Chương 163: Chapter 162 [Busy Few Hours]

Leo and Shai made it back to town a few hours after leaving Yara, and the changes to the landscape were obvious long before they reached the first buildings. The edge of the treeline had been aggressively cleared in sections. Stacks of heavy logs had been trussed tightly together, forming massive, solid blockades that would be impossible to climb, leaving only strategic gaps of open ground between them.

Positioned right in front of those intentional gaps, a jagged line of abandoned cars formed a rough chevron, funnelling the routes toward town into narrower and narrower choke points. On either side of the metal barricades, the earth had been torn up where pit traps and boggy terrain were being prepared to catch anything that tried to bypass the main line. Even from a distance, Leo could see the cars themselves were already being weighted down with rocks, making them even harder to move.

The fact they didn't know every creature they were going to face meant these precautions were necessary. Sharpened stakes were going to be placed on, in, and around the vehicles to turn them into obstacles best avoided.

"Busy few hours," Shai said.

"Yeah." Leo looked at the gap a while longer as they walked through it.

"This is going to be a deathtrap once it's done. Hopefully it's enough." They cut through as they headed toward the civic centre, their storage still full of everything Yara had handed over. A couple of guards nodded to Shai as they passed. Further along, Bex was crouched at the edge of a trench, her hands flat against the earth, and she lifted one in a wave without looking up from what she was doing.

"She's coming on quickly," Shai said.

"Everyone is," Leo replied, watching Bex work.

"Back home, it's a known fact that the biggest leaps in capability always happen during a crisis. Human innovation goes into overdrive when there's a threat. Like, there was this German scientist, Fritz Haber. He invented a process to make explosives for the war effort, but that same breakthrough ended up creating the synthetic fertilisers that feed the world today. Total game-changer, born entirely out of desperate military necessity." Leo looked back toward the trench.

"That's what's happening here. We aren't just practicing anymore. The threat of this horde is forcing everyone to figure out tricks and shortcuts with their magic that would have taken a lot longer otherwise." Shai nodded, her ears shifting as she took in what he'd said.

"That's a strange way to think about it," she admitted, stepping around a pile of loose earth.

"Out here, we adapt when a new capability drops into our laps, like Marcus and his enchantments, but it's always down to individual luck. It never forces a massive, sweeping change to our actual way of life. Not like a new way of producing food would. If something like that ever came up in the core, it would just be hoarded jealously by the nobles rather than spread to the masses." She glanced back at the row of cars, then toward the buildings of Monkhaven ahead of them.

"But looking at how much more advanced Monkhaven is just in general... I can see what you mean. Your whole way of thinking about progress is completely different to what I know." Leo nodded.

"Well, when this whole thing is over we'll stand to benefit from all of this new magic. Add it to Diane's magitech idea and we could have those same advances on the way for the border. Making life easier for everyone out here would be a great way to pay back all the help you've all given us." Shai smiled at him as they reached the road leading further into town.

Mike was at his desk when they found him, papers spread out in front of him that looked more like tallies than anything else. He looked up and his shoulders dropped an inch.

"There you are. Yara come through alright?"

"Yeah, weapons are all in storage," Leo said.

"Where d'you want them?"

"Kai's setting up near the north entrance, one of the buildings that got split. Take them there, he'll sort distribution." Mike rubbed at his eyes.

"Anything else you need from me while you're here?"

"Wondering if the other villages have sent anyone yet," Shai said.

"Should be any..." A knock cut him off. Lucian leaned in through the doorway.

"Mike. Your visitors are here."

"Perfect timing. Send them in, cheers Lucian." Mike looked back to Leo and Shai and waved a hand toward the door.

"You two might as well get going. Fingers crossed this all goes well. For now and for what comes after." If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Shai smiled.

"Good luck."

"See you later, Mike," Leo said. The three representatives were waiting just outside the door, their heads tilted back as they openly stared at the smooth, seamless ceiling of the corridor.

"Alun, Berin, Elian," Shai said, a genuine smile breaking across her face. The trio snapped out of their trance, their expressions instantly softening when they recognized her. Alun, a massive bear beast-kin who easily filled out the width of the hallway, let out a low rumble of greeting. Beside him, Elian, a tall, sharp-featured elf, offered a quick, respectful nod, while the human, Berin, gave a relieved smile.

It was clearly a massive comfort for them to see a friendly, familiar face from Stonehall amidst all the alien surroundings. Elian opened his mouth to speak, his eyes darting briefly to Leo, but Shai kept her momentum going, offering them an understanding nod.

"Good to see you all again," she said as they passed.

"Mike's ready for you inside to get your Monkhaven volunteers sorted. We've got weapons to drop off with Kai at the north entrance, but safe travels back to the west." The men offered a chorus of rough farewells, Alun's dark eyes already drifting back up to the strange modern architecture of the hallway as Leo and Shai turned the corner and headed north.

