Draith
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Chapter 142 - Not Blending In
🕑 Added 2025-06-25 14:00:12 +0000 UTCAuthor's note: Small edits to chapter 140 and 141
Chapter 140 in the paragraph:
The week passed with my day split between repairing the greenhouse and doing spot enchantments on the airship, and my nights spent with everyone outside, enjoying the reprieve from the storm.
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Even snuck in another visit to Conflict and traded the favor to get a bunch of lightweight components for the airship.
Chapter 141:
Thankfully, Soaring Wolf had been found on the west side of Mistvale, having been tossed over a dozen miles during the storm. If it hadn't landed in plain view of Mount Aeternia, we never would've spotted it. And even then, it was only because of the calm days we’d had the last week.
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After retrieving it, I'd made another trip to the Golden Halls to cut down Balthum's time, once more looking over the recommendations for my Astral form.
I decided to put that off until after my visit with Nexxa.
... MLI ...
"That's a lot more people than you said," Tresla noted even as she slowed the Howling Defier.
"More than I was expecting," I agreed, not sure how to feel. Nexxa was there, I had no doubt of it. The flying form racing over the crowd to place herself between us and them kinda stood out, despite how far they were below us.
The lightning she threw off as she moved kinda didn't blend in now that the sun was dipping below the mountains.
"I'll go meet her in Soaring Wolf," I said, already stepping towards where the glider was waiting strapped against not far from the entrance ramp.
"Sure that's a good idea? She seems a little jumpy," Tresla said, stumbling slightly as the Howling Defier came to a stop, its gravity shifting to be slightly lighter.
"Looks like she's watching over hundreds of people. I'd say she has the right to be a little jumpy," I said, though I did hesitate. "But you're right. I'll just… uh, go outside."
Tresla nodded as I approached the airlock. It was the same one I would've taken to get to my glider. Only difference was, once I was outside, I didn't move to the side to strap in. Instead, I started waving in Nexxa's direction, hoping she'd spot me.
It seemed to work, since she stopped midair, the lightning that'd been crackling around her fading away. Then she shot upward once more, though on a slightly different trajectory. She rose up in front of the Defier, looking down at us. Then she took the time to circle the Defier, before finally hovering just in front of us.
Now that she'd stopped, I realized something about her looked different. She'd always kinda crackled with electricity, but now her hair almost seemed to refuse to sit still. Which… I supposed she was right in the center of the downward thrust created by the Defier, so, fair.
"Hey Nexxa," I yelled, giving her another milder wave.
"You know, when you said you'd build something to help me bring people back, I was picturing something a little more… not flying," Nexxa said, grinning. "This is incredible!"
"I mean, you wanna talk incredible… when you said you might bring your people with you, I was expecting a couple less," I said, my gaze shifting past her to the tide of sapients in her wake. Was pretty sure I spotted some dwarves mixed in. Something I hadn’t read about in all my studies.
"Ah. Yeah, I told you I couldn't just leave people to the monsters. I've been warning everyone in their path. With the high road repaired, I only have to deal with the really dangerous stuff. Told them they could follow along. Figured no big deal, right?" Nexxa asked, looking to the side. "Plus, Books asked me to bring a bunch of his people with me when I stopped in to say goodbye, so I already had a bunch of extras."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Guess its getting really bad. Not just the monsters. A bunch of Magus Domini tried to attack the City on the Water. Althon came out and laid down the law, but… a lot of people died. Books is planning to follow me with even more people," Nexxa said, glancing back.
"Nexxa… do you even know how many people you're bringing?"
"Uh… a few thousand? It's been hard to keep track. Sometimes people decide to stay behind for a day. High road keeps us mostly dry, but sometimes its not enough when the storm gets really bad so… it's kind of a mess, honestly. Just keeping them fed is… I'm really glad to see you," Nexxa said, giving me a weak grin. "Don't suppose you've got a spare city waiting?"
"I… do not," I said, still trying to absorb what I was seeing beneath me, nevermind the idea that Books was planning to bring even more. Or what that implied. "I'm amazed you've gotten them as far as you have. You're almost halfway."
"Front, really? Only halfway?" Nexxa grumbled, running a crackling hand through her hair. "It's been going slower every day."
"Well, we'll be able to bring some back now, but I think…" I looked back. It was hours behind us, but I hadn't forgotten the storm that’d been sweeping west that morning. "The storm's about to get a lot worse."
"I… I can kinda handle that, I think," Nexxa said, offering a weak grin. "Made it to Hydra, just as planned."
"That's… congratulations. I'd give you a hug, but only one of us can walk on air," I said, reaching out to mime patting her on the shoulder.
