With Niko’s patterns having unclogged, he wondered what exactly he was capable of. Beyond that, he suspected that Alterra’s blessing was responsible for the dramatic expansion he’d experienced. It would make sense, in a way, that the manifest will of the world would want him to be as powerful as possible. Perhaps each of the Titans grew in this way, becoming exponentially more powerful as they tiered up. If that was the case, then perhaps the Titans weren’t so distant in tier as he believed, but instead had a sheer advantage in terms of their patterns.

He hadn’t seen anything within Vol, nor with the Great Eye, but that could very well just be a difference in power. Niko had noticed before unclogging his essence patterns that he could catch glimpses of a tier five’s essence patterns and see a bit of how they worked, which he couldn’t do at all in tier two. That said, he would have to see how well his eyes could perceive such things now, given how potent his Aether Sight felt.

Putting such thoughts out of his head, Niko flew in low on the approach to Riizen. The city was swarming with activity on its outskirts, with the great branch high-ways leading to them being fortified with defensive arrangements all the way out across the expanse. Barricades, walls, and even gatehouses were being moved, using the various talents of the beasts of the Clans to construct fortifications rapidly. He flew lower, giving a greeting cry to the group nearest to them, announcing their presence. A good thing, too, because Niko eyed many ranged weapons that were already in place, latched into the wood of the trees and in temporary towers that lined the highways anew.

Niko noticed one beast in particular as they waved Niko and Skye down, they resembled Thokk, albeit of a much more arctic variety. Obliging the beast, his posture slanted slightly to allow him to dive wide and controlled. He still wasn’t an expert at landing, and would prefer not to make a fool of himself in front of the beasts he would soon be fighting alongside.

Near perpendicular to the branch by the end, Niko flared his Particle Wing pattern, simultaneously generating a low buffeting heat and catching it in his now wide-open wings. It caught him, but with the low pressure didn’t do more than slow his forward descent, allowing him to land with ease a few paces in front of the bear.

Several of the beasts looked at him, and Niko silently preened at the attention, though he did feel like they were more interested in his appearance, rather than his landing. Still, that wasn’t that ba—‘Business first.’ He chided internally, before giving a respectful nod to the large, tier four Frost Ursun before him.

“You must be Niko and Skye?” The bear didn’t stand on ceremony, clad in armor and decorated with symbols that Niko didn’t recognize. He wondered if this would be someone commanding him soon.

“That’s us,” Skye’s tone was short, “We just got back from scouting, there’s a major force heading in this direction.”

The bear grunted, before saying, “Well, I was going to ask you to go scouting, but it looks like you’ve already handled it. The Command structure for the eastern branches is set near the wall in Riizen. Relay what you’ve learned so that we can prepare.” The bear was about to turn and stalk off with a clear dismissal before pausing, “Ah, right. The rest of your team was at Command, also. If you see them, thank your gnomish friend for the supplies; we’ll surely need them.”

Niko and Skye shared a note of curiosity at that, but she simply nodded and said, “Will do.”

They set off after the pair gave another cursory respectful nod, uncertain of what proper procedure was. Neither were a part of any military action proper, but if nothing else they hoped that a little respect would salve any unintended slights. Then again, Riizen’s beasts hardly seemed to be bothered by most social faux paus, which left Niko grimacing at the thought of eventually having to deal with humanoid high society. With luck, they’d be able to avoid that, but he knew that as their power increased, so too would their chances of interacting with such individuals.

“What’s on your mind?” Skye asked, clearly registering something amiss by their connection.

“I’m just thinking of how annoying dealing with human nobility after all of this might be, considering what happened with the Baron in Greenleaf, and all.” Niko trilled half-amusedly.

She gave a terse laugh, “Oh, they’ll expect more bowing and scraping, I imagine. We’ll have to disappoint them, being adventurers and all.”

Niko smiled at that, already wondering how incensed they might be. Honestly, he hoped that they wouldn’t have to deal with that variety of nobility, but he wouldn’t get his hopes up.

Every fifty meters, the branchways were interspersed with barricades, none of which were left unanchored into the trees. Any attacking force would find themselves hard pressed to actually advance, and while the tops of the branches were wide and roughly flat, there wouldn’t be enough room to be able to bring massive numbers to bear against the defenders. The numbers that the Dawr had would be significant, but Niko wasn’t certain they would be all that useful here. Of course, if essence patterns didn’t exist, the upcoming battle would be utterly one sided, with Riizen handily being able to deal with the would-be incursion. But, between said patterns and a certain deity roiding up the Dawr Goblins, things were certainly not going to be straightforward

When they reached Riizen, Niko noticed that an earthen wall, made up of stone, had begun to be erected. Piles of stone were being moved from deeper in the city to the outskirts, and from there were being moved physically into position with both manual labor and essence manipulation. The rough form was still being worked on, but Niko could see finer work being done in sweeps.

