The Stones kingdom is one of the countless kingdoms you can find on the Asteria mainland. It is a relatively weak kingdom bordered by the Koryn kingdom to the North-East, the Silvermoon kingdom to the South-East, the Amarach forest to the west, and the Opal Lake to the South.
The Stones kingdom has three main cities, the capital Lapis, the trade city, Opal city, and Amarach city.
Amarach city, also called the Black Stone Fortress due to its 25 meters tall wall made of, as you could guess, black stone, was as its name supposed, the city closest to the Amarach forest.
At the beginning, the Black Stone Fortress was a simple military outpost meant to be the first line of defense the kingdom would have against the countless dangers hiding in the Amarach forest. And, for a long time, it did serve this purpose. Standing like an indomitable shield, it stood tall against countless beast’s hordes, always protecting the peace of the men and women of the kingdom.
However, with time, as the kingdom grew stronger and entered an era of relative peace, things changed. Due to its proximity with Amarach Forest and the presence in its surroundings of one of the only dungeons of the kingdom, the previously humble military outpost started to attract countless spirits in search of adventures and opportunities.
After the adventurers, were the inns. After the inn, come the brothels, then the blacksmith, followed by more and more business. Quickly, the desolate and war-ridden fortress rose to become one of the main cities of the kingdom.
Tonight, unlike its usual lively and boisterous atmosphere, a tense but somewhat excited atmosphere covered the city. How could it not be considering how lively the neighboring Amarach forest was.
No matter how peaceful the last years were, all the inhabitants were aware of the risk of living in this city, and how any change in the forest could greatly affect their lives. Thus, the unusual situation folding within the forest was naturally something they were concerned about.
And one of them who was more concerned than the other was currently standing atop the city wall. It was no one else than the city lord and commander of Amarach city.
Alice Cronus, a beautiful and tall mage whose beauty and achievements were renowned and respected even beyond the wall of her city.
Dressed in a simple mage robe, she stood there, her tall figure imposing, and her charming face locked into an expressionless poker face. Her long green hairs fluttering wildly in the wind and occasionally covering her breathtaking turquoise eyes were fixated on the distant Amarach forest.
“My lady,” a black-haired youth clad in black leather armor greeted respectfully as he made his way towards the silent City lord.
“Tom, you are back. So, how was it?” Alice asked, her gaze still fixated on the distant forest.
“It should be alright,” Tom said, “While the beasts in the forest are a little restless, the chance of a beast tide occurring is low. At most, we would just have to deal with some stragglers.”
“Is that so?” Alice muttered, obviously unconvinced by what she was hearing.
“Was any of you able to understand what exactly happened?” Alice asked after a brief time.
“No, our team didn’t head too far inside the forest,” he answered, “But another did go. We will need to wait for a little more if we want to have a better understanding of the situation.”
“Alright, thank you for the hard work. You can go,” she said as she turned her gaze toward Tom.
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Unfortunately for Tom, the moment those cold turquoise eyes locked on him, he couldn’t help but get lost in them and momentarily find himself unable to think of anything else.
As she noticed that Tom was just staring blankly at her without moving, Alice frowned, clearly displeased by his behavior.
“Hahahaha, why the long face? You should have gotten used to this by now, right?” a buff and tall blond-haired man said, laughing raucously at the sight of this awkward situation.
“Kid, didn't you hear our lord? Get lost. Now!” He said as he lightly knocked Tom’s back.
“Ah, I didn’t mean it, I... I...” Tom noticing, he was caught red-handed, desperately tried to apologize.
“Shut up and go, don’t make things worse. If you weren’t one of her soldiers, you would have died for staring at her like that,” the blond man said as the poor Tom hurriedly scurried away.
“Did you do what I asked?” Alice asked as she ignored Tom and looked at the newcomer.
“Yes, the city is now under curfew and the patrols have been increased. Once the last scouts are back, the gates will be locked. None would be able to take advantage of the situation to create any trouble,” he reported dutifully.
“Anyway, are you sure we are going to face a tide? If nothing happens, it is a mob of angry merchants we would have to face. I don’t want to deal with that,” he said as he leaned against a battlement.
“For the whole forest to be affected, I think the most likely situation is a clash between the beast kings and a violent one at that. It could also be that some stronger beast is passing by and is messing around,” Alice said, “No matter what it is, we need to prepare for the worst.”
“Or it could be that you are too stressed. I can understand you, it’s the first big event that has happened since you became the city lord,” he said with a chuckle.
As she heard Jonah, Alice simply shook her head and without saying anything once again turned her gaze toward the forest. Normally, she would have agreed with him and wouldn’t worry too much. But today, she couldn’t help but feel like there was something bigger going on.
“You shouldn’t worry too much. Everything is going to be alright. No matter what happens I am sure we will be able to deal with it.”
‘This city has stood tall against countless calamity and it’s not going to change in my era,’ Alice thought as she saw Jonah’s confident expression.
“Let’s hope you are right, and I am overthinking this,” she said.
However, just at that moment, as if heaven were trying to mock her, she heard a loud blast coming from the forest and then saw a part of the forest being covered by a blanket of ice.
“Rank B! Ice element! What is going on here?” she said as she felt the fluctuation of power coming from the forest. If before she still held some hope that her hunch was wrong, now she was sure that trouble was coming for them.
However, instead of being worried, she was more determined than ever. No matter what was going to happen, she was going to protect her city. No matter the cost.