"Oh, right," Nexxa said, floating forward fast enough to tackle me, which lifted me off the platform I’d been standing on. "Really is good to see you, Perry."
"Good to see you too," I said, patting her on the back while returning the hug and making damn sure not to look down.
"Master Percival, lady Bevel has a suggestion," Calbern said, poking his head through one of the upper hatches.
"What is it?" I asked, turning back to him, realizing he was somehow below us.
"She thinks you and your sister should come inside," Calbern said, gesturing in the direction of the loading ramp where Nexxa had grabbed me from.
"Right. Let's go inside. Get them caught up and maybe one of them will have an idea on how to help with… all that," I said, waving in the direction of the massive exodus.
So said, we were soon standing together inside while Selvi sent her scouts out to get a better idea of what we were dealing with.
Other than a humanitarian crisis in progress, obviously.
"Why do you keep grabbing more people?" Bevel asked, once I'd conveyed what happened to the others.
"Cause I don't want to leave them for the monsters," Nexxa said, smiling at Bevel.
"Doesn't it make it harder?"
"I… yes, it does," Nexxa said, her smile cracking a little. Then she took a deep breathe before kneeling down in front of Bevel. "But I'm sure you know what it's like to be left behind. You wouldn't want anyone else to go through that, if they didn't have to, would you?"
Bevel shook her head so vehemently, she bumped into Calbern's leg before stopping.
"Yeah. Me neither," Nexxa said, ruffling Bevel's hair as she stood up. "So, I'm open to suggestions. I was having a hard time with a few dozen people, this is… I'm just glad so many of the monsters in the area are edible."
"Not sure how long that's gonna last," I said, shaking my head. "Monsters aren't as thick out our direction."
"Kinda the point, Perry," Nexxa said, pushing my shoulder.
"The storm," Tresla said from where she was still standing by the controls. "I believe that is the more immediate concern."
"Yeah… it's pretty bad Nexxa, like, throwing boulders the size of a… the size of Fang," I said.
"The last one threw Fang," Calbern said, inclining his head in agreement. "Though she survived with only a few bare scratches."
Fang was surprisingly durable when Inertia wasn't pulling it apart.
Nexxa pushed a floating strand of hair out of her face as she narrowed her eyes. "Damn. Didn't get that bad out here. When was that?"
"About a week ago. I suspect it's going to get worse before it gets better," I said even as I wondered if I should make her a hairpin. I did have practice at it.
"Well… it's not like we can just wait out the storms. The high road might stop the worst of it, but with so many people…" Nexxa let out a long sigh. "Whenever the storm gets thin, I have a harder time keeping everything going. Even at Hydra soul, my mana isn't infinite."
"Well, maybe we can start ferrying people back. The slowest of them. It'll speed the rest up," I said, rubbing my chin and pulling down one of the foldable shelves to use as a seat.
"Perhaps a temporary fortification could be erected. Somewhere the Howling Defier can return to. Provisions could be brought with each trip," Calbern suggested.
"Our provisions won't last long if we're shipping them all out here," I said, my head knocking against the side of the cabin as I leaned back looking up. "But at least it'll be something. I'll… need to do a lot of enchanting fixing up the greenhouses."
"Fixing up? Did you make yours flimsier than the ones you made for me?" Nexxa asked, taking a seat beside me.
"Nope. Sturdier," I said, chuckling softly. "Fang sized boulders, remember? Storm picked them up and tossed them."
"That… huh… I never considered using Storm that way," Nexxa said, tapping her chin.
While Nexxa had her little revelation, the rest of us continued to plan. Eventually, a temporary shelter where we'd ferry people east was decided to be a good idea.
The factor that pushed us into it was when one of the scouts returned with news of a mostly intact set of structures high up one of the mountains next to the high road. It wasn't visible from the high road itself, but one of the towers actually pierced the clouds. There were several sections of the path upward that needed to be repaired but compared to building a place from scratch, it sounded promising.
Of course, first Nexxa and I went to inspect the complex. It looked like it'd been abandoned for a long time, but it still had several intact enchantments. It even had a well. One that needed repairs to produce clean water, but the bones of the place were good.
So I set out to repair the steps, starting at the bottom. It was, I realized, a long climb. And unlike the high road and the complex above, large stretches of the stairs weren't protected.
Which meant I'd have to spend my time repairing both the enchantments as well as the actual stonework.
"Why not just lift 'em all," Bevel asked when I voiced my concern after coming back from my inspection.
"How do you propose we…"
She was turning in a circle, gesturing at… the Howling Defier.
"You want us to use the Defier… as an elevator?" I asked, just to be certain.
