With the beginning of the Summer we began to plan some casual adventuring to keep busy, while relaxing. First we were waiting on the births of our expectant ladies children. Kanae, Aoi, and Ériu all went into labor within a week of each other, and barely a week from the end of classes.
We then left for Shin Shirochi, so I could spend time with all my children, and we were just getting ready to plan a big birthday party in Marquise Ériu’s castle, when Selene got a sealed summons from her mother Nerise, ordering her and her fiancé to come and begin planning for the wedding to be at the 7th evening hour of 14th day of the 7th Lunar cycle at the height of the Wyrt Full Moon, being the 7th of July, this year, when the calendars align for a ten-thousand fold harvest. Almost certainly the luckiest of days in this year.
“Lady Nerise is big on symbology, and calendric fortunes?” I asked.
“Oh, my, Goddess! Dee, you have no idea! If someone so much as sneezes within the domain she needs to perform a ritual to cleanse the spirits in the air,” Selene said.
“Oh, it can’t be that bad,” Kanae said, nursing her two girls, one on each nipple. Black haired Yukina on the right, and auburn haired Aisato on her left.
“Trust me on this one Kanae,” Selene said.
“Well that gives us time to celebrate the births on Summer’s Eve,”
“Your mother hasn’t recognized your marriage?” I said.
“This is just her way of saying I need to do it over, and to get me to come up with my husband, and do things in her designated proper order,” Selene said.
“So, this is her chastising you, from a distance,” Aoi said, while nursing her daughter, Keara, and son, Katsuo.
“More of a warning shot, that I’m in big trouble. Trouble that both of us are in. She’s not going to go easy on Darby. Thank you for making him a baron. It would have been so much worse if he lacked a title,” Selene said.
“Speaking of trouble, are you going to open that sealed letter from the Queen?” Darby asked.
“You know the moment I open this we’re going to be put to work. If it was urgent, or important she’d have sent a direct message,” I said.
“You’ve been sitting on that for a week now,” Fergus said.
“And we’ve not heard anything more, from the Queen, have we?” I said.
“Well, she has a point. Besides, it’s kind of nice relaxing for a bit, and this city is great for relaxing in. Not as great as the Celestial Veil. This realm needs a spa like that,” Cathar said.
“I don’t think it’s possible to make a spa on that level,” Fergus said.
“That’s true, but I think a spa in this realm could be a great boost on the whole for the nation,” Kanae said.
“An onsen spa would be a huge hit among dragonkin,” Hestia said, taking a break from her nest.
“I still think you should open that letter from the Queen. I can’t imagine she’d send a sealed letter unless it was important,” Rosie said.
“Fine, opening it,” I said.
I read it over, and had to read it a second time.
Sigh.
“I knew it. Some stupid job, that is ‘oh, so urgent’,” I said.
“Well, what is the job.”
“Rumor has it the Stormfell Castle in Rimfen March has fallen into the hands of the Crispenwell Queendom, and may be a prelude to invasion of the entire Queendom of Dargon. We are tasked with investigating the rumor, and retake the fortress if it has fallen,” I said.
“Rumor has it? When has Queen Matilde ever sent us out on a rumor?” Kanae said.
“Probably nothing. Probably she wants us to check out one of her remote nobles, and get a feel for the local sentiment. Crispenwell grabbed a part of Rimfen March before Queen Matilde’s mother’s rule, and rumor has it the Marquise of Rimfen is related to the Crispenwell royal family,” I said.
“I have an idea. The guys and I here can go check it out, and you ladies can relax here and have fun with the children. Sounds like it wouldn’t take all of us to investigate, and if the rumor has any truth to it, we can always come back and form a plan to retake it,” Fergus said.
“That’s worth considering. Go ahead and make up a party list, of who wants to go, and if we think it’s a viable unit for the job, you can go for it. I’d like to stay here. I don’t get to spend enough time here with my children and subjects. I think Enya, Hestia, Aoi, and Kanae should stay here. You can pull from the other three squads if you want. Might actually be good to start using some of them. Note this appears to be both a spy mission, and potentially an attack mission. So not a bad idea to build two teams,” I said.
“Might be a good training opportunity for those three squads,” Eoghan said.
“That would be too many people for a spy mission. Not much more than one squad for a spy mission. Could even pare it down to five people for the spying,” I said.
“Alright, we’ll work on building potential teams, and come up with a few plans and contingencies, and then call for a meeting to discuss it,” Fergus said.
Two days later we had a meeting, and Fergus laid out some plans. The consensus was his plan was rock solid. We called up two squads from the capital, for training exercises. Fergus pulled four people from the two squads focused on spy related work, and one battle mage knight, and off they went to spy out the fortress.
