The Quantum Wanderer

***

Marcelo’s POV

The light comes from the window. An unnatural light that gives me chills. I get close to the window. The light is gone already. Cecilia looks at me. Huginn opens her eyes, but Cecilia doesn’t notice.

“What the fuck was that?”

Huginn sighs. A portal open, Muninn comes flying and lays by her side.

“I felt that you woke up! What can I do for you, love?”

“Just stay with me, husband.”

I lay my hand on Cecilia’s shoulder.

“Him.”

“What?”

“You asked what was that. It was him.” I turned to Muninn. “H-Bomb? Where?”

“Nope. Anti-matter. 5 grams. Angelica.”

“What does that mean?” Opal asks.

“Angelica is no more.” Ypê says.

At this point, we hear a very low rumbling. The windows shake a little bit.

“What is this now?” Cecilia asks.

“The sound of the explosion. The thunder.”

“But we are… What? 300 miles from Angelica?” Cecilia asks.

“400 miles.” Opal informs.

“Holy shit. That was a big kaboom, kid!” Ruby says to Muninn. He smiles. A smile with some malice.

Huginn gets out of the bowl of water, and shakes herself. Water flies in all directions.

We hear some commotion on the streets. The elves are leaving their houses, there are a lot of people asking what is going on.

Ypê turns to me.

“Big brother, can we tell the children that you are here? This may ease their hearts a little.”

“Sure.”

Ypê gestures towards the door. Huginn and Muninn fly to my shoulders. Huginn is already dry. People are leaving the houses. They are all talking to their neighbours. Everyone is questioning what is going on.

Autumnstart is walking fast towards us. There are some elves around him, part of the council, and some additional apparent aides.

“Good evening, friends!”

“Good evening, Autumnstart. How are you?”

“A little worried. Come to think about it, I have never seen any of you this late. Is everything alright?”

I take sometime to answer. I think whether I should tell the truth. But the elves already know a lot. I sigh. I relent.

“The Holy Kingdom managed to burn almost all crows in the country. This affected Huginn. She passed out… That light you saw was Angelica.”

“But… but… Angelica is 400 miles away… More if you count the turns from roads or rivers…”

I shrug. Autumnstart is looking at us for a long time, expecting me to say something, but I don’t have much to say. He continues.

“Did you attack the city?”

I look at Muninn. He laughs.

“I cast a spell.” Muninn says.

“So you spared a lot of them…” Autumnstart says, a little more relaxed.

“Nope.”

“One spell?” He now looks terrified.

“One spell.”

“Sometimes I am amazed at how much of a pacifist my husband is.” Huginn says.

The female council member turns to her.

“How so?”

“He only did one city. And quick. But you know how boys are… Harsh and quick… But don’t worry, everything is ok now, and don’t worry, I am way more careful than husband. We have all the time in the world.

“You might want to tell friends and family to avoid sleeping under same roof as people involved in this.”

I scratch the back of my neck.

“Don’t worry, Autumnstart. Everything is going to be ok. Specially with the elves.”

The council members around us nod slowly. I turn to the girls.

“I think we should go home, rest a little bit.”

Huginn is the one that answers.

“Yes, father. Starting tomorrow, I am going to be on a mission. If you don’t mind, of course.”

She flies to Ypê’s shoulder, and lands softly. She casts a silence spell, and talks a little to her. The dryad smiles and gives her a thumbs up.

She goes back to my shoulder.

“Can we please go home now, papa?”

There are too many people around us, we enter our home in the elves, and we portal back to Stronghold. Charles and Lucille are in the living room. They notice that Huginn is on my shoulder.

“Is she ok?”

“Yes, thank you. You helped, actually a lot.”

“Pfft. Don’t mind that.”

Huginn looks at the interaction.

“What happened, papa?”

“Well, when you just fainted we were a little bit off game. Charles was the one to suggest that we should bring you to healers. That’s when we went to the dryads.”

“Oh? Why, thank you, grandpa, grandma…”

They look at her in a weird way, I don’t think that Huginn is the image of a granddaughter they had in mind. They end up nodding, accepting her thanks, though.

We stay a little bit in the living room. We take some time to decompress and relax a bit. The worst is gone. Charles and Lucille go up to their room.

Huginn wants to get even with the assholes. As far as I care about them, she can do whatever she wants. They bring nothing good to the world. They use a legend to justify oppression. And I have seen their true colors. Lady Guina. The hero. The hero’s party. Those things together weren’t a fluke.

Opal massages my shoulders, it feels good. After the delicious massage makes me feel better and we all relax, we retire for the night.

Next morning, we come down for breakfast. As always, I turn to the girls.

“Girls, are the plans for today?”

The girls look at Huginn.

“We were thinking of helping… Daughter.” Opal says.

I turn to Huginn.

“What are your plans?”

