Chapter 429: And Everything was Going Fine...Until it Wasn't.

In the Empire's Capital, High Mage Ostenhoffer stood as still as a statue, monitoring the other teleport stones still active, seeing the surges of wild mana entering them, and trying desperately to maintain the crippled teleport network. All the other stones were transferring their mana into the Wolfsburg stones, which in turn sent the excess to Rowan Keep. The High Mage theorized that they had a method to vent the extra mana without adverse effects on the environment. He'd been told the Baron had bragged about providing a Tier 5 stone to the Keep. He estimated they had transferred close to over 60 times the mana that stone could hold. He needed to see the Shield for himself and see what the hell the Baron's hedge wizards knew that he didn't. It was a maddening puzzle, but one for another day.

Currently, he hoped to survive the day. The mana was surging higher and higher. Winter's attack was masterful, hitting them everywhere at once and they had no way to counterattack. He'd have to make a choice soon to shut down three of the Wolfsburg stones and take a chance on the rest of the stones burning out or exploding. If he could maintain the Master Stone and one Wolfsburg stone, they could keep the Northern section of the network active. And of course, the small stone in Stoneburrow, essential to the Emperor's plans. Too much time would be lost recalibrating the network if too much of it was shut down or destroyed. The Emperor himself had commanded that they needed to be ready to send their troops throughout the North, knowing that an attack would be coming. But some of the teams of mages were reaching their limit, out of mana and stamina. He was having to balance too many things at once, with too little information.

A huge surge of Icy Mana entered the Master Stone, showing the outline of an ancient Ice Drake. Every stone active would show the phantom. The huge creature was attempting to teleport somewhere within the Empire, but he didn't see a connection yet to where. It could be going to the Capital, Wolfsburg, or any of the other locations with an active stone.

And then the mana stream stopped. For one second it was quiet, and then all of the active stones were deluged with chunks of rocky debris and burned-out magi-tech components. They would realize soon that this was the shattered remains of the apparatus above the mana rift, the weapon Winter was using against them. Right now, everyone dove for cover to avoid the explosion and flying debris. The silence afterward was eerie, as everywhere mages picked themselves up from the floor, wondering if the ordeal was over.

With a slight popping sound, a bedraggled and frozen human appeared on the Master Stone. His rags were the color preferred by Journeyman Fire Mages of the Academy in Crystalstone. He stared around him, clutching a saucer-shaped device in his hands. The High Mage approached him carefully. "It's all right. You are safe. What happened to you?"

Sparky held out the item in his hands to the High Mage and said, "He was leaving, and I was hoping I could escape, then someone threw this into the portal. Everything went bad. The Dragon was injured and screaming, the stone cracked and everything was being sucked into the center. I was sucked into the center!! Then I was here." He looked around, and once he saw he was safe, fainted dead away.

Dalnir and the remaining Mages looked to High Mage Ostenhoffer. Dalnir asked the questions on their minds, "But what is it."

The High Mage turned it over in his hands, looked at the destroyed circuits and tubes, and then sighed as he read the lines of small text stamped onto the shell. 'Franklin Electromagnetic Field Disruption Device. Patent Pending by Professor Damien Franklin.'

"Dear gods, Franklin?! After all this time?"

"But how?"Dozens of Ice Mages and their minions surrounded what was left of the Arcane College of Runecasters in the Barony of Crystalthorn. They were taking their time breaking past the defensive barriers and magical wards of the warmlander mages. The storm raging around them did half their work for them. They were concealed by the swirling snow, and any mage leaving their warm fortress would be half dead in minutes. The warmlanders were still fighting, but they were worn down by weeks of combat against foes that barely had to exert themselves. Wolves and Ice Elementals patrolled empty hallways, constantly testing the barriers. It was a game to Winter, one that was never in doubt.

Order Fallowstone and the remaining mages in the Collegium also knew the storm had departed. They'd heard it howling outside for so long that the silence was eerie. The High Mage of the college quickly summoned his power and sent three magical messengers, praying the little air elementals could make the journey. He knew immediately when the first two reached Wolfsburg, and later when the last reached the ear of the Emperor himself. Now, they just had to wait. It was a two-day journey by carriage to the nearest teleporter. Fast cavalry would arrive quicker, but he needed more than men on horses to deal with what Winter had brought here. His enemies wouldn't be playing the next time they assaulted his defenses.

In the Imperial Palace, Emperor Gustavus listened to his advisors and then made his own decision. "I hear you all, and your advice is good, but this is not the time for planning. We must attack quickly to throw Winter into confusion and aid our allies in need. It's not a coincidence they struck at Crystalthorne. We have more Fire Mages in training there than anywhere else. We will send our best and our fastest. Do we have the mana to move two centuries of Legion Cavalry?"

As if summoned by the question, High Mage Ostenhoffer entered the room, "Enough to get started and I know where we can get more. The Baron of Gadobhra will have more than enough mana in his Barony and in Rowan Keep for our needs. His forethought in creating a large storage device has aided us greatly. We can send our troops to Wolfsburg, and then from there to Stoneburrow, the closest stone to the Collegium. We have preserved that part of the network."

"Good, good. So strange how the devious and troublesome Baron William is the one of my barons who is the most helpful today. How many Veteran Battle Mages can we send? They have to be able to ride a horse at a fast pace for hours, sleep on the ground, and fight when they arrive. This will be a fast trip and there is no time to assemble and wait for a baggage train."

Several mages in the room hastily lowered the hands they had raised. Fighting in a glorious battle was one thing, but doing so after two days on a horse and sleeping on the ground was another thing entirely. Gustavus made note of them. Ostenhoffer thought for a moment, and then said, "My Six here in the Capitol, and I can go myself." Ostenhoffer gambled that he would be asked to go, but it was good to volunteer now and then

The Emperor shook his head. "I need you and your mages to get the travel system back up. We have trouble brewing in the South in two places. We'll have to make do with those in the small college at Wolfsburg, along with anyone Duke Carl can find."

"Master Cauldrius is in Wolfsburg. He's been keeping busy with his new apprentice, hunting Ice Mages and knocking down buildings."

Gustavus laughed at that, "Good, tell him we have more of the vermin to stamp out, and to gather what people he can and take charge of the Battle Mages when they arrive. Inform the Duke and Duchess that I need the Red Company for this, and I'm picking up the costs. Pull General Themis from Rowan Keep and tell her to take command. Speed is essential. We'll follow up with more troops, but we need to send what help we can immediately. Speaking of which..." The Emperor wrote a quick note, stamped his seal upon it, and handed it to a messenger.

"Take that to Franklin House. Ask Lady Harmonia if she doesn't mind taking a small vacation and bringing along a couple of dozen of her relatives." There were nods all around the courtroom. House Franklin excelled at speed, causing trouble, and riding to the rescue.