Chapter 413: Interlude - Dormin - To Kill A Hummingbird

Dormin was a [Guard]. A [Trusted Guard of the City - Lightning] to be exact.

He liked his job. Challenging, but not too hard. Constant exercise, wasn’t wrecking his back hauling fish out of the ocean or throwing crates off of ships. Had a solid community of people that he saw every day.

Free access anytime to one of the guard’s healers, which was priceless when a plague was ripping through the city.

And it afforded him moments like this. On the roof of his little home in the city, tipsy, warm beer in one hand, gazing up at the vast starry sky. A moment of peace in a busy world.

He took another long drink, emptying the bottle. It joined its three brothers, already empty, next to his feet. It was part of his routine. Drink four bottles, clean them out, get them refilled during his patrol.

A newer part of his routine was waiting until he got home to drink. The [Captain] had fined him so hard. It had only been one wagon!

“One day I’ll be the [Captain]!” He shouted to the sky, uncaring if his neighbors heard him. The city was always filled with life and sounds, one of the things he loved about the place.

Dormin’s ambition for [Captain] was more than just words. He was sitting at level 256, determined to get the promotion before classing up. That would unlock a [Captain of the Guard] variant, letting him soar to new heights. Then maybe a wife, some kids. He wasn’t sure yet.

He stretched and watched the moons rise, taking a few minutes to himself before he went to bed.

Dormin was just about to get up when a distant scream caught his ear. He sighed.

He’d been drinking, but he believed a [Guard] was never truly off-duty. That, and he lived in the area he patrolled. If he stopped a murder now, there’d be one less mess in the morning, and he’d be one step closer to [Captain].

Slightly unsteady on his feet, he got up and walked closer to the edge of the roof. He knew he was drunk, and he kept a safe distance from the edge, tracking where the screaming was coming from.

There was no shouts of “Help! Murder!” or anything, and his dreams of catching a [Murderer] or [Burglar] in the act were going up in smoke

His eyes locked on the house - Tina’s home, the [Seamstress] Dormin always went to when he needed his clothes stitched up - just as a tiny blazing ball erupted from a window, burning a dozen different colors. It zipped across the street before he had the foresight to [Identify] it, burning through a wooden slat as it invaded another home.

Tina hurried out of her house, and Dormin spotted her running off in the direction of a guard station in a huff, her normally carefully-arranged hair spilling all over and the faint scent of smoke and charcoal following her.

Then the fiery menace burst out of the second home and flew up into the sky. Dormin immediately used [Identify].

[Mage - 458].

He narrowed his eyes, focusing.

The System was telling him a [Mage] tag, but his eyes were saying “monster”. Either way, the flaming menace was invading people’s homes and driving them out. The night watch would eventually get here, but waiting for them wasn’t how Dormin would make captain.

A guard was never off-duty. Dormin knew he still had a little too much in his system, but he was being careful. He was shooting up into the sky, missing this time wasn’t going to cause issues.

Spending an extra moment to aim, he sent his most powerful [Justice Bolt] into the sky, hitting and completely obliterating the menace.

[*ding!* Once again the city is safe because of you! You’ve taken out a [Phoenix of the Divine Flame (Inferno, 458)]/[The Phoenix Everliving (Inferno, 256)]! Don’t forget the paperwork.]

Dormin smiled as the notification came up, then steadily paled as he read it.

A what now!?

He looked up into the sky, seeing burning embers reconstitute themselves into a flaming hummingbird. One that was potentially very mad, very pissed off, and very much looking for Dormin.

He swayed, stumbled and fell off the roof, landing on his head. Darkness claimed him.

Claire laughed herself sick at Dormin’s tale.

“HA! Best thing I’ve heard all year! Really Dormin, if you ever decide to retire, go become a [Storyteller]! You’ll do great even without a class! Hey John, you’ve gotta hear this!” She beckoned over another guard.

“What’s this now?” He asked, sliding onto a chair in the barrack’s break room next to them.

“I killed a phoenix last night. Kinda.” Dormin explained.

John snorted.

“You. Killed a phoenix that just happened to be in town?”

“... It got better.” Dormin defended himself.

John put a hand on Dormin’s shoulder, and looked at him.

“Buddy. I’m worried about you. Were you drinking last night?”

“Yes, but only a few.” Dormin defended himself. John settled back into his chair.

