My excitement bleeds over into Teuila, but I know it’ll be short-lived when I explain, so I’m tempted to drag it out, just to enjoy the joy and anticipation written upon her beautiful face. I can’t quite bring myself to do that however, so I begin rambling, “So, some of these are spellbooks, sure, but something I just noticed is these weird metallic bookmarks are ensorcelled. They’re tied to certain schools of magic, and they make recording or learning spellwork runes easier, by about half, or twice, however you want to think about it. Twice as easy, or taking half as long. There’s only a little issue of them taking S P in order to attach them to a given spellbook, which sort of reduces their usefulness to me, since I use my S P to learn the spells to begin with. But, if I’m judicious with my applications by analyzing which schools of which spells in which books that I most want to learn, I could speed up my runework learning by a lot. Nala said she’d be helping me with that, but with the influx of kobold readers, well, I’ll probably not be getting her aid after all.”
Sadly, I was right. Teuila’s excitement dies down pretty quickly during my explanation, though she flashes me a proud smile all the while. She chuckles, rolls her eyes, and leans forward to kiss me softly on the lips in response to my acknowledgment of her lost excitement. Teasingly, around a mouthful of my lips, she mutters, “I could still be excited in a different way, wink wink.”
I cough and end up accidentally headbutting Teuila in my effort to not sputter into her lips. She’s certainly incorrigible to say the very least. Yeesh. Hah. I love her to bits though. I mean, it’s not like I *don’t* want to follow her insinuated exci—. Gulp, erm, ahem. Blushing, I try to return my attention to activities that aren’t related to those we did during orb-time.
Anyway, as much as I truly, truly desire to spend as much time loving and enjoying life with My Wings, there are a lot of things I still want and need to accomplish today. Heck, we’re probably still making a marriage announcement or something between me and Kinzul at some point today as well. There’s so much going on, and so much I need to take care of, and so much power I need to acquire and adapt to, to give us the best shot at winning this war, and eventually taking down the blasted manxome foe.
Te playfully pouts before frowning and nodding in acceptance of my train of thought. I kiss her softly and nuzzle noses with her for a long moment before returning to planning out the rest of both the day, and this loot. I snag all the trinkets that clip into my bangle that only work for an archmage amplifying their spells with metamagical abilities, and the one that will protect me from stone elementals. I feel selfish, and juvenile, for taking it to deal with my fear, but I just—. I was crushed to within inches of my life, bits of my skull were shattered and exposed. Remembering the pain, the fear that I was dying and leaving Teuila behind, it—. I stop what I’m doing to curl in on myself, weeping.
Teuila wraps an arm over my shoulders and loosely holds me close, trying to ascertain if I’m going to go into a panic attack that I’ll need space during. Thankfully I’m not, but I’m just—, I feel so weak and frightened, reliving being beaten to death by animated stones. I mean, being blown up by explosives moments later is less frightening to think about and relive. At least with that, I thought I was doing some good by protecting Dippy.
Oh Dippy, the Gap kobolds and the Aasimovians and Tiktik. I worry how they’re doing. I’m snapped out of my fearful reverie, the fear being replaced with worry. We’re fighting this war in part for them. If the Worldstorm enchantment were to fall, or if Terrorzin’s forces were allowed to marshal completely, they’d overrun the world. No one would be safe.
Heaving a sigh, I rattle my skull to try to stop thinking about the people we’ve left behind. I don’t want to dwell on lamentations like the fact that Bud has been dormant since Autumn Brook, or any such thing. Instead, I ask, “Te, do you want to maybe be up at the aerie when Lu, Lil, Kinzul, and the Vivant return? I felt really nice knowing that people were waiting for me, even though I ended up showing up late and not seeing them there.”
Nodding emphatically Teuila responds, “Yeah. Yeah definitely. That sounds nice Air. I want to talk to my Spootalu, and Dragbutt, and I’m sure Aunty Zool is looking forward to seeing your goofy grin. Heeee.”
Smirking and snorting half a laugh, I roll my eyes and shake my head at Te. I mean, she might not be wrong, but she’s being a dink about it. Still, when she sounds her elation with that single elongated laugh of glee, the world melts away and I find myself with my gaze transfixed upon her. Drawing a half-shuddered breath, I sigh slowly, smiling into the emerald tunnels of Teuila’s eyes.
Nodding towards her, I request, “Alright then, we can come back to this stuff later, though that book over there I’d better make sure is in an extradimensional area. Actually, all of these ones should be. They won’t fit in the pouch I borrowed from Lu, can I stuff them in your sack Te?”
Teuila snickers a moment before bursting out laughing. I chuckle and end up rolling my eyes even harder while shaking my head exasperatedly at Teuila. The utter goon. She does thankfully spread wide the opening on her extradimensional bag, so that I can stuff the books inside. The pouch has plenty of space to hold them, but its aperture is too small to place them in or take them out. I think we can get all of our hyperdimensional sacks and pouches linked up if we do it properly, and I forgot that Lu has two more of her own, so she doesn’t really need to borrow my hyperdimensional haversack. Well, at the time she did, because it was the only one linked to the dimensional pouch.
