Otherworldly - A Shadowed Awakening

Fall of Autumn, Week 5, Day 8

I was in disarray, my braids unraveled, and my curls splayed in every direction. My clothes were wrinkled and left marks across my skin from the way I had slept. But the warmth of the blankets had kept me asleep even as the sunlight tickled my eyes and the chill of the soon-to-be winter air nipped at my nose.

It was late in the morning when there was a light knock on the clock tower's door.

Stretching my arms, I took a moment to compose myself. Gently, I flexed my palm.

[Shadow Manipulation]

Climbing out of the nest of blankets and spirits, the threads within my hair began righting the curls and braiding them on my behalf. By the time I was at the door, even the shadows in my clothes were spreading, covering the wrinkles until I looked as presentable as ever.

"Yes?" I croaked out.

"Pardon me, my Lady, but Captain Limrick is here to report on the rewards of your battle." Gristle's voice didn't sound nearly as repentant as his words would claim, but I wasn't offended. To be rather honest, I preferred this Gristle over the too-formal Gristle he so often was in front of others.

Pulling open the door, I looked up at the butler. "Rewards? What rewards?"

Gristle blinked, then smiled lightly. "Lady Nora, please, you are the commander of the 43rd. And the 43rd engaged in a battle with nearly two hundred blights—consisting of both mana constructs and first generation of the World. That comes with a great many things, such as Mana Pearls and other, more interesting, trophies."

I furrowed my brow. "Doesn't every monster have a Mana Pearl within them?"

Gristle nodded. "So you can imagine the volume of loot from your engagement with the blights."

Looking behind me, I took in the cascading morning light reflected off the decorations that the spirits had hung, the way the wind gently rustled the hanging gems, the way the animations and spirits were splayed about, lounging.

Noir, Shade, and Haze slipped away, sinking into my shadow and turning it an amalgamation of their hues—black, iridescent, and green.

"All right," I said, turning back to Gristle.

His face was blank, but I still saw the way his eyes roamed over the clock tower and its new inhabitants. There was surprise there, but maybe not as much as I was projecting.

>He knows too much to be entirely surprised.<

I felt a smile work its way onto my face at Eunora's voice. You missed out on an eventful day yesterday.

>Yes, well, who could have known?<

Sucking in my lip, I stifled a laugh. I do wish you'd have been there, though.

>You did well without me.< Her voice was almost—almost proud. And it caused me to swallow thickly.

Gristle led the way, but he didn't take me to the main entryway. No. Instead, he led us to the main office. The office of the Dawn. The one that was both mine and not.

Outside the office stood Sir Limrick and several other knights I recognized, though I hadn't interacted with them overmuch. Their names were Sir Fyre, Sir Tryn, and Sir Pique, and they were members of the 43rd. The three of them were some of mine. They all carried wooden chests in their arms, aside from Sir Limrick, who stood with a clipboard. It was very Captain of him.

As we approached, the three knights straightened, and Sir Limrick turned to face me. He slammed his fist to his chest in a salute and inclined his head before dropping the greeting.

I met him with a lazy grin, and my spirits slid out of my shadow to flank me.

"Captain Limrick, Sir Fyre, Sir Tryn, Sir Pique," I said, nodding to each of the men as I spoke their names.

The men simply shook their heads, and Gristle opened the door for me.

"After you, my Lady."

Walking in, I glanced at the oversized desk at the end of the office. And instead of approaching it, I turned on my heel and sat on one of the plush couches to the side of the room. The sitting area had two couches, a coffee table, and two oversized chairs. It was perfect for the lot of us.

"You can put the chests on the table," I said, gesturing as I settled into the center of my chosen couch. Behind me, Noir slid over the fabric and coated it in darkness—changing it from a deep indigo to a pitch black. Shade and Haze settled by my side.

"Your will be done, my Lady," Sir Limrick said, amusement lining his voice.

The knights did not sit. I frowned.

>Can you not let them do this one thing with propriety?<

I paused, thinking, then let a sadistic smile spread. Nah.

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"Come on, Sirs, sit." At their reluctance, I twitched my nose. "Your commander doesn't like to be looked down upon."

At that, Sir Limrick sighed—with what I could recognize as fondness. It made my heart warm.

"You heard her, sit down," the Knight Captain commanded and the three men looked at each other silently before slowly lowering the wooden chests onto the coffee table and all three settling onto the couch across from me. They were shoulder to shoulder, and they were so tense I could hear their purple leathers creaking around their muscles.

I nearly rolled my eyes, but instead, I looked up at Sir Limrick.

"You too." I huffed, gesturing to the plush chair to my side.

He scowled lightly but took a seat. "Of course, my Lady. Now, I believe—"

"—How is Dame Arella? Klein?" I asked, cutting him off. I brought my knees to my chest, wrapping my arms around my legs to pull them closer.

In my head, I heard Griselda telling me I was being undignified. I ignored it. It wasn't as if my actions would leave this room.

Sir Limrick leaned back into his chair, crossing his arms. "They're fine."

I looked to my knees. "She's not mad?"

