RavensDagger

  Chapter Two Hundred and Fifty-One - On the Back Foot

  “So, now what?” I asked as I followed Bastion out of the headquarters.

  The padin paused, jaw w as he thought. “Are you certain you want to keep following me?” he asked. “This is being increasingly political.”

  “Is that a bad thing for me?” I asked. “I’m not about to let one of my best friends do something hard without at least trying my best to help him.”

  Bastion chuckled. “I should have figured you’d say something like that. Very well, our step will be inf the guard of what’s going on. Then we move over to the quarry and find Major Springsong. I feel as if everything we’re dealing with leads to him in particur.”

  “Alright,” I said. We’d finally reach the person responsible for the entire kerfuffle. I hoped. If we reached Major Springsong and it turned out that it wasn’t them and that someone else was responsible then... “Is your job always like this?” I asked.

  “You mean running around, looking for fires, then stamping them out as best I ? Yes, that would describe a good portion of a padin’s work. We’re often turned into errand boys, sent around to take care of things for the royal family where it wouldn’t be politically or practically possible for them to show up in person. We’re essentially problem-fixers with royal bag.”

  “That’s kind of ,” I said. “The King and Queen must trust you a bunch.”

  Bastion nodded. “That’s one of the nicer perks, yes. It’s not every sylph that will eveheir monarchs, let alone ever speak with them. The Royal Order is given a lot of trust, which also puts a lot of pressure on us. A mistake carried out in the name of the King is going to be very costly, no matter what.”

  I could imagihat had to be pretty stressful. But then, I was sure Bastion ma just fine. He was one of the coolest people I’d ever met.

  On leaving the headquarters, Bastioured towards the front gate, past more soldiers who were running ps around a small field. We weren’t halfway to the gate when I heard some shouted orders being tossed around, and soon the soldiers were snapping to attention and darting towards what I guessed was their barracks.

  “The alert level’s rising,” Bastion said.

  “What does that mean?” I asked. “I mean, I guess, but I figure you know-know.”

  Bastion ughed. “It means the soldiers here have just gotten a day off from training. Now they’ll gear up and move on to one of the other things soldiers are good at.”

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “There’s three things you’re taught to do as a soldier. Train, fight, and wait. Now they’ll have the rest of the day to wait.”

  The guards at the gate opened up the door for us, aepped out of the base and back out onto the packed-dirt road around town. A few guards were waiting for us there, and Bastion approached them to talk. I hung back a little bit.

  Today had been a lot of running around, and while it wasn’t quite as fun as some things, it still felt pretty nice. We were on a sort of adventure, but instead of the stakes being just... me and my friends having fun, they were rger.

  Then again, our st few adventures had been like that too, hadn’t they?

  I hadn’t really sidered it, but more and more of our adventures were big, at least big in the sehat they were helping a lot of people with a bunch of things. That was... well, it wasn’t bad, but I had kind of set out expeg my adveo only really be about me and a few friends. It was strao think that more and more often our adventures were dealing with big, important things.

  “We’re ready,” Bastion said, snappi of my thoughts.

  I gri him and nodded. “Alright, let’s head out then.”

  The quarry ast the halfway mark between Granite Springs and the mole person dam, which meant our run wasn’t quite as strenuous. We’d also had a nice long pause tain some stamina, though my legs were wobbly at first.

  Bastiohe pace again, not too fast, but not too slow, a boung jog that made us eat up the distail we veered off the main road and onto the quarry road. We ran around the edge of a huge circur hole in the ground filled with water at its bottom.

  There were a bunch of buildings in the middle of the quarry, where carts pulled by donkeys were bringing big sbs of stoo the side of a workshop where some sylphs picked them up with s and pulleys. On the opposite end, square-cut blocks were being stacked onto another long cart.

  Some of the buildings around looked like barracks, and there was an obvious kit to one side. Stables he rear held the animals used to run the pce, and there was a small building that looked like the headquarters for the entire pce.

  Bastion led us across the quarry, walking with the certainty of someone who was definitely allowed to be there.

  The sylphs w at the quarry all seemed very strong, which was strahey were still short, but short with big bulging arms. Most didn’t wear shirts, but nearly all of them had hard-leather caps that made their heads look like pins. A lot of them stared, but no one seemed ined to move over and actually stop or ask us any questions.

  And then we were past the quarry and heading towards a small patch of woods not too far from there. An area with a small wall around it, as installed behind that.

  There were sylphs around who were all obviously soldiers, with bck tabards over their gear, and spears held by their sides.

  They tensed as Bastion and I moved up the hill to meet them. “Who goes there?” One of them asked.

  “I’m Padin Coldfront,” Bastion said. “I’m here to speak with Major Springsong, or whoever is in charge.”

  The soldiers looked at each other, then one ran off into their camp. I guessed that there weren’t more than fifty or so soldiers here, spread out across about half that mas, id out i rows. They had built a small wall, loose sto the base with wooden posts above those, eading in a rough-hewn spike.