Heck, we might as well do it right now, linking up more of the extradimensional spaces that we have available. This way, Te and I can at least exchange notes like Lu and I can. Only, how exactly do I go about linking it to more than one dimension at once? Hm, tracing auras around the vault while trying to find a solution leads me to a scarf with similar runostructure.
It happens to have the basic concept of the ghostly hand spell as well. Interesting. Tossing it about my neck reveals its effects fairly handily. It indeed has extradimensional space, and its frayed ends operate like magical hands, able to enter and leave the extradimensional space, placing objects into or taking objects out of it. I think I’ll give this to Lucky. As much as I’d like to use the scarf myself, Lucky doesn’t exactly have hands. This will give him some semblance of having hands, and disguise the fact that he’s wearing the glacial amulet.
I’ll need to do more research later to figure out how to enable the dimensional pouch to connect more extradimensional spaces. Speaking of the pouch, the origami giraffe struggles its way out from inside of it carrying a bloodstained, single-word note, “Injured!”
Te and I exchange a fearful glance and she snags me under one arm to begin rocketing back towards the aerie of Mount Solace. I cast my senses about for Pawn, asking Miraina to get Sponge ready and to find volunteers to share an injury. My breathing takes on labored, anxious qualities as I can’t bear blinking for even a moment while awaiting responses from either Miraina, or Luni. I had the giraffe carry back a note asking for details, like she’d done for me, but she hasn’t responded, and I don’t feel her hand or any other inside the interdimensional space. If her hand, or anyone’s hands, were there, I’d rush to Kagired’s infirmary. Instead all I can do is anxiously await atop the aerie with an equally nervous Teuila.
Teuila begins testing out her new powers of flight, soaring in ever-widening spirals around Mount Solace’s peak, attempting to intercept the returning dragonflight whenever it shows up, from whichever direction. It’s not even four in the afternoon, but it feels like ages pass before we finally see Kinzul, and Kinzul alone, returning. Worse, there are chunks missing from her enormous wings. I’m about to sink into despair when Teuila thankfully informs me that everyone else is on Kinzul’s back, unconscious, but breathing and alive.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
Flying out to meet her, I telepathically send to Kinzul, “My Lady, my love, what’s going on? Are you in retreat? Should I mount defenses? Do you need me to finish your offensive? Can I take your injuries onto myself by way of Sponge?”
Strained, laboring to communicate, Kinzul responds, “We’ve succeeded, though in the end I stood alone with our Muse, and then she succumbed to her injuries, passing out as well. We woefully, tremendously underestimated the forces mustered at Laotzxhi. Our information network seems to be suffering greatly lacking our dear Seer and Scholar. I don’t want you, or any other Order member volunteering for Sponge’s Latent any longer at all during this war. We cannot spare a single injury, or a single instant of recovery being needed for any of you. Each scrape, each drop of blood lost may be the difference between life and death at this point. I forbid it.”
She forbids it? What the hell? I argue, “Kinzul, I can literally regenerate my own wounds, and apparently I have some sort of artifact that will on occasion spontaneously recover me to my fullest wellness. If anything, I’m the one, the only one, that should be taking on everyone’s wounds. I can, have, and will fight on, even on the brink of death, until my missions are completed. I—. That may be slightly overestimating my abilities, because I’ve certainly lost in the past, or relied on others to finish up when I’d passed out due to injuries, but I’m stronger than ever!”
Hastily, huffily, angrily, Kinzul pleads, “Enough my love! I appreciate your desire to aid us, but I need you in absolutely top form. I’ve dire news, and unfortunately it means sending you into more and more dangerous situations. Eventually these engagements may quite likely be you and you alone, though perhaps accompanied by our Tenith, or our Muse, depending on circumstances.”
More worriedly, Kinzul adds, “My love, two days hence, I’ll need you to launch an offensive with Sun, Muse, and Hound, against the Vorzog Keep. In command of it are Spellknights Vorzog, Zelshiz, Adkre, and Triorgraiz. Theirs is a force set to muster on that day, and march the day after, based on Spymaster’s intelligence. Simultaneously, our Tenith will need to assault the Nedkuxian Conclave, aided by the Dormir and the Vivant. The forces within are commanded by Nedkux, Hargrikaen, Airphalegg, and Nobeoetria. These eight are some of the fiercest, most powerful Draconiacs to ever have lived.”
Sighing across our telepathic wavelength, with more kindness in her tone, Kinzul continues, “I’m beginning to fear that our advantage pressing our offensive will not hold, and that we’ll soon be under siege, so I dare not send out Shield or Aegis, nor of course our Queens. You can see why we cannot spare a single one of our operatives to take on the injuries of the others. They will all be seeing constant battle from here on out, barely allowing enough time to have their injuries lessened and distributed by Sponge.”
My breath catches in my throat as the reality of fighting a war on all fronts against thousands, with a fighting force of dozens begins to truly hit me. My new family, my loved ones, are going to be worn down more and more, fight after fight, and they will recover less and less from each one before the next.
