Draith
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Chapter 102 - Course Change
🕑 Added 2025-05-17 14:00:10 +0000 UTCAt first, I'd been excited about the news of the representative arriving. That excitement dimmed when I arrived to find him receiving a verbal whipping from Vetrov.
The excitement almost went out entirely when Vetrov explained, in between curses, curses I was certain even Egerta heard from her lean-to at the far end of the valley, that the man who was standing before me didn't have the authority to negotiate anything.
It imploded into annoyance when the representative explained that Bannen had been overruled since the last time we'd talked with him. The representative had already been on the way to scout things out, and shortly before landing had been informed to pass on the message. The man wasn't even a Shaper, just a low level clerk who'd had the misfortune of stopping by to request vacation time only to be sent to us instead.
Some vacation.
He winced repeatedly as he apologized.
"Guess they don't want that heartwood that badly," I said to Vetrov after sending the man to get some dinner at one of the communal fires. He'd barely sailed in an hour before sunset and had been too nervous to eat.
Considering his reception at the end of Vetrov’s tongue, not entirely unwarranted.
"They just want to be able to sink their claws into you in person. They're trying to get you to go to their home turf," Vetrov said, spitting to the side as she smacked her fist into her open palm. "These are exactly the sort of fish-scum that made me leave in the first place."
"Tough luck for them then. I don't have a week to throw down the drain sailing there and back. Or the desire to hire a ship fast enough to make said trip," I said. "Especially with the Howling season right around the corner."
"Might be they're hoping to get all your wealth without having to cast a line," Tamrie said, "Keep them Shapers home while letting us starve or get beaten down by the Howls. Wouldn't be the first time the guild’s seen fit to tread water while folk suffer so as they could scrounge a few extra Waves."
Vetrov's face twisted into a scowl. "I remember a time I would've knocked you to the abyss for even suggesting such a thing." Then she let out a long sigh. "But you've got the right of it these days."
"Shame though," I said, my gaze fixed southward. "Those Shapers would’ve helped a lot. Maybe after the Howling season I’ll be able to make a trip down. Even if it doesn’t work out, I wouldn't mind seeing Spellford in person. Assuming I can ever spare the time."
"Gonna be a tough Howl," Vetrov said, crossing her arms. "Even if we get those greenhouses built, food's gonna be tight for a while."
"Least we won't be getting as many people," Tamrie said, pulling out her journal. "Long as we don't get drowned in a final tide of folk, rations might hold. And fishing’s always easier during the Howl, so might be we could find a way to use that."
Before we could start working on a solution, most likely involving the greenhouses we'd been planning to have those Shapers build, Calbern joined us, inclining his head in my direction.
"Don't suppose you brought me good news," I said, though I wasn't feeling optimistic. The fact his eyes tightened at my comment was enough for me to sigh.
"Unfortunately not, master Perth," Calbern said, turning in the direction of the wyvern peaks. "The wyverns have been spotted flying closer to Tetherfall once more. They're not attacking, though it seems that something has agitated them."
"Like us killing their boss and hauling him back?" I suggested. "Or maybe Selvi poking around looking for that ruin I mentioned?"
"It is possible, though I don't believe miss Selvi has left on her excursion," Calbern admitted. "And they allowed me to traverse their territory unbothered. Perhaps something else is to blame?"
"Think we should go hunting? Or just go poke our noses around?" I'd been planning to let Selvi go on her own, but maybe a larger force would be required.
"A foray to investigate seems appropriate. Though perhaps such an excursion should be made in force," Calbern suggested, his hand resting on his sword.
"I'll check with Selvi, see if they're ready," I said, my eyes searching the evening sky for any sign of a wyvern's dark form. I'd welcome one attacking at the moment. Blowing something up always helped relieve the tension that came from facing our ever dwindling food supplies.
Unfortunately, none of the draconic pests were feeling that rowdy.
"Magus Dominus," Selvi said, running up before I could send for her. "The wyverns are… ah, I see ser Calbern has already found you." She nodded in his direction, as she slowed. "Are we calling off the mission?"
"No…" I said, fighting to keep the smile off my face. "But it looks like the nature of it has changed."
After that, Selvi went to inform her people of the slight change in plans while I got ready in case the wyverns changed their minds. That night, staying ready meant that I spent the night in Bevel's nook in the crystal chamber, while Selvi scheduled twice as many sentries as usual.
Mr Kandle wasn't there with me in Bevel’s nook. None of her things were. One of the sentries, a middle-aged man with a long beard who seemed familiar but whose name I couldn't remember, told me she'd moved in with her sister, in one of the higher buildings near the outer edge of the chasm.
It was the most I'd heard about her in days. From a man who was a relative stranger to both of us.
I ended up sleeping a lot less than I'd planned.
When morning came, it was only the effects of Restore Form that kept me from yawning.