Pausing, I heard Sir Limrick take a breath. "Why would Dame Arella be angry?"

I glanced up at the man, with his furrowed brow, and immediately regretted it. I'd taken a misstep.

>Nora, she'd never be angry with you.< Came Eunora's consoling voice.

"I didn't listen very well, I was all over the place, I put her and Klein in danger. I—"

"Did everything you could to protect your people." This time, it was Sir Pique who cut me off, his voice resolute. I blinked and looked at the green-haired man. "You're the reason they got out of there with scrapes and not lost limbs."

I opened my mouth to say something, anything. To rebut or fight or simply say, 'No, that's not how it is.' But Sir Limrick got to it first.

"Nora," he said gravely. "Do you think any of us would willingly call you Commander if that was the kind of person you were? If you were to knowingly lead Dame Arella and Klein to danger? If you would sacrifice them for yourself?"

"I—"

"Didn't do any of that. You used every ounce of your power to protect them. You drained the entirety of your mana to eradicate as many blights as you could. And you eliminated nearly all of them."

"But—" I tried again, not getting very far.

"Dame Arella told me your first thought when the blights started attacking. It was to start knocking off any that you could. She saw your weapons manifest, saw them protect Klein. Even when you climbed atop the carriage, you fought the whole time."

I felt my throat swell, and there was prickling in my eyes.

"You did what you could—and it was more than admirable, my Lady." Sir Fyre chipped in, then quickly blushed as Sir Limrick shot him a glare.

>Accept it, Nora, you are both loved and liked by your knights. The 43rd is yours, through and through. And they were even before they swore their loyalty.<

"Okay," I choked out. "Okay. I'll take the praise. Thanks, you all."

Nodding, Sir Fyre and Sir Pique looked satisfied. It was the third one who looked odd, his expression growing more and more intense.

"My Lady," Sir Tryn said slowly, "I saw the tail end of the fight with the Whisher Blight."

I blinked, tilting my head. Curious as to what he was going to say, but he paused for a long second before blurting out his next words.

"You looked really awe-worthy, Commander!"

I barked out a laugh at the surprised expression on his own face, and smiled. The tears growing behind my eyes evaporating in an instant.

"Thanks, Sir Tryn."

"Now," Sir Limrick interrupted. "What we're here for. The rewards of the battle."

I turned my gaze to the three chests. They were medium-sized, and when lined up they took up more space than the coffee table offered—the ends of the outer two chests hanging over air by several inches.

"Oh? What's in them, then?"

Sir Limrick waved his hand, and the latches on the chests popped. The tops opened by themselves, revealing… Well, I wasn't entirely sure. I leaned forward to get a better look before realizing it was useless. I stood up and peered into the chests.

"This one," I said, pointing at the center chest, within which were nine distinct piles of mana pearls that nearly reached the edge of the chest, "is definitely Mana Pearls. But what are the other two?"

Sir Limrick uncrossed his arms and leaned forward, looking down at his clipboard.

"There were, according to the Quartermaster and Harvester, over seventy-five corpses to process."

"I was sure there were more mana constructs," I said mildly, before realizing I spoke out loud. I glanced at the knights who were grinning at me. "What? I didn't see that many corpses."

"That's an easy answer, my Lady," Sir Limrick said. "Blights are interesting in their decomposition. Due to their nature—namely being born of corrupted mana sources and overtaking dead or dormant plants—they leave behind only living wood. Most deadwood decomposes instantaneously without their corrupted mana keeping it around."

"So, it would just look like forest debris?" I guessed.

"Precisely. Only living wood that can survive the takeover of a blight—of any kind or Tier—often holds additional properties besides that of its origin tree."

I paused, looking at the chest to the right—the one that was filled with what looked like sticks and soil and chopped vines— and asked, "Are you telling me this box of fertilizer is enchanted?"

Sir Limrick looked proud as he said, "Exactly, my Lady."

I turned, running my hand over the edge of the chest. Before—

[Inspect]

[Elemental Twig, Tier 1, Uncommon]

[A twig left behind by a Twig Blight. The wood was forged in the parasitic remains of the monster and was refined to be capable of holding elemental enchantments.]

[Marshlight Vine, Tier 2, Uncommon]

[A vine left behind by a Vine Blight. The vine was forged in the parasitic remains of the monster and was refined to be capable of producing a mild glow effect.]

[Questfire Leaf, Tier 1, Rare]

[A leaf left behind by a Tree Blight. The leaf was forged in the parasitic remains of the monster and was refined to be capable of producing sparks when torn.]

I batted away the System messages before looking up at Sir Limrick again.

"There are reagents," I said, baffled. "They all have different effects. Or, well, the ones I see do."

"They are," Sir Limrick confirmed. "Usually, only one or two drops per first-generation monster. However, on average, there were seven such drops of the blights you defeated."

Quick math told me that was over five hundred individual reagents.

"That's—"

"Lucky," Gristle said gravely, looking at me with an odd expression.

Suddenly, I felt our soul binding prominently. What usually fell away into the background was on display in my mana veins.

Gristle was pulling on it. Warning me. Telling me not to give anything more away.

This time, I listened.