Chapter 4: Coda Village
Disclaimer: Starcraft is the property of Blizzard and Gate is the property of Takumi Yanai. I own neither.
A/N: Thanks for the views, follows, favorites and reviews. Wasn't expecting such a great reaction.
Also, to the Guest who reviewed chapter 3: Thanks for the review. I'll try to keep it in mind, but I main Terran, so please forgive me if they act unlike Protoss, now and in the future. Never been good at that sort of thing anyway. As for the handicap, you'll see.
The chieftain of Coda Village was one of the first to be alerted to the arrival of the newcomers. Exiting his house and making his way over to the front gates of the village, he immediately got the sense that something was... off about them. For one, they dressed strangely, the group of four that stood in front of the gathered villagers. Their mismatched clothes with no recognizable emblem suggested that they may have been a mercenary band, yet they held no visible weapons. Their carriages looked like those of nobles, so what were they doing so far from a larger town?
Sighing, the chief made his way to the front of the crowd, and spoke in a clear voice, "Hello, strangers. I am the chieftain of Coda Village, and I welcome you to our town. Who are you?"
The first of the strangers, a simple-looking man, spoke, "Greetings, friend. I am Praetor Umurul of the Dae-." He coughed as one of the others glared at him, interrupting himself, before trying again, "I am Umurul, leader of those who stand before you. I bring a grave warning."
The chieftain was unsettled. The leader, Umurul, spoke as though he had never done so before. His suspicions, however, was quickly replaced by panic as the stranger continued speaking.
"A flame dragon has recently annihilated an elven settlement in the nearby forest."
At this, the person standing to Umurul's right stepped forward, a strange magical projection in front of her. It showed the dragon flying above the forest, unleashing its flame upon those below. The chief's face turned pale when he saw the moving images.
"A flame dragon indeed... We are very grateful you told us this. We have to alert the villages nearby. Dragons who know the taste of elves and humans will hunt for more."
To express his gratitude, the chief moved forward to shake Umurul's hand, but the latter recoiled as though he was a demon. Embarrassed and quickly stepping back, the chief relayed the information to the villagers. When they learned that a dragon attacked an Elven village, their faces paled and they scattered.
"We have managed to locate and heal a survivor."
Umurul's words made the chief raise his head, having almost forgotten about them. Two of the strangers stepped forward, holding the ends of a makeshift stretcher, upon which the unconscious elvan girl lay.
"How tragic. This child is left all alone, Everyone she knew is gone," the chief muttered, lightly stroking the blonde locks of the elven girl. Their cultures may be different, but Coda and the Elven village had basic relations.
"Is your village capable of assisting her?"
The chief shook his head, "Our race and culture are different. You should entrust her to an elven village. And besides, we must run."
"Why do you flee?"
Shocked at the question, the chief took a few seconds to answer, "It's a fire dragon! Nothing can hope to match its strength, so we can only run. Where are you from, if you don't know what it can do?"
His question seemed to startle the strangers, who glanced at each other as though they could hear the others' thoughts. The chieftain assumed that they were so well acquainted that they seemed to act as one.
"Very well. We shall assist the evacuation efforts," the leader, Umurul, decided after a few moments, ignoring the chief's question completely.
Some distance from Coda Village there was a small house. 15-year-old Lelei lived there with her Master, the old sage Kato.
Now, with the news of an active fire dragon nearby, a wagon, buckling under the weight of a small mountain of crates, sacks, and books, sat outside the house. With a simple spell, the wagon was lightened, and the two mages made their way to the rest of the village.
When they reached the center of the village, they found that the way forward was blocked by a line of wagons.
"What's happening up ahead?" the sage asked.
Someone in front heard and replied, "Ah, it's sage Kato. And Lelei too. We're in trouble now. Someone overloaded their wagon and the axle broke, and now it's stuck in the middle of the road and blocking everyone. We're all pitching in, but it'll be a while."
As her Master was talking to the villager, Lelei's attention was drawn by a group of mysterious men, who worked and moved together so well it was like they had known each other for decades, or talking to each other telepathically. They were standing near the downed wagon.