(Fergus)
I got my squad of thirteen together. We loaded into a new unmarked squad carriage using Aoi’s improved flotation and wind power propelled magik, and headed out.
“So, we are breaking in our new transportation vehicle. It’s more mana efficient than the older models, Also the driver is now inside the vehicle, so we can rotate personnel to do the driving. We’re using a standard programmed golem for now. As you should all be aware, these golems have limited abilities. That is the main reason for moving the driving seat inside. We can now monitor from a side seat, and quickly take over the driving,” I said.
“Lt. Fergus, I’ve never driven one of these carriages,” Sean said.
“Very few people have driven these carriages, yet. We are planning some on-hands training during this mission. This will be a long drive. Stormfell fortress is probably five hours away at normal flight speed. We are going to slow down in about an hour, and then have some training at much slower speeds. With the training we expect to reach our destination in eight hours,” Kiera said.
“What other kind of training are we doing? Why is our destination a fortress?” Máire asked.
“That brings us to our next topic. This is not a training exercise. We have reason to believe the Queendom of Crispenwell has secured a foothold in advance of invading the realm. Stormfell Fortress may have fallen and been captured by an invasion force,” Fergus said.
“Our current task is purely reconnaissance. Our job is not to attack. It is not to recapture the fortress. Our task is to determine if our information is correct and that Stormfell has indeed fallen and is controlled by Crispenwell, or it has not. Based on that determination we will either send for a strike team, return to base, or retake the fortress,” Kiera said.
“You are not to make that choice. That is something we will decide as a team, or Kiera or I will decide. Do you understand?,” I said.
“Yes, Lt., Sir!” the squad responded.
More than eight hours later, we were within range of the Fortress. We stopped the carriage in a forested area, storing the carriage away from the road on foot.
“We will set up camp here. Then we will proceed cautiously to the target, and check out what the condition is,” I said.
It didn’t take long to set up a camp.
“You four are to form the perimeter guard.” I said.
“Yes sir, Lt.!”
“You three secure the outer perimeter. Liadan, you are in charge,”
“Yes sir!”
“Tachibana, prepare dinner.”
“Yes sir!”
“The rest of us, let’s go quickly investigate the fortress,” I said.
“Yes sir!”
The woods we were in flowed south of the Fortress, but there was a large clearing keeping us at a distance if we were to remain out of sight of the towers and walls.
“Stay out of sight. I sense some kind of active barrier out there,” Kiera said.
“I see no one in the towers, or on the walls,” Nibremhil said.
“There is no flag flying either. One way or another there should be a flag flying,” I said.
“Something is very off here,” Kiera said.
“The place looks empty, deserted,” I said.
“I see signs of recent activity on the roads, and in the fields, but it’s very strange activity,” Nibremhil said.
“Explain,” I said.
“The activity doesn’t seem to be activity from a continued presence,” Nibremhil said.
“Alright, we’ll call it for now. Let’s go get something to eat. When it’s dark enough, we’ll take another look,” I said.
“Yes sir.”
We went back to the camp and told them what we saw. Then we had dinner, and we waited until the moons set.
“Cathar, Eoghan, and Rosie come with us and keep watch. I don’t trust the quiet emptiness feeling of this place,” I said.
“Yes sir!”
“Rosie, I want you to come with us, as we get closer, to investigate,” I said.
“Yes sir!”
When we got back we looked all over the open field, and found the least exposed path for getting closer.
“Shield of darkness!” Kiera cast.
“The six of us are covered in the shield. It should be safe to get closer,” Kiera said.
“Let’s go,” I said.
“We’re getting close to the shield. I can’t sense anything beyond it. It’s as if all the mana is trapped within,” Kiera said.
“I still see no one. There is light within the fortress though,” Nibremhil said.
“It’s amazing you can see in this darkness,” Darby said.
“Elven sight is pretty amazing,” Kiera agreed.
“We dwarves have pretty amazing sight also,” Rosie said.
“Stop. If we go any closer the shield might detect us,” Kiera said.
“We need to know what’s on the other side of that shield, and whether we can enter it undetected,” I said.
“What kind of shield is this?” Darby asked.
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen or read about anything like this before,” Kiera said.
“Let’s try sending in a small golem,” I said.
“I have some field mice golems from Aoi,” Darby said.
“That’s perfect.”
Darby sent in the mouse golem, and nothing seemed to happen.
“I’ve lost contact with the golem,” Darby said.
“Probably has something to do with this barrier. I can still see the golem, though,” Kiera said.
“So we can send things across, without causing an alarm. However, the same may not be true for people, or a golem like a human,” I said.
“Sending in golems doesn’t help us, and may even be a bad idea,” Kiera said.
