We rematerialize around the Wayfaring Stone, once against transported en mass by Gilly’s teleportation spell. It’s not as smooth a transition as it is back in the Shards, but compared to hoofing it back on foot through the rain, it’s a small luxury worth its weight in gold.

“Never thought I’d see that happen on the surface,” Blacktop says, studying his hands as if expecting himself to reappear in a jumbled mess on the other side of the teleport spell. “And you said you did something to make this happen, Reece?”

“He sure did,” Gilly says proudly as she nudges me in the side. “Reece defeated another Other within the Labyrinth.”

Blacktops bushy eyebrows pinch together. “A nother other? What the hell is that?”

I chuckle. “I’ll tell you all about it later. There’s a lot we need to get caught up on here first. Like what happened to the mines. And the Goblin Queen.”

The gnome sighs. “I lost my home thanks to that witch. Happened fast too. The whole place just went to hell about a week ago.”

Becky nods. “That would coincide with the level cap increase.”

I think back to my brief conversation with Lennox before we left. If he was busy upgrading all of his mobs to meet the new level cap then I imagine Karlis must be doing the same thing here. I frown. “Hate to say it, but our unlocking that level cap might be the reason for the queen coming back. The game is rebalancing.”

“Makes sense,” Val Helena says. “Tougher players need tougher foes.”

We’re just about to start off towards the common hall when Gilly calls out. “Oh, wait guys.” She points to the Wayfaring Stone. “Want to try this since we’re here now?”

“Try what?” I ask.

The rolls her eyes at me. “The whole reason we’re even here, duh? Nano to save Citadel?”

Crap, I’d nearly forgotten. We’d already locked onto that particular Wayfaring Stone to teleport from New London to Brookrun, but the stones have another function as well.

To send nano back to Citadel.

It was one of the first things we tried once we restored teleportation back in New London, but it didn’t work then. However, that was in a totally different safe zone and perhaps trying it here could be different. A small sense of hope rushes through me like adrenalin—the chance to realize our goal instantly and save everyone back home.

I look to my big brother. “You do the honors, Max. It was your mission from the start. If it works, you should be the first to get the glory.”

Maxis huffs out a laugh, his breath fogging in the cold rain. “Or the denial…Don’t worry, I’m used to the rejection by now.”

He touches the stone and while it glows he eventually shakes his head. “Nope. Just some error message again. I’m beginning to think that the whole story about sending nano back through the stones was an urban myth or something.”

Becky sighs. “I’m starting to wonder that myself. They work for teleporting now, so why are they not working for this?”

I touch the stone myself.

[You are already attuned to this Wayfaring Stone]

Actions: Nano-Transfer

I select transfer and key in Citadel before linking a nano-cube.

[Node Terminal 52AE: NULL_ERROR_208]

“Same as back in New London,” I say. “Null error 208.”

Gilly’s eyes light up with a wall of text on her HUD. “I guess activating the fast travel got rid of the first error code, 541, which was a total system communication error, but now we have this 208 error again.”

“What’s it mean?” Blacktop asks. “208?”

“According to the error list,” Gilly says, pausing briefly as she looks up the code. “It means the transfer has been blocked by the routing destination. I’m not sure what that means exactly.”

“It means we’re one step closer,” I say, trying to keep us focused on the positive. “It means it has a connection to Citadel in some way, plus we know where Citadel is now on top of that.”

“Yeah…” Aiko says sardonically. “Through a mine full of Nether Trolls.”

“It could be that it requires a connection to Citadel before it can work.” Rembrandt rubs his chin in thought. “Sort of like how we can only transfer to the surface or log out when a world boss is defeated and a connection is initiated from back home. It’s probably the same protection mechanism causing that error.”

Blacktop grunts appreciatively. “So the transfer might work if we get the permissive to log out of here?”

“That kind of makes sense,” Val Helena says. “But that would mean the folks back at Citadel initiating another world boss spawn and killing one to boot.”

I look to my brother. “What’s the chances of that happening?”

Maxis shrugs. “That’d be a call by Dennis and Gilly’s old man. But it’s barely been a month and they just did two spawns back to back. I don’t think they’d risk another one so soon.”

“Hey,” Val Helena says. “It’s a long shot anyway and we’ve already got ourselves a sure bet. We just need to clear the Goblin Queen out of those mines again.”

“Yeah” I say and then look out over the perimeter wall and the growing military camp outside. “And deal with Braxus.”

* * *

We head into the common hall and I’m once again hit with a combination of nostalgia and awe. While the building is in the same location and roughly the same size, its structure has changed completely. Gone is the log cabin and in its place is a two story structure made of white stone. Huge pillars stand in the front, ushering us into a tiled interior between two massive cedar doors.

Lady Diana catches me staring at the huge open windows inside and gives me a little smirk. “I took the liberty of upgrading what I could.”

“You did an awesome job,” Gilly says, her eyes once again aglow with her HUD.

