欧洲无人区天空码头IV

"What is she doing here?"

"She\'s pretty..."

Evie \'The Ice Queen\', was walking down the street toward the castle.

She was wearing a long white and blue robe, it looked heavy and had a lot of layers despite the day being hotter than usual.

She wasn\'t sweating at all, however. Her skin looked smooth like porcelain, her long white-grey hair dancing in the wind.

Her hair was a consequence of the Sovereign status. She was a young adult, just reaching 22.

Tiny sparkles dispersed in the wind as she walked, trailing behind her and amazing the kids around while the adults rolled their eyes.

She didn\'t care much what they thought, however.

She was walking slowly, while a horse-driven carriage was on her left, going at the same pace as her.

Someone was hanging half-outside of the window, waving his arms around.

"Come-on, Evie, don\'t be like this. Just get in already."

The man sighed heavily.

"We\'ll be late, again. I know you don\'t care but I\'m the one getting all the blame..."

"I\'m walking," she said.

"Huuuuuuuuuh. Pleaaaseeeeeee."

After a couple more of those \'Pleeeeease\', making every head turn, she finally surrendered, getting in the carriage.

She slammed the door close and started pouting.

"I know you don\'t like those rides, but time is of the essence. This summon we received had a black wax seal. Something major happened," said the butler.

"Can you remind me what the color means?" she asked.

"Black means the whole kingdom might be in danger. Red means a few cities might be in danger. Yellow means a single city might be in danger."

"Only might? So the kingdom could also be fine?"

"Something happened, that\'s for sure. The scale is re-evaluated with all the new information we\'re getting. It could go from black to red by the time we get there."

"So we could be hurrying for nothing."

"Oh, not for nothing. Dustriver has been wiped out."

"It was attacked? It\'s quite far from the frontline..." she said.

"I don\'t have the details yet. That\'s why it\'s important we get there faster."

The carriage was hurrying up the street, the driver insulting the pedestrians from time to time as they went up the hill.

Four horses were dragging this carriage, which made the ascent to the castle pretty easy.

"That\'s a lot of horses... and carriages," she pointed out as they arrived at the entrance.

"I\'m guessing everyone of importance has been summoned. We\'re most likely that last ones... oh man I\'m truly going to be executed this time..."

"Stop whining, let\'s just go in."

Evie stepped outside, the wind had slightly risen, and the sun would soon set as night was around the corner.

She headed inside. Guards held the doors open as she made her way toward the room designated for important meetings.

She entered, followed by her butler, to a room full of people sitting around an oval table.

"Finally, you\'re here. Sit."

"Yes, general," she replied.

She sat in the only seat remaining, while her servant stayed up behind her.

"She doesn\'t even pretend to care," said a man wearing a knight\'s formal attire.

"I\'m here, am I not? Let\'s just get this over with."

"Silence. Alright, since we\'re all here, let\'s get this started."

The general looked around the room, then turned to one of the knights on his right side.

"We\'re clear?" he asked.

"Yes. I can\'t sense anyone nearby, or any spells activated."

"Good."

The general put both hands on the table, leaning forward. His voice was somber, his stern facial expression showed how serious the situation was.

"You all recall the red-seal meeting? We had moved forward with getting Luxian to investigate and take appropriate actions. He found the menace we had detected. The raised corpses had already gone through a few small towns before going the opposite way."

"They suddenly changed course?" asked another knight.

"Yes. They were heading for Dustriver. The last contact we had with Luxian was before he left for that city."

"Is he lazying around in a pub again? Last time we found him singing in one with some random bard about how strong he was, I wouldn\'t call a black-seal meeting for this, honestly," said Evie.

All the heads turned toward her, while her butler facepalmed.

The general sighed, rolling his eyes.

"We\'ve sent recon to find him, however, Dustriver was already wiped out."

"What do you mean, general, by wiped out? What is the death-rate?" asked a younger knight.

The general\'s tone became even more grave.

"100%. Everyone died, we can\'t find anyone."

"The zombies? Were we too late?" asked someone else.

"Raised corpses. And no, those were found as they were going back on their initial course. Where Dustriver should\'ve been, all that remained was a giant slit in the ground, going hundreds of meters deep, and hundred of meters wide."

Whispers and muttering took over the room.

"Do we think those pesky beastman did it? They\'ve been quiet on the front, my soldiers are reporting."

"Or maybe it was those dryads..."

"Dryads don\'t have that kind of destructive magic," said Evie. "And beastman barely use magic at all. Is everyone here stupid?"

Evie\'s butler closed his eyes, breathing deeply while looking up, seemingly praying.

"For someone who\'s not even able to be here on time, you act like you know a lot."

"Yeah. Time and knowledge are truly connected. General, I\'d move forward with a proposition to IQ test anyone who sits at this table. Next thing you know they\'ll propose to send the cavalry... again."

"What?! You fucking bitch, I\'ll have your head for this you-"

"Enough, keep your composure," cut the general. "What are you thinking, Evie."

"There\'s a lot of possibilities. I doubt it\'s the demons, Jeff had them under control. It must\'ve been a small group that did this, as an army would\'ve been detected way before they reached Dustriver. Also, Dustriver had little strategic purpose, so not likely to be a group from the north."

"How can you be sure it\'s not the demons?"

"They\'ve been under control for a very long time, if they did a coup they wouldn\'t be able to deal that much damage, all of the sudden, or even besting Luxian."

"We did find demonfolks in towns nearby Dustriver. Some of them talked, claiming some raised corpses were roaming around. However, apparently they were avoiding demons."

"Then the raised corpses and that slit in the ground must be connected," reasoned Evie.

"That\'s what we\'re thinking, yes. We need to send an elite platoon to investigate further."

"Sounds like a good idea," said Evie.

All the heads turned to her.

"Oh, no way. You know I don\'t deal with any hardships well, and the carriage rides... You know I can\'t digest those dried food bags. No, no and no."

"You have to, or you\'ll face worse hardships here," said the General.

"FINE. You better pay me heaps of gold. Fuck, I already have too much gold, I don\'t even know what I want. Maybe vacation time? Yeah. I want years of vacation.

Final offer."

"You\'ll get 2 weeks, and thank me on your knees for it. Now go, assemble a party and get going."

She exhaled loudly so everyone would hear it. As they all rolled their eyes once more, Evie and her butler slightly bowed, heading for the exit.

"Not you. We need to talk. Again."

Her butler squirmed, his hands trembling as he turned around.

"Y-y-yes, g-general."