Chương 190: AF Chapter 189 – Lived-Lines or Lightning Rides?

The Mick just nodded to me.

"I be havin' a request, then." I just looked at him.

"Zaikhal. I want t' stop in Zaikhal."

"For?" I asked archly.

"I cannae stop thinkin' about the Stone Collector there, an' what became o' him once ye told me about NPC's and the like. I'd like t' put me concerns t' rest regarding his fate, not gnaw at 'em like a bone ye can't clean."

"This has been going on for nearly six months?" I asked him carefully. He nodded, and was about to say more when he saw my expression, pausing to consider my words and his own.

"Ho. Ye don't think this be natural…"

"Thinking hard on it… do you?" I lobbed it right back at him. He frowned, considering this thing that had been nagging him for months.

"Now that ye point it out, nae. I barely knew the man, just gave him stuff an' got stuff back in return. He were less important an' more predictable than the Town Criers shilling the news o' the moment. Why his face would keep popping up in me head is… damn weird, now I think on it."

"So something wants you to go to Zaikhal, and it's subtle enough to get past your Amulet." He tapped the thing he'd made with his own hands, giving the Protection from Evil effect of securing the mind from charms, and making it harder for rote Summons and extraplanars to hit him, a subtle effect proven useful in freeing Tou-Tou.

"So, we'll stop there first?" he asked lightly, still frowning as he puzzled over the significance of what was going on.

"I'm sure Kris won't mind. We don't know what's there, however, although I'm guessing the undead, given the subtlety of the Wards looking for scryers around the town."

"Aye, the Gharu'n had more than their share o' problems with the undead, so that would make sense. They'd have come down out o' the north an' taken the city without too much trouble, what with magic misfiring like it was back then. What if the undead have seized it?" he had to ask.

"We judge how dangerous it is, and then we clean it out if we can," I replied easily. His dark eyes lit up with approval.

"Now that's what I be wantin' t' hear, as casually bloodthirsty as her Hag Highness Herself!" he proclaimed cheerfully.

"We bring a team, then?"

"We aren't idiots, and I can vacate a lot of people pretty quickly, especially if they contribute to the spell. Although I would like to say, if we can get a lived-line stretching out there, that would be much better than what we have now."

"There be no way anything or its brother on Dereth be catching Her Highness once she gets moving. If she wanted t' make an overland dash for anywhere, she could reach it!" he stated firmly.

"That is completely true, but we don't want it known we can pinpoint Teleport any more than we want it known we can fly and walk on air as needed," I pointed out. He nodded.

"Aye, because then they'll go looking for the trick, knowing it is possible, an' be willing to pay dragon's hoards for the magic o' it, no doubt."

"And somebody weak will let it slip for the rewards, and then some great tools are now in the hands of our enemies." It was why Kris hadn't run willy-nilly through the Linvak Mountains to all the Gotrok strongpoints, although she had penetrated many areas and extended her reach as needed. That didn't help me, of course. My Lived-Line had also grown, as running Invisibly for miles had been part of my nightly personal time.

I just was really leery of doing it around things with copious magical ability and alternate senses. That said, I'd managed to make it along much of the southern shore, including points far to the west, and to most of the southern settlements. There had been a lot of undead influences further north, however, and I'd carefully steered clear of the hundreds of their guards occupying Summon points across the desert areas the Gharu'n had lived in.

But the Freeholder army had come out of the Vesayans and scored a great victory, albeit against a static foe that was not fighting back truly effectively. The existing powers on Dereth would note the advance and start making moves.

"Where be she wanting the Scouts to go next?" he inquired. He could ask her directly, but I was generally privy to her plans, and she was having too much fun singing risque drinking songs right now.

"North up the Sho road. Let the Hea know we're back, and that we're coming. Start wiping and Sealing the land spawns, especially any Hea tumerok spawns. There's a lot of bad blood that will need to be settled, and it's time for the mice to play hounds to the cat."

"Me uncle an' the lads will be happy to hear any tales we have o' killing them. The Gotrok?" he inquired affably.

"Pride and custom have kept them isolated. The Hea have been under the thumb of the virindi for a long time, so they are more dangerous to us. The lugians who fled and those who've been oppressed by the Gotrok are spoiling to throw them off, and Kresovus is plenty willing to help reclaim his throne in Linvak Tukal." If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"He'll like as not get not as many o' the young generation moving to the old city as he thinks," the Mick observed.

"They grew up in Ithaenc Tukal, and it's their home now. Hard to pry lugians out o' their homes like that."

"There are kids in Linvak Tukal, too, mind you," I pointed out.

"Some of them are bursting to become warriors, without a doubt, but their elders won't let them join the Gotrok, much to the frustration of the renegades. Any that do are basically slave labor under the older lugians, which certainly doesn't help matters much."

