Agent of the Sway: Departure - Part Eight

     A full contingent of Altadorian soldiers arrived a few hours later. At the head was an orange Skeith with a long beard. Clayton recognised him, they had met once before just after Altador had returned to Neopia - Commander Flint. He was a loyal soldier of the King, but he held ideas that the King didn't agree with, like pre-emptive strikes.

     Still, he was a capable soldier, and the perfect choice to fight the Wraiths.

     "Commander," Altador said with a nod. "I'm glad you got here so soon. We're dealing with a magical enemy similar to the minions of the Darkest Faerie. Multiple forms, unknown numbers, unknown source."

     Flint nodded.

     "Orders, sir?" he asked.

     "We're primarily on the defensive until our scouts report back with more information on the enemy," Altador said. "We hold the Woods for as long as possible. Fan out in defensive positions - give the enemy no quarter."

     This seemed to please Flint no end.

     "Excellent, sire," he said, turning back to give orders to his men. "My shield will have many new marks today."

     A Crokabek flew down through the trees to Knight and Clayton's hiding place.

     "A message from the Duchess," Knight said. "Apparently the Order of the Red Erisim have been alerted. The current Order head, Alshemar, is calling a general council at their headquarters nearby. It is expected that they too will start fighting back the Wraiths. If it weren't for the sheer numbers of the things, this force actually might be able to hold the woods."

     "Anything from Xandra?" Clayton asked.

     "The Duchess has an update on her movements," Knight confirmed. "She has located the other half of the artefact with Brynn and Hanso, they will be heading back here soon. However, they will need a wide open space to perform the ritual to get rid of all these do-gooders, what they believe will save Faerieland. You are to scout for available areas nearby."

     "Leg work?"

     "You seemed so sad to be missing out on it earlier," Knight pointed out. "Take this, in case you don't make it back in time."

     Knight handed over a small amulet that had been contained within the latest message, while putting a similar one over his neck.

     "The Duchess hopes these will provide enough protection for Sway agents against Xandra's spell," Knight explained. "She doesn't know we have them, raided from Razul's cache back during Dr. Sloth's invasion."

     "I thought the deal was she wouldn't target us," Clayton pointed out.

     "You know as well as I that Xandra is not to be trusted," Knight replied.

     ***

     Clayton thought the best place for the ritual would probably be just outside of the Haunted Woods. The Endless Plains stretched out for hundreds of miles in every direction. It was mostly deserted, but a few homesteads littered the land here and there.

     He found one such farm not far from the outskirts of the woods. There were no other houses for miles around - if the farm was deserted, it would be a perfect location.

     He knocked carefully on the door, which was opened by an old Wocky.

     "What is it, dear?" she asked.

     "Is this a farm?" Clayton asked, looking around.

     "My, yes, it was once," she replied proudly. "But that was back when my husband was alive. Now, there's just me and my daughters. I'm too old and they are too young to run this place, that's for sure."

     Clayton glanced up to the sky. Faerieland was speeding up. Had the ritual begun already?

     "You might want to leave..." Clayton suggested. "Faerieland is falling, you know? You're all in great danger!"

     "Is he right, Mother?" a voice asked from behind the old Wocky.

     There were two smaller Wockies there, twins, by the looks of things.

     "No, dear," the mother replied kindly. "He's talking stuff and nonsense. Faerieland could never fall! Now, you two need to fetch me some water for my bath, and then we're going to talk about our plans for your birthday party!"

     "Yay!" the twins cried out. "We love parties!"

     With that, the elder Wocky closed the door, Clayton's warnings falling on deaf ears.

     Clayton felt his heart in his mouth - Faerieland was only minutes away now, he was sure. This farmhouse would be caught in the path, but there was no way to get the three of them to safety. Reluctantly, he retreated back to the treeline in the distance.

     He could see Xandra performing the ritual with Brynn and Hanso some way away. The other adventurers had formed a circle to combat the Wraiths which appeared to be trying to stop it - no doubt a scheme by Xandra this time around. In the woods behind the noise of battle came as Commander Flint's soldiers and the mages of the Order took care of the main bulk of the Wraith army.