It took only seconds for her to find more strange things about them. For one, their carriages left no grooves in the muddy ground behind them. They also seemed to be actively avoiding any contact with the villagers, though there were a number of possible reasons for that. Most of all, their movements seemed strange, almost robotic. Wishing to satisfy her curiosity, Lelei told her Master that she was going to "check things out", and got off the wagon.
Said wagon causing the incident was a few wagons ahead of hers. One of its axles was snapped, and the wagon lay sprawled across the road. She could see scattered luggage, a fallen man, as well as a mother with her child. The horse was collapsed on the road, its mouth dripping with foam. It flailed its limbs as it struggled to get up, so the villagers who wanted to help it stand up were unable to approach.
However, Lelei realized the fallen mother and child were injured. Ignoring the flailing horse beside her, she made her way forward.
The boy was a little younger than Lelei, about ten years old. After giving her a quick once-over, she found that he had struck his head, and his face and limbs were gradually turning pale. His sweat flowed freely, and his body was rapidly cooling.
The mother was unconscious, but her condition was stable. The child was the one in danger.
"Lelei! What are you doing? What happened?" the village chief shouted. She turned back to that the village chief approaching her, along with one of the strangers.
"Chief, I think the cause was overloading of the wagon and rot in the axle. The child is in great danger but his parents should be fine. The horse is beyond help," Lelei replied, preparing a healing spell.
"Is the sage nearby?"
Without breaking her focus, Lelei replied, "He is behind worrying his head off. I can do this myself."
Having said so, Lelei pressed her hands onto the boy's head, muttering words of magic. Her hands glowed white, and the boy gasped, face rapidly filling with color.
Suddenly a cry rang out, "Lelei! Get back!"
Unable to react in time Lelei could only watch as the horse, ten times the weight of a man, fell towards her.
Just before it crushed her, a mysterious, unseen force grabbed hold of it, suspending the horse in the air for a moment before pushing it away from her. Shocked, Lelei turned around, just in time to see the stranger beside the chief lower a glowing-blue hand.
"Are you a magic user?" he asked.
Umurul was pleased. The devices that Karax had given them to translate their thoughts to sound were working smoothly, the humans could not see through their disguise, and a magic user, albeit a young one, has been located. Eldryth had volunteered to talk to her.
The damaged wagon dealt with, the convoy continued on its journey, only to come to a stop mere minutes later. Sitting in the first Warp Prism, Orkir scowled, "Again? How weak are these carts?"
Agor couldn't help but agree with the Tal'darim. Because of the frequency of breakdowns, the convoy moved extremely slowly. "At our current speed, it would take weeks for the villagers to reach a safe area," he noted.
"Perhaps we could assist them?" Talis suggested.
"How do you suggest we do so? We cannot break our cover."
Agor cut in, "I can use the Reconstructor to strengthen the carts. It would cause no observable change and can greatly increase the efficiency of the vehicles."
"That sounds acceptable. If there are no objectives, let us commence immediately," Umurul said.
"Just do it so we can get going," Orkir demanded.
With that, Agor, riding at the end of the convoy, ordered the Reconstructor out of its vehicle. Unseen by the villagers, the Reconstructor floated alongside the convoy, cloaked by the Projector overhead. As it passed the carts, it would scan them, before using its reconstruction beam to reinforce the weakest areas of the wooden carts, making them more stable and structurally secure. The machine slowly made its way through the convoy, steadily enhancing every wagon. It completed its task not long after and returned to Agor, who immediately began running through its data.
The evacuation proceeded much more smoothly after that.
The allied armies, gathered under the Empire's banner, had vanished within a single night. With many lords and nobles dead, there was a rise in bandit activity. Until recently, they had to skulk around in the shadows, but now they could move around freely. Not only that, among the scattered remnants of the Army, many had chosen to turn their backs on the Empire, instead turning to banditry.
In a particular area, over a dozen bandits gathered around a campfire and gleefully rummaged through their spoils.
That was, until the leader's head fell from his neck, removed by a massive halberd.
