Chapter 73: Interception 3
Elania watched as Arlois paced back and forth. Ember tapped her fingers on her knee in a rolling pattern of agitation.
A servant entered the room and delivered a tray of drinks and snacks to the small table between the group.
Yolani sat beside Elania, the other girl’s presence a warmth in the chilly, tense atmosphere while the clip of the scouting mission played on the ceiling in a loop, the images casting an eerie glow over the room.
Elysia broke the stillness. “There is nothing we can do for the moment, but at least we have a better idea of how many enemies we will face.”
Lyra shook her head. “We should strike while they are still preparing.”
Arlois stopped pacing, turning to face the group. “If we struck into Monevoian territory, it would cause even more problems than it would solve.”
Yolani leaned in, fiddling with the detection device. She zoomed in and out, refining the blobs that represented moving airships. A steady stream of them entered a large red glare located just on the border of Joria and Contia while inside Monevoia.
Elania frowned. “It’s pretty clear they are happy to help the Lightbringers.”
Ember shook her head. “We can’t be certain Monevoia is giving more than logistical aid to the Tirians.”
“We’re going to need more ammunition and weapons,” Arlois said.
Ember nodded. “We can keep production up enough to handle a siege.”
Arlois shook her head and gestured to the map of fuzzy lights. “There won’t be a siege. They will be making a frontal assault—all in and all at once.”
“That would match the Lightbringer strategy used in Neftasu.” Elania paused. “I’m surprised that they can muster another army, considering they lost something like fifty to a hundred thousand men in the underground.”
“They used a lot of infantry in Neftasu but not that many paladins or artifice weapons,” Arlois replied.
Elania frowned, a sense of anxiety settling in her gut as she considered the implication that the Lightbringers might have much more powerful units this time rather than fodder.
Although…
Hadn’t she gotten stronger as well? If their strongest soldiers were the paladins… she didn’t think they would be a challenge.
She glanced at Yolani, who met her gaze with a concerned expression.
Ember nodded. “We’ll need more mana shards quickly if we are to rush production, and that means more of the crystalline metal.”
Arlois turned to Elania. “We will need a more efficient method of collecting the metal.”
“The crystalline metal is dangerous, considering what it can do and how it spreads,” Yolani said.
Arlois nodded but pressed on. “We’ll need to use the Gold or Heart to help the collection efforts.”
Elania’s stomach churned at the thought. “The last time, it caused a massive wave of arcane creatures to attack.”
Arlois nodded again. “At least you’ve already dealt with the faster or wider-ranging ones. It should be less intense this time.”
Elania leaned back and sighed. “You must know of more sites of the stuff.”
“They are kept recorded and pruned every so many decades to keep them from spreading everywhere,” Arlois confirmed.
Yolani bit her lip. “Why not destroy them if they are so dangerous?”
“Destroying them isn’t easy and requires a massive amount of effort. It leaves the area devastated for generations. It’s easier to prune them,” Ember explained.
Elania frowned, a chill running down her spine. “What happens if something happens to the Towers and they don’t get pruned?”
Arlois frowned before finally answering. “Another demi-divine would have to take up the effort, or the entire region would turn into a wasteland.”
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Elania shivered, shaking her head in disbelief. “That’s—”
Arlois interrupted her. “It is much the same across the face of Eladu, where out-of-control death is held back by the powers of the few or the Celestial Engines themselves. The world is a patchwork of bandages preventing total collapse. It has been so, longer than I have lived. I imagine it will be, long after I’m gone.”
Elania watched as Yolani leaned forward, her gaze fixed on the Towers.
“What does Contia’s Celestial Engine do?” Yolani asked.
A heavy silence descended upon the room as the Towers exchanged glances with each other.
Finally, Arlois parted her lips, ready to respond. “The engine—”
Elysia cut her off abruptly. “It is not permitted to divulge that information to outsiders.”
Arlois stared at Elysia. “Do you really think that Elania and Yolani are outsiders still?”
Elysia frowned and averted her gaze. “They aren’t officially part of the city and are technically refugees.” She turned to Arlois. “What is the point of the law if we don’t follow it?”
Arlois crossed her arms, her stance firm. “All four of us are here now, so we should vote on whether or not to consider Elania a Tower.”
Lyra hissed, her eyes narrowing. “We can’t just make Elania a Tower, not after the ordeal I went through to become one.”
Ember raised her hand. “Why not just vote to recognize Elania and her refugees as allies? Then it will be relevant to tell them for their joint defense.”
