Hyperion Evergrowing

The shaking of the ground didn’t become more violent, but it did become more frequent. Over the next two hours the subjugation camp was a flurry of panicked action, its defences being bolstered with sharpened stakes, and outrider teams were sent to scout for any imminent threats. When the first shakes had occurred, Lucia’s stomach had tightened in fear, the knowledge that she had failed stabbing her like a blade. She should have been here with aid over a week ago.

Her mentor had sent her on a mission to warn the locals while he delayed the break, but she taken it upon herself to do more, to bring help, but she had been too slow, too timid, too lacking in any of the ways that could have made an actual difference. She wasn’t overly worried about his safety, even if the dungeon was, by his own admission, a poor matchup. There was a risk, nobody was unkillable, and with every hour that passed that risk only grew.

There were only a handful of people in the world she truly cared for, and for the first time she was separated from all of them. She felt hollow, anger and shame mixing together into an unhealthy concoction that only fed her anxiety. Lucia clenched her fists and grit her teeth, her frustration largely hidden by her mask, and the stealth aspect of her aura. If she had been better with people, more insistent as to the dangers of the imminent break, things may have gone differently, thousands of lives may not be at risk.

The command tent was crowded, and the press of so many people in such a confined space made her uncomfortable, a year of scrambling to live on the streets, fighting for every scrap, struggling to evade danger to keep her and her little brother safe and fed had ingrained instincts that even now were screaming at her to find a corner and keep everyone within line of sight.

She fought to calm herself, methods and techniques developed during months of travel helping her stabilise, ‘the spiral’ as her mentor had called it, was easier to combat when she could recognise the effects it had on her mind. It was okay, she shouldn’t let what she couldn’t control distract her from what she could. One person couldn’t shoulder everything, it was impossible, and she reminded herself of that, a mental mantra mixed with an aura technique that could help ground one in the moment, slowing her racing heart and stilling her spinning mind.

The ground trembled, and those gathered fell silent to wait for it to pass, a tome on the edge of the table in the centre of the tent fell to the dirt floor with a thud. Someone tripped and fell outside the tent with a curse, but nobody moved to check.

A woman with black hair and a streak of white cleared her throat once the world had stopped rumbling. She stood with a dignified posture, but to Lucia’s eyes her confidence seemed almost performative. “As I was saying, we should be expecting guild reinforcements within the next twenty four hours. Red-Fist, Honourborne, Sunflower and Azure-Veil adventuring parties should be arriving within that time frame.”

“Are you suggesting that we wait, Lady Eire? Have we not discussed the importance of immediate action?” Another woman asked, her graying hair the same colour as her well worn mail, the symbol of the town she guarded emblazoned on her breast.

The count’s daughter sniffed, turning up her nose at being addressed by someone she clearly considered beneath her. Lucia watched the back and forth between the two grow increasingly heated, less than impressed at the display. The illusion that adults always knew best had been shattered for her years prior, but it was an uncomfortable reminder that even those in charge of over a hundred lives were far from infallible.

Silas stepped forward, slamming his open palm onto the table. “Enough! Bickering gets us nowhere. Establishing a perimeter should be our priority, as was the conclusion we had already come to. Whether we initiate the subjugation now, or tomorrow is something we can decide after we have acted to contain the first wave.”

“You speak like we’re children.” Lady Eire snapped, crossing her arms.

“That’s because half of you might as well be.” The old man grumbled, letting out a breath. “Did you not agree to defer to my experience during our operation here? Did all of you not do just that only yesterday?”

“We did, sir.” A man with a bow slung over his back said. “But it is wise to consider all our options now that the situation has changed.”

“We have spent the past half a week wasting time doing just that.” Silas said, giving the man a glare that had a physical weight behind it. Though, perhaps that was his aura.

She didn’t like the old man, he reminded her too much of her grandfather. It was perhaps a fairly unsubstantial connection to make, they only vaguely looked alike, but the natural sense of authority that hung around Silas reminded her of long nights hiding in her family’s borrowed estate, trying not to attract the wrong type of attention. Regardless, he, and perhaps the town magistrate, were the only ones who had immediately taken her seriously.

Lost in memories, Lucia almost missed it when Silas gestured her forward. For a moment she panicked as every eye in the room turned to her, their presences brushing up against her own. Ordinarily her aura would disorientate or confuse, but she was suppressing that aspect of her skill with an application of [Willpower], it wasn’t like anyone present was weak enough for her to affect.

