Free Web NovelChapter 260: The Last Convoy
After making one last pass to check for any remaining stragglers, Vanessa Clark and Starlight swooped down towards an open field just east of Herald City.
Waiting there was a Battalion worth of soldiers, as well as some 50 Tartans.
Touching down, Vanessa dismounted her trusty Golden Hawk and saluted her old mentor, "General Balfour, the city has been emptied. No one has been left behind."
Returning the salute, Celestina Balfour nodded in acknowledgement, "Understood. It’s time for us to get going too, then."
Breathing in the crisp morning air, Celestina and Vanessa swept their gazes over the now empty city, both of them amazed that they had actually managed to pull off the ambitious evacuation plan Lucas had proposed to them 8 days ago.
Things had gone fairly smoothly at first, with ships and land convoys departing every day from both Herald City and Port Calden.
About 80% of these convoys went to Iron Rock, where the evacuees were further processed by the staff Lucas and Allina were overseeing there.
The other 20%, exclusively from Herald City, had headed east along the dirt roads which led to the Rockwell Kingdom’s South Province, the territory of the Turner Earl Family.
Several creative methods were employed in this mass-migration process, such as sending massive wagon caravans from Port Calden to Iron Rock, all pulled by sturdy Second Order Beasts like Cloud Treading Colts and escorted by large groups of elite soldiers and Aerial Cavalry.
The journey took nearly 12 hours to complete, and by the end of it, all the beasts were completely worn out; however, rather than letting the horses rest overnight then making the trek back over land to Port Calden, they were loaded up onto ships and allowed to recover overnight as they sailed down the Belton.
These ships needed to return to Port Calden and Herald City after dropping off evacuees anyways, so there was no reason for them not to transport the beasts while they were at it.
It wasn’t always easy coaxing the animals onto the ships, especially in the dead of night, but somehow or another, Allina and the soldiers of the Raging River Legion got the job done.
Unfortunately, on the third day of the evacuation, a heavy storm rolled in, making both the land and river routes much more treacherous.
On that day, only about a third the normal number of people were shuttled away from the two southern cities, all of them on the military ships which were much sturdier than merchant vessels.
The rain continued into the next day, slowing evacuation operations dramatically until evening when the storm finally let up.
Although this delayed the emptying of Port Calden and Herald City significantly, it was also something of a blessing for Iron Rock which had been somewhat overwhelmed by the sudden influx of refugees from the first 2 days.
When 25,000 new faces poured into the city all within a 24-hour period, Count Carlson and the rest of the higher ups of Iron Rock were caught off-guard, despite Lucas having warned them that this was exactly what was going to happen.
Whether it was because they didn’t believe the young boy, or whether they had simply underestimated the mayhem this influx would cause, the rulers and administrators of the Carlson Family’s capital city were instantly swamped with problems and found themselves unable to keep up.
In response, Lucas had Allina re-deploy all 2,000 soldiers from the Raging River Legion that had arrived earlier to crowd control, dramatically increasing the number of patrols inside the city, especially amongst the refugee camps, Evacuation Centres, and docks.
These soldiers, along with Iron Rock’s City Guard, managed to restore order, but only after several hundred people, both refugees and native citizens, were badly beaten.
There were even a few reported deaths caused by people being crushed in mini-stampedes set off by panic, fights, misunderstandings, or even by the harsh law enforcement policies themselves.
It was brutal, but with the city at risk of falling to chaos, there was little other choice.
Still, when Lucas learned about this, he insisted that the cases of severe injury and death be thoroughly investigated.
If harm was caused by people sewing trouble, then they were further punished, but if it was the soldiers and patrols who were at fault, generous compensation for the victims was to be distributed while reprimands were given out to the guilty party.
The lull in traffic on the third and fourth days of the evacuation gave Iron Rock a little breathing room to sort out these mounting problems and establish better procedures, resulting in the fifth day running far more smoothly despite a record 30,000 refugees being taken in.
Of course, this delay also slowed down the overall evacuation, causing it to drag into a sixth day.