     And above them all, Faerieland was falling.

     A bright flash came from the direction of Xandra, a fresh shockwave of magic passing through Clayton, but thankfully absorbed by his new amulet. The others, it seemed, had not been so lucky. The noises of battle had fallen silent. Not because the fighting had stopped, but because King Altador and all his supporters had suffered the same fate as the Faeries. The spell didn't seem to have covered all of Neopia, not yet. But Clayton didn't doubt for a moment that Xandra would be able to do it at a moment's notice.

     Brynn and Hanso, seemingly at the epicentre of the blast, had survived the magic unscathed.

     Now Xandra was showing her true colours, unleashing the full force of her powers on the remaining Wraiths to deal with them in a matter of seconds.

     As the dawning realisation of Xandra's motives swept over Hanso's face, Faerieland finally fell to Neopia. It impacted like a comet, kicking up a great explosion that lit the sky across most of Neopia. Clayton was forced to the floor by the tremor, and the noise deafened his ears.

     ***

     Falmouth watched with tears in her eyes from the bow of the Shenkuu ship as Faerieland impacted. Even this high in the clouds, they could see the full extent of the explosion, and the shockwave unsettled the air miles above.

     "It's... gone," she said simply.

     "We can rebuild," Smith told her.

     "How?" she asked. "The Faeries are gone, Jackson. Faerieland is gone. We're no closer to solving all of this, and now we're refugees to boot."

     "Maraqua rebuilt," he said firmly. "We can. I just... I wish we could have evacuated the Faeries as well. My duty was to the Queen first and foremost, but she was down there... I hope the statues survived."

     "Fyora wouldn't have held with us evacuating the Faeries first," Falmouth reassured him. "We did what we could... The only thing we could. But where now?"

     "I'll talk to the Captain," Smith said. "For now, we should head to Neopia Central, they'll be able to dock the ships in the short term."

     Falmouth nodded, and Smith left her to her thoughts.

     Around her, the dozens of ships that had taken part in the evacuation banked north, and the last survivors of Faerieland made for a new home.

     Something about this did not sit right with Falmouth. There was something niggling at the back of her mind.

     Nox was not behind this, she was sure. There were darker forces at work.

     ***

     Clayton made his way through the rubble of Faerieland. The city was ruined beyond repair. Houses were scattered, homes for generations suddenly torn to shreds. In the distance, the Faerie Castle appeared to have lost several of its wings. The Hidden Tower itself appeared to have suffered damage, as several sections were now partially or completely visible.

     Eventually, Clayton came across Knight.

     "This... isn't right," Clayton repeated his earlier words. "This isn't what the Sway is about. We've destroyed an entire land just to appoint a Governor on another. There have been casualties..."

     "Nox doesn't count, we've covered this," Knight replied.

     "People lived on the Endless Plains!" Clayton shouted. "People lived here!"

     "Keep your voice down!" Knight hissed. "Follow me, we have work to do, still. If we don't get to the Hidden Tower soon, all of this will have been for nothing, regardless."

     There was an anger boiling in Clayton's soul, one he hadn't felt in a long time. All of his senses were telling him that they shouldn't be doing this, that this was the sort of thing bad guys do.

     He followed Knight regardless to the Hidden Tower. The contents had been upscuttled by the impact, shelves shattering and several of the more delicate artefacts breaking.

     Knight rooted through the objects until he found the one he was looking for. The one that all of them had been looking for since the fall of Captain Scarblade in New Maraqua.

     It was a ring. A simple little thing, blue in colour. Clayton thought perhaps it was carved from maractite, but he couldn't be sure. It was smooth to the touch, but seemed to be charged with untold power.

     This thing would summon an ancient sea beast known as a Krawken. The Sway would use it to appoint Gavril McGill governor of Krawk Island, and stabilise the pirate land for the foreseeable future.

     It seemed that Faerieland had to fall for Krawk Island to rise.

To be continued...