"Didn't realise you knew all of them," Leo said, adjusting his pace to match hers.

"Makes sense, though, given what you do for a living."

"Yeah. I've met them and plenty of others, partly because of my role as a guard captain, but mostly because everyone respects Kai. He's run training exercises with their elites in the past and I always went along with him. They represent Oakridge, Pinehollow, and Flintcroft, the villages further west than us, past Stonehall. We see them a fair bit at the festival, but we sometimes attend their own events, too."

"I bet they aren't thrilled about being rushed like this," Leo murmured, thinking of the maps back in the office.

"When Mike made the offer at the festival, it was probably seen as a nice thing to have. Now it must feel like a desperate necessity."

"True," Shai agreed.

"But once they actually get back to their villages, they'll be glad of it. They each brought their own guard escorts, so they'll be fine on the road. We still have some time before the main horde arrives, and their guards are more than enough to protect the volunteers from any early threats."

The building Kai had claimed used to be two houses joined at a shared wall, back before half of it had been left behind on Earth. What remained had been shored up, stone and timber reinforcing where the modern wall used to cut off, turning the whole thing into one large, open space. An unfinished wooden staircase ran up one side, leading to a platform that wasn't quite complete either; someone up there was still hammering a heavy support beam into place.

Kai was below it, directing two men carrying stacks of wood toward a large pile in the corner. He looked over as they approached and smiled.

"Good timing. Get everything sorted?"

"Yara had it all ready when we got there, didn't take long," Leo said.

"Where d'you want it?"

"Racks over there, arrows in the crates. I'll sort what goes where once we know our final numbers." Kai nodded up at the platform.

"Won't be finished today. Won't be finished tomorrow either, if I'm honest." Leo looked up at it properly.

"Is this going to act as a lookout or something?"

"Sort of. It'll do double duty as the main headquarters and a high vantage point for the archers. Rika thinks they'll be able to reach most of the way to the treeline from up there, so it's a huge help if we can get it finished in time. It's just going to take longer than anyone wants." Kai folded his arms, watching the man up top secure another beam.

"The UI and the Codex are a massive help, but they don't beat having people with actual experience. We've got a few who have done this sort of work before leading the effort, but it still might not be fast enough. We're ahead of where I expected, sure. Just not as far along as I'd like."

"Well, all we can do is hope. Some of it finished is better than none at all," Leo said.

"Aye. It'll have to be." Kai clapped a hand on Leo's shoulder, quick, and let it go.

"Go on, get that lot stored and go find your lads. I expect they're still moaning about the cars." They were. Phil had his hands braced against a car bonnet when Leo and Shai found them, Luka right behind it. Parmo and Sam were both leaning on the vehicle ahead of them, clearly having just finished moving that one into place.

"Alright," Phil said, straightening up to wipe his forearm across his face.

"You two just get back?"

"Yeah. Just dropped the weapons off with Kai," Leo said, looking past them at the line of cars.

"Where's Rika and Torren? Thought they'd be helping with this."

"Torren's over that way." Luka nodded off toward the western stretch, where the ground turned darker and wetter, a handful of figures standing out there with their hands raised.

"Water mages. Newer ones. He's helping them work out how to actually get the ground boggy properly instead of just flooding it and hoping."

"And Rika?"

"With the archers," Parmo said.

"She's got the students from all the groups along with the other archery trainers. They're going over the plan for the roofs and where they will end up if the roof isn't finished in time."

"You'll be with them as well, I expect, dude. I doubt we'll end up fighting together to be honest," Sam said.

"Yeah, you'll be used for your fog more than anything," Phil said.

"Luka will probably end up with Torren as a first line of defence or something." Shai tilted her hand back and forth.

"Kind of. I think Kai will have us set out in groups with one Stonehall guard to a few Monkhaven students and other fighters. We'll be set up as small units that are part of the whole defence. So Luka will be with the other shield wielders, Parmo with the archers, and Phil, you'll probably end up with me."

"Makes sense." Leo looked at the last car in the chevron, still not quite in position.

"You need a hand with that?"

"Nah, we've got it." Phil nodded at the car.

"Once this lot's moved, we'll see if anyone else needs a hand with anything. If not," he rolled his shoulder, "we're getting some practice in with the new stuff. Figure we'd best know what we're doing before it actually matters."

"Fair," Leo said. Shai looked at the cars, the trench beyond them, and the shapes moving in the boggy ground further west.

"Let's go see if Kai has any work for us," she said.

"Standing around with nothing to do doesn't sit well with me." Leo nodded while looking at the line of cars.

"Sure. I think we should go see Gary while we're at it. I might have an idea."