"Is that… a bad idea?" Bevel asked, deflating slightly.
"Not at all, lady Bevel," Calbern said, inclining his head in her direction.
"Feels too easy," I grumbled, shaking my head. "Selvi, think you can handle that while I fix up the steps?"
"Easy as swinging. Best have your sister on hand while we do it though. Lotta these people look more frayed than our guests from Spellford," Selvi said, narrowing her eyes as she looked outside.
"I'll tell her," I replied, nodding to Calbern. "I'll bring Bevel with me. Tresla, you too."
"I… would prefer to remain at the controls," Tresla said, not letting go of said controls.
Stopping, I looked over at her. Then I nodded. “Just… be careful. Looks like a lot of these people have had a rough go of it lately.”
“I shall watch over her, master Percival,” Calbern assured me, nodding.
“Right. Let’s get to it then,” I said, nodding at them.
With our path set, we unloaded the gliders further down the high road. Out of sight, out of mind and all that. While we did so, they landed the Howling Defier near the front of the caravan.
I'd find out later that it took Nexxa longer to convince the first group to get aboard than it did to fly them to the top. A problem that continued until the winds started to pick up and a tree flew past the high road.
By that point Bevel and I were three-quarters of the way up the mountain path. We’d picked up several guests of our own. For most of the climb, Bevel had been standing behind me and glaring at people, warning them not to disturb me.
One man shoved past both of us, despite our shouted warnings. He made it a dozen steps before the path crumbled beneath him. Bevel caught him before I even realized he'd fallen, her face scrunched up as she hung him further out over the air.
"Don't be stupid," she said as she plopped him back on the steps below us with the others. "Catching you is hard."
Then she crossed her arms and turned back to watching the crowd. I ruffled her hair, and got back to it.
The wind built up around us, but Bevel kept us in a pocket of calm as we ascended. That climb was the first time I realized how strong she really was. I'd known she could suspend herself but that was nothing compared to her redirecting a boulder twice as long as the man she’d just caught.
Sure, she scrunched up her face in concentration, but she was working with non-structured magic, doing it with pure willpower. It was honestly impressive. Her efforts made it a lot easier to concentrate.
By the time we reached the top, the Defier had ferried over a thousand people and quite a few pack animals into the compound. Stepping inside, I watched the couple hundred people who'd followed us filter past. There were a lot more of them than I'd realized. Most of them seemed to appreciate the sudden warmth and easier to breath air, as a sort of bubbling energy came over the crowd.
We had to hurry them along, so they didn't just clog the entrance. Thankfully, a pair of women in the crowd started helping, allowing Bevel and I to move inside ourselves.
Inside the compound, it was… a complete nightmare. People were collapsing wherever there was space, some were off exploring. Somebody had decided they hadn't wanted to find a proper bathroom.
These were not the organized and disciplined refugees I'd been getting from Spellford. I hadn't appreciated how much they'd taken care of their own needs. Then again, most of these refugees were from different tribes, with over a dozen different accents easily picked out as I watched them. The dwarves I’d thought I spotted earlier were actually three different sets of people who considered themselves elves.
They didn’t have pointy ears, or the horns I associated with the elves of Ro’an, but they still thought of themselves that way.
And none of them liked each other.
Luckily, I'd picked up a few things since we received our first refugees, and I set to work appointing people to get things done. Organizing and signage for the bathrooms was the first thing, cause no one wanted to smell that anymore than absolutely necessary. And with the magic at my disposal, it wasn’t.
Then I set another group to investigating the buildings. Not the first group I'd approached though, since the guy in charge of them had started asking who I thought I was and…
Yeah, I'd just told him to nevermind, and when he'd swung at me, he'd triggered the Shock Shield I'd been keeping up as protection from the storm. It hadn't been enough to kill him, but his bowels didn't appreciate it.
After his family hauled him back, muttering apologies under their breath, I turned to the next group. I chose not to use Restore Form on him.
For some reason, the second group were much more cooperative. Made me feel like garbage, but at least they were working to improve their own situation. Once they confirmed the buildings were safe, I started getting people to clear out of the courtyard so the Defier could keep bringing others up.
Hours. We spent hours on the simple task of getting people from the bottom into the compound. Most of the time was because people were slow to get on or off of Defier.
By the time we were done, there were only a handful of people down on the highroad. They'd refused to get in the 'flying demon' or to climb the stairs.
With only a few of them down there, the enchantments might even be enough to keep them safe.
After Nexxa landed, I let her take over while I went to deal with the water situation. That well wasn't going to enchant itself.
Besides… I needed a nice relaxing break doing honest work.
