[Book II Chapter 47] HOPE: Anna Sorelli visits

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Hope munched quietly on the forge’s roof watching a line of soldiers march across the city. Dwarves young and old were enlisting and pouring into Corthia to train in the accelerated space. The sense of urgency was palpable.

Two cities surrounded Ravelin, Glacis to the East and Beacon to the West. Since the capital was inaccessible to airships, these outposts were where trading took. Estimates placed the Grey Kingdom about two weeks away from reach Glacis. It would be the first encroachment on the dwarven domain.

This news had Hope brooding. When the time comes, who should I fight for? She’d long accepted she’d be fighting, both to prevent enera’s destruction and to assuage her guilt over the Dark Age. However, she’d never given much though to where and for who she’d risk her life. The closest she had to a home outside the arctic was the Isle of Dreams, a place which wouldn’t be endangered.

“It’s gotten pretty busy here.” Said a voice behind her. She turned, mouth full, and watched Anna Sorelli take a seat besides her.

“You are the one who suggested I ‘just come up to talk to you’.” She smirked.

Hope swallowed. Anna’s arrival reminded her that all her inner insecurities were laid bare before the HEAVENLY DAO’S agents. How much did she… did you listen to?

“Pretty much all of it. If you wanted to keep your thoughts private, you shouldn’t have gone out of your way to draw my attention.”

“Don’t you feel any shame?” Hope asked.

“None.” Anna declared. “At least not any more. Most agents do feel awkward at first, but this never lasts. Beyond the tasks assigned to us, we have little freedom to act. The entertainment of omniscience becomes indispensable.”

“The HEAVENLY DAO encourages this voyeurism.” Anna added. “It wants us thinking of ourselves as observers rather than participants.”

“So you really are completely forbidden from interfering?” Hope couldn’t imagine the frustration that would entail.

“Mostly, yes.” Anna nodded. “We’re incapable of hindering or helping someone like you, with one minor exception. The HEAVENLY DAO lets us call in a favor by cashing in the goodwill we’ve earned in its service. Calin did this when he handed over the Staff of Creation to Free.”

Hope found this revelation surprising. “Does that mean you could’ve helped me against that vengeful spirit of Sion Gale?” Hope asked.

Anna shifted uncomfortably. “Maybe, but that would’ve been a big ask. Even if the HEAVENLY DAO had agreed, it would’ve cost too much for me to make. What Calin did was highly unusual. Most agents horde their goodwill for the day they’ll truly need it.”

A tremor rocked the forge. While this normally wouldn’t be a cause for alarm, a shiver ran up Hope’s spine as her intuition kicked in. “You’re not here just for small talk are you?”

Anna sighed, “Performing my duties, I work with many I don’t get along with. Calin has always hated Corthia. The idea of a city inside a dungeon insults his sensibilities, and he has lobbied hard to rectify the ‘travesty’. Up until now, these pleads fell on deaf ears, but the dark age gave him new leverage. Over my objections, the HEAVENLY DAO has made a decision I don’t approve of.”

Hope tensed up. “What will happen?”

“In eighty three seconds, a rupture to the plane of Earth will open. Many will die.”

“That’s barely any warning at all!” Hope cried, her mind racing. Anna shrugged apologetically.

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Her stomach in knots, Hope contacted Eren with her wristal and relayed the situation. Before racing to arm herself, she faced Anna a last time, “Please find me when this is over, there’s something I must ask.”

Sirens rang out as Hope sprinted from her room and leapt to Corthia’s outer walls. She spotted Eren among the city’s defenders and rushed over “Was word sent to Ravelin?” She asked.

Eren shook her head. “Requesting aid requires visual confirmation of the treat. The moment——”

A low rolling thunder reverberated across the cavern, drowning out all else. At the base of a far off rock wall, the space distorted into a shimmering whirlpool. The spinning increased in speed until a dozen rifts splintered out in all direction. The giant warped star reflected a blurred brown landscape on its surface.

“Dammit.” Eren whispered. “I was really hoping you were wrong.”

