68 Deploymen

At the Guild Hall (very) late that 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. "I actually woke up just before dawn."

At the next table, Remian looked far worse. He hadn't much sleep but he was toughing it out as he met 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 ask."

"This should be interesting." George mentioned, eyeing Joshu. "Who do you think he'll call?"

Mindy thought for a second and said, "Rhema, Max, and Buff!"

"A hunter, a mage, a priest, a warrior and a bear?" George thought about it. "That sounds like fun."

"That sounds like a well-balanced adventuring party." Joshu agreed, suddenly turning to them.

"You were listening?" George gaped.

"You were listening in on us too!" Joshu shot back.

Amazingly, it turned out almost exactly as Mindy and George surmised. The only difference was that Xia also wanted to go along. How Joshu asked the others and what they were promised or told, George didn't know, but Joshu had them all packing and gearing up to go within the hour.

"You know… I kinda thought he'd ask Remian and Carrie too." Mindy mentioned.

"Nah. Remian wouldn't survive." George guessed.

Mindy patted Remian on the back, even though he made absolutely no signs that he had heard everything. "Don't worry, Remian! One day, I'll invite you on an adventuring team too! And we'll bring an airship!"

"Does it still count as an adventure if you're using an airship?" George asked, half-laughing.

"It does if we're going to investigate ruins or explore the Wildlands or hunt a dragon!"

"Let's not hunt dragons just yet." Remian suggested dryly. "And preferably not with an airship that hasn't been warded against fire."

"I'd sooner ward my airship against sonic attacks first." Charlie yelled from the next table over. "Speaking of airships, if we're out there longer than a week, can you come pick us up on the way back?"

"You want me to fly the Roving Albatross?" Mindy asked, eyes shining.

"You won't need to pilot it, just power up the engines. Arnold will handle the hardware and reinstallation, and I have a helmsman named James who will handle the piloting and navigation. You just need to channel mana into it. I have some crystals in storage you could use." Charlie explained. "I'll leave some large traces on the ground every so often; if you could fetch us after we've tracked Spike to his lair, we could come back a lot quicker. Just watch out for bird-type Wilds."

"We've never had a problem with bird-type Wilds before. For some reason they never show up during Beast Waves." Mindy told him.

"There's a first time for everything." Charlie said. "Besides, just because they don't come during Beast Waves, it doesn't mean they'd let you simply sail an airship into their territory."

After Joshu and the adventuring party left, George asked Mindy, "Wonder why the bird-Wilds don't come during Beast Waves?"

"Maybe the crystal doesn't work on birds?" Mindy thought about it. "Or maybe whoever chooses the Wilds simply can't fly."

Remian suddenly stood up. He stared at Mindy, wide-eyed.

"What?" Mindy asked, confused.

"Whoever chooses the Wilds can't fly." Remian repeated softly. "Then… someone's out there, in the Wildlands, on foot, doing something to Wilds to make them part of the Beast Wave?"

"Remian? What's wrong?" Mindy looked him over. "Wasn't it you who told me that there was someone commanding the Wilds?"

"Yes, but… I thought it was the Secret Waves." Remian thought back. "Now, it seems they simply received the crystals. The crystals are coming from Fal'Herim. I thought our enemies were to the north. But how does someone in Fal'Herim choose which Wilds to send? To pick Spike of all the Tier 5's, twice? Why wasn't it Cracked Tooth trying to climb up the cliff walls madly trying to find the crystal? Why wasn't it Deepsilver or one of the Tier 5's nearer by? Why Spike?"

"Because he's unstoppable?" Mindy asked, gloomily. "Even with a Tier 4 Wind Blessing on an XL Ballista, it was all we could do just to sting him."

"If they could choose any Wild they wanted, why didn't they simply send over a dragon?" Remian pointed out. "Or some flying Wild that could fly right over our defenses and wipe out the town? I think you're right, Mindy. They can't just call whatever they want from far away. There has to be someone out there on foot in the Wildlands running around casting spells or whatever it is he's doing to send Wilds into a frenzy every time the crystal calls."

"Maybe more than one someone." Mindy agreed.

"We better warn Joshu." Remian got up and left the Guild Hall too.

***

After warning Joshu, Tim asked him for help.

"What's up?" Remian asked.

"I have some very, very new students, and they're not listening to Miik." Tim said. "They're here asking for cheese, but they can't understand anything I'm saying, and I don't understand what Miik is trying to say either."

"New students?" Remian blinked.

It turned out, that word of the cheese had spread very far and now there were a whole new type of Lynxmice looking for a bite. They were sand-colored, they had less fur, and they looked generally larger and fiercer.

[Remian!] Miik was relieved to finally see him. [The Desert Lynxmice are demanding cheese!]

[Desert Lynxmice? Demanding cheese? Didn't you tell them that they have to work for it?] Remian asked.

[I did, but they're demanding it anyway. They threaten to attack if we don't hand over all our cheese.]

Remian almost burst out laughing. [Tell them they can work for the cheese if they want it. If they try to bully or threaten us, we'll set the wolfcats on them.]

Miik did that, with relish, very rudely squeaking at the Desert Lynxmice. In return, they bared their fangs and squeaked rudely back.

[They won't listen!] Miik told Remian. [They don't believe that I can control the wolfcats!]

Remian shook his head and sighed. He very carefully picked Miik up, and tossed him out of the way. Ten he sat down and faced the three Desert Lynxmice directly. [I am the boss here. Which of you is the boss?]

[The boss is not here! The boss is in the Deep Desert Den!] they snarled. [And he demands cheese of you! You will give it!]

[Do you speak on his behalf, or is this all entirely your idea?] Remian questioned.

They shifted uneasily, then said, [It doesn't matter! All that matters is you do as we say!]

Remian poked his head out. [Carrie? How would you like something different for lunch?]

Carrie came over. [What do you have in mind?]

Three terrified squeaks sounded in unison as the Tier 4 wolfcat sauntered by. The Desert Lynxmice scurried to hide behind Miik and his clan as Carrie sat down next to Remian.

[Those Desert Lynxmice seem to think they can threaten us into giving them cheese.] Remian pointed. [The yellow ones.]

[The bald ones?] Carrie eyed them. [There's not enough of them for lunch.]

[They have a boss at the Deep Desert Den. Ever heard of it?]

[Sireek? He's a Tier 3 Desert Lynxmouse. He's not enough for lunch. Going all the way there just to eat him isn't worth the trouble.]

[What if you ate his whole clan?]

Carrie considered it. [That could be good training for Vigil. Red and Lunar might want to train their children too. We could do that.]

It turned out, the other wolfcats wanted to join the hunt. On top of that, Miik's clan and the other Lynxmice clans wanted to take revenge for past bullying, too. Either that, or they'd all gotten bored of mining and farming. Even George, Tim and Mindy wanted to come along. Accompanied by three wolfcat clans and five lynxmice clans, Remian, Mindy, George and Tim boarded the Foresight and followed Miik's directions to the Deep Desert Den.