Celeste had never ridden a horse before, nor seen any before the recent military parade. It, however, didn't take her long to figure out she didn't like having to ride them. She wasn't too fond of the horses themselves. Her first day in the saddle was hell. She could barely sit down that evening, she was so covered in sores and found herself sleeping lying face down. The next day was not much better. She began to wonder if she could try floating off the horse to make the journey more comfortable.
It was against her orders, but her men were unlikely to notice a little magic, no matter what Julius boasted. All they noticed was her horse panicking as it felt itself lose contact with the ground. She let it fall to the ground again before the men noticed the floating. They did instead see her get thrown off as the horse bolted away. She doubted she was even going to bruise from it, but the embarrassment didn't feel great. Uberto managed to bring the horse back and calm it. She couldn't imagine how you would begin to soothe a beast as powerful and unpleasant as a horse. Calming the raging spirit in her soul seemed like child's play.
“You've got to be more relaxed with it,” Uberto explained. “You probably freaked it out by acting stressed. You've just got to sit and relax while riding. The horse will relax too then.”
“Well just sitting is hardly easy after a day of this,” Celeste complained. “Why are you so good with them anyway?”
“I used to tend the horses back home. We didn't ride them much, mostly ploughing and hauling. But occasionally I'd take one for a ride. It stopped them getting antsy.”
“I thought you were from the highlands though?”
“Yeah...” He said slowly. “We have horses up there. Wait, aren't you a highlander too? Your accent's kind of weak, but I'm not mistaken am I.”
“I am. But we didn't have horses where I'm from.”
“In fairness,” Felipe added. “I don't think they're used much in the west. Even where I'm from they aren't used all that much.”
Celeste nodded. “We used the larger rams if we needed to haul something. Though they were only useful when they weren't in heat. Once that came on, you couldn't even go near them if you wanted to live.” She smiled, thinking back to wrangling rams with her father. It was a rather dangerous activity even when they were calmer, but it provided for excellent father-daughter bonding.
“Were your family shepherds then? Did you get magic powers from a sheep and that's why your hair's white?” Uberto asked hurriedly.
“I don't that's how magic works,” Teo cut in.
“Well, you're hardly the expert here.” Uberto shot back.
“Neither are you.”
“You are right there. Neither of you knows what you're talking about. And nor do you need to. That's my job. Yours is just to watch me.” Celeste said sharply. She realised she had been too relaxed, talking to them like that. She kicked her horse lightly to spur it on and leave them with the view of her back.
Maybe you could try incinerating a tree, that would really frighten them into obedience.
“You can shut up as well,” She whispered.
You are just angry because you know I'm right. Fear is what you need if you don't want them to try and kill you or to be your friend. You can't let them think you're their equal.
They rode through heavily wooded valleys, spread between grand plateaus taller than Celeste had seen before. The air was cool and wet with the spring. They occasionally passed through villages tucked away in the woodlands. Sometimes just a single hut hidden away from the world. Even the walled towns they passed seemed fairly small compared to the busy streets of Teldomia.
The five of them were hardly an impressive military parade. Yet wherever they ended up, people would throw up a cheer for them. The men would insist they stop for a little bit, just to greet people. Something about boosting morale. It was very obvious that they were also enjoying the attention from the locals. For her part, Celeste remained on her horse and watched. A stern glare usually turned away would-be admirers.
It didn't feel right, accepting this praise. She wasn't doing anything for them. As bad as it felt though, she couldn't complain for the fresh foods they would be given that were a nice supplement to the army rations. Evenings spent huddled around a campfire cooking their meagre meals felt better with a few apples.
The towns and a lot of the villages had steepled buildings that Teo insisted on going into. He would briefly talk with the strangely dressed caretaker and often spend a few minutes sat quietly or light a candle.
“Is this a *Christian* thing?” Celeste quietly asked Uberto.
“I think so. Lowlanders have strange customs but I think it makes him happy.” Uberto said with a smile.
Everywhere they passed through people seemed to praise god at their passing. Celeste picked up newspapers where they were available, which was surprisingly included most villages. Most were localised papers, all carrying fragmentary news, though it was different pieces. Many were mostly concerned with where their local regiments had ended up on the front, and what was happening to them. For now, everything was quiet, though it was possible the news was a few days behind. Or weeks. She didn't know much about how the papers circulated.
