169 Word of War

Days since last Beast Tide: 43. Current Kill Count: 1734 (85 since yesterday).

15 days since last Beast Wave.

The same day that Mindy and Co. leave Ecclesia at sundown.

***

"Deepsilver! I challenge you!" Wulfgar roared toward the waters of the Black Lake.

At the time, Deepsilver was on the edge of the lake, head above the surface, watching with some interest as Jim, George and a crew of others set explosives across Rocky Ford with some help from Charlie and his airship.

"Do you think this will really work?" Jim asked George dubiously.

"The theory is sound. Destroy the ford and there is simply no way across the river for the average Tier 3 or 4 Wild. This could really cut down the threats we face if and when we have to face the next Beast Tide."

"I thought you said they'd stopped already?" Jim mentioned.

"The Beast Waves have stopped, yes. We expected one yesterday and just like last week, they didn't show. I take it as a good sign. But Beast Tides are an entirely different matter. There's a countdown ongoing, and eventually, we'll have to face them again. At that time, we can blow the Ford before they arrive, or even when they're halfway crossing through it. Either way, it could take some pressure off us."

"But you're not expecting this to stop the Tide entirely, are you?"

"Not really, no. I think they'll either go around it, or find a way to cross the river regardless." George admitted. "But we might at least be able to break their momentum, maybe take smaller bites rather than handling them all at once. If nothing else, we could perhaps buy time for an evacuation."

"You really don't sound confident." Jim remarked. "What if by then we're prepared enough and strong enough to take them all out without heavy losses?"

George barked a laugh. "That would be awesome."

Meanwhile, Wulfgar was still roaring at the Lord of the Black Depths Lake. "Deepsilver! Fight me!"

Deepsilver glanced at him once, dismissively, and…

ZAP!!!

"Emergency! Phoebe! Help!!" someone started yelling for medical aid on Wulfgar's behalf.

***

At that time, Tim was arriving back at Fal'herim with a few new subordinates in tow.

At that time, Darian was bemoaning the lack of progress on his now foot-long Silhouette. In order to relieve some of his stress, Doom called for a day off, and the three of them, Doom, Darian and Vigil, spent many hours lying on beach chairs on their backs, with their tummies up, all four paws in the air… Har'es-dras attempted the same thing, but there was no beach chair large enough for him, and for some reason, the end result just didn't feel the same.

At that time, various Lords and Kings of the Wilds were communicating with each other, casting dark glances at the growing population and increasing death counts of Shadowflash Fief. One of the exceptions to this dark murmurers was the Eagle Lord. "Such muttering… is beneath me!"

Another exception was the Golden Lion Lord. "Whatever. Let me sleep."

Of the voices raised in grim expectation, the darkest were that of the Stag Lord, who had lost many of his kin to dinner plates, and the Pegasus Lord Brothers, who eyed the recent capture and employment of their kin with great suspicion.

At that time, a large exodus of wolfcats occurred as the small majority of the wolfcat clans left Kara-Goth forever. Following Carrie's lead, they settled at the new vertical settlement at Three Pines Peak and the Black Ruins Camp there. This made the new horse-type Wilds working at the farm a lot more assured. By the handful, friends and friends of friends of said horse-type employees, also horse-types themselves, began to join up, causing the nearby Pegasus Lords to be increasingly suspicious of What Was Going On Around There.

That was the time when the first shots were fired. Mindy was still boarding passengers at Ecclesia when the war for mana began almost without anyone noticing.

But as the sun set on that dark Starday, at some forgotten edge of the neutral zone, a lord of the Nine Mountains killed a prince of Auria, and throwing aside all semblance of diplomacy and cordiality, forces from both nations immediately called upon their allies and drew steel. The tinder was already laid; a mere spark, any spark, was enough to set it off. That very evening, minor clashes between unaffiliated groups from six different nations drew blood and a handful of deaths.

