Apocalypse: Fairy System by Macronomicon (fox in socks read aloud txt) 📕

Brett glanced around, noting that there were approximately a hundred and fifty nobles.

“I would be honored to serve!” the governor shouted valiantly, pounding his chest in a very non-keegan move.

“As would I!”

“My family expects nothing less from me!”

In short order, every single noble had volunteered, overeager to show off in front of the big cheese.

“Come now,” the emperor said. “You would leave me here to eat all the hors d’oeuvres alone? I might be powerful, but I’m physically incapable of housing that much food.”

The emperor tapped his claw against his beak for a moment, head bobbing back and forth in thought. “I understand your honor and your willingness to serve, but that’s simply overkill. I would prefer to keep a few of you in reserve and preserve the ambiance of the night as much as possible.

“I know,” the emperor said, raising a claw. “We’ll draw straws. The long sticks may go and fend off the hateful abomination, and the short sticks will remain here and keep me company.”

One of the nearby imperial guards turned to the nearby servants and began barking instructions. “Servants, twenty of you go to the serving tables and grab eight chopsticks, then shorten two. Then half of you discard a short one.”

“Apologies for the rushed math,” the bird on the throne said. “We are in a bit of a hurry.”

As if to accentuate the man’s words, the entire building shuddered again.

Curious, Brett went to the window, where the crowd of aliens had begun to gather. The mansion had a great view of the walls of the city, perched atop a high hill in a manner that allowed them to overlook their lessers. In the distance, the walls of Solmnath began to glow and expand.

…What?

The walls glowed faintly teal, the layered stone pulling apart, resolving into smaller and smaller parts as it seemed to flow into a kind of cloud that expanded up and over the city proper…

It’s making a dome, Brett realized as he watched the unfinished edges of the walls billow outward, connecting with each other to form a curved surface of faintly glowing dust, perhaps five feet thick and perfectly smooth.

The dome was rising just in time to present a unified front to the wavering cloud of twisted light. Outside the confines of the wall, the land shifted riotously, plants growing and withering in a matter of seconds, the land and weather seemingly shifting like waves on the ocean.

Solmnath presented a tiny, pale blue barrier against the raging chaos battering against the city, and somehow, the city resisted.

Or maybe not, Brett thought, his superhuman eyes picking up a few palm trees visibly shrinking inside the blue barrier. A few buildings collapsed, their support transmuted to bone rather than wood.

A servant politely tapped Brett’s shoulder, dragging him out of his gawking. The kitri held a fistful of chopsticks out to him.

Short stick… Usually that’s a bad thing, but I think in this case…that might not be a bad thing. Brett glanced over his shoulder toward the stream of nobles running for the exit at superhuman speeds. When he looked down, he could already see the tiny figures heading for the walls, their fancy robes billowing behind them like capes.

Almost like superheroes, he thought idly.

Amanda grabbed Brett’s shoulder and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I got a long straw. I’ll be back soon, babe!”

Brett’s heart seized with worry. Amanda’s going out into that? Normally Brett would be wholeheartedly against it, but with great power… “Don’t die. You can abandon them if you have to,” Brett called after her.

After all, Brett had the sneaking suspicion it would be more dangerous to stay.

Brett glanced at the emperor. The bird met his gaze.

He winked.

Is this what he meant by rolling with the weirdness? Brett thought, frowning. Once the last of the long-straws had left the room, he watched the oversized double doors close with a strange sense of finality.

A sudden pulse of sideways gravity nearly plucked Brett off his feet, dragging his attention back to the window. The storm had just impacted against the pale dome of luminescing dust, and the defensive wall’s glow waned for a gut-wrenching second before the brightness stabilized.

“Come away from the windows, guests of mine; your peers have the situation well in hand. If more strength is needed, I will shoulder that responsibility with the rest of you. Be at ease.”

The nobles stepped away from the wall, but with only a couple dozen people left in the room, the conversation was greatly diminished. Honestly, it felt like trying to host a cocktail party in a foxhole, just waiting for a shell to drop in and turn them all to burger.

They could go through the motions, but their heart wasn’t in it.

“I see. It was immature of me to expect you to simply ignore death sniffing at your door. Perhaps you need some entertainment to bring back the mood,” the emperor said, rubbing his beak. He snapped his fingers together, the claws dimpling his palm. “I know! How about I Summon a guest to liven things up?”

The few remaining nobles looked confused, murmuring to each other under their breath. The emperor’s infamous Ability to Summon was not typically used as a party trick.

“I don’t know who could possibly take our minds off—”

SKRRRR!

A circular saw popped through the ceiling with an ear-piercing whine, heading straight for the bird sitting on the throne at a speed that Brett could barely make out. It was little more than an afterimage in Brett’s vision by the time it made contact with the emperor.

The kitri lazily raised a hand and caught the spinning blade between thumb and forefinger, inches away from his beak.

“Jebediah Trapper.”

The fancily-dressed melas standing next to Brett paled, his goblet warping in his grip.