I can see Gilly has the town interface up and I bring it up myself to see just how much Brookrun has changed.

Name: Brookrun Village

Level: 8 Population: 212/1500

Growth: +15 Villager per year

Food: +375 surplus per day

Income: 0 gold per day [no trade routes established]

Morale: 14%

Security: 20%

Production: 56 Labor units/day

Trade Routes: 0

Structures:

(1) City Hall: +15% morale. Grants Issue Edict. Grants Civil Service

(3) Village Inn: +20% morale, +5% pop growth, -5% security

(3) Forge: +10% production speed. Grants Smithing

(5) Sawmill: +10% production speed. Grants Woodworking

(4) Windmill: +15% production speed. Grants Granary

(1) Wayfaring Stone: [Active]

(50) Stone House: +10 max population

(50) Long House: +20 max population

(50) Field: +5 food per day

(10) Slaughterhouse: +25 food per day

(1) Barracks: +15% Security. Grants City Guard

(3) Stone Wall

West (85%)

North (0%)

East (0%)

(3) Log Wall

West (100%)

North (95%)

East (18%)

Resources:

Gold: 250 units

Food: 553 units

Wood: 1122 units

Stone: 412 units

Iron: 3022 units

Coal: 2320 units

Actions:

Build

Demolish

Issue Edict

Commission

I’m surprised the list of structures isn’t longer for how big the village has become, but I see there is definitely more there now in terms of raw number for houses and multiple structures like forges and sawmills. But for all that, what strikes me the most is the population.

“212 out of 1500…” I look to Diana as a sourness roils in the pit of my stomach. “Did we lose that many?”

The knight grimaces. “The attacks were fierce and constant. With what little I could do with only a militia, we were lucky to survive with this many. It’s only thanks to Blacktop and his cannons that we’ve been able to stave them off.”

I look to the gnome and give him a nod. “I’m glad you were here.”

He shrugs. “Not like I had anywhere else left to go. Those were tough days. We might have been able to save more if I could have accessed the forges directly, before we lost most of the crews. I had to make the ones we have now by hand.”

He’s right. I recall how long it took Gilly to craft that drill back in the keep. If Blacktop could have directed the city’s production, he probably could have made a hundred cannons.

“Let’s fix that immediately,” I say coming to a stop within the center of the common hall. I access my HUD and extend my administration privileges to the gnome.

His eyes light up with the request on his HUD and he gives a chuckle. “Thanks. I guess better late than never.”

“I’ve got something else for you, as well,” I say

You initiate a trade with Blacktop.

You offer:

Double-Barrel Flamethrower

Blacktop’s face goes from looking bemused to stunned, his eyebrows arching wide. “Well holy bells. You actually got one!”

I chuckle. “Rembrandt did actually. Can’t forget my debts. And it looks like we owe you a whole lot more for what you did here.”

He grins as he accepts the trade. “This will sure come in handy. Trolls hate fire, even the Nnether kind.” He then glances at Aiko and his grin widens. “And as for owing me a whole lot more…”

I expect Aiko to roll her eyes at the crass remark, but to my surprise she winks back at him and ruffles his white hair. “I won’t forget your kindness upon my arrival here either, Blacktop. We’ll catch up later.”

What the…?

I’m more perplexed than ever as I share a look with Gilly.

She shrugs back at me with a PM.

Gilly: Opposites attract? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I chuckle. “Let’s get to looking over our resources.”

We settle into the common hall, which looks like a proper place for business now. Brass lanterns dangle from the ceiling and long rows of pews create an assembly hall. Wilbur leads us into a meeting room at the back with a large wooden table that can seat a dozen or more people. Lady Diana and Wilbur then give us a recap of what happened to the city, starting from when our letter arrived when we were still in the keep about a month ago.

“We’d grown a lot by then,” Wilbur says. “The mine production was drawing workers from all over. And with the herd still in place for food, we were entering a bit of a population explosion.”

The herd. I can still remember defeating the giant LM buffalo, Lakota, to make that all happen. “Are the buffalo still there?”

“Yes,” Diana says. “But the goblins raid the herd nightly. It was one of the first things they attacked. And now they don’t even do it for the food anymore. Most of their natural warriors are long since killed and replaced by abominations. They slaughter the buffalo just to deny us of the resources.”

“That means this Goblin Queen is no ordinary mob then,” Val Helena says. “Maybe she’s been reborn as an LM and capable of true consciousness.”

Diana shrugs. “She’s capable of strategy at least.”

“How much do we actually know about her strength?” I ask. “Do we have any real numbers on how many of them are in those mines?”

“Only from what we see during the attacks,” Wilbur says. “Well over a thousand strong at least.”

My stomach sinks. “A thousand of those nether trolls?”

“At least…” he affirms.

“Damn,” Maxis curses. “How the hell we going to deal with that?”