As it tore through me, I blinked, amazed at how thoroughly it’d banished the tiredness. Better than any energy drink I’d ever tried. Didn't replace the satisfaction of a good night's sleep though. Not that I'd had a lot of those since Nexxa's sudden departure.
The days had been busy enough to keep me from thinking about… About what Nexxa really thought of me, who that mysterious figure had been, what all those red lines crossing into her territory meant…
About any of it.
Once more, I did my best to disrupt my thoughts with action, making my way to Verdant Point where we'd be launching the squad of Talons. There were going to be six of us in total, though we’d be going without our heaviest hitter. Without the awakened wyvern to challenge, Inertia had declined to join.
Personally, I thought it had more to do with her experiments with steam powered blimps, but I didn't press her on it. And only partially cause I really wanted to see her build a steam-powered blimp.
Mostly, I thought that if we were going to have an air-based scouting force, it needed to be able to at least escape an aggressive wyvern without her help.
After nearly a week of on and off practice, I was starting to feel more confident about my skills in the gliders. Not an ace like Calbern, Selvi or the Tethered she’d chosen to join us, but enough that I could provide a decent amount of support.
More importantly, Xoth had figured out a way to allow People to use a Petal rod without having to spin it.
Turned out the damn things didn't have any practical reason for the little twirl. Someone had just designed them that way to make them harder to use. Okay, there was technically a tiny drop in impact power. But not enough to notice.
Since we only had two Petal Rods, Calbern and Selvi each ended up with one. The other Tethered all had nets and other things that could be dropped on the wyverns to muck about with their flight.
Selvi was also bringing a lasso, like a cowboy from Earth.
I watched her practice with it as we waited for the other Tethered to arrive. Even at fifty paces, she was surprisingly accurate.
"How're you gonna do that big windup when we're in the air?" I asked, as she gathered the rope back to her.
"Don't need as much motion, wind does half the work," Selvi replied, looping the roop around a pair of hooks next to her harness. She had a bag secured on the other side, to balance the weight. "Like standing at the end of the chasm during a big Howl. Plus, dropping from above’s a cinch."
"That sounds challenging."
"Had lots of time to practice when I was working for Balthum," Selvi replied, frowning.
"Take it that wasn't pleasant?"
"No," Selvi said, reaching up to touch her still scarred face. Restore Form hadn't been able to heal her scars any better than Minor Heal had. There was some sort of lingering magic in the wounds that even Xoth didn't have the skill to remove. I'd assumed the marks had been cause I'd been too slow after Grivis had tortured her. She hadn’t said anything, but I was starting to think they’d come from Balthum.
Either way, the fact she didn't continue was an obvious enough sign to let it drop.
Instead, I started prepping Soar. My glider still had two Forgehearts on it, as did most of the rest, since Inertia and her apprentices hadn't had time to build a full set of new frames yet. It meant we were taking every powered glider we had at the moment, other than Bevel's.
Wasn't sure if she'd even used her glider since I'd restored her sister. Would've been easy to miss her since I'd spent most of the last few days indoors, and except for looking for the wyverns, hadn't much looked to the sky.
The other Tethered arriving drew me out of my thoughts. I was surprised to see Tanis there until I realized he was seeing off one of the other Tethered, giving her a goodbye kiss.
Oh…
Not just one of them. Two of the Tethered, and they were both rather…
I turned away, not quite used to that much… enthusiasm.
Selvi barked out a laugh but by the time I looked in her direction she was busy strapping herself in. I quickly moved to do the same as Tresla came over. While a little short for the task, Tresla still checked our straps for us. As she was finishing with the last strap, Tresla tilted her hood in my direction. And for the first time, I thought I could almost make out a shape beneath her hood.
The barest lines of a face, glowing the faintest of violets, though the features were little more than the vaguest of shapes. It was so quick, I couldn't be sure if I imagined it.
"Threads watch over you," Tresla said, patting my cheek. I nodded, about to reply when she added, "Inertia will kill you if you don't come back safe."
"Inertia will, huh? Not you?"
"No reason to get my hands mussed," Tresla said, brushing both of her hands against my robe, a flash of red light escaping her hood as she stepped back.
"Keep her out of trouble?" I requested, glancing towards Inertia's workshop.
Tresla just snorted. "No chance of that. Do my best to make sure the village is still here when you get back though."
"I'd appreciate it," I said, tugging on the controls.
Tresla waved as I ascended. I fell in alongside Selvi who'd lifted off during our goodbyes, both of us circling as the others ascended.
The last up was Calbern. Once he took the lead, the rest of us moved into a delta pattern, like we were migratory birds. Since we were mostly relying on familiar physics, switching out the lead glider would allow us to greatly reduce our collective thrust usage. Not that Calbern or I had to worry about it yet, since neither of our gliders had been modified.
Wasn't sure if I should use my status as an excuse to keep it that way.
What I needed was more Forgehearts.
Then again… I needed more of a lot of things.
I was not so secretly hoping this little excursion would help with that.
