Wild Gourmet: Chapter 25

Brand turned to the old man.

“Is it sure that it’s coming back?”

“Nothing is sure.” Kore shifted in his chair to pay attention to Brand more specifically. “But drakes are territorial. If it was here, we are in its territory. It knows we are a source of food, now. It’s just a matter of when it feels confident it can get that food.”

“So it’s coming.”

“Unless something strange happens, yes. Sooner or later.”

The room was quiet for a moment, digesting that. Nobody was all that keen to see the drake again, and the silence and implications of that brought stretched on for a bit. Luisa broke it.

“What would count as strange?” She leaned forward. “What would keep it away? How do we get lucky?”

“The most likely thing would be that it gets killed and eaten by a more substantial predator.” Kore said. “There are things out there bigger and meaner than a juvenile drake. Though we’d be changing one problem for another.”

“At a bad exchange rate.” Luisa said.

“Exactly.”

Neil had been sitting with his arms crossed over his dented armor, listening. He was healed now, at least in the ways Brand could see. He looked like he wanted to say something, and after another moment he did.

“The old guards didn’t have to deal with this.” He said. “When I was a boy here, the biggest thing that ever hit the walls was a pack of monsters like what Brand has been fighting. I only ever heard about drakes in books.”

“Your impressions were right, for their time.” Kore nodded. “Back then, this country was full of hunters. Thousands of them, all paid by crafters who needed the materials. Every guild, every workshop, and every military outpost had people whose entire job was to go out and kill things. They turned them into swords and tools long before they were a problem. The wilds were kept thinned of dangerous monsters. Drakes and dragons and the rest of the truly dangerous things only survived in the deepest, most remote places.”

“And now there aren’t any hunters.” Neil said. “Not many.”

“He’s unusually strong for what’s left.” Kore glanced at Brand. “And he’s level six.”

The weight of that responsibility felt like a boulder on Brand’s shoulders. If the problem of the drake was going to be dealt with away from town, he was the one that was going to deal with it. There just wasn’t anyone else who had a chance to do it.

Moira stood. She had been sitting at the front of the group, facing them, and now she took a step forward closer to the group. She was in speech-mode. Brand could recognize that. Speeches weren’t uncommon in the military, especially as the veteran officers fell to attrition and novices took their place.

“It doesn’t matter.” She said. “Whether the drake comes back tomorrow or in a month, we have to prepare as if it’s certain. We have to plan for the worst case. How do we prepare for this? Any ideas are fine. I want to hear from everyone.”

Brand opened his mouth.

“Except you. Not yet.” Moira held up a hand. “We’ll get to you last.”

Brand closed his mouth. He wasn’t offended, but he was confused enough that it must have showed on his face.

“I don’t mind. But why?”

“Because we can’t rely on you entirely. You were out on patrol today. If the drake had come a few days later, you wouldn’t have been able to get here at all before it was over. Neil held it off long enough for everyone to get underground, and that was heroic, but it also nearly killed him. If we build our defense around the idea that Brand will save us or that Neil can hold the line alone, we are defenseless when those lines of defense fail.”

She looked at Neil, then back at Brand.

“Neil did everything right today and he still almost died. Brand did everything right and the drake still left alive. This isn’t a criticism.” She turned to the greater audience, taking her focus off the two fighters. “It’s just a fact. We hope for Brand and Neil to be enough, and we plan as if they can’t be. That’s our best chance.”

Brand sat back in his chair and clamped his mouth shut before he argued against sense. She was right. He doubted she liked to say it, either. Moira was trying her hardest to be a leader, and knew enough to know she had to say the parts that didn’t feel good, too. Brand wasn’t going to stand in the way of that.

“So we start with everyone else.” Moira swept her gaze across the room. “Every person in this town has some level of skill. What can we do to make the most of that?”

Shou spoke next.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“For me, Luisa, and Shemi, we’re already doing most of what we can. We’re leveling as fast as possible to put together the best equipment and weapons we can.” He paused. “Eventually, we might be able to make town defense weapons. Things anyone can use, not just combatants. But that’s down the road a ways. We’d need more levels first.”

“What would that look like?” Moira said.

“Arbalests. Catapults. That kind of thing.” Shou pantomimed pulling a lever. “It would take all three of us working together to make something that’s as simple as hitting a trip and expecting it to work. None of us can do it alone, and none of us are at the level where we can draw our part of the overall picture yet.”

Shemi nodded from her seat near the wall.

“That’s true, as far as I know. My class doesn’t help build siege weapons directly, but providing better wood and helping them shape it will make a difference. That’s how it works for everything else we’ve made together.”

“Good.” Moira said. “For now, keep doing what you’re doing. Level as fast as you can. We’ll revisit the idea of the defensive weapons as you grow.” She turned to her next target. “Remm?”

“I don’t have much to contribute. I wish I did.” He said. “I can keep everyone fed, but I’m not going to be able to make anything that can contest with a drake. My class doesn’t work that way.”

“That’s fine.” Moira said. “Some people aren’t going to be able to help directly. That’s not a failure. Feeding everyone is plenty. When the time comes, your job will probably be getting to safety and hiding there until it’s over.”

Remm nodded, visibly relieved. Pare put a hand on his arm, possessively. Brand got the distinct opinion that she would have been much less quiet if much more than that had been demanded.