At this point, Rudolph enter the room with a letter on a tray. I take a look at it, Anthon and Edward are asking me to visit the palace, to discuss things of my interest. It doesn’t have a time on it. Rudolph clears his throat.

“Lord, the messenger is waiting for an answer. Are you coming there? What time would you like to go?”

I look at Huginn. She nods. Then she answers my question.

“I have to prepare, papa. First thing is visiting Leopold, to get the names of the people involved. I know you have a soft spot for the weak ones. The main event is going to happen tonight, though.”

“What are you going to do tonight?”

“Oh, you will see.”

I shrug. Huginn has a quality and a defect. The quality is her excellent memory. She is, however vindictive.

I turn to Rudolph.

“We can go there in the afternoon. That will give us time to visit Leopold.”

Rudolph leaves, we continue with the breakfast. We finish it.

“Do you want to dress up papa? Mamas? Please?”

I smile. She has this way of asking for things, producing those puppy eyes…

We go up to our room, and dress up in armor. Huginn tells us that Leopold is in his office, with Aymon. We open the portal, and go in.

Leopold is sleeping while sitting down. Aymon has his head on his lap. Huginn jumps from my shoulder, and she assumes a big size. Not as big as a fenrir, that wouldn’t even fit the room, but somewhere like 9 feet tall. Her four eyes are out, her beak has teeth in it. She took a more aggressive appearance.

She casts a silence spell, and approaches the duo.

“Wakey, wakey, sleeping beauties…”

Leopold opens his eyes, to see Huginn’s face inches from his. He push himself back, the sofa flips, the couple falls backward.

“HOLLY FUCKING SHIT!”

She purposely creates some long eyelashes on all four eyes, and blink at Leopold.

“My my, saying those bad words in front of a lady.”

Leopold looks at Huginn, scared, then at his partner then back at her. Huginn just continues talking casually.

“Good morning.”

They both nod, mouths open.

“Now, we have a problem. You know that some of your adventurers collaborated into a mass murder… Naughty, very naughty… Now, I want their names. Their parties.”

They are both looking at Huginn, still shocked. After some moments, Leopold clears his throat. He puts on a brave face. Aymon holds his arm. When Leopold looks back, Aymon shakes his head. Leopold give two light slaps on Aymon’s hand, presses his lips and nods very lightly.

Then he turns around.

“Please, you know I can’t do that…”

“Ok.” Huginn answers, very lightly. She takes her time, almost smiling at Leopold.

“Ok?” Leopold asks. He expected for further pushback from the monster in front of him.

She turns around, looking at me.

“You see, papa? I tried to make sure that I didn’t have to kill *ALL* the adventurers in the country, but…”

Leopold knows that this is a script. And he knows she will follow through.

“WAIT!”

“Yes…?” She turns slowly to him.

Leopold steps to the side, so that he can look at me.

“Please… Don’t do this... They didn’t know. They were innocent.”

“Hum… So… Hypothetical question here. I don’t have to tell you that right now you are safe, but I don’t take bullshit well… If they had kidnapped the adventurers’ children and put them on the bonfire… Wouldn’t they fight?”

“Yes, but that is different.”

“It is. Those were lives that they were not invested in. Like now.”

Aymon’s whisper ends up being louder than he wanted. He terrified.

“Their lives are not something you are invested in…”

“I am going to need time to get that information.” Leopold says.

“You have 16 big cities in the Holy Kingdom. Sorry, that was before yesterday. You have 15 big cities in the Holy Kingdom. If you don’t spend precious time doing other things, you can get the list ready by today. I will come tomorrow for it.” She turns to me. “Is this reasonable, papa?”

I nod.

I open the portal. Huginn is about to jump through it, but she before that she turns her head back. “Beware of who you house. Everyone involved in that is going to burn.”

We go back home, I close the portal. We sit in the living room. Huginn flies to my lap, now in crow shape.

“See, papa? Didn’t I super behave?”

“You did.” I pet her on the neck. We take our time there, drinking some juice. She mentions that Leopold is already using the Comm Gems, he is probably either talking to the others in the Upper Echelon or getting the list started.

Noon arrives soon enough, we head out to the palace. We are expedited into a study. Edward is already there.

“Good afternoon, friends! Oh, now I feel underdressed.”

We are still wearing out armor. Brokkr’s work is as comfortable as any normal clothing. Of course, elven clothing can get more comfortable, but that is not the point.

“Yes, we were on a small mission, but we finished it.” I smile.

Edward gestures to the guard that brought us there. He gets close to him, and tells him to call a maid with refreshments. He turns back to us.

“You know, we have been trying to get that thing we enjoyed in the elven lands, ale wine, but we just haven’t had the luck!”

I giggle.

“Yes, I heard that they are not selling that to outsiders.”

“They must really enjoy it, then.”

