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
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Kingdom of the Weak 65. Damage
“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
Kingdom of the Weak 66. Anti-Magic
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?]
Kingdom of the Weak 67. Mandy and Mindy
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
Kingdom of the Weak 68. Deployment
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
Kingdom of the Weak 69. Swearing
Frankly speaking, today was the worst day anyone could have picked to threaten Remian.Not only had he lost the western settlement (which had been built at his expense), he’d gotten a big new debt to Charlie, plus the mystery bugging him all along had led to a sleepless night and a scarce few hours of sleep this morning. Remian was feeling very grumpy. Despite having two cups of coffee and some well-cooked (overcooked?) bacon and sausages (made from grounded Blood Rabbit meat), he still wanted to bite somebody.Instead, he led an army of wolfcats and lynxmice and let them do the biting.The ‘Deep Desert Den’ was an hour north into the desert on Mindy’s airship. The Foresight flew low, barely ten feet off the ground, Miik and his clan scurrying alongside while Carrie and the wolfcats ran on ahead. The wolfcats went ahead and started early. By the time they arrived at the Deep Desert Den, Carrie’s three packs already had a pile of kil
Kingdom of the Weak 70. Getting a handle on things
“I thought there weren’t any other Tier 5’s in Shadowflash Fief!” Remian protested.[Back then, there weren’t. But now it is widely known that Spike has invaded twice and Shadowflash has not shown himself. Therefore, there are now challengers.] Carrie shifted uncomfortably. [We can no longer avoid a showdown. Unless you can subdue them yourself, one of the new challengers will be the new lord. That could be very bad for you and the other humans in this fief, very bad indeed…]“And how exactly do I challenge them? Single combat?” Remian guessed, grimacing.[No lord ever stands alone. It will be your pack against theirs.]“So I get to bring everyone?” Remian gaped. “I can bring a whole army?”[Anyone willing to fight at your side.] Carrie nodded. [Also be aware that there is no limit to future challengers. To be the Lord, you must not only win, you must defend your rule foreverm
Kingdom of the Weak 71. The Pit
By the time Remian arrived on site, Daring Drum was in a very, very bad mood.He roared. He cursed. He swore. He used a lot of bad language that none of the humans except Remian understood. He squirmed and struggled valiantly…All to no avail. DD was, to put it mildly, stuck. The pit wasn’t very roomy in the first place. Deep, but not all that wide; the giant boar was stuck head-first in the hole, with his backside upended, legs pinned tightly in the shaft.“Surrender!” Remian called down. “Acknowledge my claim as the Lord of this Fief, and we’ll free you!”Actually, looking at how the boar was stuck, Remian had to wonder if it was even possible to get the boar out of there.[Never!] Daring Drum roared. [How dare you treat me as a common pig, to give in to the whims of humans! You…!]The tirade went on for quite a while, with very colorful language (for a Wild, anyway) echoing around the pit
Kingdom of the Weak 72. Conditions
“They’re alive!”It was amazing, but somehow, when they dug through the cooling lava layers, the Burning Bull and the Diamond Bristle Boar stirred and groaned.They had to tie them to the Sky Barge to haul them out of the pit.Now they lay side by side, groaning and twitching on the ground. Bellower’s fire was practically reduced to embers, he flopped around weakly, his breathing hoarse. DD’s entire bottom half had been burned, plus he’d been gored in the bum. It was incredible that either of them even survived until now; Remian had to admit, he was impressed.“How did they do it?” Remian marveled. “How did they live under such conditions?”[Fire essence.] Carrie sniffed Bellower, then turned to DD. [Earth essence.]Bellower managed to open one eye and look at Remian. [Human… give me fire… and I will let you off for one year…]“We’re way past
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