“UWAAAAAAaaaaaaaaa…”
Unknown to Remian, one of his people was still on the East Side when it fell. Or rather, one of his Lynxmice.
Mikai was the fastest Lynxmouse in the Miik Clan. He knew it, and everyone knew it, even Tim. That was why, when Tim needed someone to send the magic crystal to the Fishing House kitchen, it was Mikai who was immediately dispatched.
Mikai was a good Lynxmouse. He was not just fast, he was smart too. He buried his droppings and cleaned himself in a catlike manner every day like a good little Lynxmouse should.
So, why? Why was this happening to him?
There was a reason for it. He knew there was, and he tried very hard to think of it as all hell broke loose and everyone near Mikai screamed in his ear as they dropped hundreds of feet straight down.
Okay, maybe there were good reasons. For instance, after leaving the crystal at the Fishing House kitchen, Mikai did not run straight back to the western settlement.
“Tim?” “Yes, Remian?” “How much tunneling did you guys do on the East Side? The whole thing broke apart…” “Quite a lot.” “One more thing.” “What?” “We need to spy on Fal’Herim.” Remian rubbed his forehead back at the Adventurers Guild Hall, sitting with Tim, George and Mindy for breakfast. At the next table, six Lynxmice appeared to be listening to one hero Lynxmouse chitter over a stack of cheese, and at the table after that, five wolfcat cubs appeared to be minding their own business chowing down on their own food, but their ears kept twitching as the Lynxmouse told his stories. Fal’Herim; that was what the Secret Waves chief said. His claims were backed by Fal’Herim. Why of all places, did it have to be the nearest and only city for a thousand miles? Fal’Herim was practically Frontier Town’s lifeline. One look at a map could tell anyone that the Desert King’s citadel controlled Frontier Town; Remian just hadn
Charlie’s next shipment brought in no less than four tons of cheese as per Tim’s earlier visionary request. With such resources made available, Tim suddenly became the most powerful figure in Frontier Town.In a matter of hours, twenty squads of Lynxmice were dispatched from Miik’s Clan and three other friendly clans, loaded on board Charlie’s airship bound for Fal’Herim. No less than forty squads were dispatched to help the miners at Kara-Goth. They were better diggers than the workers of High Rock and Desert Moon clans; pretty soon Remian had his workers shift over to clearing the rubble of Frontier Town. Tim set twenty more squads of Lynxmice to help the workers with the rubble.Remian had never seen so many Lynxmice in his life. They were everywhere, digging, salvaging, sorting, chomping up whatever they found that could (in their estimation) be eaten (even stuff everyone else honesty thought were inedible). Everywhere he went, whether
“What to do, what to do?” In a high tower, a man paced to and fro in front of a large crystal, muttering to himself.“Master?” a voice came from the crystal, uncertain.“Just… do the usual.” The man waved his hand. “I don’t want to bother the king about this little… hiccup. We’ll simply have to find new agents at the target point.”“What sort of creatures should I target this time?” the voice at the other side of the crystal asked.“Just… pick the strongest creatures you can get your sights on.” The man waved dismissively.“The strongest creature? Are you sure?”There was a short silence.***When Mindy and the twenty scroll-students helping her finished the first Sky Barge, the final results did not look like the drawing she showed Remian weeks ago.“We still get Guild Points for it, though, don&rsq
The High Rock clan boarded the Sky Barge. The Desert Moon clan, however, refused. They wouldn’t leave the farm. “This is our home now. At worst, we'll just scatter and come back later.” Maybe it was just as well. The High Rock clan seemed to have an astounding amount of stuff to evacuate. At this rate, they alone would fill up the entire Sky Barge to the brim. “Are you sure? There’s still time. We can make room for you on the Sky Barge.” Aren offered Taj. “I am sure. This is it. Here is where we make our stand. Live or die, tonight is when it all changes.” Taj drew a deep breath. “And should we survive this ordeal, should we be tempered by this darkness and emerge intact to greet a new day… it would be a new clan who greets the sunrise tomorrow.” “Charlie is almost here.” Mindy reported. “What about the Sky Barge?” Remian asked. “The evacuation is almost done!” Zania replied. “You’ve been saying that for the past half h
“We need more speed!” Remian called to Charlie across the deck of the Roving Albatross. “Spike’s headed straight for us!” “This is as much power as I’ve got!” Charlie panted. “The magic drive is going on full, and I’ve already exhausted most of my mana fusing that Tier 4 spell! I can’t boost it by much more! Don’t you realize how much weight we’re towing?!” “How can I help?” Remian asked. “Don’t! Your powers are too unstable! A sudden super-boost like yours could totally wreck my engine!!” Charlie gasped. “Don’t try it!” Remian growled. He glanced at the cannons. “NO!” Charlie barked at once. “You might very well blow us all up!” “There has to be SOMETHING I can do!” Remian grouched. “Use your Light Barriers.” Charlie suggested. “They could protect the ship if Spike starts roaring at us.” Remian clambered to the deck as Spike neared. The Tier 5 lizard was completely ignoring the town under reconstruction and seemed to b
At that point, Mindy scored a direct hit on Spike’s tail-root. [YEOW!] Spike spun, roaring at her airship, but of course, Mindy’s Foresight was much higher, and much farther from Spike than Charlie’s Roving Albatross. “Cease fire!” Remian shouted at her, waving. “Cease fire! Stop shooting!” [Mindy, STOP!] [R-Remian…?!] Mindy’s confusion floated back to Remian in an inkling of a thought before disappearing entirely. [Spike, calm down…] Remian tried. [It bit me in the tail!] Spike spluttered. [My poor tail!!] [You attacked us first. Smack the hive and you have to expect hornets to sting.] [Hornets? Hive? What are you talking about?] Spike groaned, shaking his head groggily. [Ugh. What happened?] [You got baited by a magic crystal and came rampaging again.] Remian summarized. [Again?! Where’s that blasted crystal, I’m gonna… I’m gonna…] Spike hesitated. [What’s the worst thing you could do to a magic crystal?]
Meanwhile, Mandy was doing what Remian really should be doing. She was studying magic. While her body recovered slowly, and Charlie's household took care of the children, Mandy somehow found she had time and ended up studying Charlie's old books. Some of them weren't there any more; Charlie had taken most of the basic wind magic books to Mindy and sold quite a few others, but plenty of others, especially those related to water and ice magic, were still there, sitting on bookshelves in a general study area that rather resembled a library. This very moment, she was reading 'A treatise on mana flow adjustment for basic water magic'. Charlie, it should be noted, would never have given away, sold, or shown this particular book to anyone. There were just too many hand-written notes in its pages that had nothing to do with water magic alongside various little drawings, and the name 'Cynthia' that kept popping up in nice handwriting… Across from her, Madam Porrin tau
At the Guild Hall the next morning, George took one look at Mindy’s pale face and red eyes and shook his head. “Late night?”“No, actually I think I slept soon after sunset.” Mindy remembered.At the next table, Remian was meeting with Joshu. “Your mission is to find Craggy Falls and map the way to it. It is a top priority and you can choose your own companions from anyone who is willing.”“Anyone? Anyone at all?” Joshu asked. “Even Charlie?”“You can ask if he’s willing.” Remian nodded. “But you have to tell him that it’s roughly five days away.”“Why not?” Charlie called over from the next table after. “Arnold’s going to take a week to repair my equipment anyway. I’m stuck until then.”“What about the priests? The ones with healing powers? And the Legion?”“Like I said. You can a