Coming of the Warlord: Chapter Four

Chapter Four: Interrupted Greetings

Velira’s eyes shifted from the red haired man to the source of the explosion of sound. Smoke drifting on the harbor winds to the east blew over the city, carried by the force of the explosion. Dwelling and shop alike across the city were covered in the sooty, suffocating cloud. She stared at the cloud as it stopped, and began to dissipate, only to be replaced by another, caused by yet another explosion.

This one was powerful enough that the shockwave nearly knocked her off of her feet, and she only avoided a dump into the sea as Mr. Tallas caught her by the arm. Panting softly, she pulled herself back from the edge of the docks. Her gown swished against the dock stone as she stared across her city, the black smoke clouds staining the buildings that they had covered before dissipating, rising into the air.

“What was that?” Velira muttered. “There wasn’t anything explosive in the warehouses over there.”

“You keep explosive substances in your warehouses? You don’t live meekly, do you?”

She rounded on the red haired man, and glared at him. “When I finish finding out just what happened over there, I will have words for you, little man. For now, why don’t you stay here where I can find you again.” She flicked her fingers at two of the armored guardsmen that stood at the edge of the dock, gesturing for them to follow her. They rushed forward, their armor clinking with their every movement. Equipped the same as the rest of the city guardsmen, they wore a cuirass of plate armor, and a covering of chain armor on their limbs. It was somewhat ugly, but their surcoat, of gold and silver, made up for it to a degree. “Come with me,” she said, hustling down towards the streets that led into the city of Veleran.

The soldiers formed up behind her, and were joined by two more as soon as she found another pair that were free. The four of them formed an escort square around her, and moved fast enough that she was kept at a jogging pace. Her gown wasn’t meant for this pace, but she was able to keep up, if only barely, and by the skin of her teeth.

She was almost past the western warehouses when her rear guards stopped, forcing the ones that led the way to stop as well. Growling under her breath, Velira looked over her shoulders to see what was holding them up. It better be something worthwhile, or she would have words with these guards later.

One of her guards had his spear leveled, at Mr. Tallas, of all people. The smith had followed her, apparently. He held one hand out in a gesture for her to wait, while the other held the hilt of his sword. “Wait!” he called out, stopping just out of reach of the guardsman’s spear. “Please, let me come along as well. If anyone was injured in that explosion, you’re going to need as many hands as you can get to help them.”

She lifted her eyebrow at that, and he blushed a bit. “What can I say, I want to help out a bit. This is going to be my new home, after all,” he explained.

She could understand that much. Allowing her eyes to drift back to the smoke rising from the direction of the eastern harbor, Velira hoped desperately that Petila had gone directly back to the glassworks. She might have gone down to the docks, after all, to check for a shipment or something like that. She didn’t want to think of her sister down there, but she had to admit it was a possibility.

“You can come along,” she muttered, gesturing for the guardsmen to pull their spears back. “Just do what I say, Mr. Tallas. If there are injured people on the docks, I don’t want to add to their numbers.”

“Don’t worry, ma’am,” Mr. Tallas said. “I feel the same way.”

The guardsmen allowed him through their ranks, and he walked next to her. Velira nodded at the guards, and they picked up the pace, forcing the two of them to jog once more if they didn’t want to be crushed beneath iron and steel. She was thankful that Mr. Tallas was able to keep up, but she half wished that he would at least pant a bit, seem somewhat out of shape, or something. As it was, he was in better shape than she was, and Velira wouldn’t have been surprised if he could outrun the guardsmen and get there before them, if he had a mind to. It wasn’t so bad in that it reassured her that he really was in shape, but it did annoy her that this stranger was in better shape than her guardsmen.

She would have to remember to remedy that, later. For now, though, she felt a need tugging her towards the eastern harbor, where the smoke continued to rise.

Velira passed by many different shops on the road that led to and from the harbor. The various buildings generally doubled as housing for most of the owners, saving them both space and money in their lifestyles. She watched the smith as he walked beside her, watching his reactions.

“I noticed your little friend isn’t following as well,” Velira muttered. “Was he too frightened to come along, or is he just not as much of a friend as you seemed to think?”

“He doesn’t really have any business here on the island, or any stake in the island. I do,” Mr. Tallas said absently. He was looking at the various stores that they passed. He scrutinized them with an intense gaze, and for a while, she thought that he was just taking in the way they looked, taking in how his own shop might look.

The way he continued to shake his head at the still buildings put that thought to rest, however. He looked in the windows and doorframes of the houses more than any other place, as if expecting someone to come out, or to see someone looking out the window.

“Why aren’t they coming out to help?” he asked, turning from the houses along the road to her. “Don’t they worry about what might be happening?”

She shook her head. “Not in the least. All that they own and all that they need is over here on the western side of the city. Every part of the city, the tower, and the compass points, are more or less self sufficient. Why should they really worry about the other parts of the city, considering the lack of business between one side and the other?”

Mr. Tallas fell silent, and Velira sighed softly. She hadn’t meant to offend him, if she had, but that was the way it was here. Besides, why would one go out of their way to protect something that wasn’t theirs?

The thought of her sister filled her mind, of what might happen if she was down by the waterfront.

Without thinking, she walked a little faster.

The streets were clogged with approaching guardsmen, flowing in from the northern and southern parts of the city. Despite what Mr. Tallas thought, there were those in the city that could feel worry and duty towards those in other parts of the city. The fact remained that the entire thing was likely only some explosion from a piece of cargo or something in a warehouse that had suddenly caught fire. It wasn’t like there was some sort of villain planting exploding devices, or working magic like was done on the western continent.

Still, she couldn’t remember any manifest reports mentioning any sort of explosive or highly flammable material coming in from any ships, and there certainly weren’t any merchants on the island that dealt in that. That had to suggest some form of outside influence, didn’t it? Velira shook her head, but couldn’t get rid of the thought.

The further they walked, the more guardsmen they drew. The four man square around her person grew and grew, until she was at the center of a formation of a hundred guards. She would have dismissed them, but they still had to get through most of the city. They were only just reaching the tower, after all, and there was no telling how frantic the east side of the city would be. She might very well need every one of her escort to push a path through the crowds ahead.

As they reached the square that allowed the crowds to move from one district to another, around the tower, something went wrong. No matter how many times Velira went through the situation in her mind later, no matter how many times she tried to figure it out, she could never find where things went wrong.

But they did go wrong, terribly, horribly wrong.