He brings some glasses with liquor, puts them on the coffee table. Shortly after, a maid comes in. She has a cart, with cakes and drinks. She serves us as well, each of us ends up with two cups, one with juice and one with liquor. Besides cakes, of course.

She leaves the cart in the study, and returns to wherever she came from.

The girls and I enjoy the food for a little bit, and Anthon arrives. The guards open the door, he sits beside Edward.

“Good afternoon. How are you?”

“We are well.”

We all take a sip on our drinks. Edward breaks the silence.

“So, sir Marcelo, you were mentioning that you were on a small mission. Was this related to Angelica, by chance?”

“Kind of…”

Anthon gets to the tip of his seat.

“Were you the one that…?”

I hold my hand up.

“No. It was him.”

As I look at Muninn, their eyes follow mine, falling on the bird pretending innocence.

“By himself?” Edward asks out of reflex.

Muninn laughs.

“You do remember I am not a crow, right? I mean, not anymore…”

“Yeah… Right…”

We stay another period of silence. I remember that he must have had people of his in Angelica. I would expect ambassador, crew, soldiers for the embassy to say the least.

“I totally forgot about that, but did you have people in Angelica? I am sorry about them.”

“Well, yes and no. Yes, we had an ambassador with a small squad of soldiers for his protection. Small quantity, high level. When the animals ran, I told him to follow them.

“Some of them unfortunately got caught in the crossfire, but a lot of them escaped. They are, however, stranded there. I already have a party of adventurers on the way for the rescue. It is a pity they are going to have to leave the animals on this way of the border.”

Huginn scratches her hear with her paw.

“That has been lifted. The animals are not coming back, except for birds. But animals that enter the area are not longer going to run.”

Edward looks at her.

“O…k…? Thank you for the information. Now we have a second topic to ask you about. Given what happened, we are foreseeing a lot of refugees. The lack of animals, the destruction of the capital, the loss of order… Some people might just use that to try to use the vacuum of power.

“Are we allowed to take in the refugees?”

Huginn tilts her head sideways.

“Every building with someone involved in the bonfires is going to burn.”

I can see both Edward and Anthon with a distant look. Edward turns to Huginn.

“Who do you consider involved with the bonfires?”

“The church, the soldiers and the adventurers that participated.”

“Do you mind if I share this information with other upper echelon in the guild?” Edward asks.

“As long as you don’t reveal anything about papa… You know he likes to walk around common men…”

“Can I say I received an oracle from Wrax?” Anthon asks. “That is going to make everything a lot easier.”

Huginn looks at me.

“I don’t care. You know that all that Wrax’s fury thing were just coincidences.”

“Thank you, we appreciate that immensely.” Edward says. “Can I ask something? Don’t answer if you don’t want to… But was it really a single spell?”

Muninn smiles. Considering he is a bird, the changes to his beak to accomplish that always look awkward.

“Yes. A single spell. But then, father shared knowledge with me. It is not something that can really be taught. The hard part was dosing. I didn’t want to crack the planet, after all…”

He laughs out, one of those heartfelt laughs. But Edward and Anthon’s smiles are kind of yellowish. I turn to Muninn and Huginn.

“Guys, you are scaring our friends. Go easy.”

“Truth be told, father, that is an indication that this area is the safest place in Andrea. With the exception of the church ambassador, of course. The church people are so flammable… A real fire hazard. If I were their neighbor, I would stockpile on water for an eventual fire…”

“I will gently nudge the fire brigade.”

That got me curious.

“Do you guys have a separate fire brigade?”

“Not separate, but part of the soldiers are better trained at fire fighting than others. I mean, it is common sense to throw fire spells on the enemy, right?”

“Of course. Just out of curiosity, what are you planning on doing?”

Anthon goes back in the sofa.

“I already did most of what I have to do. After the animal thing yesterday, I closed the borders. There is going to be a lot of friction on the border, considering the price of animals in general just spiked in the Holy Kingdom. That and the chaos that is going to ensue. We were trying to think of some consequences to what happened, and the best case scenarios are bleak.”

Edward takes a sip, and does the same.

“On my side, I am going to provide a fury of Wrax explanation, and explain the borders to the Holy Kingdom are closed. Leopold has the worst problem to think of. Arthuria and the empire were not too affected.

“I am also going to notify lord . The small guilds should all be aware that they are not to allow those people in. Too risky.”

“That is sensible.” I look outside, some hours have passed. Huginn hops on the table, stares at me.

We talk about some scenarios that Anthon and his advisors created. Increased violence and famine. Some farmers, if they are smart, might actually survive well, if they move away from he cities. The great predator right now is going to be their fellow humans.

If they move far enough, they can have agriculture. It is going to be hard, given that they can’t count with animals to move the stuff around, but even with a smaller production, if they don’t have to pay taxes, it is their win. They are able to out survive the crisis.