Lyra glared at Ember but remained silent, offering no objection.
Arlois chuckled, then called for a vote. Each Tower voted in turn, and their responses were positive, even Lyra’s. Arlois smiled and settled into her seat, her gaze meeting Elania and Yolani’s.
“Not all engines have equal responsibilities, and much knowledge on how they work is lost,” Arlois explained. “Or purposefully hidden.”
Elania frowned. “Does that mean you have no idea?”
Arlois shook her head. “Contia’s engine is chiefly responsible for the wind.”
Yolani blinked, her eyes widening. “The wind?”
“So, it controls the weather?” Elania asked.
Arlois shook her head again. “No—it specifically monitors and adjusts the flow of air, so the prevailing winds run steadily across the continent, the entire world.”
Yolani tilted her head. “Doesn’t that pretty much control the weather, then?”
Elania looked at Yolani and shook her head. “There are many factors that go into climate and the weather, such as the strength of the sun, the tilt of the planet, and even the pull of the moon.”
Elysia turned to Elania with a raised eyebrow. “I’m surprised you have such a scholarly knowledge of climate.”
Yolani frowned. “Wind definitely plays a part, too, though?”
Elania nodded, her gaze shifting to Arlois. “I think that normally, the prevailing winds would be created as an effect of all those things.”
Arlois shrugged, her expression neutral. “I’m not a scientist, but I have records of the weather of the before times.”
A moment of silence hung in the air.
“And?” Elania prompted.
Arlois sighed. “Without the engine’s regulation, the wind would devolve into circular tempests that sweep yearly storms across the surface and scour the world clean.”
Elania blinked. “Just like that? If Contia falls and the engine is destroyed, the world ends?”
Arlois shook her head. “No, it’s likely the other remaining engines would compensate and adjust, but they would likely be worse at it than Contia’s specialized engine. There would be bad weather for hundreds or thousands of years until things settled down, or another engine was specialized in the role.”
Yolani leaned forward. “So other engines can change their specialization?”
Ember nodded. “Some engines are more generalist than others, which has advantages and disadvantages for their holders.”
Arlois added, “We’re lucky Monevoia’s Celestial Engine is hyper-specialized and does not help the Sun Emperor much as a tool for conquest.”
Elania frowned, staring at Arlois. “What does it do?”
Arlois met her gaze, her expression serious. “It controls the intensity of the sun.”
Elania blinked again. “He could cause the sun to stop and kill everyone on the planet?”
Lyra scoffed, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Yes, he could if he didn’t mind killing all his followers as well—the sun affects the entire world.”
Elania’s frown deepened. “What if he just turned the sun off when it was over someone he didn’t like or made it even stronger?”
Arlois let out a puff of breath. “Luckily, we are near the same longitude as Monevoia.”
A knock at the door preceded a Silver entering the room and interrupting their discussion.
Arlois frowned. “I thought I made it clear that we were not to be disturbed.”
The soldier saluted, his posture stiff. “Apologies, ma’am, but a Monevoian cutter has docked in the city.”
Arlois’ frown deepened. “So what?”
The soldier held out a rolled parchment. “There was a messenger on board, and they presented this on behalf of Tiria.”
The group exchanged glances. No one seemed to think it was good news.
Arlois took the message and dismissed the soldier.
Turning to Elania and the others, she carefully unfurled the parchment.
After a moment of reading, she read the message aloud. “The Kingdom of Tiria, unable to stand the unjust and evil acts of Neftasu and Contia, their wild provocations, and evil hold on the holy artifacts that protect our world for their own nefarious uses, declares that a state of war exists between our two nations.”
Elania frowned. “It would have been nice if they had sent one of those before coming down the Neftasu elevator.”
Yolani folded her arms together. “They probably would have, if you hadn’t blown up their plans and they had to move half-ready.”
Elania nodded.
“Does this change anything?” Ember asked.
Arlois and Elysia spoke simultaneously, their voices clashing. “No,” Arlois said, while Elysia said, “Yes.” They looked at each other, their frowns deepening.
Lyra scoffed. “The two of you are so predictable it’s ridiculous.”
Ember shook her head. “We know what we need to get done.” She turned to Elania and Yolani. “How are you going to collect the metallic crystal?”
Elania hesitated, unsure of the answer. “I don’t know? How should we do it?”
Ember rolled her eyes. “I’m too busy, and so are the others. It’s time you graduate to figuring things out yourselves. It can’t be that hard, can it?”