  Bastion stood tall o me, eyes fixed on the soldiers before us, who started to sweat a little at his unfling gaze.

  Then the major showed up.

  I was expeg someoall--for a sylph--in resple armour and maybe with the same bearing as Bastion. Instead, the major was a shorter sylph with a squinty look on his face, wearing shiny armour that looked half a size too big for him.

  He stared around, noticed Bastion and myself, then ran over with a blossoming smile. “Padin Coldfront! It’s wonderful to see you, sir,” he said.

  “Hello,” Bastion said. He sounded like he was on the back foot. I guess the warm wele was ued.

  “I didn’t expect your arrival so soon, but I’m infinitely grateful that you’re here. Please, follow me.” The major took Bastion’s hand, shaking it up and down in a hurry before turning around and walking into the camp.

  Bastion and I looked at each other, and I shrugged before we moved on after the major.

  The interior of the camp wasn’t anything too special. Tents were set in small circles around campfires, and the camp was id out so that there was a wide ne down the middle which soldiers could use to move around. A rger tent stood at one end, with a pair of bck banners hanging oher side of its entrahe major stood there, with his back straight aures ral, but he was also boung on the balls of his feet with nervous energy.

  “This is our issue,” the major said as soon as we walked in. There was a desk in the tre, with a pile of letters sitting atop it and a map across the surface. He shoved the letters to the side to make room to see the map. “There’s a monster living here," his fiabbed down onto the map, "and we dead.”

  “One moment,” Bastion said. “I think you’re operating under a false assumption.”

  The major blinked. “Pardon?”

  “I’m not here to ansecific request. I’m here iigating the issue with the mole people, especially with regards to the dam they’re building that’s risking Granite Springs.”

  “You’re not here for the dungeon?”

  “What dungeon?” I asked.

  There was a long silence as everyone ient took each other in. “... I believe that perhaps you are right, padin—there has been some level of misunication here. I sent word to the capital three days ago, requesting assistah a delicate matter. I had assumed you were the response.”

  “I uand that much,” Bastion said. “But unfortunately, no, I’m here because I assing through. I heard there was an issue with the molefolk, and after trag it down, I came here, to what seems to be the source of the issue.”

  The major’s face screwed up for a moment before his expression fttened. “The mole people have been causing me some level of distress, yes.”

  “Is that corresponden the table letters from the mole people?” Bastion asked.

  The majhen, then back up. “That? Oh, yes, they are,” he said.

  I poked at the pile, moving some of the letters around. “Some of these are still sealed,” I said.

  “Yes, well, the s of some mole people hardly matter to the Inquisition.”

  “But these aren’t addressed to you,” I said.

  “They might hold information that would reveal what we’re doing here... Padin, who is this bun?”

  “This is Captain Bunch. She’s outside of your of and,” Bastion said.

  “I don’t recall the army having buns in it,” the major said.

  “She’s an airship captain,” Bastion replied, whily seemed to fuse the major more. “And her s are valid. Are you aware of what the mole people are doing at this moment? For that matter, are you responsible for the quarry ging the location it’s digging in?”

  “I recall reading some base threats. And yes, of course. We ’t have them tinue digging where they were, and the nation might well he stone being quarried in the near future. I ’t possibly just halt all operations. Besides, doing so would only pose a greater risk that knowledge of the dungeon might leak.”

  “Ah yes, the dungeon,” Bastion said. “I’m aware that the appearance of a new dungeon is important to the nation, but a settlement the size of Granite Springs—not to mentioion’s alliah the mole people—ought to outweigh the value of keeping one dungeo.”

  The major blinked fast. I had the impression that he wasn’t so much mean, or even inpetent, as he was... focused on his task. “This new dungeon will hardly threateown. If anything, the movement of additional people to the region and the ge in ambient mana would help Granite Springs.”

  “For things to help the town, the towo still be around,” Bastion said.

  I decided to butt in a little. “I don’t think the eown is at risk, but, well, if we don’t do something, people might get hurt, and I ’t think of mas that are worth hurting people over.”

  “I... I see? None of this would be an issue if it wasn’t for that damnable near-dragon thing.”

  “... what dragon thing?” Bastion asked.

  ***

  RavensDagger

  Are You Eained?

  The mayor's ability to answer questions is inspired by my mom.

  Joireon!

  Some of my stories are on TopWebFi!-amon Bun-Stray Cat Strut-Lever A-Dead Tired-Heart of DorknessVoting makes Broccoli smile!

  The following books are avaible as paperbacks (and as Ebooks) on Amazon. Oh, and there’s an awesome audiobook for amon Bun Volume One and Two, and also Love Crafted!

  (The images are links!)

  All proceeds go to funding my addi to buying art paying for food, rent, and other ies!

  Thank you so much for all your support everyone! And thank you extra hard for allowio do this for a living; I’ll do my best to keep you eained!