“This one knows where the dungeon is located, and she took it upon herself to warn us of the imminent break. Lucia, would you be able to guide our teams to the entrance from this location?”

She was glad there was a mask on her face, it likely made her look as though she was contemplating his question, rather than freezing up like a frightened animal in front of the expectant crowd. “I believe so, yes.” She said, by sheer force of will not stumbling over the words. Why were they all staring so intently? “But there isn’t only a single entrance. The dungeon, at least when I last saw it, was a network of ravines and valleys.”

“So there should be multiple entrances.” The adventurer with the bow said, running a hand through the stubble on his chin. “And how did you initially access this dungeon? Did you require rope to descend?”

Before Lucia could reply Lady Eire spoke. “And how did you find it in the first place? I find it highly suspicious that a child was wandering around the mountains. It would have still been turbulence.”

“I-”

“It wouldn’t be beyond the republic to deliberately sabotage a dungeon.” Said an officer off to the side. “Nor would they shy away from using children. This could be a trap.”

Lucia felt her face heat under her mask. She went to speak, but her mouth felt dry, the words falling apart as they formed. Silas raised a hand, and the continued murmuring of accusation and suspicion trailed off.

“It does not matter why or how, only that she did. You’re all acting fools casting doubt on our only reliable source of information. Why would an enemy agent intentionally warn us of danger?”

Lady Eire scoffed. “Says the man who barely escaped the headsman's axe. Don’t think we’re all ignorant of your past, sir.” Silas bristled at her words. “Perhaps it was wrong to put somebody so unreliable in charge? Feel like stepping down?”

“My mentor is an adventurer from an Ahle-ho guild, I was travelling north with him when we discovered the dungeon.” Lucia said quietly, but in the silence that followed the noblewoman’s words everyone heard her clearly.

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“Ahle-ho, eh?” The archer said, leaning forward. “Interesting. My condolences for their sacrifice.”

“We were just trying to get home. Avoid the war.”

Silence fell once again.

“Congratulations on bullying a child, Lady Eire.” The armoured woman with grey hair said, knocking her knuckles onto the table. “If we’re done here, I’m going to get my teams ready, I suggest the rest of you do likewise.”

“Yes. We’ll create at least ten teams of our most capable combatants and leave within the hour.” Silas said. “Anyone who disagrees can take their people and leave, we don’t need cowards on this expedition.”

With that the meeting adjourned, though not without mutters of disapproval from several attendees. The old man looked at Lucia and nodded, indicating that she should follow. With hesitation she did so, taking note of his hobble as she followed him out of the tent. She had noticed it was an inconsistent addition to his gait, but she didn’t think it was fake. He probably had a skill that helped him walk if he activated it.

“By your assessment, are they likely to be alive?” Silas asked without turning.

There was so much frenzied activity within the camp that it took her a moment to register the question. Lucia nodded, then realised the old man couldn’t see her do so. “Yes. He… he’s strong.”

“Strong enough to delve into a dungeon alone for an extended period of time?”

She didn’t respond. The only secrets she had the right to reveal were her own, and she had no intention of doing that. It was safer to keep her mouth shut, the old man was deceptively sharp. The only reason none of this had come out earlier was only because he didn’t care to ask.

Silas turned his head slightly, giving her an assessing look. “Is your silence worry or confidence?”

“Confidence, sir.”

“Hmmph. Good. It means we might have a chance to avoid this from turning into a major tragedy. We won’t let this place turn out like Pherin, we can’t, people still live here.”

Lucia’s heart skipped a beat at the sudden mention of her former homeland. He was right though, they couldn’t let a repeat of that tragedy occur. One day she would be strong enough to ensure just that, but for now she had to let others do their parts.

Silas stopped by a group of seven, informing their leader to prepare teams for deployment. He answered a handful of questions, then gave words of reassurance. They kept moving, and the same thing happened two more times. Lucia was beginning to wonder why exactly she was being brought along, when Silas finally turned to give her his full attention.

“I have a suggestion for which team you should join.” He said. “They just so happen to be missing a stealth specialist.”

Lucia could guess what team he was referring to, and immediately shook her head. “No. I’m more effective alone.”

She couldn’t slip away to reunite with her mentor if she had to drag a team along.

“I understand that. But I must ask again. Please.” Silas said, dipping his head. Lucia blinked, stunned. She had thought he would try to force the issue, not beg. Her grandfather never would have… Damnit, I misjudged someone again. She thought, scowling behind her mask.

