The Fey Conquest, # 6— "Mobilization and the Fey"
- David Parker
- Oct 2, 2023
- 4 min read
[Short stories. Images generated by hotpot.ai]
Maka was taxed with building exhaustion, as she now had a position of assumed authority, whereas before, though she had been an esteemed Scribe, she was not charged with responsibilities outside scholastics. And although she had talent at leadership, she had effectively zero experience. She was learning quickly, but her weariness increased, and put simply: mistakes were made.
An entire village’s worth of militia, after Maka had sent a dispatch for a call to arms, arrived virtually without any weapons, the third instance of recruits who expected to receive weapons from Sovereign Valley, the stores of which had already been spent. Espers filled some gaps, but the gaps were so wide that they weren’t really filled at all.
Warren “oversaw” the production of more weapons, which was to say he told a number of smiths to oversee themselves in garnering the production of more weapons. The steel he imagined to exist in the tools and implements of the People of Iceglass (the “Fey Folk”) was woefully inadequate for everything they would need. In response to this, he floundered about asking who was responsible for iron distribution, and his “saving” grace was that he actually knew what region contained iron, having been studied in geography.
Japheth was a soothe sayer and an experienced but not distinguished healer, a pact-mage with Keelin, a Salve Esper. He had a measure of common sense, but not always. He imagined that Sovereign Valley had slews of forges that could be garnered to produce armor and spears, even though he had made rounds of Sovereign Valley throughout his life. Maka corrected him, and he had the sense to be ashamed.
“Train the recruits to wield slings,” he said, “In sufficient numbers, we’ll best their archers.”
It wasn’t a bad idea. Slings were easily produced, and archers, arrows, bowyers, and fletchers were also in grim supply.
“They have armor and helmets,” said Maka, with growing anxiety. She was increasingly dreading Naori’s prophecy, which was also seeming to be an increasingly likely outcome. “And who knows how much magicite they’ve harvested?” “The Village of the Forge Esper will provide, along with the Town of the Steel Esper,” said Fenix.
That was uplifting “news”, and Maka cringed at herself for not thinking of it. The Village of the Forge Esper paid worship by crafting tools (and weapons) of all kinds. Meanwhile, the Town of the Steel Esper featured a single hill with a replenishing supply of iron where the Steel Esper dwelt, though they tended to hoard the mineral and make statues with it rather than export it. Additionally, both of these Espers were quite formidable along with their vassalaries.
However, a number of details were not quite hashed out.
“Is the route secure to the Forge and Steel villages? How quickly can we, ah— circulate their wealth?” There was silence, even from Fenix. “Doctor Skerrit!?” cried Maka, imagining her Venerable mentor to have a grasp that was revealing itself to be a depressing facade. “Ehn? Surely the invader hasn’t reached Steel or Forge. You see, the Fey Realm’s geography is quite extensive.” “We need scouts! Messenger relays! Where are the invaders now!?” “There’s a dreadful war-band due south, I’m told,” said Japheth, “We’re quite out of their reach, at the moment. They are outright savages with steel, reigning in blood. But we’re nowhere near ready to face them.”
Tears welled up in Maka’s eyes. It was like something out of a foul compendium from one of the Cabals.
“What about the rest?” she sobbed.
Her entourage had no knowledge of this.
“Wait,” said Fenix. “How far south is the war-band?” “Ah—” said Japheth, rubbing his neck with an irritating lack of conviction, “... The port. It was the Port of the Crab Esper.” “The Crab Esper fell?” said Warren, and the lot of them but Japheth and Fenix quailed. The Crab Esper, though cruel, was powerful. “It’s good news,” said Fenix. “That means we can call for the rest of the region to take refuge in Stonehall. The Fortress will stop them in their tracks.”
At this, with a far greater sense of command than the rest of her entourage, Fenix galvanized a detachment of messengers to follow his instructions for a call to defend and seek refuge in Stonehall, home of the Rock Esper— also formidable.
“How is that good news, again?” said Japheth. “It’s due north of the Town of the Crab,” said Warren, “a most auspicious location. They won’t be able to encroach any further.” “Is there time?” said Maka. Doctor Skerrit guffawed, “Of course there is. The Realm of Iceglass is—” “— vast and expansive,” said Warren.
In truth, this single fact, though having little to do with Skerrit’s personal knowledge of it, was a saving grace for many lives throughout Iceglass, called the Fey Realm by the invaders. The region to the South, called the Coast of Nets for its abundant fisheries, was as extensive as the rest of their lands. However, in kind, the Steel and Forge villages were quite out of reach for most of their people, and it wasn’t yet known whether their resources could be utilized in time for the day of battle.
In the meantime, she was silently urging herself to find better councilmen.
*-------------------------------------------*
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