2.33 Opening Moves

By the time Bernt made his way back toward the Undercity Gate, it was already getting dark. He shivered in the cold evening air – winter was just around the corner and the nights were getting chillier every day. For a moment, he considered trying a warming variation on his clothes-cleaning cantrip that he’d developed the previous winter, but decided against it. He’d never tried to cast it with an investiture before, never mind doing it left-handed.

He opted for some hot food instead.

“Bernt! Haven’t seen you around here in a while.” Cal said as he processed his order with the rote efficiency of a true professional cabbage slinger. “What happened?”

He shrugged apologetically. “I moved down into the new Undercity, and work’s kept me down there most days since. I’d be by more often if I could – those dwarves are a real headache.”

“Yeah? I haven’t really heard anything. Things seem mostly quiet around here except for the mobilization. The guards came by a week ago and picked up all the day-laborers and porters down by the docks and such. Other than that, food just got a lot more expensive. I hope they break the siege soon, because winter’s going to be a problem otherwise, I think. A lot of people are worried.”

Bernt grunted in agreement and nodded. He accepted the paper bag of food, paid and headed homeward, ducking through a few alleyways to cut into the Crafter’s District. He’d nearly made it to the plaza that contained the Undercity Gate when the ground shook and an enormous rumbling boom thundered through the city.

He stumbled and nearly dropped his cabbage roll. What was that?

There were a few shouts in the distance, probably other pedestrians asking what happened. Collecting himself, Bernt hurried forward toward the guard station at the Undercity Gate. Palina was there, at her usual spot along with a younger dwarf who was trying to calm down a passerby who’d stopped to question him.

“Well, we have to know what to do, right?” The man insisted. “This is your job, isn’t it?”

“Yes, sir, we’re going to let you know as soon as we get an update, alright? Right now, I just need you to remain calm and get indoors. It could be any number of things, but we don’t know anything more than you do.”

“Indoors?!” The man scoffed. “Did you feel the ground shake? For all we know the buildings are going to start collapsing down on us!”

“Or,” the dwarf said patiently, “since we’re under siege, we might consider whether the enemy has broken through our wards with artillery. Considering the circumstances, I would suggest getting under cover.”

Offended by the dwarf’s apparent lack of urgency the man’s face started turning red as he puffed himself up, preparing to extend his angry tirade. Palina put a hand on the other guard’s shoulder and pulled him back a little.

“Now, listen he–argh!” the man cut off with a yelp as Palina lightly stamped the butt of her spear onto his toe. He limped back, cursing loudly.

“Move along!” she called after him unnecessarily, before she saw Bernt approaching and waved.

“Evening.” Bernt called in reply. “Sounds like a rough night ahead, doesn’t it?”

Just then, a trumpet sounded far in the distance. After a few seconds, a closer one took up the signal as well. They were long repetitive bursts – a general alarm. Not even the trumpeter knew what the problem was, yet.

Another thunderous boom rattled the city, even louder this time, and Bernt heard the rumble of collapsing masonry follow. A massive dust cloud rose somewhere over the lower district, further darkening the evening sky.

Palina watched the dust rise with a worried expression. “Probably. But this is the City Guards’ problem. You should get down below and see what’s coming up on our end. For all we know, this is a distraction. I wouldn’t count on getting home any time soon.”

Groaning inwardly, Bernt nodded to the two of them and forced his tired limbs into a jog. It had already been a long day. He just wanted to go home and maybe try to work on his control over his sorcerous investiture. The last thing he needed now was a fight.

***

By the time Bernt reached the Underkeepers’ Headquarters, word had gone out in the Undercity. The market area, which should have been teeming with activity at this time of day, was deserted except for a few merchants who were still hastily packing away their goods. Gray-clad guards trickled in from various parts of the Undercity, some not even fully dressed yet. Bernt waved to a young goblin guard named Hixle as he came rushing out of the tunnel to the Goblin Quarter.

“What do we know?” Bernt asked as the two met up and started to make their way across the square.

“Nothing,” Hixle said a little breathlessly. “General alarm – double patrol size and stand by, I’m guessing.”

Bernt cursed. It was essentially what he’d been expecting. There was no way he would get any sleep tonight.

The courtyard in front of the Underkeepers’ Complex was teeming with activity. Glim was bawling orders, lining up newer guard recruits and checking their equipment. Ed stood off to the side with Fiora, Dayle, Rindle, Lin and Josie. The other mages and the missing goblin druid were likely out on patrol.

Jori was inside, and Bernt could hear her giving instructions to her two interns through their familiar bond. The children should have already gone home, but he supposed it was probably safer here than up on the surface right now. Farrin would be worried, though.

As Hixle moved off to join the guards, Bernt went over to Ed’s group.

“–will stay here to watch the wards,” the archmage was saying. “Arice is supposed to make his move soon, or maybe he already did and they’re fighting down in the tunnels right now. He didn’t want to give us an exact time for fear of being overheard. Whatever the case, this all might just be some collateral damage from a battle we can’t even see. Iri would know, but she’s up at the guild. Worst case, though, the Duergar preempted the attack and we’re on the defensive. You’re our heaviest hitters, so until word gets through, I want all of you to stay here. If we have a real fight on our hands, we can’t afford to have all our forces prematurely committed with nothing in reserve.”