"Aye, so I've heard. So, the main forces sweep the Summons points an' grind down the outer defenses that way. Ye expecting them t' come with an army?"

"Of course. We've shown too much strength. They daren't back down and turtle up, it'll hurt their warrior pride. They are coming, and spotters are already reporting Summons being herded along in battlegroups to form the attacking force."

"Ho, leaving the Summons points conveniently empty t' be Sealed behind them," the Mick grinned nastily.

"All those maps o' the points be puttin' t' good use now."

"The elite teams are already wiping those points, yes," I confirmed.

"Cackling softly as they do, too. The Gotrok are going to lose their Summons, and then they aren't going to have any more fake soldiers to throw at us in expendable waves."

"Overlook or here?" he asked in a very satisfied tone.

"They got their nose bloodied at Overlook once, and the expansion isn't going to look much weaker. I'll have the walls here up after their scouts report, so they are going to come here and find the defenses ready for them, too."

"Time?" he asked cheerfully.

"Day after tomorrow, or the next, depending on how well they march. It is quite a distance over hilly terrain, after all."

"Truth." And without the land providing endless running energy, armies ran out of steam on the march, and were too tired to do battle at full strength, reality crashing back in on them with physical limits once more.

"That gives Kris plenty o' time to run a sweeping path up along the Inner Sea an' the cities there, dragging ye along for the Lived-Line lock, an' I gots no doubts she be makin' it t' Zaikhal if she's of a mind to." It was only about a hundred miles of overland running. Kris would likely treat it as a light hike and sightseeing tour.

"I'll just keep us Invisible, put down Teleportation Seals every few miles, and hope for the best. I do recall there's no direct path to Stonehold from the south side?"

"Nay, the only ways up the peaks without using climbing gear or flyin' be going around the ends, be it from the Dires in the west or from the Olthoi North in the east," he confirmed.

"Ye can get up to the top o' some of the mounts from the north, but the only way down t' the south be t' jump… which, mind ye, was a lot o' fun in the old days." It was a common boast that the paramounts could drop a thousand paces from the sky, hit the ground, and walk away with little more than an ache in their heels in the old days, damage they'd naturally heal away in only a few minutes.

It was a bit more dangerous now, but a paramount could still take a ten-story drop without much problem, although they might be hobbling away instead of striding.

"Somehow I don't think Kris is going to have any problems getting up them." The Mick didn't say anything, as he'd seen Kris drive her black nails into stone facings and swarm up a cliffside as fast as a normal man could run in a powerful scramble of feet and hands that would intimidate any spider who watched it, sure enough.

"Ho? I was thinking ye'd just drive a tunnel right through the mount, and skip the whole up and down business," he said slyly. I lifted an eyebrow at him.

"That's… actually not that bad an idea on the face of it, although it would be slower than just climbing and going around. I could drive a narrow tunnel at the pace of a good walk, although something a wagon would be able to pass through would take more time."

"Ain't going t' be Roads moving up into the north fer some time, it all comes by peddlers… although the Disks are makin' that much kinder than before, aye," he nodded at the allusion to traders moving goods. A low-Valence spell that was long-lasting, could carry a LOT of weight, was easily repeatable, and scaled up in Valence nicely was a godsend for the trade situation.

Making actual Disks that were magical was a bit pricey and harder to do, but platforms floating/balanced on Disks were rapidly becoming a popular way of hauling supplies around, replacing rolling wagons, and were much appreciated by peddlers and their no-longer expanded backpacks, as well as the aurochs once hitched to said wagons. Utility magic was the best kind of magic, and transferring the heavy work to others was a time-honored pastime to humanity.

Magic or beasts, it made no difference, and the Disks didn't complain or have to be fed, just renewed before they expired.

"If we do Zaikhal, we'll plow a Lived-Line overland. If we're going straight to Stonehold, it'll likely be a Linejump airdrop." Featherweight was another of those basic spells that could be used to great effect when plummeting from great heights. Instead of risking your life, you pulled up safely a few feet from the ground, and drifted down nicely. Definitely not the same as flying, but extremely useful. It also had its uses against massive thrown objects, although chorozite stones were immune to the effect.

"Good enough fer me. I'll leave it to her to decide what t' do. Would she bring the Wagon?" he asked.

"Not likely. It'll be used to shuttle supplies between Overlook and Mayoi here, I'm thinking, while she's running and we're setting up a proper Gridmap across Dereth." His dark eyes gleamed.

"I'd like as not not need such a thing, given how much traipsing I've done over the land, but aye, the kids are going to need those nexuses, especially since we don't have the Portal network." I nodded. Running to the points on a Gridmap was a time-honored tradition for any area a mage worked or wanted to be able to move between.

If you could Teleport and had the time and Caster Level, there was no reason not to be expanding your Lived-Line every day or night, moving and making new Teleport Foci to home in on to expand your range further.