Chapter Six: In the Tree by the Brook

Fourth Tower Year 4765, 3.2.6

The Republic of Mevitra, Clearwater

The group emerged in front of the city gates, or more precisely a simulation of that location. Kira had replicated the details precisely from Marc’s memory.

“Marc, this is incredible,” Grenn exclaimed. Ba’eth and Meservi both nodded in agreement.

“Rynan has been giving me some tips that let me use what the catalyst taught me to improve my control over my personal space,” Marc said proudly. Happy he was finally able to do something useful.

“I can’t do moving objects yet. But I should be able to do this much. Kira, Can you give us a view of the beast wave?”

“Certainly. Hello Ba’eth. It’s good to see you again.”

Kira’s avatar was already waiting for them in the personal space. At the greeting, Ba’eth nodded at Marc’s companion interface. Meservi’s eyes opened wide and he adopted a lecherous grin until Grenn knocked him on the back of his head.

“Ouch!” The Elf protested.

Slowly, they all began to grow, soon they towered over the giant walls that surrounded the city. The effect was so offsetting that even Marc felt his balance start to waver. Soon, they stopped growing, or maybe it was the city that stopped shrinking. They could now see the entire plains as though they were floating hundreds of meters above the ground.

The ground started to move below them. They flew over the ground and approached the mountains, stopping just short of the forest.

This time Meservi did lose his balance, tumbling to his knees.

Trying to maintain his dignity, his eyes caught on small glowing red lights on the ground. He got down on all fours, examining one of the small dots closely.

“Remarkable! It’s a dire wolf. I can easily tell. This is tremendous Marc! How did you learn this? There are many things you could do with this ability!” Meservi exclaimed excitedly.

“Enough! We are here for a job and have precious little time. Unless time is frozen here?” Ba’eth looked at Marc.

Marc shook his head.

“Marc’s control over time is not developed enough yet. The catalyst space can freeze time, but it’s hard enough to bring you three inside this personal space. Manipulating time at the same time could cause… problems.” Kira added apologetically.

“Then let’s get on with it. Kira, can you show us the main formation?”

Kira nodded and they started moving again, further into the forest. Soon they saw a large cloud of glowing red lights spread throughout the trees.

It wasn’t a single large cluster, but hundreds of smaller groups spread over a relatively small area.

“What kind of beasts are there?” The Dwarf asked.

“It’s a mix of many different beasts. The largest groups are orcs and dire wolves in the lead, with goblins, and grumi bears following them. I can now estimate the number to be close to eighteen hundred and 50.” Kira explained.

“Is the number declining?” Meservi asked.

“Yes, slowly. It would appear that groups of different beasts have been attacking each other along the way. Already nearly 500 beasts from my first observations have perished. But that rate has fallen off so I anticipate that nearly all of the remaining beasts should reach the city.”

“When?” Asked Ba’eth.

“At their current speed, the forward groups will reach the city in two hours and 13 minutes, that’s eighty-five minutes from now.”

“It’s not nearly as bad as we had feared. The groups are less coordinated and in smaller numbers. If this is an attack, it’s not a very effective one.” Grenn noted.

“Can we handle this wave?” Ba’eth looked at Meservi.

The Elf circled the clusters of beasts, kneeling to look at them closely so he could determine each type of beast.

“Yes, absolutely. With our current forces of hunters, we should be able to handle this many beasts with very low casualties.”

“Is there any sign of an army or other forces following the stampede?” Ba’eth asked Kira.

“None.”

“None? How is that possible?” Meservi demanded.

“There are no sentients or mages following the stampede,” Kira repeated her answer.

Grenn was examining the groups of beasts from above.

“Kira, can you make everything a bit smaller?”

Kira nodded and Marc felt like he was growing again. The ground fell away from him as his viewpoint shot another hundred meters into the air.

“Can you make the lights brighter? I want to see every single beast.” Grenn asked.

The lights which had faded as they grew smaller, now started glowing even brighter.

“What’s that?” Ba’eth pointed at a point behind the main group of lights.

Marc followed her finger, but there was nothing at all where she pointed. There were no beasts anywhere near that point.

Meservi looked at that area closely.

“Kira, could you be a dear and show us what it looked like earlier? Maybe ten minutes earlier?”

Kira nodded. All the lights shifted backward a small amount. Marc could tell they were moving toward the direction of Clearwater.

“Another ten minutes please,” Meservi asked again.

Once again the pattern shifted back.

“There it is,” said Ba’eth, nodding.

Marc was confused. He still couldn’t see anything.

He looked at the three Guild leaders and they all seemed to have noticed something, but Marc was clueless.

He looked at Grenn questioningly. Grenn noticed and brought Marc over to the spot that Ba’eth had pointed out earlier. Now he could see a few beasts there, but the main group was still far away. Grenn pointed to another spot further back. Again, there was nothing where he was pointing.