“Their exact numbers might not matter,” Aiko says as she spins one of her knives in her hand. “Reece and I found a Goblin mage controlling those nether trolls. Defeating her might be as simple as pinpointing these controllers and taking them out.”

“That still won’t be easy with a wall of those things assaulting the city,” Diana says.

“Speaking of that,” Gilly says, “what happened to the stone wall? I thought we’d sent instructions to build one out of stone, not wood.”

“Ah, yes!” Wilbur says, his eyes lighting up with recollection. “It was underway, but only the western wall was completed when the attacks started. Thankfully Lady Diana was here by then and she oversaw the rapid erecting of the log wall. We would have lost the entire village without her quick thinking and direction.”

I smile at the knight. “Thanks, Lady Diana.”

She nods back at me. “The wall was good for the goblins, but those trolls are far more powerful. And I have a feeling the Queen’s power is only going to grow stronger now that she realizes you’ve returned. Plus once the rest of Braxus’s army arrives…”

She doesn’t need to complete the sentence. I’ve already had a taste of siege warfare and I’m not looking forward to more of it. “What can we do to get that stone wall up at least?”

“We need people,” Wilbur says. “Those that we have left have all but lost the will to fight. Most of them fled while they could, in between the raids.”

I ease back in my chair, blowing out a sigh. We won’t be able to barricade ourselves in here. And moreover, we need to get that mine cleared to get to Citadel. But we won’t be doing much of anything in our current state. I look to Rembrandt. “What do you think about calling in that favor from Queen Angela?”

“You mean bring people from New London?”

“Players and tech,” I say. “We’re down on numbers, but just like with those cannons, technology can be a big equalizer. Think of what her Arial Cannon would do to Braxus’ Army.”

Rembrandt chuckles. “I’m sure it’d be a sight Braxus would never forget.”

“But will a weapon like that even work here?” Gilly asks. “Plus they can’t just teleport here like we did. They haven’t been here before to activate the wayfaring stone. They’d have to cross the wild.”

“That’s true,” Rembrandt says. “And from where we are, that’d be a few days at least, even with vehicles.”

“Still sounds like it’s worth a shot,” Aiko says.

I nod with a sigh. “I’d feel bad about asking her to return the favor so soon. We literally just left there and she’s in the middle of rebuilding a city herself.”

“True,” Becky says. “We don’t know how many she could spare. And they would need to be players to cross the wild. They’d have to be willing to risk the trip.”

“But she did say call on her for anything, mate,” Rembrandt says. “I know her. She’d send help in any way she could. Even if it’s just weapons.”

Val Helena frowns. “That’s all good, but like Gilly said. Would we even get them to work here?”

“If we had more of these, maybe,” Aiko says and then whips out a device the size of a grapefruit in her palm. “Or even a couple on an industrial scale.”

I talk a closer look at the cube shaped object in her hand.

Power converter [Level 1]

+1 units of energy per hour

Gilly nods with a smile. “Right! Tech affinity! Just like how the mana trees made magic work back in New London, that converter should make tech work the same way here.”

“It’s still a dangerous journey though,” Val Helena says, folding her massive arms. “And someone would need to guide them here.”

“That’d be me, love,” Rembrandt says with a grin. “Happy to do it. And besides. I’m sure Angela would be happy to see me too.”

“Okay, let’s not go deciding stuff just yet,” Maxis says, throwing his palms into the air in a ‘slow-down’ fashion. “Even if all that does pan out, the most we could hope for is a handful of players and some high tech weapons. And that would be days from now. We still need to defend this village from a necro queen and that psycho Braxus. And even if we do that, we then need to assault the mines. Now I’m no strategist, but that place looks built like a bunker. We’re not getting in there easily.”

“I’m afraid he’s right,” Lady Diana says. “A few more Shard Warriors with fantastical weapons might not be enough. We need an army to fight an army.”

The conversation goes back and forth about possible options. Recruiting people to fight a battle like this seems next to impossible. Not only is Brookrun a good two days from the next town, but we have little in the way of compensation to offer anyone willing to risk their lives for our cause. Leveling up and getting stronger could be an option, but even that would take time. Time we don’t have. I sigh inwardly.

None of this is going to work. We need strength and we need it now.

My thoughts turn to Braxus and the only logical way forward seems clear.

“Diana’s right, you guys, we will need an army,” I say. “And in a few days we’ll have one sitting right at our doorstep.”

My friends all look at me like I’ve gone nuts.

“Braxus?” Diana says, looking aghast. “Don’t tell me you’ll think to negotiate with him.”

I chuckle. “We’re probably well beyond that, but nothing’s off the table. Let’s brains storm this, guys.”

“You mean how we’re going to get a sociopath bent on revenge to fight the goblin queen instead of us?” Aiko lets out one of her cackles. “Yeah, good luck.”

“This won’t take luck,” I say and her words only harden my resolve. “Just some out of the box thinking…and a really good plan.”