219 Out of the Wildlands

In Fal'Herim, there was a silent gloom brooding over the city.

Hurried footsteps scurried hastily across the unusually clear roads. Fearful voices spoke in hushed whispers. Doors were shut and windows battered on every street.

They hadn't exactly been keeping the Tide a secret. Word got around pretty fast. By now, the entire city knew there was a mass of Wilds headed their way. A great many decided simply to hunker down and hide under their beds. Tim's people had gone around urging evacuation, but only about a tenth of the people in the city actually decided to leave.

As for the Industrial District associated with Remian, it was all but emptied out. Everyone had gone underground with as much of the equipment as they could squeeze into storage without making things uncomfortable. They had plenty of supplies, and they had sixteen tunnels branching out to exits far from Fal'Herim's underground. One of them even went out past the desert and into Paleres.

"The Tide's advance party has passed Kara-Goth. They're headed this way." Mindy told Tim as they watched the last of the evacuees start to seal up the underground entrance. "Can they even make it through the desert?"

"They have a road to follow, thanks to the hardworking Iron Legion. It's almost complete, didn't you know?" Tim pointed out. "What are you going to do? Are you coming down with us, or…?"

"I'm taking off." Mindy shook her head. "I'm bringing my crew with me."

Tim's face fell. Most of his old friends had joined Mindy's crew, wanting to see the world. "Where will you go?"

"Ecclesia." Mindy answered. "We have recruiters hard at work there. I'm sure they'll have passengers to bring to Kara-Goth by now. Also, my crew need magic training. That's the best place for it."

"How many more can you take? Other than your crew?" Tim asked.

"With our current cargo, taking a single trip to Ecclesia, and people sleeping on the floor, well… maybe another hundred?" Mindy guessed. "But it's not going to be comfortable."

"The people around here are going to die if they just barricade their houses." Tim shook his head. "Maybe they'll be more willing to evacuate if you offer them a free ride on an airship. They deserve a choice, at least." Tim figured. "I expect this Tide to simply roll right over us and move on, but you never know if a few hundred Tier 5's might just decide to stick around for good afterward. Fal'Herim might never be a safe place to live again."

"Or, they might just rush past and leave you all alone." Mindy suggested optimistically.

Tim snorted. "If you really believed that, you wouldn't be here, and I wouldn't be stuffing as many people underground as would listen to me. I'm still wondering why so many wouldn't."

"Maybe they're just not scared enough. Do you think maybe more people will decide to pack up and run if I start screaming hysterically?" Mindy wondered.

"You can try."

"AAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!" She actually tried it. "The Wilds are coming! THE WILDS ARE COMING!!!"

"Shut up!" someone opened a window and threw a flower vase at her.

"Yikes!" Mindy ran for cover as the vase smashed against the road and broke, fallen petals and pieces of shattered porcelain scattering over the hardened ground. "I guess not…"

"You've done all you can here, Mindy." Tim grimaced. "The rest is already out of our hands. Go. Fly our friends to Ecclesia, and don't look back."

Mindy hesitated one last time. "Do you… want to come with us?"

Tim slowly shook his head. "Go, Mindy. Go. Don't look back."

Mindy left, but despite Tim's words, she definitely looked back.

***

Far to the north, the West Tide was rapidly approaching the shores of La Vive and Itarim. As the beaches and cliffs of the border between them came into sight though, the mass of flying Wilds suddenly stopped.

Some people spotted them. Some people started running. Others just gawked. Nobody knew what was going on, why they were there, or why they had stopped and were just flapping around in mid-air for.

But then, the sky began to darken. Clouds began to grow rapidly, so quick that one could visibly see them expanding. Winds began to pick up and before long, rain began to fall…

In a minute, the rain had become a heavy downpour, and minutes later, the power of a full-blown storm hammered upon the shores. People really began to scramble at that point, many of them seeking shelter, but many still not entirely sure what was going on.

It was only when the storm began to move inland that the Storm Pegasus Lord and his kin finally struck. Flying through the clouds, they gathered wind, thunder and lightning around them like auras and then struck down mercilessly. The explosive power of their landings resembled a barrage of heavy artillery in the war zone just to the north of that location. Communications equipment faltered under the magical and electrical might of the storm. They couldn't even call for help.

The people at the beaches, mostly military logistics crews shuttling supplies, stood little or no chance of stopping them. Poorly armed, caught off-guard, not expecting any threat worse than bad weather, the combination of a sudden storm and the power of the Pegasi in utilizing it quite literally blew them away.

The Wilds were attacking! Since when they did even leave the Wildlands? Why would they come all the way here, across the Midlands Sea?! The sudden victims of the onslaught were full of questions.

Thunder, lightning and Tier 5 hooves were all that answered them.

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The Storm and the Wilds landed on the shores of men while men fought each other and men were trampled underfoot before they could so much as send a warning.

Still unnoticed and unexpected by the vast majority of mankind, the Tide's rampage continued north.

***

Meanwhile, Max and Markus were rushing to seal up the maintenance entrance while three of George's Frame Squad fended off a Skeletal Serpent.

"We can't hold it!" one of them said, as his Frame broke apart under the strain. "We're dying out here!"

"A little more! Just a little more!" Markus checked all the explosives in place, set the last wires, and then ran. "DONE! Run for it!"

THUD, THUD, THUD! The footsteps of the ME-Frames pounded behind them. "The Serpent's still coming!"

"Hold! We have to hold!" Markus barked, turning around.

"But we set it to blow in twenty seconds!" Max shouted.

"We need a second line! Where's our backup? Aren't the other entrances done yet?!" Markus yelled.

"There's no time! Everyone run!" the trooper shouted, stomping ahead.

"No, wait!" Markus yelped, but it was too late. With that trooper dashing ahead, only one Frame-equipped trooper was left to face the Tier 5 Skeletal Serpent charging down the tunnel. There was a brief, loud, painful crash, and then pieces of Frame and wounded human went tumbling towards Markus.

"OOF!" Markus was bowled over and then pinned down while the Skeletal Serpent hissed and charged forward.

"Eight seconds!" Max didn't hesitate. He ran forward and grabbed at Markus.

"There's no time!" Markus stared at Max, his face pale. "I won't make it. Go. GO!"

"My left shoe, you won't!" Max tugged at him, with the Serpent already looming over them.

SNAP! The Serpent took a bite at Max. Max barely dodged it, and could feel the wind of its passing like the touch of death close to his neck. It swung its head, slamming Max into the wall.

BOOM! The explosives went off, and tons of rock and rubble came crashing down to seal the maintenance tunnel. The Serpent hissed, spun, and slithered like lightning for the exit, but before it could make it out, the rubble collapsed on it.

Then, there was stillness.

After a minute, a white, serpentine shape broke out of the exit. Hissing once more at the collapsed tunnel, the Skeletal Serpent finally abandoned the place and followed its peers north.

As for Max, Markus and the injured trooper…

The rocks and rubble were still. On the entrance side, there was no movement.