Turning toward the assembled guards, Ed cleared his throat, and the sound echoed through the courtyard, amplified by a spell. “I’m going to have Glim organize patrols of three to keep an eye on the streets down here. Make your presence known, tell people to get inside and do your best to reassure people. If you run into looters… do your best. But don’t get killed, just make sure you get a good look at their faces. The army might be out of position, so we need to be prepared to deal with more incoming duergar than before. We can’t afford to get into fights with our own people today.”

Glim, taking his cue, began to organize the guards around him into teams of three.

Ed nodded to himself, then continued, more quietly. “I’m going to check on Kustov and his little project. I shouldn’t be long, but Fiora’s in charge in the meantime. Watch those wards closely and see if you can get word from the surface or from the front line. I already sent someone over to check on the general, and the gate guards have instructions to run any critical updates down to us. We should have a better idea of what’s going on soon.”

With that, he turned to leave and caught sight of Bernt, who was standing between him and the door.

“Bernt, how’s the hand? Are you good to fight?” he asked. It wasn’t really a question. What was he going to do, hide with the civilians while an army swept through the city?

Bernt nodded. “I’ll be fine.”

Ed thumped him on the shoulder as he passed by and disappeared out into the street.

Fiora cleared her throat. “Alright.” She looked around, seeing that Glim had the patrols in hand, and turned to go inside. “Let’s go grab a cup of tea and wait for the wards to go off.”

***

Bernt sipped his tea, watching the ward-map with Dayle. Through the bond, he casually eavesdropped on Jori. She was in the kitchen with Lin, who was cooking up some kind of experimental spice broth as a “tea” for the little imp at her request. Bored with the goblin’s regular mixtures, Jori had asked if she didn’t have anything with any “real flavor” to it. Lin had, apparently, taken that as a challenge.

“Do you think they really timed it that well?” Bernt asked. “I mean, to get past the army and break in here in force?”

Dayle pulled a face. “Couldn’t tell you. Don’t know what they know, do I? Still, though, it ain’t that easy to run an army around an enemy on the move. Arice has scryers keeping an eye out, and the guild, too. They’d need to counter-divinate, and then still get the timing right. There would be some luck involved no matter how they tried it.”

Jori and Lin made their way back toward his table, chatting amiably. Jori was holding an enormous, steaming cup in both hands. Or rather, the cup was normal-sized, but it looked gigantic on the tiny creature.

“Go on, try it!” Lin urged as they sat down. Grinning in anticipation, Jori lifted the witch’s concoction to her mouth and her eyes went wide. She gulped it down eagerly and slammed the cup down on the table with a whoop. Flames spewed from her mouth. Not hellfire, just the regular, mundane kind.

“Tasty!” She cheered, causing even more fire to spill out, this time also from her nose. That provoked an even greater reaction as she broke into hysterical laughter, making the problem even worse. Lin cackled with amusement and Bernt smiled at their antics.

“It tickles!” she wheezed, as she caught her breath nearly a minute later and the flames finally died down.

The door opened and everyone turned to look. Glim entered, followed by about a dozen other tired-looking guards – those left over after setting up the patrols. Most likely they were guards who, like Bernt, would have been on their way home right now if not for the emergency. Right behind them though, followed a harried-looking dwarf – the same one who’d been guarding the Undercity gate with Palina.

“Is Archmage Thurdred here?” he asked, looking around urgently as the others got settled.

“Come here!” Fiora called, waving him over. “Ed’s out for a bit. Just tell us what’s going on and we’ll let him know when he gets back. What’s your name?”

“Oh. Alright.” The young man hurried over and saluted unnecessarily. “Uh. I’m Drugni, ma’am. The City Guard sent someone by to brief us. There have been three strikes in the last hour, all from inside the city – they’re not sure if it was an alchemical or enchanted explosive device, or if the enemy snuck someone who could cast powerful artillery spells into the city. The city’s wards haven’t been breached, but we lost the City’s Alchemical Reserve Stockpile and the Solicitor’s Office partially collapsed.”

Josie, who was sitting with Fiora, sat up straight with a stunned expression.

The warlock opened her mouth to talk, but the older mage put a hand on her shoulder as she held the guard’s gaze. “What about the third strike?”

“The guard said it struck the Mages’ Guild, but the building’s wards held. The blast leveled several smaller buildings nearby.” Drugni swallowed. “He said there were a lot of bodies.”

There were murmurs at that, and Dayle cursed loudly as Fiora frowned contemplatively.

“Anything about the city’s wards?” Dayle cut in when Fiora didn’t say anything. At the same moment Josie recovered her composure enough to ask: “What about the Solicitor’s Office?”

“Didn’t say anything specific about the warlocks,” the guard shrugged. Judging by his expression, Bernt guessed Drugni hadn’t asked. “It sounds like the wards are holding, but there has been some bombardment – looked liked spells and projectiles, but not too much of it.” the dwarf went on, turning to Dayle. “There was no mention of anything else, and there haven’t been any signals for a breach.”

Fiora grunted and looked around the room, raising her voice. “Alright, everybody. This means nobody is going home tonight. If you were just on duty, I want you resting or sleeping here at headquarters. Use the back rooms for sleeping. It’s not comfortable, but it’ll do. Drugni, stay here and rest for a while, we’ll send two guards up to relieve Palina in a few minutes – we’re still waiting on a few stragglers to get here.”

With a wave of dismissal, the mage turned to Josie, putting a hand on her shoulder to speak a few quiet words. The warlock looked miserable, but she nodded and took a sip of her tea. Bernt thought maybe he should go over there and say something to make her feel better, but he couldn’t think of anything appropriate. What were you supposed to say to something like this?