Free Web NovelChapter 186: Scrambling
Lucas looked like he had swallowed something bitter when he received this cryptic response, and he felt a heavy weight suddenly press down on his shoulders, but he knew that his Master was helpless in this regard, so he simply nodded in acknowledgement.
Without turning back, Celestina’s figure flickered and disappeared in a gust of wind.
Vanessa, and the rest of the Spirit Initiates quickly chased after the General, one of them heading to join Old Man Levins, while the others all headed to the military camp where the Tartans were resting.
"Princess," Sir Green spoke for the first time.
Nodding, Christina waved her hand calmly, "Go."
With the command given, Sir Green also vanished, seemingly fading into the shadows.
The rest of the adults who had gathered, including Vice Captain of the Guard Carl, and Grace, a representative of the Manor’s staff, also filed out of the office quickly, heading off to see to their own responsibilities.
Soon, it was just Lucas and Christina left behind. Normally, Eris would be accompanying them, but the fiery young girl had taken up a task in the Town Square earlier and hadn’t returned from there yet.
The two children turned to each other with complicated looks on their faces. A battle unlike any they had experienced so far during this incident was about to occur, but neither of them could participate directly and had to remain behind while others they cared about fought for their safety.
It was both nerve-wracking and discomforting, but neither of them had any time to sit and mull over their situation. There was much to do, even for them, so they too quickly ran off without another word.
.....
Moments after leaving the Town Lord’s Manor, a fully armed and armored Celestina arrived at the military camp.
Glancing around, she quickly noted saddles were being fixed to the 2 Golden Hawks and 4 Tartans which were previously resting in the temporary stables.
Although they hadn’t received any formal orders, it seemed the soldiers and volunteers on duty here had the good sense to make certain preparations when they noticed the unexpected Tartan fly in over town.
Not wasting any time, Celestina dashed over to Sir Green’s Golden Hawk, the name of which she wasn’t familiar with, and leapt onto its back.
Ordinarily, Golden Hawks wouldn’t let anyone but their trusted partner take their reins, but this Mid Fourth Order Beasts was smart enough not to make a fuss when Celestina mounted him.
Besides, whether he agreed or not, this Golden Hawk didn’t really have a choice in this matter seeing how Celestina was tens of times stronger than he was.
Whipping the reins, Celestina took-off and turned towards the north-east, urging the hawk to accelerate to his maximum flight speed.
According to the report Captain Ryan had given them, Celestina estimated that the beast horde would reach Herald City just over an hour from now, which left her very little time to reach the city, take command, and organize its defence.
All the General could pray for now was that there was at least someone who wasn’t a complete moron on the other side already taking action.
About 5 minutes after Celestina departed, Commander Clark and 4 other Spirit Initiates arrived at the camp and also took to the skies.
Starlight wouldn’t have much trouble keeping up with his fellow Golden Hawk, so Vanessa would likely arrive at Herald City shortly after General Balfour, but the situation with the Tartans was different. Not only did these beasts have a slower maximum speed, they were also quite tired from all the work they had been doing these past few days.
The best anyone could hope for at this point was that the trip from Redwood Town to Herald City wouldn’t take these 4 Tartans more than an hour.
The Spirit Initiates knew this, of course, so all they could do was urge the beasts onward while trying not to fall too far behind.
.....
The sudden change in plans and flurry of activity that followed had caught all of Redwood Town off-guard, and a not insignificant number of people had begun to panic.
This wasn’t surprising, though, as many of the townsfolk and villagers had caught sight of the strongest Cultivators all racing off, each and every one of them dressed for battle with grim looks on their faces. At the same time, orders were quickly passed down for all the Town Guard and volunteer defenders to prepare for battle.
Questions swirled, nerves-frayed, and many began fearing the worst.
Charles and Anna wanted to take a moment to calm the crowds which had begun to gather at the Manor, but there was no time for them to spare; their priority right now was to organize a new defence perimeter to protect against potential beast attacks.
Anna didn’t even have a chance to inform her husband about what was going on and could only trust that someone else would take care of that.
In this regard, Lucas didn’t disappoint his mother, sending Finn to warn his father and the rest of the craftsmen who were working at Drake’s forge while he stayed behind and began devising a new strategy to handle this unexpected crisis.
The first thing Lucas did was call together what remained of the Manor’s staff who weren’t directly participating in the town’s defence, as well as all the volunteer kitchen workers and the dozen or so of his soap workshop and bathhouse employees who were still in town.
50 people were quickly gathered in one of the Manor’s bigger halls where Lucas briefly summarized what was going on. Of course, he left out some details and even stretched the truth here and there to make the situation seem less dire before sending everyone out in groups of 5 or 6 to begin explaining the situation to the civilians who had yet to be evacuated.
As the people dispersed to deliver the news, Lucas noticed his big sister Eris entering from one of the side-doors, calling out and waving to him as she waded through the crowd, "Lucas! What’s going on? Why is everyone suddenly panicking!?"
Lucas glanced around to make sure that the hall was empty first before revealing the truth, "A stampede is heading towards Herald City, one made up of several thousand beasts. Master suspects that some kind of powerful leader Beast is herding them in that direction." freewebnσvel.cøm
Hearing this, Eris gasped before asking in a hushed tone that matched his, "Is it that scary lizard?"
"We can only hope so," Lucas replied grimly.
"Huh?" Eris tilted her head in confusion, wondering what her little brother was talking about.
Seeing the puzzled look on his big sister’s face, Lucas muttered under his breath, "If the Saberclaw Raptors aren’t responsible for this Beast Tide, that means there’s another group of extremely powerful beasts out there leading them, while the Raptors might still be lurking nearby."
"So... both we, and my mom in Herald City might be in danger?" Eris quickly comprehended the severity of the situation and couldn’t help turning a little pale.
Nodding solemnly, Lucas warned his big sister, "Keep your sword on you at all times, and if anything happens, don’t hesitate to run to the military camp on the east side of town."
"Head to the military camp? Why?" Eris asked.
Grinding his teeth, Lucas lowered his head in defeat, "The Sunchaser will be back soon, so even if the worst happens... we should still be able to escape."
Eris wasn’t the best when it came to planning out complex strategies, but that didn’t mean she was stupid. She knew that there was nearly 2,000 people left in Redwood Town right now and that the Sunchaser could, at most, carry 100 of them.
With her strong sense of righteousness, Eris simply couldn’t believe she was hearing her little brother even suggest that she and a few others run away while abandoning everyone else. It was unthinkable to the young girl and she was about to vehemently protest, when she saw blood drip from Lucas’ mouth.
Staring at her little brother, who had bitten his lip so hard it bled, and who was clenching his fists so tightly they had gone white, Eris choked down the words she was about to say and also lowered her head in shame, Lucas cares more about everyone in Redwood Town than anyone, so if he’s saying we might have to leave people behind, it must be because there’s really no other way...
Eris had a hard time accepting this reality, but she also knew that the world they lived in could be incredibly cruel and unforgiving, and could take anything, or anyone it wanted from you in an instant. The empty weight on her right arm was more than enough proof of that.