After the first day of travelling, something strange had dawned on the horizon. At first, Celeste thought they were the towers of some mighty city. It was only as they pushed further east that Celeste realised they were the tips of something much mightier than any human-made towers. Soon nearly the entirety of the colossal Taoan mountains came into view. Celeste had thought the range Tricapon was built upon was big, but this was only a whole other scale. Even the lower peaks were still daunting to behold. She understood a little better now, better than the books of the school had even explained, why no one had built trade routes through these mountains.
After a little over a week of travelling, they saw their destination in the distance. The land had flattened from great plateaus into rolling hills. As they reached a crest in a particularly tall hill, Teo drew his horse to a halt and pointed into the distance.
“There it is. Commodal. Home,” Teo said with a small smile.
Celeste reached back and fished around in her saddlebags to grab a small spyglass. She could make out the city a bit better. Red stone and rising smoke. It crept up the sides of the mountains.
“And that's where we'll be collecting the armaments?” She asked.
“Should be. There's a military depot in the north, pretty sure that's where they'll be setting off from.”
“What is all that smoke? Is the city in trouble?” She grew more worried as she saw how completely covered the city was in the cloud of smoke. Were they somehow too late?
Teo laughed. “That's just how the city is. I didn't realise the sky was so clear elsewhere until I came up to Teldomia. Don't worry, you get used to it.” He shrugged. “Maybe you won't. But we've only got to stop by, so you won't have time to get too annoyed with it I guess.”
“It might be your home, but I don't want you to get caught up with anyone there. We're there to do our jobs then head on our way. I want to keep this professional.”
“Right you are, Captain. And we'll be keeping an eye on you in turn.” Teo shot her a playful wink before kicking his horse back into motion.
Celeste looked back at the city. She didn't like the look of all that smoke. What kind of city was perpetually ablaze? Cities had always been weird to her though. She sighed and followed along with them.
It was nearing nightfall when they reached the edge of the city. Celeste was already exhausted and could barely stand the rest of the ride around the edge of the city to the depo. As they went along she eyed the city suspiciously. It lacked any outer walls. Instead, it simply began as red brick buildings sprawled out in the valley. She could see the smoke billowing from giant chimneys. The air tasted of smoke, she could barely stand it.
The depot was a large compound, kept secure by an intimidating fence. Celeste presented her identification papers to a guard by the door and they were allowed in. They stowed their horses and were informed their cargo would be ready by the next morning. They were also told there was no housing for them at the depot, so would either have to camp out as they had done on previous nights, or they could find a room in a local inn.
Celeste pressed for the former, but once Teo assured them he knew good places they could stay, the others couldn't be dissuaded.
“Why would you have stayed in an inn?” Celeste asked with some suspicion.
“Well, I haven't exactly stayed in one,” Teo admitted.
“So, what you're actually telling us is that it's a good place to get a drink?”
“I think it's possible for both to be true.”
Despite her reservations, Celeste couldn't convince them, so they had to make their way into the city itself. Before leaving, they checked out their weapons at last. The men were given rifles and sabres, whilst Celeste was only permitted to check out a sabre. She pushed them on this when they tried to tell her it was standard practice for wizards. In the end, they admitted it was on orders direct from General Pesaro that wizards weren't to be armed with firearms.
She didn't mind walking the city less armed. People already gave them enough looks. Soldiers were more common throughout Commodal, so the main looks she got were for being a wizard. The less armed she was the more she could slip through unnoticed, she figured.
They passed through the mess of a city. Only about half the streets were paved, with the rest little more than mud tracks between buildings. Tenements and factories pressed up against each other. The sun was truly setting now, and workers were crowding out onto the streets in their filthy work clothes. Celeste would have been interested to see some of the factories at work. Teo mentioned textile mills and she wondered what the industrialised wool processing would look like. Sadly, that interest would have to wait for later.
Despite the hills and mountains surrounding the city, all Celeste could see when she looked up was the tips of the Taoan mountains. She felt so trapped in by the brick walls and narrow streets. The world seemed to be gone, leaving her in only her immediate surroundings. It was a new sensation to her, having lived high up all her life. Is this why people down here ignored the wind?
