Chapter 111: Touchdown

Kothar found himself high in the air above Newport, he could see the two horns of the bay stretching out in a wide sweeping arc, and the lights from the patrol ships were like countless stars drifting amongst the ark of the ocean below.

Kothar looked to the southern horn, toward the mansion, but the lights of the mansion were dark. It seemed that Duke Anteris was away from his home.

Kothar was high up enough that he could see the endless plains of the Southern Tribes stretching away to the east, and the smattering of islands out in the ocean to the east, after which, there was only ocean.

[This is far too convenient to be a coincidence , Kothar.] Silane interrupted Kothar as he took in the amazing view.

[I think it's the artifact, it guided me to the last portal it opened, the one from Idwa back to Eclat.I'm beginning to see it as less of a nuisance and more of a blessing. No wonder Krieg was so desperate for it.] Kothar subconsciously reached up and touched the dip in the center of his collarbone, feeling the lump of the diamond shaped jewel under his flexible armor.

[Of course, praise the thing that got us thrown into that rift in the first place.] Silane said snidely.

[Come on Silane, don't you think it's better we learned sooner rather than later what Krieg was like. He's a terror, I'd rather he tossed me through a portal and have a chance of surviving than trying to take him on in a battle. And without being cast away, we wouldn't be on this ship.] Kothar looked curiously at the mansion, he wondered what could be so important that it had taken Anteris away from his beloved city. 

[For now, let's get this ship out of the sky before dawn. Otherwise, we'll attract all the wrong kinds of attention.] Silane had immediately calculated the time left until sunrise and gave Kothar a countdown.

[5 hours? That's more than enough for me to hide the ship near Balin and head into the city in disguise. I'll have to steal some poor farmer's clothes though, I haven't got any Ursten currency to leave them behind and leaving them raw gold would be far too suspicious.] Kothar pushed the hovering ship into gear, and they sped northwest, back to the capital of Ursten, Balin.

[I'm sure they won't miss a set of clothing. You can always return and pay them when things blow over, right?] Silane overlaid her estimated route back to Balin on to Kothar's vision, it would only make a difference of a few minutes, but Silane was very particular about saving even the smallest amount of time.

[Of course, they'll be needing all the help they can get after the war, but I'm sure Rotan is being more than helpful.] Kothar watched as the coastline skimmed past beneath them, while the hybrid horse he had ridden had been amazing, riding in a ship was far faster, and for him, far more reliable.

[Say what you want about him, but Rotan takes care of his people.] Silane agreed as they crossed the coastline and the ship started curving in towards the land.

Within an hour and a half, Kothar had found a remote hill, completely overgrown with trees and made up of rough boulders that made it completely unappealing to climb.

He was sure that for the time being, until he could find a better location, this would be as good a place as any to hide the ship. There were no mana fluctuations that would accompany some kind of precious material, and the land around was of poor quality with no water sources nearby. No one had any reason to come near this place, and without Lightning Element Mana and an understanding of the ship's inner circuitry, they would be unable to access the ship.

Kothar unpacked some basic gear from the ship, he decided to take his lightning blade, short sword, a few gold ingots, and of course, the armor that he was wearing.

While the armor looked out, it was low profile enough that it could easily be concealed with baggy clothing and a cloak.

Ready for the journey ahead, Kothar then closed the cockpit and began dragging branches over the ship. Thankfully, the Titanite that made up the ship's exterior didn't gleam or shine, so it didn't need much to hide it, but for good measure, Kothar smeared some mud over the quartz cockpit window and on any areas left too exposed.

With his ship hidden, Kothar began his long trek east, he had landed east of Balin, between Janul and Balin, it was the only area around Balin that wasn't completely full of small towns and villages, since the land was poor and there was the ever present threat of monsters from Janul forest attacking.

The ground was somewhat rough and rocky, there were tough and hardy grasses growing, and some low thorny bushes, but they were sparse and few in number, the land here was not fertile at all.

The stars shone over Kothar's lone figure, who was searching in vain for a light in the distance, which would signal the existence of a homestead or farmhouse, allowing him to steal the clothes he needed for a disguise.

Once Kothar came across a path beaten into the dirt, he knew that he would soon find what he needed, there was sure to be someone living near this path.

However, he only had an hour left before sunrise, and if he was spotted, then surely word would spread about the odd strange man in black wandering the remote farmlands, and Kothar didn't want anything to happen that might alert Krieg to his whereabouts, and he wasn't willing to kill a harmless farmer to silence them.

Kothar was beginning to despair, when he saw a lone light on the horizon, flickering orange and red, the faint shadow of a house visible.