A boulder appeared, rolling and bouncing along the strip mine as though it had a mind of its own. More followed and soon hundreds of round rocks were knocking against one another excitedly.

Eren grimaced. “Rockballs… There’s a nasty insect in each of those. The other creatures mixed in are bear moles and gemstone porcupines.”

“Could they maybe be friendly?” Hope asked optimistically.

“Even if they are,” Eren sighed. “The dungeon’s influence will turn them hostile. And that’s an earth elemental…”

A building-sized titan stepped through. It glared at Corthia and roared. The disorganized mass around it surged forward like an avalanche.

“Fire!” Yelled the captain of the guards.

A wave of crossbow bolts shot out, growing mid flight. The impact of the tree-sized spears shook the ground, yet barely slowed the earth army charging towards them.

While the canons on the wall opened fire, Hope aimed her rifle towards a mole bear, bringing it down with a single shot. She reloaded and repeated the process as quickly as she could.

Next to her, Eren raised her crossbow. “Great, now we got land dragons.”

Two lumbering behemoths had crossed over, along with two more earth elementals. Hope froze at the sight. That’s five sovereigns…

Eren gripped her shoulder. “Reinforcement are on their way. We just need to hold out a few minutes.”

Screams rang out as projectiles showered the city’s defenses. Gemstone porcupines were returning fire, launching quills the size of arrows at a frantic pace. Meanwhile, some of the rockballs had unfurled themselves and were climbing up. Wicked mandibles were visible under their shells.

Dammit. Hope grabbed her grenade launcher and blasted the bugs back. However, more arrived just as quickly. She winced seeing bear molls bury into the cliff below with astonishing swiftness. In the distance, an unstoppable tide of beasts surged towards them.

As Hope desperately unload grenades at a nearing earth elemental, the ground began shaking violently. An earthquake was wracking the Bottomless Mines, knocking both men and beast off their feet. Even the lumbering land dragons lost their balance.

On her knees clutching the ramparts, Hope saw a colossal black worm emerge from the rupture, its gigantic body slowly covering the strip mine. Once it’d finally squeezing through, it began convulsing wildly, as though the dungeon didn’t agree with it. The other beasts fled in a blind panic, many crushed before finding the safety of a crevice.

Hope watched in horror as the monstrosity approached. Right when its body flailed towards Corthia, a giant metal fist knocked it back. A dwarf in full plate armor stood in the lake, his giant form looming over the city.

“Edgar Firson” Eren said, relief in her voice.

As the coiling mass thrashed towards them again, Edgar swung a mace and smashed its head. Releasing a low rumbling hiss, the worm retreated and shook the cavern as it buried into the strip mine. Even after it had vanished, the rumbling of its movement rattled the ground under them.

With the invading army scattered and dwarven troops pouring in, the battle was essentially over. Edgar worked with Ravelin’s other immortals to seal the rupture behind a rock dome. The beasts which had breached the city were quickly hunted down.

Leaving Eren to help with the cleanup, Hope withdrew to a quiet corner outside the forge and collapsed. I really thought I was dead there for a second…

“It wasn’t your fault.” Anna declared, popping into view.

Hope looked up, bewildered.

“That’s the answer you wanted. Today wasn’t due to your presence in Corthia. It would’ve happened regardless. You simply got caught up in a minor disaster of this Dark Age.”

“How many died?” Hope asked.

“Around forty. Thirty on the walls and a dozen in the city. Two mole bears tunneled up into the outskirts.”

Less than the werewolf outbreak on the Isle. She wondered if some were people she knew. Chances were high given the time she’d spend here.

Anna shook her head at Hope’s dour continence. “We’re nearing an inflection point, with conflicts picking up on many fronts. You can’t care too much or it’ll weight you down.”

“Also, try not to fret over the big questions. You’re too inexperienced to reach a meaningful answer. Just follow your own path and protect those around you.”

Hope smirked, “Any other advice?”

Anna ignored the sarcasm, staring far off in the distance. “Don’t head south of the Green Hell. What’s happening there… I’ve stopped watching.”

She then vanished without another word.