Niko was actually quite surprised that so much of the work was already done, considering just how much stone there was. Although, as he had some insight into manipulation patterns now, thanks to his Particle Wing, he had to admit that someone with a dedicated pattern would be able to get a great deal of mileage out of it. They passed over the wall, before coming in low and landing in a clear enough spot. Niko had spotted the command structure, flying what he recognized as Riizen’s flag, rather than any specific Clan’s flag. With the flurry of activity all around, Niko wasn’t surprised to see several individuals darting in and out of one of two large openings into the tent.

Each one was stopped by a guard standing by, in this case a sabrecat and a Frost Ursun on the other side. Both were clad in armor, and an emblem denoted their positions as elites, in case their fine equipment didn’t make that clear.

“State your business?” The sabrecat asked in a clipped but professional tone.

“Returning from a scouting mission with information on enemy movements.” Skye answered likewise.

The guard nodded at them, before stepping aside, “There is a strategy meeting now, step forward and stand on the black stone plate until you’re asked to speak.”

With a touch of confusion, the two went inside, Skye still mounted on Niko’s back. Given how much back and forth was going on, it seemed like it would be a waste of space to do otherwise. Their instructions to stand on a specific plate seemed odd, but when they walked into the tent, they suddenly understood why.

There were several differently colored stone plates slightly away from the war-table – Niko could think of no other way to express the map and figurine covered thing – and thereby also out of way from the various advisors, strategists, and commanders overlooking it. To the left and right in a semi-circle were the colored stones, the black one the second from the middle in front of them. Others had individuals waiting in them, though Niko guessed not all of them were reporting on scouting and otherwise. A grey stone plate held a kobold, and one of the attendants – also a kobold – was speaking to them quietly enough, writing down information. With his keen eyesight, Niko noted that he was writing down numbers, likely an accounting of supplies. The runner was given a letter and sent off, and Niko saw an essence pattern flare up within their body as the kobold passed by Niko. They sped away the moment after they left the tent, likely with the use of a speed augmenting pattern.

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He didn’t get to examine much else, though, as a gruff voice spoke, “Scouting report, if you please.”

Niko looked up to see the shaggiest sabrecat he’d laid eyes on. He was also adorned in a dull-grey armor, but one that felt as if it was steeped in enchantments. The emblem on their shoulder indicated a general, if Niko was right.

“Dawr Goblin force to the east, less than a day out depending on how quickly they move.” Skye continued, “We didn’t get an exact count on their numbers, but there’s at least a few thousand, with dozens of siege platforms being carted, along with a proportional number of munitions.”

For a second, the command tent stilled, listening to the report with expressions twisting. But, the moment passed, and they continued, with the commander speaking to them again. “Any estimation on their high tiers? And were you detected?”

Niko answered this time, “At least one warlord, tier five, with several dozens of champions, an unknown number of shamans, and many hobs. The bulk of the army consisted of low tier Dawr. To our knowledge, we weren’t detected.” Skye nodded at that, showing her agreement with the assessment.

The commander frowned in thought, looking at the table and then, seemingly from nowhere, moving a cluster of objects to the eastern forest of the map. “Did you notice that blood haze of theirs? We’ve trying to track down the other armies, but we’re missing a few of them.”

Skye shook her head, “No blood haze, this is a fresh army that we’d encountered once before the strike operations.”

“A good thing, then. We might be able to do better with this one.” The commander hummed, before turning a much more appraising eye upon the pair, “You two are part of the Wyldwalkers, yes? Sasha’s joined you all?”

Niko and Skye blinked at that, but nodded slowly, uncertain where he might go with that.

“Excellent. The Matriarch might skin me for this, but I need you to go get your team and form up in marshaling yard—” He paused long enough to glance down at some notes scattered in front of him, “–three, in sixty minutes. I’ll be having you all participate in a tandem strike along with several other teams. You’ll skirmish and deal damage to the enemy battalion as they approach. Our defenses are far from ready, and the more time you can buy, the better our chances. Can you do that?”

Skye nodded, “We can. Where is our team?”

At that, the commander gestured to one of his aides, “My aide will lead you to them, they’re not far. Stock up on whatever resources you need, take one of these.” The commander said, before a token floated over to them from a stack of similar ones behind him. He explained quickly, “An authority seal, you’ll be able to arm up with whatever you need.”

They nodded to that, before rushing off with the aide, who for their part wasn’t one for slow moving. Niko appreciated that, considering they all had jobs they needed to get to.