There was originally hope that everyone would be able to make it out of the southern settlements on the seventh day, and that was indeed the case for Port Calden; but unexpectedly, the Nightmares chose that day to launch another large-scale attack on Herald City, bringing all evacuations there to a halt.
The second Beast Tide which crashed into Herald City was 50% larger than the previous one, but with the arrival of 2,000 professional soldiers from the Raging River Legion and having dozens more Tartans on hand, the attack was actually much easier to repel.
Vanessa and an elite Squad of Aerial Cavalry even managed to find and eliminate a Fifth Order Nightmare, throwing much of the horde into chaos.
Unfortunately, just when they thought victory was with their grasp, a second, stronger Fifth Order Nightmare appeared from the Great Western Forest and managed to reorganize much of the stampede.
This creature, obviously the pack’s Alpha, only exposed itself for a few minutes before slipping away, making it impossible for the humans to kill it and end the threat once and for all.
It was a disappointing outcome, but not an unexpected one, or one that Celestina was unwilling to accept.
The battle against the Beast Tide had stalled Herald City’s evacuations for about 8 hours, resulting in the last river convoy having to wait until the following day to depart.
And so, when morning came, after Vanessa confirmed the city was truly empty, the convoy of 50 ships, carrying some 7,000 people, weighed anchor and began sailing up the Belton, heading for Iron Rock.
Most of these people were actually soldiers or militia, those who had stayed behind so far to defend the city. They were all exhausted, but they were also proud of what they had accomplished. They had been part of saving hundreds of thousands of lives, a grand feat which would be told in story and song across the kingdom for generations to come.
As for Celestina and the rest of her elite forces, they had no plans to take the long route along the river. They would be flying from Herald City to Iron Rock, arriving sometime before noon today, right after they finished one last piece of business.
Hopping onto the back of Kody, Sir Green’s former Golden Hawk, Celestina signaled to the rest of her troops to make ready to depart.
The Battalion worth of soldiers, including Celestina’s newly accepted Disciple, all saluted and mounted up, slowly ascending into the air.
All the Captains in the Core Formation and Sea Establishment Realms immediately began heading north, but Celestina and the 7 Spirit Initiates accompanying her actually turned west and headed towards the river.
Herald City’s eastern and western districts were connected by a large stone bridge.
This bridge, similar to others like it in the Rockwell Kingdom, was a marvel of engineering that had taken many years to construct. It was roughly 2,000 metres in length and about 8 metres in width, with 22 giant arches, each approximately 90 metres long.
Looking at this bridge from above, Celestina couldn’t help thinking of Misty Bridge which she had personally overseen the construction of 200 years ago. The Balfour Marquess felt it was a shame what she was about to do, but for the safety of the rest of the kingdom, it had to be done.
"Aim for the centre 8 pillars!" Celestina shouted, pulling a Firestorm Arrow from her Space Bag and knocking it on her Azure Longbow.
The Spirit Initiate Commanders mimicked the General’s actions, drawing their own bows to their limit.
10 seconds later, after confirming everyone had fully charged these explosive Spirit Weapons, Celestina gave the order, "Fire!"
8 Firestorm arrows shot out and struck the bridge’s centre 8 support pillars just a couple metres above the river’s waterline and burst into brilliant balls of flame.
The entire structure trembled violently, with large chunks of the bridge being blasted away, but when the dust settled, it remained standing like a stubborn boulder which refused to break.
Seeing this, Celestina frowned and shouted, "Again!"
15 seconds later, another 8 explosions went off, causing even more violent shaking, but despite many more pieces crumbling into the flowing waters below, the bridge still remained intact. freёwebnovel.com
This time, Celestina didn’t even need to say anything as the 7 Spirit Initiates prepared one more round of Firestorm Arrows, charging them up with their Spirit Qi as they awaited the order.
With a final series of bangs, the stone bridge, which had connected the two halves of Herald City for decades, finally gave way, the middle 900 metres of its length breaking apart and collapsing into a pile of rubble that was slowly swept away by the Belton.
Letting out a long breath, Celestina clipped her bow into Kody’s saddle then pulled on his reins, steering him north, Vanessa and the other Spirit Initiates following close behind her.