Claire and John traded looks.

“And then he fell off his roof.” Claire muttered to John. “Cracked his head open and everything. Needed emergency attention. Been telling everyone about the phoenix ever since.”

“It’s true!” Dormin protested. He opened his mouth to say the classes, to lend evidence to his story, but -

But it had been a divine phoenix. If they hadn’t believed him before, there’s no way they’d believe him after mentioning that detail.

“If it’s true, you’d have the most epic class ever available to you.” Claire pointed out.

Dormin hesitated at that. It was true…

“But I want to be a [Captain].” He weakly protested.

“Buddy…” John said, then shook his head. “You have two classes.”

Mark, the current [Captain] shouted, his commanding voice echoing through the barracks.

“Everyone! Meeting room! Now!”

“As many of you have noticed, the plague grabbed its hat and hopped on a ship last night. There isn’t a single known case in the entire city. The healers are muttering something about it coming back and not to drop our guard or something, but practically it’s gone.”

Mark paused his speech to let everyone cheer. Just like a miracle in the stories, the Black Death that had ravaged their town for weeks was over. Everyone knew a dozen people or more who’d died to the illness. Everyone had needed to pitch in to drag bodies out of the city.

Mark held his hand up after an appropriate amount of time. The guards slowly stopped cheering, returning to paying attention.

“With that said, it’s not all good news. A single healer did the entire thing in a night. Her level is cleverly hidden under layers of obfuscation, but our [Analyst] is estimating she’s between level 400 to 1400 or so, depending on her class quality and distribution. With how the Black Death’s weakened us, Grimond’s been chomping at the bit to wage a war. Add in the utter lack of chance of getting infected now that the plague’s gone, and the excuse of a high level healer? No way they don’t attack, and Trence and Sasall will smell blood and money, and join in.”

Dormin joined in on the obligatory booing and hissing of Krita’s hated frenemy city-states. Proximity and familiarity bred contempt, rivalries, and a network of feuds, skirmishes, and wars, all of which were forgotten the moment a [Pirate Lord’s] banner darkened the horizon or a Phantasym mage tried to set up a tower in Suen.

“No healer, and it’s just going to be Grimond poking at us. One skirmish, we’ll kick the fuckers in the balls so hard their grandfather will feel it, and we’re back to making a profit!” Mark roared to approving cheers. “Now, here’s how we’re going to do it…”

Dormin was trembling as he went from bolt to bolt, empowering each one with [Justice Strike] thanks to his [Trigger]. They’d found the healer, and had set up an ambush. A few civilians might die, but more would meet an untimely end if the healer wasn’t handled. They were just waiting for final confirmation before attacking.

Dormin was shaking as he hit the last bolt, and took three quick steps into an alley. It had been a long day. He’d fought a phoenix, cracked his head open, discovered the plague had been lifted, and was now trying to head off a war. He was no good a shaking wreck, not in front of everyone. He removed a flask from an inside pocket, popped the lid, and took a quick drink for his nerves, to steady his hands.

“Dormin!” Mark roared from behind him. “What are you doing!?”

“My nerves-”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“I don’t care!” Screamed the [Captain], an inch away from his face. “You’re fired!”

“But-”

“FIRED! Get out of here!” He shouted, pointing away from the operation zone. “Go, before I have to arrest you, citizen!”

Dormin swore and stomped off.

Hours later Dormin was on the roof, a dozen empty bottles around him. The raid had been a disaster, which had only solidified Mark’s anger towards Dormin when he came crawling back to see if he’d really been fired.

“It’s all that stupid phoenix’s fault.” He cursed into the air. “I know what I saw! I still have the notification! The System doesn’t lie! All that stupid bird’s fault. If it hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t be here now. Yeah. If it hadn’t… hadn’t… if it wasn’t around, I’d still have a job. If I’d killed it, I’d be the [Captain] by now. Yeah. If I go and kill it… or capture it… yeah, they’d have to know I was telling the truth then.”

Dormin could see it now. Claire and John open-faced as he brought a phoenix corpse back. Mark apologizing, handing over the captain’s badge to him. In Dormin’s drunk state, it all made perfect sense.

And John was right. He did have two classes. Dormin closed his eyes to the stars above, lights starting to play over his body.

An [Extinguisher of Legends] awoke.