Displaced

Chapter 51

"So from what I hear, Begale is lost."

"Where did you hear that? Same friend as last time?"

"No, it was my sister-in-law. She was stationed at the north gate last night. Apparently, the Motrico and Lazani families have been quietly moving everything of value that they can out of the city the last few days. They're running, but trying to make it look like they're loyal and staying around."

"Shit... yeah, if the Families are running, there's not much time left, is there?"

"Things are about to get even more hectic. They won't be able to keep that news bottled up for much longer."

Arlette Faredin focused on the on-break guards' nearby conversation while she inspected the goods on the incoming wagon. Like many wagons she'd seen these last few days, this one was piled high with what looked to be everything the merchant owned. The flow of people to and from Crirada, the capital of the Republic of Eterium and the city where Arlette found herself, told a depressing tale of the current state of affairs—a steady stream of terrified people coming from the west, fleeing tales of Ubran hordes and desperately seeking the protection of the capital's mighty walls, versus the quiet flight of those with the access to know that the protection of the capital's mighty walls might amount to little.

The possibility existed that Crirada could hold against the Ubrans. Being the capital city of the most powerful nation on the continent, it made sense that Crirada would have defenses that only Redwater Castle could beat. Arlette couldn't even imagine how much money had gone into completely encompassing the city with such intimidating walls. They towered over the surrounding plains, reaching hundreds of paces into the sky. Not only that, but they were so thick that you could stick an entire house on the walkway on top and you wouldn't even cover half of it. Each of the four massive gates housed an equally gigantic set of solid metal doors known as the Doors of Prosperity for their golden, money-like sheen. These doors were as thick as a man was tall, strong enough to withstand a team of feelers pounding on them for hours. Nobody stood a chance of battering their way through the gates and into the city. They'd have to go the hard way and scale the walls, or risk trying to tunnel beneath, an incredibly dangerous gamble that would end in the death of everybody involved if just one defending earth Observer noticed them.

And yet, while the walls of Rul and Begale and the other cities couldn't compare to Crirada's, their defenses were still plenty formidable and the Empire had plowed through them like they weren't even there. Rul should have been able to hold for at least ten days, Begale perhaps thirty or more... but instead, every city had folded quicker than grass in a windstorm. Reliable word about events far away was always hard to come by if you didn't have money or the right connections, and the chaos of war only made things worse, but she'd heard stories of cities falling in just a few hours, of walls smashed into oblivion and gates rent asunder as an endless tide of Ubrans poured in. And above all, there was talk of an immortal monster leading them, stronger and faster than even the most powerful Feeler and able to shrug off any wound. If this monster really existed, it might not matter how tall or thick Crirada's defenses were.

Less than a year ago, Arlette would have found such stories to be laughable at best. But a lot had changed in her life since then. Almost everybody she'd cared about had died, a city had been destroyed before her eyes by an impossible creature, she'd been hunted across a continent, and come face to face with a nightmare from her past. Oh, and she'd also come upon a strange young woman from another world, met a bizarre young beastgirl mad alchemist, experienced a terrifying vision of a different reality, and repeatedly punched a king in the face. To say that her perspective on what was possible had expanded greatly recently would be putting it lightly.