She didn't have time to think about this because they heard a huge crashing sound. Bricks seemed to be being hurled against each other. Then came a massive roar and explosion.
“Is this a local thing?” Felipe asked, looking at Teo.
“Can't say we have explosions as a pass time.” He replied
“Come on,” Celeste said sharply. “We need to find out what that was.”
She took off down a street towards the sound. The men followed, barely keeping pace. People barged passed them, running frantically in the other direction. At last, they turned down a corner to see a large empty space. Well, a space where the buildings had been cleared away quite violently. Brick and rubble were strewn around. And in the centre was something that was not quite a man.
It had the basic shape, if you ignored proportions. It reminded Celeste a little of Tristan. It was constructed of a red, hot liquid. Even from metres away, she could feel the intense heat of it. The liquid ran down it, dripping from its face, to its arms, and pooling below it. The creature had no legs anymore, it seemed to move through the pool below it, which fortunately meant it was stuck in the centre of the blast radius.
“What is that?”
“Is that a-” Celeste began.
A consumed wizard. The spirit's voice was full of glee.
In all their time learning how to avoid this state, Celeste had never been taught how to deal with someone who was already consumed. How had this even happened? She threw that thought aside and pointed at it.
“Use your rifles on that thing. We have to stop it,” She ordered.
The men slipped the rifles off their shoulders and began to fiddle around with sticks and bags.
“What are you doing?” She asked, desperation in her voice.
“Loading them!” Uberto called. “That's how guns work.”
“Oh...right.” She was still a little confused by all this. She reached down and drew her sabre.
I wouldn't do that if I were you. That thing would kill you with ease.
The men called out that they were ready one at a time. Celeste looked at them shouldering their rifles, slightly confused. “Okay, well, attack!” She shouted.
She hadn't been expecting the flash and crack of the gunpowder and covered her ears too late to stop anything other than the echo. Four shots whizzed at the wizard. Where they hit, ripples began that rolled over the creature. It laughed, a deep malicious sound. It then pulled its arm back, a ball of hot liquid forming. They slung it at the five of them.
“Get down!” Celeste cried out. She threw her arms out to try to block the ball.
Do something about it, idiot.
The harsh words made her think properly. She threw an arm out, creating and destroying a vacuum. The force of rushing air knocked the ball off course and it crashed into the building beside them.
“We need to get back,” She said, leading the men back down the alley to where they could catch their breaths.
“What is that thing?” Uberto said.
“More importantly, how do we stop it?” Teo said.
“It's a wizard who's...Made some mistakes,” Celeste said grimly. “I need to know how to stop it.”
Don't ask me. I have no interest in helping you with this. It's very fun to watch.
“If you don't tell me, I will go back there and fight it with just my sword,” She said firmly.
“Who are you talking to?” Julius asked. All four were looking at her with confused expressions. She ignored them.
That would just get you killed.
“Exactly. You don't want me dead, do you?” She said with a smile.
“No, we don't, what is happening?”
Fine. You'll need to weaken it. Soothe it. Then we can kill what is left.
“So, it's just like a spirit? But physical?” She said, slightly confused.
In essence, I suppose.
Celeste considered for a moment, ignoring the men bickering around her. What would be able to soothe this spirit? It was hot, so...
“Where can I get some water?” She asked, looking to Teo.
“Urrr...The river?”
“How can I get it to here?” She said urgently.
“Oh, right,” His eyes flickered in understanding. “There's a pumping station by the river. Their hose should be long enough to get here. It's the building with a fire symbol on the front.”
“Right.” She tried to look like she'd understood all of his words. “You four fan out around this place. Don't engage with that thing, but make sure any civilians are safe. I will be back soon.” She turned to go before realising something. “You can't tell when I use magic and when something is just a weirdness of being a wizard, right?”
“I guess not,” Said Teo, looking confused.
“Right, well then, get to work. I'll be back soon.” She then immediately leapt up onto a roof and started running towards the river.
She didn't need to do this, but it would be faster and there was less chance of her getting turned around. She felt amazing as she glided across the rooftops. Wind ran over her as she let gravity go for brief moments, letting her bridge incredible gaps. Some rooves she passed over were only partly constructed, forcing her to bound between the skeletal pieces of metal.
