Fic Update Thread 57: Varieties of Fandom Experience

When Maddie smiles, it's already too late.

The Black Knight steepled his hands. “Some things cannot be avoided, no matter how hard we try.” Green eyes glancing to Sabah, then Wekesa. “The crucial part is how we handle them.”

“I would like some clarification on that point, actually,” Masego politely interjected.

“We fall back to the walls of Ater and the other great cities. Holding the border will be a fool’s errand against this many forces and most of them have little interest in Callow, and the Wasteland is not lightly tamed.” The unspoken conclusion rang true to me. Fighting across Callow and the Wasteland would simply break more of the Empire. We already had losses enough and sieges were costly for the areas around them, often picked clean of supplies and suffering collateral damage. If we went into the field, we were liable to be flanked and picked apart as well, the enemy forces would be arriving on their own timetables, making it difficult to coordinate a defense that didn’t leave gaps or get flanked. “Ater is heavily fortified and by forcing them to assault the walls, enemy forces will run against each other. The Legions can hold if they’re as busy fighting each other as they are us.”

It was a sensible plan, but it lacked something. Before I could speak, he continued, an air of certainty growing around the conversation.

“But that only buys us time to resolve our largest issue: this will become a stronghold of Evil, harboring a powerful artifact that has loosed destruction on the world. One we lost control of. Even if we should successfully hold against the armies, bands of Heroes will infiltrate the city. Villains will come to usurp it. The Story that was brewing around Skitter has only grown worse. There are now tenfold as many reasons for outsiders to be dragged in. This is no longer in our hands.”

“That can’t be it,” Hakram rumbled from our side of the table. “The man who organized the Conquest, who rallied the Steppe. I can only assume you have a plan, sir?”

Glowing green eyes over steepled hands, both watching each of us and looking at something greater.

“Armies will fight, yes. Stories will fight too. That will bring a new and even more dangerous enemy. But the crucial part is that Creation will fight,” he elaborated, veering dangerously on monologuing. Bless Hakram for his ability to support a good rant along. “What we’ve seen with both Skitter and the Simurgh is that this other realm does not follow our laws. What’s more, with some effort, it can break them. And thanks to Catherine, we now have just a touch of that.”

Oh. Oh. If he was thinking what I thought he was, then that? That was a more dangerous road to go down than some of the roads in Marchford at night. Which wasn’t my fault, the city had been nearly trashed and I was doing my best. I could only send Robber on so many midnight walks before it started to cause collateral.

“We’ll need to play our hands near perfectly, but there is a chance. More than has ever been. Perhaps more than there ever will be.”

Amadeus smiled.

“We have a chance to break the Wager.”