The guild is going to have a complicated life now. I don’t know how Leopold is going to deal with things. I don’t even know when Huginn intends on hunting down the adventurers.

We go home when the sun is setting. Once we get in our living room, we can talk about the plans. Cecilia turns to Huginn.

“So, what is the plan?”

“The plan? I sent in birds to let me know what houses the soldiers are in. They just followed everyone that left the soldier stations. Now it is a question of going there, blocking the doors with some earth magic, and making a fire that cannot be put out. Not really a big plan. Of course, mamas, you are all invited to come with me if you wish. It might just be a bit boring.”

“Are you going to do that in the whole country?”

“Nooo… I will be hitting one city per night. I will probably start with the one that is closer to the border. You know, make things easier for our friends.”

Rudolph comes to the living room to announce dinner.

“Lord, dinner is served.” He looks at Huginn, on my shoulder. “Is lady Huginn alright? We were all worried.”

“Yes, I am fine, Rudolph. Thank you for the concern. Oh, please let everyone know not to visit the church for some weeks.”

“Both churches, lady? There are a couple of people that enjoy a good service, but they attend the new Wrax church.”

She laughed a little. A musical laugh, of satisfaction.

“No, those are safe. I am talking about Nergal’s church. For those, it is better to avoid it. Just to be safe, you know.”

He bows to her, with his hand over his heart.

“Of course. Thank you, lady.”

I look around the girls. Cecilia is a little overwhelmed by everything that has happened, it is clear on her face. Ruby is excited to see stuff burning, while Aquamarine is more curious. Opal and Shandon are not too affected.

We decide to have dinner in the armor. It should be uncomfortable, but it isn’t. After dinner, we go up and take the armor off. We relax a little bit.

“Huginn, when do you want to start the operation?” I ask her.

“Past midnight. After we hit the first city, the others are going to have a harder time sleeping…”

The girls and I snooze a little. After what seems to be a very short sleep, Huginn wakes us up.

“Papa, mamas, you don’t have to come. But if you want to come, it would be now.”

We dress ourselves in black, something to avoid our presence being noticed. Huginn portals us in the air, very high above the city. No one is going to notice us. She flies down.

I can see that there are birds around the houses she targets. I can sense her mana spiking around each house. She casts very small earth barriers, only enough to lock doors and windows on several homes.

This city is way smaller than Angelica, it must have around fifty thousand people in it. It is close to the empire’s border. Still, her meticulous work is impressive.

There are some birds around a couple of houses in the slums, but she doesn’t target those. I am going to ask her why later, even if this is a merciful act. The whole neighborhood is made of wood. A fire here would be catastrophic.

A couple of passes, and she locked up a lot of places. Including a guard house by the gates, as well as the main barracks. She finishes the locking part with the cathedral for the city. It is not only a place of worship, but also the government. As expected in a state run by religion.

She starts the fires with the cathedral. The flames are created inside the walls, and start slowly moving inside. The bells start ringing, there is an alert of attack. Though my mana sense, I can feel a group of higher level people trying to escape through a secret passage way.

Huginn would never let that be. The way is also covered in flames.

She moves on the barracks. Before all the soldiers can actually start moving, the flames start from the walls. They start screaming, running through corridors for other exits. Only to notice that their path is also blocked by flames.

A couple of soldiers try to power through the flames, but then, no matter what they are wearing, they catch fire. The fire glues to their skin and keeps burning as they wretch on the street.

I would expect most of them to die because of the gases, but it doesn’t happen as often as I would expect.

People are not fully awake yet. The whole thing is happening too quickly, the city was asleep.

The noble district is still starting to react when she goes on to other places. She flies over a couple of houses in a merchant district. Some reasonably expensive houses, and set them ablaze as well. She goes to the low bourgeois’ district, and sets several of the houses on fire.

A couple of inns on the poor district are not spared from her retribution.

People screaming, smell of burnt wood, fabric, flesh and hair go up in the night. Some people are burning so bad that they try to scrape the flesh from their own bones to make it stop hurting.

I have to admit that this is beyond anything I thought would happen. But then, after so long in this land, I have heard tales of what the Holy Army tends to do to infidels that do not accept Nergal.

Amidst this hell on earth, some soldiers are among the crowd, trying to help put out the fire. They are easily identifiable by their armors.

They start combusting. People open space around them. At some point, someone shouts that the guards are being targeted. Some of them try to approach the horde, asking them to calm down. Then they start combusting, running around in pain.

When the second one tries to tell people to calm down, he starts getting stoned. And then combusts.

The population turns on the few soldiers that are trying to hide, they are thrown on the streets. Huginn makes them catch fire.

There is a rebellion in the city, the populace start destroying symbols of Nergal. From the far point I am, it is like seeing an anthill being taken by another. It is violent.

We let the fire continue and go back home. We all take a shower because of the smell of smoke and get to bed.