It was odd to see the city from this angle. For the first time, she felt like she had a good sense of it. The bricks crawling up the mountainside like the sides of an enormous bowl. The streets flooded with the light of orange lamps were like veins in the dark of the night. Even as chaos sounded behind her, she could hear chaos everywhere else too. Laughter and shouting and singing and every other sound of joy and anger all at once. The feeling of every emotion echoing around her all at once was overwhelming. So, she focused on her task instead.
She finally reached the river, seeing a mass of metal and wooden ships bobbing in the filthy water. She looked down, scanning the harbourside buildings until she saw the one marked with fire.
Passers-by yelled in shock as she crashed onto the ground, charging into the building. A normal person may have been out of breath by now, but she was a wizard. Plus, she'd spent years training on top of a mountain. Her lungs were especially good at handling the stress.
“Hello?” She called as she glanced around the gloomy room. No lamps were lit. She could make out buckets and tubing stacked in the corners.
“There a fire?” Came a voice. A young girl, pulling on a filthy coat.
“Are you in charge of this place?” Celeste asked, slightly concerned.
“Basically. Do you need the buckets?”
Celeste shook her head. “I need the pump, I think. I just need as much water as you can get me all at once. Is it cold?”
“It comes from the river and I wouldn't want to take a dip in there, for more reasons than one.”
“Get me the pump then,” She said, uncertain exactly what the pump was. “How far can I take it?”
“We've got nearly five-hundred metres of pipe. I just need to get the engine fired up.” The girl explained, heading through a doorway.
Celeste followed her. The room was full of tubing, dials and gages. She didn't understand what any of it did. “How long will that take?”
“five, ten minutes, maybe.”
“I need this now, this is urgent!”
“It always is, but they don't pay for enough coal to keep this thing always running. So, you'll have to wait,” The girl explained calmly, getting to work.
“Coal, this thing works on heat then?”
“Yeah basically,” The girl said, distractedly.
“Move aside then, I'll heat it up,” Celeste said, shoving her aside and inspecting the chamber where she'd been shovelling coal.
“You a wizard, ma'am?” The girl asked. She was clearly only now getting a clear look at her.
“Yeah. Stand back,” She said firmly. She glanced back, realising how small the room was. “Just leave the room. It'll be safer.”
The girl obeyed, scurrying out.
You better hope she doesn't squeal to your would-be killers about what you're doing.
“She doesn't know about that, it's fine,” Celeste said sternly. She threw her arms back, letting the fire erupted from behind her. She leant an arm forward and pushed a flaming hand into the coal.
In moments the coals were ablaze. The engine sprung to life. Steam hissed and things spun. She extinguished her fire, just in time for the girl to rush back in. She leapt up and pulled a chain, letting more steam hiss out of various tubes.
“This is gonna blow, how hot did you get it?” The girl complained.
“It's working, isn't it? How do I get the water?” She asked, hurriedly.
“The nozzle's out front. Metal cone thing. Just pull the handle back to release the water. I'll try to keep the pressure down here.” The girl said as she frantically turned various taps on the engine.
“No, keep the pressure up!” Celeste said. She didn't know exactly how all this worked, but she wanted the water to come out as fast as possible.
“It'll blow if it's too high for long!”
“Then let it blow! I just need to deal with this before that happens.”
She rushed out of the building and found the nozzle. She yanked it and started to trail the hose behind her. People panicked as she stormed across the busy street, trailing it behind her, and leapt onto the rooftops again. She could see her goal in the distance. The orange heat blazed brighter than the rest of the blood in the city.
She came to a halt at the edge of a collapsing building. She could see a couple of her men at the edges of the collapsed area, keeping watch. Concerningly, the pool of liquid around the consumed wizard was growing, extending its reach. There was no time to lose.
“Hey!” She called, getting the attention of the wizard. It turned to face her, the remainder of its face twisted into a wicked snarl. It placed its hands on the ground, pulling itself closer to her before rearing up to fling more of the liquid at her.
Before it had the chance, she pulled back on the handle and water cascaded out. Celeste stumbled back, thrown off by the force of it. She planted her feet against the bricks below her feet. Some shifted, but soon she was stable.
The water didn't have much effect at first. Much of it seemed to evaporate before touching the wizard. It laughed at this. However, it was enough to start cooling the creature. Soon the water touched it, cooling the liquid into stone. The creature let out a terrible scream, collapsing to the ground as its whole body turned to grey.