The next morning, Auria declared war upon the Nine Mountains. Mendev stepped in and demanded Auria back off, but Germat stood with Auria and demanded that Mendev back off. La Vive stood with Mendev and more and more world powers began to chip in.

At that point, First Centurion Tiberius sent Talia and the Sky Galleon 'Free Wings' home. Unaffiliated parties began to leave the neutral zone and the surrounding possible conflict areas en masse.

***

Days since last Beast Tide: 44. Current Kill Count: 1823 (89 since yesterday).

16 days since last Beast Wave. Mindy – one day out from Ecclesia.

***

The next day, as Talia was arriving at Fal'herim, and Mindy was nearing Ceres, passing by to the south of Itarim, Aurian raiders wiped out a Nine Mountains supply convoy attempting to reach their 'embassy' fort in the Neutral Zone. In response, a contingent of Mendev riflemen pursued the raiders all the way back to the Aurian 'embassy' fort and laid siege.

"Any word about what's going on at the Neutral Zone?" Talia asked at Fal'herim as she was doing a little bit of profitable trading on the side while on the way back.

"War. Word is, it's war." They told her.

She left Fal'herim and headed for Kara-Goth six hours ahead of Mindy's approach to Fal'herim.

***

Days since last Beast Tide: 45. Current Kill Count: 1918 (95 since yesterday).

17 days since last Beast Wave. Two days out from Ecclesia.

***

Having absolutely no clue that the war had already broken out in the Neutral Zone, Mindy and her classmates pulled in to Fal'herim in a sightseeing mood.

"So this is the Desert City!" Professor Alexei exclaimed as they docked. "It all seems so… new…?"

"Like I said. The last time Khar'al-dras woke up, he left this city in ruins. Most of it IS new." Remian pointed out.

"Incidentally, where IS Khar'al-dras right now, do you know?" Alexei asked.

"Somewhere in that direction." Remian pointed toward the deep desert. "I'd rather not get too close, if you don't mind."

"Right, right… wrong dragon." Alexei nodded sagely.

As they got off at the docks to do a little shopping and maybe grab a bite of local cuisine for breakfast, a familiar face suddenly popped up almost out of nowhere. "Hey, Mindy. Remian."

"Tim!" Mindy brightened, running over to greet him with a quick hug. "Where have you been? What have you been doing?"

"Me? I've been taking over Fal'herim." Tim shrugged.

"I thought that's what I was doing." Remian mused. "Have you seen the new Industrial District?"

"Oh, yes. It's a bit of a mess, but with Aren's help, Izhan is steadily getting his act together. I can't say the same for Izak."

"Izak? What's wrong with Izak?"

"He keeps trying too hard, thinking up and attempting to implement all sorts of new ideas, and I think he's just trying to help, but it's driving Aren crazy." Tim sighed.

"Trying too hard? At least he's making an effort." Mindy mused.

"Well, he's making an effort at the wrong time. Things haven't even settled down around here, and war's already breaking out in the north, and getting the kinds of resources and equipment he needs for his new ideas just…"

"Wait. War's breaking out? Already?" Mindy gaped. "But… but I thought we still had time! Another year, at least!"

"Time for what?" Tim asked.

"To find the Source of Magic!" Mindy told Tim in a conspirational whisper.

Tim half-smiled, half-grimaced. "Right. Good luck with that."

Mindy punched him in the shoulder. "I'm serious! See this guy here? This is Professor Alexei from the Ecclesia College of Magi. That's his friend, Father Petrov, from the Church of Light, with two Temple Knights in escort."

"Really?" Tim at least put on an impressed look. "And these others?"

"Classmates of mine from Ecclesia."

"You studied in Ecclesia?"

"A few days ago, yes."

Tim was about to say something else, but suddenly, he froze, then said, "Excuse me a bit. I'll be back."

Then he dashed off and disappeared around the corner.

"What was that all about?" Mindy asked.

Twenty seconds later, Asda showed up with ten armed guards in escort.

"You guys! We need to talk!"