“We have to eventually go in, if we want to discover anything. Darby, send a message with one of those mice golem to Cathar that we are going in,” I said.
“Sent sir!” Darby said.
“I’m going in,” I said.
Kiera and the rest followed.
“That felt really strange,” Kiera said, after everyone was inside.
“It did,” I agreed.
“I’m detecting no human life, or other higher beings, inside here,” Kiera said.
“Do we go check in the Fortress to see what’s there, since we’re already here?” I said.
“I have a very bad feeling, I think we should leave,” Kiera said.
“Something is draining my mana,” Darby said.
“It’s a trap!” Kiera said.
“Alright, let’s leave for now. Then we’ll discuss what to do,” I said.
“The shielding is resisting!” Darby said.
“Fracas!” I cast.
My spell was absorbed and returned with greater strength.
“Damn! It’s reflecting spells and amplifying them. Mega Fracas!” I cast.
“Unh! Damn. It drains you more the more power you use!” I said, dropping to me knees.
“This is bad! The shield gets stronger every time we expend mana,” Kiera said.
“It was made just for us. To use our power against us. We can’t walk back out because it requires more mana to walk against the shield, and less to walk with it. But walking towards the fortress draws more mana out of us,” Kiera said.
The four new knights dropped to their knees.
“I feel so weak,” Nibremhil said.
“Shield Laistigh!” Darby cast on the four knights.
“That should shield us from the draining,” Darby said.
“How long can you hold that shield up?” I asked.
“A few hours, maybe,” Darby said.
“Try sending a golem out to Cathar,” Kiera said.
“Done.”
“And it’s stuck. And it’s drained,” I said.
Kiera looked around, and then picked up a small rock, and threw it. It almost made it out of the shield.
“Darby, try throwing a rock out of the shield. Don’t use any mana to boost it,” I said.
Darby picked up a small rock and threw it hard, and it broke free of the shield.
“So we can’t fight our way out because it uses mana, but if we get thrown out, it’s ok,” I said.
“That won’t work. If we use some means to throw ourselves out, we’ll still be drained of our mana. That rock I threw is now manaless. I can’t see mana like Deirdre does, but she trained me to sense the mana around me. So I can sense the mana holes, and that rock is one. The thing many mages overlook is that everything absorbs mana, even the ground and rocks, and dirt. But that rock I threw has none now,” Kiera said.
“The only way out is within a shield or carrier that completely blocks the movement of mana outside of it. In order to do that we need to be inside something that blocks the perception of mana, and also the flow of mana,” Kiera said.
“Darby, we need to send a message to Eoghan to make us a container that does that, and can be pulled out of this shield from the outside. I’ll put the golem into a box, and Kiera can help you seal the box,” I said.
“Yes boss!” Darby said, and then pushed a message into a golem.
“Box! Okure bun!” I cast.
“Nullo! Laistigh!” Kiera cast.
“Throw it Darby!” I said.
The box flew out, and three minutes later it opened, and the golem jumped out and ran to Eoghan. An hour later an old modified carriage rolled in to our location.
“We need to test if this is safe to take us out. Let’s pour some mana into one of your golems, and send out an order to retrieve, with details of what we are testing,” I said.
“Done sir!” Darby said after we repeated the message sending process.
The carriage was retrieved and sent back in less than five minutes later. There was a message in carriage,
“Success.”
“Alright everyone in the carriage, and let’s make a new retrieval message,” I said.
We climbed into the carriage, and made a new message. Darby tossed out, and we closed the door as soon as the golem was out of the box. A few minutes later we free of the shield.
“Ok, so this was some kind of trap for us. That means, there are foreign agents in the Queen’s staff, and that was a fake order. But we can’t leave this shield here, and we still need to check out the inside of the Fortress. There may be more traps inside the Fortress,” I said.
“It may not be safe to attack the shield, even from the outside,” Kiera said.
“The shield grew in power and size, while you were inside,” Kamara said.
“It did?” Kiera asked.
“Indeed. Attacking it may further increase it’s power and size,” Kamara said.
“I have an idea on how to kill it, if you would assist me in testing out a theory, Lt. Fergus,” Kiera said.
“Happy to help. What is your idea?” I asked.
“Well it reflects attacks, and amplifies every attack. We could also set up a reflection and amplification, or just a reflection. But the flaw there is not knowing which party will reach a maximum shield for reflecting first. But what if we could reflect it without need to use a shield to reflect? Say perhaps sending it around a loop back onto itself? No reflection, no shield to break, and thus the other side will eventually break,” Kiera said.
“How will you achieve that?” Darby asked.
