The first point of interest on the road to St. Leonard is
a small mountain range, which one has to traverse through in order to proceed.
The fastest way through is to head to the small mining town of Iron Valley,
almost directly to the east of Arwing, and then head through the Iron Valley
Mines, a network of mining tunnels and bridges criss-crossing the narrow valley
that gives the town its name. The tunnels may seem confusing to the
uninitiated, but as long as you have a compass, and remember to keep heading
east, making your way through is a breeze.
I don't stop for long in Iron Valley, instead making my
way straight through and heading for the mining tunnels. The mining operation
is still underway, but some of the older, less-needed tunnels have been renovated
and set aside for civilian use. This is, after all, the fastest gateway between
two of the largest cities in Albion. As important as the mining operation here
is - it's a major supplier of iron to the PDF - they can't have it getting in
the way of the transport system.
I make my way through the tunnels with ease, and before
long I'm on the other side of the mountain range. I now find myself in the
rolling green pastures that dominate this part of Albion, dotted with hills and
small ridges. Other than a few wild animals, it seems to be mostly deserted;
it's rare to see Devastators on this side of the mountain range. In the
distance, I can make out the small town of Clifton Hill, and to the north, a small
river flowing down from the mountains. It's a very picturesque environment. Or
at least, it would be if not for the two large wolves currently headed straight
towards me.
The Devastators' presence has had a strange effect on
many of Earth's creatures, causing them to grow stronger and more violent. The prevailing
theory is that this is some type of strange radiation that only affects
lower-level life forms, and is perhaps deliberately spread by the Devastators
in order to give us a harder time. Fighting the Devastators is bad enough
without having to fend off all manner of wild creatures as well. The
Devastators, of course, aren't threatened in the slightest by these creatures,
but sadly I am not a Devastator.
I manage to draw my SMG and fire off a burst of
ammunition that fells the first wolf, but the second keeps charging and I have
to dodge sharply, pushing its jaws away as it lunges. The wolf skids to a halt
and prepares another charge, but I'm able to quickly fire off another burst of
ammunition and kill the second wolf as well. With those enemies dealt with, I continue
on my way.
The dirt track I'm on soon curves to the north, and after
a while I find myself at a four-way crossroads. Naturally, I want to go east,
but I can't help being curious about what lies to the north, on the other side
of the river. From the looks of things, there's a forest in the distance, and
presumably there's something in it; however, the signpost doesn't actually say
anything. Despite my curiosity, I decide that I can't allow myself to get
sidetracked; it's already getting a little late, and it'll probably be
nightfall by the time I reach St. Leonard. I should carry on to Clifton Hill.
I'm nearly at the town when I'm assaulted by a small
group of crows, which prove difficult to hit, and I end up expending the rest
of my ammo clip. As I start to reload, I'm now vulnerable, and two of the crows
swoop down upon me and start pecking and clawing at me. I instinctively shield
my face with my arms, but of course my arms then take the brunt of the attack,
and now I can't reload either. It seems I'm in big trouble, unless-
"Move-not." The unmistakeable accent and speech
patterns of a Dae'loran. I dare to glance behind me for a moment and manage to
catch a glance of a blue-skinned figure in a long white dress, her hand raised
in a spell-casting stance. "Static Discharge!"
An arc of lightning surges forth from the Dae'loran's
fingertips and strikes the crows directly, while miraculously missing me. The
electricity paralyzes the crows and they all collapse to the ground, helpless.
Now that I'm finally free of their torment, I'm able to safely reload my SMG
and finish them all off.
With the battle over, the Dae'loran approaches me, a
concerned look on her face. "Okay-you?" she asks. The Dae'loran
language has some kind of strange quirk where every word is a compound word,
made up of a base word and a modifier. It's been a few months since they
started to arrive on Earth en masse, to help fight back the invasion, and
although their grasp of English is fairly impressive considering, they've had
trouble adapting to our language's syntax.
"Yeah," I say, nodding. "I just have a few
scratches."
"Bleed-you," she says, drawing closer. Looking
down at my arm, I notice that I am indeed bleeding from some of the deeper
scratches. "Heal-will." She gently places a soft blue hand on my arm.
"Heal," she says, and a gentle blue pulse emanates from her palm. I
feel the pain in my arms subside, the scratches spontaneously healing.
Dae'lorans are world-renowned healers, and I have to admit, if this one hadn't
come along I might have been in serious trouble.
"Thank you," I say. "You really helped me
out there, honestly."
"Thank-not," the Dae'loran says. "At-war
are-we. Help-must. Duty-is."
"Of course," I say. "Well, thank you
anyway."
The Dae'loran curtseys. "Good-leave," she says.
"Luck-many." She's not the first Dae'loran I've spoken to, so I know
that this garbled phrase is their way of saying, "Goodbye, and good
luck".
I salute her in response. "You too, ma'am," I
say. "Luck-many."
The Dae'loran lets out an odd noise that may be her
species' equivalent of a giggle, then continues on her way. Still thanking my
lucky stars that she'd happened to come along when she did, I continue on my
way towards Clifton Hill, and safety. I might need to buy some more ammo clips
at this rate.
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