The rest of the Wyldwalkers were currently outfitting themselves with armor and a plethora of potions, while simultaneously arming many other groups. It seemed that Stella was working alongside several other crafters, making last minute modifications to fit specialties and customize pieces for specific individuals. Niko found himself impressed with that, even as he blinked at the sight of Mithel pouring out gallons of potions worth of liquid into a separate container. Dachna came over, and with a surprising finesse, lifted the entire vat and began pouring them out into dozens of separate flasks. Niko recognized the red-orange of a health and stamina potion, one that would be a low-burn, but long lasting concoction. They were all softly pulsing with essence in his sight, and Niko knew that this was the good stuff by the sight of it.

They were distributed out to several teams as they were capped, leaving the area open for more containers, which Ronald brought over with Charlotte helping to place them. The spider was donating silk in between to what Niko guessed were medical staff. It’d make for excellent bandaging material, he guessed.

He did, however, see a large, oddly cannon-like device that Niko couldn’t help but pick out as obviously out of place. “The peck is this thing?” Niko asked aloud, staring at the object with confusion.

Mithel looked up in surprise, “Oh, hey! Umm… Well, we used the Memory Thief core for some… experimental gear.”

“Isn’t that thing, like, crazy valuable?” Niko asked, looking at the device skeptically, “Should we have done something experimental to it.”

Mithel scratched her cheek idly, as if she agreed, but also didn’t. Ultimately, Stella was the one who said, “What? Why wouldn’t we experiment with it? I’ve never made anything like this, it’s going to be great!”

Niko blinked repeatedly, and thought he knew how the construction of this thing had probably gone. ‘Lets see… Mithel suggests idea as a possibility, Stella obsesses over new thing, mad scientist duo makes cannon. Yeah, sounds about right.’ With a cluck, he asked, “Does it work?”

“It’ll do something!” Stella responded before Mithel could.

To Niko’s flabbergasted expression, Mithel added, “Probably something we want it to do!”

“That’s encouraging.” Dachna murmured with a wide grin plastered on his face, still handing out gear to others.

“Orders up,” Skye shook her head and pretended nothing was wrong, “The commander wants us on the skirmishing teams to say hello to some Dawr.”

The Wyldwalker’s looked up at that, before nodding as one, with Ronald then asking, “Alright, do we know how many teams are going with us?”

Niko shook his head in the negative, “Nope, but we’ve been given a blank check to take what we think we’ll need to make this as effective as possible.” With that, he gestured with his beak to the token Skye had tied to her shoulder.

“I can work with that,” Mithel grinned, perhaps a touch evilly, “There’s a few materials that are a little restricted otherwise, but I think I can whip up some variant Firestorm potions.”

Niko and Dachna both met eyes at that, with a slightly worried note. Hopefully, she didn’t make them too big, but if nothing else they would throw them far away to start with, just in case.

Stella made some last minute adjustments on some armor for their group, as well, after having been cleared for some crafting materials of her own. Niko was fitted into a decently sized hardened leather and chainmail armor. He had to force himself not to be indignant about his feathers being covered, but at the very least he would have some reinforcement across his torso and belly. His neck received some plating, but only very few, and only to protect from the front. He couldn’t be too heavily armored, or else his mobility would suffer far too much, and he was quite durable already. Given that he was still practicing with his flight, he hoped that the shift in weight wouldn’t be too untenable.

Skye wasn’t much heavier on his back comparatively, having been outfitted in a wood-like armor that her pattern could interact with. The other’s armor didn’t change too much, with exception to Sasha, Thokk, and Charlotte, who each received some varieties of it. Charlotte’s armor was mostly leather sheathing, covering her legs partly, but there simply weren’t a great deal of spider-beasts in Riizen, and so it wasn’t common. Still, Stella did quick work, even if it was very clearly modified, and it would be better than nothing.

The group joined up with ten other teams, each one with a wide range of numbers, with the Wyldwalkers having the fewest. While being low in tier, four others were also in the third tier, albeit farther along than they were. The other five were all tier fours, which seemed to be reasonable to Niko in terms of power. One of them, Niko noticed, seemed to be on the higher end of tier four. If he had to guess, they would be the ones responsible for handling the attacks of the Warlord long enough to withdraw. After all, they weren’t going to be aiming to combat them at all times.

Given what Mithel and Stella had done with the Mind Thief core, though, he didn’t put their chances of dealing tremendous damage as especially low…

“Alright, everyone’s here.” The group with the higher tiers spoke out, “Intelligence has it that there’s a Dawr army marching in directly from the east, and thanks to our scouts capabilities, they’re none the wiser of our awareness. Command wants us to skirmish with them, but we’re going to use the first-strike opportunity to deal some real damage.”