“There is nothing there,” Marc said.

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“Exactly,” Grenn said.

Meservi asked Kira. “Kira dear, can you detect things other than beasts?”

“Of course! I can detect animals, even insects at that distance.”

“Wonderful! Could you do us a favor and show us the insects instead of beasts?”

“But there are billions of insects in just that small area.” She protested.

“Just humor and old elf.” Meservi smiled at Kira and gave her a wink.

The red dots disappeared and suddenly the entire ground was awash in a bright green light.

“Oh, maybe turn down the lights a bit,” Meservi added, blocking the light from his eyes with his hands.

As the light slowly dimmed, Marc finally saw it.

A hole.

Well, not a hole, but a circular field on the map with no lights at all. Not a single insect. The circle was roughly twenty meters across. It did not have a defined edge, instead, the lights slowly dimmed as they passed into the dark field.

“Now, could you please move the time back to the current moment?”

Kira nodded and the dark circle jumped forward.

“There we have it. Our instigator.” Ba’eth said.

Marc looked at Kira. “What’s in that circle?”

Kira blinked. Then she said. “Nothing.” She frowned.

“There is nothing in the circle. No beasts, or insects, or trees, or even air. How is that possible?”

Meservi patted her on the head.

“It’s not. Your power is being blocked. I don’t know how. To be honest, I don’t even know how this ability of yours even works, so if there is a way to block it I suppose it would be just as much of a mystery.”

“How is immaterial at this point. But we know it is being blocked. And whatever is in that field is likely what is driving the stampede in our direction.” Ba’eth growled while staring at the circle on the ground.

“It’s not an army. At most, it’s just a small unit. Why anyone would attack this way is a mystery. There is nothing to gain. Our forces can easily handle a wave of this size and organization. Worst case we could just close up the gates and wait it out.” Grenn shook his head. “I don’t get it.”

“Why is also irrelevant. We don’t understand everything going on, but we are lucky to know even this much. Now we need to plan our response. Thank you, young man, Kira.” Ba’eth nodded her head at Marc and Kira.

“Ready?” She looked at the other two officers. Both nodded their consent.

“Fine. Let’s go inform the council and get ready.”

Marc reopened the portal and they all walked out into the room at the forward command.

“Thank you, Marc. If it’s ok, I’d like you to stay close in case we need you for something. I know you have a different duty station, and it will be more dangerous here, but you could be a great help if things turn unexpected.” Ba’eth said with a grim expression.

Marc looked at Grenn who looked like he had misgivings of letting Marc stay so close to the front.

“Of course he will!” Marc felt the Elf’s arm around his shoulder. “He can stay with me so nothing will happen to him!, Right Marc?”

The Elf looked at him with a coquettish expression.

Ba’eth and Grenn both shared a worried look.

----------------------------------------

“When did you get back? Why are you back?” Marc asked the Elf as they walked to a nearby observation tower.

“Happy to see me? Of course! You must have been lonely with just that old stick in the mud to keep you company.” Meservi laughed. They had arrived at the base of the tower and without a word, the Elf reached his arm around Marc.

Marc was surprised by the sudden hug, but that was quickly replaced with shocked horror. With a wink, the Elf jumped, still holding onto Marc, dozens of meters into the air.

Marc didn’t even have time to scream. Then, they quickly dropped onto the balcony at the top of the tower.

Marc collapsed to his hands and knees, gasping for air that had been knocked out of him by the sudden leap.

“Ah, you’ll be fine in a moment. We need to work on your air magic boy. You should be leaping like that all the time. It’s a great time saver.” Meservi laughed, missing the surprised and disapproving looks from the Guild members who had to scatter to avoid getting flattened by their sudden appearance.

“Anyway, I just got in this morning. I had hoped to surprise you tomorrow, but well, plans change, you must be ready to adapt!” Meservi laughed boisterously.

“Weren’t you supposed to be in Krrt Anatra for five years? Aren’t you the leader of the mission?” Marc asked, finally having recovered his breath and his balance.

“Ah, Yes, well, you see, hmm…” Meservi looked away.

“They kicked you out, didn’t they?” Marc said accusingly.

“I swear, Elves! No sense of fun. They are all so boring! No sense of humor at all.”

That had certainly not been Marc’s experience, but he let the statement go. Likely Meservi had offended some princess or gotten caught in some kind of scam. Anyway, he was truly glad to see his friend.

“Shouldn’t we get to work then?” Marc said and noticed the relieved looks on several of the Guild members standing around.

“Right you are my boy!” Meservi walked over to the Guild officer who was talking into the communications device on the desk.

After a few minutes, Meservi had taken control. Marc would relay information on the movements of the beasts to Meservi, who would then communicate via telepathy to the various officers directing the hunters.

