Side Story - Felicia - Chapter 1 Winds of Winter (Patreon)

Side Story – Felicia - Chapter 1 Winds of Winter

‘ding’ ‘You have defeated [War Hound – lvl 230]’

The last one went down, Felicia quickly activating Meditation as she hoped for more to come. The winds whispered to her, making her turn. Friend. She heard the voice, her own voice from the back of her mind. Magic flowed through her before she calmed down, the tension in her muscles relaxing as her eyes focused again. Magic turned into the form of a human standing a couple meters in front of her, the man looking more than a little terrified.

“You’re back?” He asked, a crow screeching at her from his shoulder. He flicked the bird to shut it up.

“Yes. This dungeon was a waste Maurice. The hounds are level two forty at best.” She said and walked past him, towards the exit. An old ruin left behind by humans trying to settle in the plains towards the west of Virilya.

The mercenary sighed, “The level ranges at this stage aren’t certain anymore, even if we buy information. Why did you clear the whole place then?”

“I’m sorry. I can barely stop once I get started.” She said, “Where’s the next one? Is there anything in the range I need to advance close by?”

He grabbed a map from his pack, “I mean… the city at war most dungeons have recovered their populations. We can only check the ones marked as too dangerous to approach. The next one is a day’s travel by cart. We should get there in a couple hours.”

Felicia bit her lip, “No. We have to be back before nightfall. Maybe we can go back in a couple days.”

He nodded, “Hey, about my pay…,” His hands lifted in a placating gesture.

Is this really the feeling I instill in people. Felicia sighed You’re doing great. He killed innocents for his own research and to reach his goals. All you kill are monsters. “The capital is pushing back. We should see the barrier fall and a massive blow happen in the next days.”

“No offense Lady Redleaf but you’ve been saying that for the past three weeks. All I know is that the siege weapons are still there, troops still sent in and magic still hitting the center.”

“Have I not paid you so far?” Felicia simply asked, looking at the mercenary who was scratching his black scruffy beard, his black eyes focusing on her.

“No you haven’t.”

“See.” She smiled, her near yellow eyes sparkling, “The imperial troops camping south of the city have returned to their respective cities two weeks ago. Do you think they would abandon the capital if it weren’t for good reason?”

He shrugged, “But why aren’t they staying to engage as well?”

“War is a complicated affair beastmaster. That is also why my predictions to a counter attack haven’t proven themselves yet. It could be that Baralia is launching successful offensives on more cities, forcing the imperial troops back but if Maria is to be believed then their position is better than we initially assumed.”

He snorted, “That crazy lass? I wouldn’t take anything she says for granted. I don’t want to know what she’s been up to the past months.”

“It’s easy to judge her without knowing her. Whilst I don’t support all her actions we can at least trust her information. Now come.”

Maurice recalled the murder of crows picking out pieces of the dead hounds before they both ascended upwards, the suns already low on the horizon.

“Felicia!” Aliana ran and hugged her, blood all over her.

Felicia grabbed her shoulders and looked down, “Are you injured? What happened?”

The woman shook her head but she was flustered, that much was sure, “Edwin… he.”

She rushed past the woman, the wind showing her the way before she came up on the campfire. Her brother was sitting with his back to a tree, blades stuck in the ground. He was injured. Felicia ignored the mutilated soldiers, cut to pieces. “Edwin. Are you ok?” She asked, summoning a box from her earring. The man smiled, grasping at her with a bloody hand that she slapped away. Opening the box, she removed some alcohol as well as a fresh cloth. Potions would be wasted, Edwin would recover one way or the other.

“Felicia… you’re beautiful tonight.” He said but she just held his head, cleaning away the blood and soot as he winced, the alcohol burning into the small cuts and bruises.

She heard him wretch and stepped back, grabbing another cloth and soaking it. “Clean yourself up. Baralia or empire?”

Aliana took the cloth and started cleaning her face, “Baralia... I helped.”

Felicia nodded, “Good. At least nothing was lost today. We have to move again. They will notice a missing troop.” Edwin was puking in the meantime but she just waited. Maurice looked at the scene and shook his head.

“Poor fuckers.” He said.

Aliana turned her head, “Slavers.” She simply said.

“Do me a favor and blast him.” Felicia said, taking the box back. I’m so fucking tired of this.

“Sure? He got pretty angry last time.” Aliana retorted.

She nodded, “I can hold him back now.” The answer was simple but her friend didn’t doubt her, looking at her with her deep brown eyes. Do it.

Water formed in front of Aliana before a cascade slammed into Edwin, the man trying to lift his hands against the assault as the blood and puke was washed away. He choked and cursed when the water stopped coming but this time didn’t become aggressive, simply sliding down on his tree before lying down sideways. “Did you collect all the bottles?”

Aliana nodded, “I’ll get rid of them on the way.”

“Word from Maria?” She asked.

“Nothing since three days ago. She said she was raiding Baralia camps north of the city. What are we doing?” She asked.