Its user was a young girl, no older than 13. Her skin was so pale it was nearly translucent, her hair and clothes were black and her eyes were bottomless pools of obsidian. Her weapon was massive and extremely heavy, but that did stop her wielding it deftly, sometimes with a single hand.
"I am Rory Mercury. Apostle of Emroy, God of Darkness," she introduced herself. With that out of the way, she got to work with her halberd.
As ordained by the gods, Apostles were simply caretakers of the world. They existed to protect the land and weed out its less desirable elements. In this case, despite the fact that her god did not condemn banditry, Rory herself found it detestable and had thus decided to eliminate them.
With the group of bandits dealt with, Rory continued on her path to the gate, attracted by the sense of violence. As morning came, she noticed a convoy of simple carriages. Curious, she went to the road to wait for them.
Agor was the first to notice the girl dressed in black sitting in the middle of the road, surrounded by a flock of small, black avians via readings from the Observer. Noting her oversized weapon, he reported it to his commander.
Umurul, in the first wagon, looked over the data with interest. A preliminary scan of the girl showed that her strength was far superior to humans and even many Protoss, and she possessed an extremely potent regenerative ability exceeding even that of zerg Roaches.
"The Observer's data corresponds to what we learned from locals. This girl is likely to be an apostle and hence incredibly dangerous. I recommend caution," Agor reported.
"Very well," Umurul confirmed, ordering his vehicle to a stop ten meters away from her. Noticing that Orkir's interest, he continued, "Orkir, do not leave this vehicle until I say otherwise. Talis, would you assist me with the Apostle?"
"Of course," Talis replied, and the two Protoss exited the Warp Prism, leaving Orkir stewing within.
The girl got up as they approached her, dusting off her clothing. In a cheerful voice, she asked, "Hey, where did you come from? Where are you going?" Though her voice was light, her stance suggested that she was ready to burst into action.
"We're from Coda Village, big sis," a young boy from the village cut in, causing both Protoss to jerk back. How did he get here without being noticed?
"Oh? What about these people in the strange outfits?" the girl asked.
"I don't really know, but they are nice people helping us," the boy replied, shrugging.
The girl walked a circle around the two, as though she was trying to figure something out. Her pose was more relaxed than before.
"So they're not forcing you to go along?"
"No, a fire dragon came and they're helping us escape."
"That is true," Umurul cut in, "My team came across the fire dragon as it was attacking an elven village. We then decided to alert Coda village and assist their evacuation. I am called Umurul, and this is Talis. Who do we address?"
"Umurul, eh? Strange name. Anyway," the girl replied, giving an elegant bow, "I am Rory Mercury, Apostle of Emroy, God of Darkness."
"Greetings, Rory Mercury. Would you like to travel with us?" Umurul asked, recognizing a chance to learn more about the Apostles when he saw it.
"Of course! Can I ride with you?"
In the moment of hesitation caused by the innocent-sounding question, Rory had run past Umurul and was almost at his Warp Prism.
As he mentally ran through possible solutions to prevent her from entering it, Umurul was saved once again by the young boy from Coda Village.
"Ride with us, big sis! We're all very happy to see you!" he exclaimed, almost physically dragging Rory over to a further carriage.
Sighing in relief, Umurul reentered his vehicle. Orkir was still a little annoyed, but his eyes were glowing a far darker shade of red than usual. Before they even moved, Orkir spoke, "It seems I may have overestimated her, if she can be distracted so easily."
"Perhaps," Umurul replied, and the conversation was over. Insteas, he pulled up all the data they had on the apostles and started reading. To the natives of Falmart, apostles were feared as immortal warriors sent by the gods. They were all but invincible, capable to challenging and decimating entire armies. Not even the greatest kings dared provoke or hassle them. Their long lives of up to a thousand years allowed them to hone their combat powers to levels greater than many Zealots.
As the Praetor read through all the information, he noticed Orkir looking over the data as well. His intentions were clear even to the dimmest Terran.