“I…”

“They’re good kids, and I trust them. But I’m not going to be able to watch over them during this operation. I can tell how well trained you are by the way you move, and it would be a boon to my worries if you could aid them. They’re more likely to accept an outsider who’s closer to their ages, and it might do them good.”

She went to turn him down a second time, a dozen excuses and reasons running through her mind. But they all felt hollow. He would want me to do this.

Had she not spent the past three months learning that she couldn’t do everything by herself? She would need to figure out how to work with others eventually, her homeland wouldn’t reclaim itself. And maybe this was why she was struggling to learn a certain class.

“Sure.” Lucia said quietly.

“Wonderful. Thank you. Once this is all over I will owe you and this mentor of your’s a debt.” The old man cleared his throat, straightened, a mask of irritated indifference returning to his features. “I’ll take you to them now. You’ve met most of them already, so that should make things easier.”

She trailed behind the aged nobleman, breaking out into a cold sweat. She didn’t remember their names, not even the boy with the spear she had accidentally ran into outside of town. Lucia’s nerves grew the closer they got to the familiar sight of carts clustered together. She spotted several small children, and that made her feel even worse. What would she do if Roy was in this situation? Would she have taken him and run away? She wasn’t sure, and not knowing was unnerving.

A towering figure spotted them, and it took Lucia’s brain a moment to see the massive youth for what he was. If she had to guess, the boy probably had some giant’s blood in him, or maybe another demikin bloodline was making him so oversized. Had he introduced himself when they had first met? Maybe? Did his name start with an R?

“Hey gramps. Da beasties don like the shaking. Hy keeps pacin, I think he’s worried.”

“Come with us, Rou.” Silas said, and the large boy nodded happily. He had bracers made of what looked like scrap metal around his forearms, and other strange pieces of almost armour on his shoulders and shins.

It reminded her to go get her own armour put on before they left. She wanted a sword in her hand, or at least by her side, but keeping the weapon hidden with a skill was optimal. But that did mean she wasn’t sure what to do with her hands when two other teens, maybe a year older than her approached.

She recognised both of them, the blond boy with the spear was plain looking, but his gaze had a sharpness it hadn’t possessed back when they had first met. The girl had a forced smile on her round features, and tension was obvious in her posture and frown. She was fidgeting with a lock of orange hair and one of the straps of her breastplate, which in turn made Lucia want to fidget.

“What’s up, Gramps?” The boy, Hy-something, said.

“We av a new friend.” Rou said with a laugh. “I knew she would be back.”

“Greetings.” The girl said with a polite bob of her head. “You were… um.” She glanced at the blond boy.

He seemed to panic for a moment, shooting Rou a pleading look.

“This is Lucia, she will be guiding our forces to the dungeon entrance, and has agreed to join the three of you as a stealth specialist for the subjegation.” Silas said. “And these are three of my oldest. Hylon, Cerri and Rou. The others are too young to fight or don’t have combat ready classes.”

“Hello again.” She said. “I suppose we’ll be a team.”

Hylon let out a breath. “Thank the gods. We might actually survive this if we have you.”

Cerri gave him a strange look, her lips pressed into a line.

“Are you strong?” Rou asked, squinting down at Lucia.

That felt like a loaded question. Physically strong? Likely not when compared to him.

“She is.” Hylon said, his words trailing off, a thoughtful expression coming over his face. “And if you know the dungeon… Hey, did you see any treasure while you were down there? What are the best monsters to fight? Do you know what level they are? Are the experience gains good?”

“Here we go.” Cerri said, rolling her eyes. “From shaking in his boots to giddy with excitement.You’re such a child.”

“This is our chance.” Hylon said. “If we do this right, we’re guaranteed to level up a bunch. I might even reach level twenty five before I’m sixteen. That’s prodigy pace, the advancement speed that guild elites level up at!”

“Focus, brat.” Silas snapped. “If you get killed because you’re too busy focusing on the future to see the present, I’ll kill you again.”

“Right.” He said, sheepishly looking down at the old man’s cane and rubbing the back of his head.

The ground shook again. This one far longer than any before it.

“Prepare yourselves and gather at the muster point in thirty minutes.” Silas said, I have other duties to attend to, and I’m trusting you to handle yourselves.”

“No fear. I will protect them.” Rou said, clapping his hands together. “And I’m good at punching rocks.”

The old man smiled slightly, then turned and marched away at a brisk pace, his limp vanishing.

“I need to collect my things.” Lucia said, disappearing from sight with a mix of [Fade], [Aura of Distraction] and a burst of speed before any of her new teammates could speak.