“An outgoing gate facing the point of return from the shield’s reflection, and an incoming gate directly below it pointing at the same location. Once, an attack is launched it will just keep being returned. The only other variable is keeping the attack from growing in size with each reflection,” Kiera said.
“Brilliant! Let’s try it” I said.
Kiera and I set up facing each other,
“Gate!” Kiera cast, and a pair of stacked half-sized gates appeared.
“Hansha!” I cast.
“Level one Waterball,” Kiera cast.
The waterball shot out, and hit my reflection shield. It reflected back on itself. It went through the gate pair, and headed back.
“Shield. Close Gate,” Kiera said. The gate closed and the waterball smashed into Kiera’s shield.
“Success!” Kiera said.
“Let’s take a day to recover, and try this out,” I said.
“We should expect whoever set this trap is watching. I have warned Deirdre about our situation. We need to be prepared for an attack soon. Since the Queen’s staff seems compromised, we might even be attacked by the Queen’s forces. If that happens. We need to immobilize them, and not kill them. Whoever set this trap may even be expecting us to react like that, and hit us with fake Queen’s forces,” I said.
“So we have to expect being attacked by Queen’s forces, or fake Queen’s forces. So we have to capture those mostly unharmed, but assume they are fake,” Darby said.
“Exactly,” I said.
“I had the chance to examine that shield while we were inside it, I think I can duplicate it, but with a limit, like mana prisons do,” Darby said.
“Are you saying, what I think you’re saying?” I asked.
“If you’re thinking I’m implying I can take out the attackers in a single blow, yes,” Darby said.
I started laughing so hard I doubled over.
“I should expect nothing less from one of Deirdre’s original crew. You all have always been monster mages. I’m curious what’s your rank now?” I said.
“Triple S,” Darby said, pulling out his red SSS adventurer tag.
“I didn’t know there were any triple S ranked people other than Deidre,” Nibremhil said.
“There are ten Triple S ranked people that I know of. They are in First squad, and Deirdre’s dragonkin guards. As long as we exclude full-blood dragons,”
“What, what! There are six Triple S ranked knights in the First squad? As strong as dragons?” Nibremhil asked.
“Yes, and no, we’re stronger than dragons,” Darby said.
“You’re stronger than dragons now? Since when?” Fergus asked.
“Not sure when, been a while though. We regularly spare with the Red Queen’s dragons. They’ve been getting stronger as a result. They might be the strongest dragons around, for now. Deirdre’s kits are crazy strong. They are going to be next level powerful. Might need a new category when they are grown, a quad S rank.”
“Deirdre probably already is. You know how she holds back to act normal,” Fergus said.
“Normal? Deirdre? Is that supposed to be a joke? Deirdre has always been the exact opposite of normal,” Darby said.
Nibremhil is just looking from one to the other, having overloaded her system already. The rest of the new members were stone-faced and pale.
“Would you two knock it off, you’re scaring the new knights,” Kiera said.
“What? Oh. Sorry, I forgot we weren’t alone,” I said.
“Yup, last piece of proof, you are a perfect match for Deirdre, What’s your rank now? Double S?” Kamara said.
“I am,” I said.
The attack didn’t come. Not then, anyway. In the morning, we returned to the shield and Kiera applied her attack. It was working so far, but she had to keep fine-tuning it, so it was taking her full concentration. The shield was shrinking as it consumed its own mana to keep increasing the attack. That was when we were attacked by an entire company of, potentially, the Queen’s forces.
“Rosie, Kamara, help contain these troops while Darby sets up his attack. The rest of you protect Kiera,” I said.
“Yes sir!”
“An entire Company? Looks like two hundred forces,” Darby said.
“Looks that way. The four of us should be enough,” I said.
Darby and Rosie laughed.
“No problem. We cut our teeth on larger armies,” Darby said.
“Indeed,” I said.
“You know these aren’t really the Queen’s forces. No way she’d send anything less than a brigade against us,” Darby said.
“That’s probably true. I’d probably go with an entire Division, myself,” I said.
“Yeah, we’d be in trouble against a Division. Without Dee here, I’d run from a Division, for sure,” Darby said.
“But not a brigade?” I asked.
“Depends on the brigade,” Darby said.
“True,” I said.
“Well, we’re done here. Maybe Eoghan can modify the Fortress holding cells to proper mana cells? There should be enough cells to contain two hundred right?”
“Good idea!” I said.
“I’m on it Gus. Kiera’s got the field down. So we’re going to investigate the Fortress,” Eoghan said.
“Good work Kiera, Eoghan,” I said.
An hour later they returned.
“That fortress was abandoned a long time ago,” Kiera said.
“Eoghan is working on modifying the fortress dungeons. We’ve raised the Queendom and our Platoon flags,” Kiera said.