Grand Saint Alloy

Tristan did not make any noise as he slowly got to his feet. He was not sure what time it was but Eve was slumped against the wall her arms folded and snoring. She had either not been able to stay awake for her shift, or William had knocked her out. Tristan suspected the former, despite the fact that she had said she was not tired. Food, warmth, and safety in a stressful environment were an excellent combination to put anyone to sleep. Also William would not survive the consequences of harming the Elder’s granddaughter.

Tristan made his way over to the open door. He briefly wondered if this was a trap to kill him, but decided that was ludicrous. William had a chance to kill him, and with his set of skills, he would get away with it. The open doorway was their biggest issue, it was a square of light from the outside. They were lucky nothing had already came in.

After shutting the door, he tried to move the crates back in front of it. Normally it took two or three of them, but William had managed to move them by himself. Scowling at the man, Tristan went to wake up Bruce. Bruce was a deep sleeper and had to be shaken hard.

His eyes groggily opened, “What, what’s happ,” then he remembered where he was, his eyes widened and all tiredness vanished, “Sage, what happened?”

Tristan could only shake his head. Only sheltered people could see someone they barely know wake them up and still have trouble waking up. Tristan put one finger over his lips and pointed to the door. Bruce followed his finger and noticed all the crates of food had been moved.

“William left around forty-five minutes ago,” Tristan whispered, “I don’t know what he was doing, but he should have let us know when he would be back.”

Bruce nodded, “If only so we don’t lock him out.”

He got up and followed Tristan toward the door and helped push the crates of corn back into place. This warehouse had significantly more food, as the harvesters had made it further into their work before fleeing, or dying. It was not enough to feed the caldera by itself, but if every warehouse had a similar amount they could weather the winter months if they rationed.

Once the wooden boxes were back in place, blocking the door, Bruce looked at Eve with concern. He went over to her and gently shook her to wake her up. She was just as groggy as Bruce had been, however, when she saw the person who was taking the next watch waking her up her cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Eve groaned, embarrassed, “I did not mean to.”

Bruce sighed, “It does not matter and it might actually be for the best.”

Tristan went over to Clive and nudged him in the stomach with his boot. Clive was a farmer and was used to early mornings and hard days so he got up right away. Tristan was a little disappointed he did not have a couple of cold buckets of water around.

Clive looked around, “Why is everyone awake?”

Tristan explained to the group about what happened and how William had left without telling anyone. It was a short story but there were several things that Tristan could take from it. First, they would have to baby sit William. They claimed they needed Tristan, which was not really true. Hadrid would probably work with anyone who payed enough. They would need to keep track of the payment though, which William would not give them.

Second, William did not care about their safety. It was not just apathy, but he had to decide not to close the door. Leaving it open put everyone’s lives at risk. He would be a threat to them. Eve seemed shocked that her dozing off might have saved her life. William had been willing to kill Tristan if he thought he had seen him leaving.

Bruce seemed confused about something, “It is odd that William would jeopardize our goal. He was recalled from the boarder wall by Elder Plain when the city was overrun. He should want the crabs gone more than anyone else. It was the whole reason my sister suggested him.”

That was logical. William should have been emotionally invested in their goal, it should have made him a great ally. His current behavior contradicted that. Tristan contemplated what his goal could be if not eradication of the ghost crabs.

A thought struck him, “Hey, Bruce, you said that Elder Plain called him back from the border wall?” Bruce nodded, “Is there anything that Elder Plain would order William to do that contradicted the mission?”

Bruce thought, before shrugging, “I don’t know, I have little experience with the caldera leadership. Eve, you know how this works better than me.”

“Is there anything nearby that is of importance to Elder Plain,” Eve said, “It’s not uncommon for leaders to bundle goals to save on resources.”

Tristan nodded and pointed to the south east, “Yeah, the Plains Caldera is just a few miles over that way.”

Eve shrugged, “then it makes sense, he’s going to get something for Elder Plain.”

It would make sense to send a stealth specialist if they wanted to retrieve something from the fallen city. There was just one issue, “Why would he take the payment with him. We can’t go anywhere until he returns.”

“Well, there’s not a lot we can do,” Bruce said, “We should try to get some sleep and make a plan when the sun is up. William should be back by then. Sage take the first watch.”

“Tristan, my name is Tristan,” He grumbled.

“As I said its a girly name,” Bruce said before laying back down.

“Your sister is named Tristan as well,” Clive said.

Tristan contemplated leaving them to fend for themselves. They would not have even noticed William leaving if it was not for him. He did not leave, instead he kept watch over them for the rest of the shift. After waking up Clive he went back to bed and returned to sleep. At least this time he did not have any dreams.

The next morning William had still not returned. Bruce had a frown that would not leave his face. Tristan knew how much time a simple fetch mission should take. For someone of Williams caliber he could make it the five miles to the Plain Caldera in around ten minutes, fifteen if he had to maintain his stealth. That meant whatever he was doing, it ran into some difficulties.

If he was retrieving a heavy object Elder Plain would have sent more warriors. If he was retrieving items from a lot of locations, William would be at extremely high risk, being forced to enter multiple structures without knowing what was occupying it. However in either case, William should have gotten back sometime in the last five or so hours.

“We need to go find him,” Tristan said while they were eating breakfast, “If only because we need whatever is in that bag.”

Everyone’s faces darkened. It was common knowledge that the Plain Caldera was the epicenter of the ghost crab plague. The first signs were seen in the Grass Caldera, but there was an inn with a few dozen high grade warriors from various Calderas in the Plains Caldera. All of them but Vin had been infected and hatched a wave of powerful tier three crabs. All the crabs Tristan had killed so far were base tier three and lower. These ones were high to peak tier three.

There were not a lot of warriors in the caldera, maybe a thousand total. That was if you included the elderly and untrained, so losing forty of them in one day was a big loss. The ones at the forts near the border of the plains numbered around one hundred, and it was enough to put pressure on the undermanned wall. This was why the Elder’s did not just send in an army of warriors. They would most certainly win, but something worse could get inside. Tristan also suspected it was a kind of game to see which Elder would receive the resources of the fallen Calderas.

Bruce nodded, “The Plain Caldera is only a five mile hike away, we should be able to make it in less than half an hour. We need to find William, and get out. I don’t want to get in a fight with whatever hive these crabs would build.”

“We should leave someone behind, just in case he returns while we are gone,” Eve suggested.

All of them looked at Tristan, like he should be the one to stay, “Guy’s I am not made of glass. I can take care of myself. More importantly, I am built to fight, while your light and water kerns are built to grow and heal.”

Tristan knew that statement was only half true. Both light and water kerns could fight. He had even been saved by Sun Set while fighting elementals, and she had a tier one light kern.

Bruce reluctantly nodded, “That’s kind of true. Clive, you stay behind. Shut the door behind us and wedge it closed to the best of your ability, but be ready to open it in a hurry.”