Even as it seemed to be bereft of all heat, it groaned. Celeste was cautious, but it didn't seem to be moving. She tossed the hose aside and dropped down in front of it. The creature was several times bigger than her, but hunched over like this, she could easily reach its neck. She drew her sword and tried to slice through, only for the metal to bounce off ineffectually.
You might want to try another tactic. The spirit suggested unhelpfully.
“And what might you suggest?” She asked with a sigh.
Fire needs air. Deprive it of that.
Celeste examined her own hands for a moment. Soothing would only work for so long, she was sure. She steeled herself and held her hand out, surrounding the consumed wizard's head with a vacuum. It didn't stop moving or slump down any further. But something told her it was dead. The little sound that was still coming from it was gone.
She slumped down herself, resting on her knees as she looked up at the remains of the stone beast. Her men came up to her as they saw it stopping.
“Is it dead?” One of them asked. All she could do was nod.
Below her, civilians were crowding around the corpse, examining it with curiosity. Celeste sat with her knees up on top of one of the ruined buildings.
Why are you sorrowful? I thought you wanted to protect people. You wanted to be on the front line.
“It didn't feel good. Killing that...That person.”
It's not a person anymore. Once I consume you, you will be something different.
“Something human does remain though. That's what Teodor said. I believe them.”
Well whatever became of that wizard, he was a threat. If you can't stop him, how will you be strong enough to protect people?
Celeste was searching for an answer when Teo called up to her.
“Captain? Colonel wants to speak with you.”
She came down to find a very well, though hastily dressed, officer. He stood a foot taller than her, but somehow she didn't find his height all that impressive.
“Colonel Enrico of the Gloriocitta Military Police. I take it you are Captain Celeste?”
“That I am. Gloriocitta?” She questioned.
“I have received reports that your men have used firearms within the city.”
She stood dumbfounded for a moment, before nodding. “Well yes, we were trying to halt the consumed wizard.”
“That is against military regulations.”
“I think letting a consumed wizard roam the city is probably not really in line with regulations.”
“That is noted. I won't be arresting you now because I understand you and your men are under direct orders from General Pesaro.”
“I don't suppose protecting everyone from that thing counts for anything in my favour then?”
“It is not your duty to handle that.”
“And where were your men when it was happening?” She asked, crossing her arm.
“We have a lot of matters to deal with, I hope you understand. Now, I will need a written report from you as soon as you can manage.”
“You know I'm leaving the city tomorrow morning?” She said, growing more irritated with the Colonel. She should probably be showing him more respect, but she couldn't be bothered. She was tired from the day's riding even before they got caught up in this.
“Then you had best get on it. You may borrow space in my office to get it completed.” He clicked his heels together to sault her, which she half-heartedly returned. She shot him an ugly look as he left.
She went over to her men, who were laughing together as she got to them. “I hope you know where the military police's office is.” She said to Teo.
“Ah yeah, that's the official name of the city. Apparently, the king is big on it. Locals still call it Commodal. It was the name back when we were just a valley. Actually, most people still use their old village names. Now, let's get going.” He said, patting her arm and leading them all off.
It must have been close to midnight by the time they got out. Still, the city seemed busy. The inn Teo brought them to was fairly packed, but they found a table to sit and eat at before bed. They crashed their glasses together in joyous celebration.
“Well, I think that was a pretty impressive victory by our dear captain here,” Felipe said with a laugh.
“And here is to many more!” Julius said, raising his glass again.
“Thank you. It doesn't feel like a great time.” She sipped her drink before dribbling it back into the cup. “Ugh, this stuff tastes terrible. I thought you were taking us to the best place in the city?”
“Well yeah,” Said Teo. “This is the best you're going to get.” He shrugged, downing his own drink.
“I don't want you all over-indulging either. We did do well, I think. But we also need to be up early tomorrow,” She said sternly as she picked at her food.
“Oh yeah, I can't see that happening by mistake,” Felipe said with a grin.
Celeste tried to smile with them. She didn't want to bring their energy down. Maybe she was just exhausted, but she didn't feel good about anything that had happened. Right now, she just wanted to curl up into a warm bed and shut the world out at least for one blissful night.