Saddened waves emanate from Kinzul as she laments, “One thing that has been working to our benefit until now is that Terrozin wouldn’t entirely needlessly waste his forces. He’d cluster groups of like-elements and abilities together, so that friendly fire is less devastating, or even harmless. As the year draws to a close, and we strike down more of his forces, he’s less likely to play so strategically safe, and instead may opt to mix a myriad of abilities together in order to try to catch the elemental weaknesses of our combatants.”
Friggin’ hell that’s right. He had a massive phalanx of fire mages on their own without too many other elemental mages in them, so that they wouldn’t burn or blow up any allies who couldn’t handle it. It was a mass of power that would work on human forces, but isn’t adequate against say a single red or gold dragon. If Terrorzin instead realizes he’s fighting dragons in open warfare, throwing some thunder mages and human-form blue dragons or Thunderers or similar into that mix, suddenly what seemed like an easy victory for a Fire turns into a devastating battle that may end in their death. Sure, it’s likely to have some friendly fire casualties, but what does Terrorzin care, as the hour of his demise approaches during his plan to burn down the whole world? Fricklefrack!
My anxious, labored breathing only increases as Kinzul finally arrives at the aerie. She requests aid in helping lower the Vivant down into Mount Solace. I equip the appropriate gear so that I can hold my breath and leap high into the sky to catch Fenric, Orthral, and Prinrin in my telekinetic grips, so that I can lower them safely with me. Teuila snags Luni, and Lil who happens to surprisingly be in his spherical form. It’s terrifying to think that Lil could have taken on so much pain and injury that it broke his near-permanent evolution tether. Kinzul is left lowering herself and Gilmeshtu down into Mount Solace, so Teuila and I follow her as rapidly as we can towards the infirmary.
Thankfully Miraina and Kagired have been working to gather volunteers, and somewhat surprisingly, dozens of the kobolds we’d relocated from Atter’s domain are standing at the ready to be of aid. Atter and Shiz themselves are in the infirmary as well. Their chest wounds aren’t yet healed enough that Kagired would allow them to volunteer, though they’re arguing their cases. I’m touched that we’ve made such an impact after only having known one another for perhaps a day or so. That reminds me that most of the others who volunteered with me to save Shiz and Atter, still have fairly bad chest scrapes, and bruising.
My whole perception of what is normal, and how long it takes to heal from things is so warped. Between changing forms, artifacts, potions, regeneration, being Can’Z’aasian critterkin adjacent, and Sponge’s Latent, and Miza’s recovery-enhancing magic, I don’t think I’ve ever spent a normal biological moment of any of my lives in the usual state of recovery. Though Te and I were pretty roughed up after the radiation purge after the cragbeast warrens when we needed to save Lil. Fudge, I really don’t want to dredge up those memories right now. Te squeezes my shoulder, knowing how much I lament that period of our lives.
We settle in momentarily as Kagired begins setting everyone up to receive or share treatment. My heart repeatedly catches in my throat. I don’t know who to hold close, or to stand next to to be the first thing they see when they awaken. Lu, Lil, Prinny, Kinzul if she passes out, each of them are so very important to me. Thankfully Kagired allows me to rearrange his infirmary slightly so that the four of them are on cots in the center, each of their heads aimed towards me. Despite my fretting, it seems to go smoothly. I allow myself to breathe a heavy sigh of relief as I see each of them breathing easily.
Despite the severity of her injuries, Kinzul awakens first, and she rises despite protests from me, Kagired, and Teuila. Distressingly, she explains, “Disconcertingly, mid-battle I sensed a new area in the Worldstorm deep within Terrorzin’s territory parting against my will, much like Autumn Brook, and unlike Autumn Brook, the gap in the clouds is not closing, rather, it appears to be slowly expanding.”
Those of us that are conscious exchange wide-eyed fearful glances at this revelation. Kinzul goes on to whisper softly to me, “My love, I must away to rendezvous with Spymaster’s scouts, in order to have them relay my concern to Spymaster Errissa. She’ll be dispatched on the most dangerous trek, one I cannot send any dragons to, due to its placement in the very heart of Terrorzin’s territory, surrounded on all sides by his most powerful underlings. When she ascertains the severity of the problem, and its cause, we may need to send our non dragons in order to derail whatever plans are being concocted within. We simply cannot fight an offensive that presses that deeply into Terrorzin’s domain yet. We may even lose momentum from this sudden shift in the balance.”
More warmly, lovingly, filled with hope, Kinzul adds, “Upon my return, let us be bonded, wed, my love. Yes?”
Gulping and blushing, I nod silently in response, at a loss for words. I’d thought perhaps there would be more time, an announcement, plans, and the like, but it sounds as if we’re leaping into this within the next few hours, or day, however long it takes Kinzul to rendezvous and return. I squeeze her hand tightly for a long moment, staring into her eyes, those onyx orbs filled with sorrow and longing that are set so perfectly within her features. She offers me an understanding head-tilt in that regal manner of hers, before withdrawing from me, and winging away out of Mount Solace, still quite injured. Several tears stream down my cheeks, and I can’t even parse which emotion is causing them at the moment.