The decision had been made to smash the beast stampede rather than try to wait it out inside the wall. The number of beasts was small enough that a coordinated effort should be able to handle the attack, and the ordeal would end in hours instead of a siege that could last days or longer.

Ba’eth and Grenn would both be with the forces outside the walls, while Meservi would coordinate movements from the forward command.

The biggest concern was the mysterious unit that was driving the stampede toward the city. Kira was keeping an eye on it, now that she had learned how to identify it. While the stampede was moving in the general direction of the city, it was disorganized and had broken into several waves. Whatever was in that field blocked from Kira’s senses however was making a straight line directly to the center of the city.

Soon the first waves started to arrive at the city.

Marc tried to use telepathy to speak with Meservi from inside his personal space, however, he was unable to establish contact, so instead, he just stood beside the Elf and relayed information from his map and Kira.

Things went according to plan. The Guild had thousands of years of experience dealing with beast surges and training was effective, but that didn’t mean there were no losses.

Even with the advantage of planning and powerful mages backing them up, the front lines were chaotic, with large savage beasts attacking relentlessly. A momentary lapse and a beast could take out a hunter with a single strike.

Grenn led a group of shields, hunters trained and equipped for defense. They had the most dangerous job, blunting the attack of the beasts and protecting the forces, the attack specialists. At the rear were the mages, offering support and healing. Ba’eth, despite being the most powerful mage in the city, stayed with the healers to ensure casualties were kept to the lowest number possible.

Despite the highly detailed intelligence Marc was able to provide, he had a sense that it was extraneous. Every hunter knew their job. Every support and coordinator had training and experience that guided their action. Everyone in the city was nervous, but they had faith in the forces defending the city, and while their freedom was being paid in blood, this was what hunters did. It was a reality they lived with every time they left the safety of the walls.

After several hours of fighting waves of beasts, the main brunt of the stampede had been repelled. Casualties had been relatively light and a sense that the crisis was nearing an end. The one concern Marc had was the invisible force pushing the stampede was almost to the city.

He half expected the mysterious field to break away now that the bulk of the stampede had been dealt with, but it continued its approach of the city.

《It’s speeding up now. It’s coming in hot!》

Kira warned him. The invisible attacker was now rapidly approaching the defense line.

Marc quickly relayed the information to Meservi, who was now in contact with multiple leaders outside the wall.

《It’s not invisible. I can see it now. It’s not hiding. Just the opposite. It’s screaming! It’s so loud! So much mana. That’s why I couldn’t see. It’s too bright, too loud. Marc, It’s a monster!》

Kira was shouting into his head, but Marc didn’t understand what she was saying.

“What do you mean? What is it?”

“It’s a monster. It’s burning. Burning Mana.”

Marc turned to Meservi who was looking at his face.

“Kira says it’s a monster. The invisible group driving the stampede. It’s a monster. She says it is burning Mana. I don’t know what that means.”

As he spoke, a look of recognition slowly appeared on the Elf’s face, but it slowly turned into horror. Meservi turned to the officer in charge of the command center and yelled “It’s a Calamity! Mana Panic. Get everyone out!” Then he was gone. He had leaped from the tower and was now flying over the city wall.

“Kira! What is going on?” Marc demanded.

《I don’t know. I can’t see. It’s blinding me. The light, the noise, it’s screaming.》

Around him, everything had changed. Everyone was scared. Officers were shouting orders, people were running around.

A Calamity. Marc remembered what it was. It was a beast. A beast with a Mana core so overloaded that it fractured and filled the animal with power, burning its life until it finally died.

Such a beast could defeat a Master, maybe even a party of Masters. They had said the only thing that could breach the wall was such a beast.

“Kira?” He spoke to his interface.

《I… I can’t see. I don’t know.》

Then he heard it. A roar, like a lion’s beyond the wall. To hear anything from here it must be terrifyingly loud.

Minutes passed. Guild officers yelled out orders and people either ran around complying with those orders or stood there in shocked silence.

Finally another horrible roar, this time filled with pain and anger. Then silence.

“Kira?”

《I still can’t see anything. No. Wait…》

Moments ticked by.

《It’s dispersing. The field is dispersing. It’s getting smaller.》

Finally, Kira reported that the field had completely dispersed. The Calamity had been defeated.

Marc slumped in relief. It was over. He couldn’t believe it had only been half a day since Kira had detected the beast stampede. It felt like weeks.

“Is everyone okay?” He asked.

At first, there was no response. Marc felt a shiver of fear run down his back.

《Marc… I’m sorry.》

“What?! What is it? Kira, what’s wrong?” Panic and fear filled his heart and mind.

《It’s Grenn…》 She hesitated.

《He’s gone.》