[Mage – lvl 207]

She leveled again. Good. Forcing Aliana to fight in dungeons too wasn’t beneficial. Neither to her nor the woman. “Baltimore still hasn’t answered, I suspect he’s stuck inside the barrier too. Until the empire counterattacks we can’t get in contact with anyone. We’ll move back near the city and see what the situation is. I’ll go find more dungeons in two days.”

The woman nodded, “We should also buy or steal more bottles. He’s drinking more by the day.”

Felicia sighed but nodded. Edwin had changed after their father was finally dead. Whilst she had felt a weight of a lifetime lifted, he seemed to have had his strings cut. He’ll find his way back. I’m sure of it. She walked over and grabbed the man by his arm. His swords she put into the sheaths, not willing to leave him without a way to defend himself, even in his drunken state. They had decided to supply him at the moment. When they hadn’t, the man had ran off to find more, getting around forty people killed in the process. Half of them were imperials.

Arthur would be proud to see him like this in the end. I won’t give him the satisfaction. She said and lifted him over her shoulders. “Maurice, you take her.” They didn’t complain, the group in the air a moment later, flying towards the burning fields of Virilya.

“Start cooking and try to keep him inside. Don’t follow if he leaves. I will be back tomorrow morning. Stay warm.” Felicia said to Aliana, her brown hair short and her face torn by worry. She knew the woman hadn’t slept well in the past months, again and again haunted by her past and the things they had done since then. You asked her if she wanted to stay somewhere safe, somewhere where she was protected. She remembered the face Aliana had made and smiled, grasping her shoulder.

“What if you don’t come back?”

She squeezed, “I’ll be back.” With that she turned, grateful that the Alymie boy had shown them the hideout. It was close enough to scout on the capital but still somehow undetected by the frequent scouts, soldiers as well as bandits and mercenaries common in these parts. Rabble. The war had taken a toll on the empire as well as Baralia. Other kingdoms are surely already circling above, waiting for the right moment to strike. And humanity suffers as a whole, clawing at each other instead of looking to the west, to the north or to the seas. She felt her second class taking over, calming herself as she listened to the wind.

Breathing in and out as she silently flew through the forest, avoiding the trees as well as the ground. She traveled southwards. Even with the big camps gone, there were plenty of spies and small elite troops stationed and moving through the lands. Sabotage and guerrilla tactics were easy to use against the occupying forces, the terrain unknown to them, the civilians hostile. Not that Baralia cares. With the winter air, most of the lower leveled soldiers were at a massive disadvantage, the people above one hundred or even higher mostly able to ignore the cold.

Continuously supplying the forces must have taken a toll on the kingdom but if that was the case, Felicia hadn’t seen any of it. She landed at the designated spot, waiting for her contact. The winds made her tense up. She knew what was coming, a sad expression on her face. Rest in peace Ulim. The man stepping out behind the tree wasn’t the one she had expected, hoped to see.

Ulim had been an officer in the imperial army, a scout at that. He supplied her with information as well as goods and a way to contact branches of the military as well as the nobility and guilds of the empire, at least people not stuck inside the besieged city. One of many but he was a friend. She gulped when she looked at his severed head in the hands of another. The mana inside her pulsed, Why? All of this. Why? She just wanted it to stop. The man took a step back, a dozen more soldiers appearing from around, some clad in what looked like adventurer gear.

“I don’t know if this is a good idea…,” Someone said, a dull noise barely recognized by Felicia. The winds started moving around her, slowly, bent to her will. “She’s an influential noble’s daughter. He’ll pay well. Or we just sell her.”

The air suddenly stood still, the men and women around her prepared their weapons and spells. “He’s dead.” Felicia said suddenly, “My father is dead.” A wicked smile formed on her lips before her mana exploded, blades of air rushing out in a circle, cutting through armor and flesh, only those with high Vitality and defensive skills surviving a direct hit. Three managed to dodge but it was too late. They had chosen the wrong target. You are doing the world a favor. We cannot build with people such as them as a foundation.

A second volley rushed out, cutting another three people into pieces. The leader appeared before her, his ax coming down before it was deflected by a gust of wind, Felicia lifting her hand before a series of blades formed inches from his head. The headless corpse fell down a moment later. Four escaped. She noted, taking her friend’s head from where it had fallen before she vanished, flying over the light snow. Sinking down to her knees in a nearby clearing, she calmed down.

Looking down on herself, she noticed the small cuts, two arrows deep in her belly as well as a scorched shoulder. Tears ran down her face as she grabbed onto the arrows, ripping them out with two piercing screams. She grit her teeth, breathing in and out slowly as she focused on the pain. The wounds slowly closed, her regeneration still boosted from her berserker like state. They would close fully in the span of an hour. Another contact lost. Soon all that’s left of the empire is a bunch of starving cities and whatever elite had survived in the center of Virilya.

When the dust would eventually settle, Felicia didn’t plan to be some dead noble’s returning daughter. She was the head of the Redleafs and already she wielded the power to support such a position. It was only a matter of time. They still had friends and thanks to Maria’s and her own efforts, fewer enemies by the week.