.

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Ironclad had wasted no time. Where Kaleo had maintained a tenuous peace, Ironclad had brought total war to the Disputed Lands. Where Kaleo’s Skybreakers had demanded deference, Ironclad’s tribe demanded destruction.

A wrecking ball. Point and deploy. I wondered what Ironclad’s goals even were. Perhaps it was simply to destroy every trace, every last legacy of Kaleo’s. Whatever it was, it had brought ruin. The Komo village was gone, burned to the ground in a single raid the night before.

That was for me. He knew I was still alive. He wanted to find me. Kill me. Well, we wouldn’t have to wait long. Soon enough I would find him.