"You will get your chance to face the apostle one day, Orkir. But for now, please do not challenge Rory Mercury until we find out more."
He snorted, "Fine. But when that day comes, it will be glorious." His eyes glowed with great intensity once more as he thought about the day he would face off against an immortal foe.
A few carriages back, Eldryth was having a conversation with Lelei, although 'interrogation' may be more accurate. She was asking questions about magic, with Lelei answering them one by one.
"So no one is certain as to the source of magic?" Eldryth asked for confirmation.
"That is correct. If you don't mind me asking, where are you from, if you know nothing about magic?" Lelei asked.
"We... We come from a distant land, where magic does not exist. As such, I am curious as to its capabilities," Eldryth replied.
"I see. Yet your leader managed to stop the horse from a distance. How?" Lelei asked.
"We..." Eldryth hesitated for a moment, but felt that no real harm could occur from telling the mage some truth, "He used what we call psionic power to hold the horse back. In some ways, psionics and magic are similar."
The two continued talking, each learning more about the other's culture and abilities, though Eldryth avoided many of the former by claiming to be sworn to secrecy.
The peaceful ride was interrupted by screams. Frowning, Talis brought up the Observer's data feed, which showed the civilians panicking and a large flying reptile dangerously close to the convoy.
"Brothers, I am taking command! Prepare for combat! The flame dragon is upon us!" Talis shouted, "To battle!"
Third recon quickly exited their vehicles, just in time to see the dragon unleash a wall of fire at the villagers, scorching the ground and instantly frying dozens of those unlucky enough to be directly under the blast. Roaring, the dragon landed, causing the ground to tremor, and began to feast.
"Our objective is to lure our foe away from the civilians. Get them to a safe distance, then attack it with all we have," Talis ordered. The team leaped into action.
"I shall assist the civilians. Zealots, with me!" Umurul said. He then charged over to a family, one of whom had tripped and fell while the others tried to help her up. The dragon's fire was approaching rapidly, but with the assistance of his psionic power, Umurul managed to get between the fire and the villagers. Raising a hand, he forced the fire to either side of the group. "Flee!" Umurul blasted his psionic message, unable to use his translator.
The family, staring open-mouthed at the fire burning in front of them, were jerked into action by the commanding voice in their heads. Quickly, they got up and ran as fast as they could.
Meanwhile, Agor was using the Reconstructor to heal those injured by the dragon. Simply passing it off as a 'Magical Tool', he skillfully deflected the villagers' concerns and used it to heal them. Regardless of their injury, be it burns, fractures or even organ damage, the prototype repaired the damage in seconds. With Zealots helping move the more heavily injured ones over, the healing process was proceeding rapidly, the speed and precision of it astounding the villagers.
"Civilians are secured. Talis, your forces are cleared to move in," Umurul reported, "En Taro Tassadar!"
"Confirmed," Talis replied, "All forces, engage!"
"Finally, a worthy battle," Orkir exclaimed, rushing to the dragon. Ignoring its deafening roars, Orkir charged forward, unleashing psionic lightning at the dragon. The red bolts struck it in the chest, blackening the scales but doing little else. The dragon sent a wave of fire in retaliation, but Orkir avoided it with ease.
"Fool," Talis muttered. Leading her adepts, throwing glaives at the dragon, they went to support the Tal'darim. The glaives, sharp enough to slice vandanium apart, cut into its scales, annoying it but dealing no real damage due to its sheer size. Regardless, the Adepts kept firing their glaive cannons.
Orkir had managed to get under the massive dragon, which was now entirely focused on turning him into a pancake. Throwing himself aside with telekinesis, Orkir narrowly avoided getting stepped on by the dragon. Bane blades at full power, he sliced at the leg, leaving a searing red gash.
With a roar, the dragon jumped up, flapping its wings, followed shortly by sending a massive amount of fire down.
And the charred remains of the Projector landed in front of Talis and shattered.
A/N: You didn't think I was going to have the team undercover for the whole story, did you? The real dragon battle begins next chapter.
For now, the story will be more or less following canon, but I have plans for it. Just give me a few chapters.