“Scanning spells have found a minor mana geyser some distance to the south,” Nallia explained, even after a couple hours the news helicopter hadn’t shown yet and some of the off duty knights had come to join him and Lialra as they waited, “there are a couple others to the west, but those are all in the middle of large cities. The one to the south is a few miles off the coast.”
“Makes sense,” Orlan nodded, “living beings are drawn to mana even if they don’t know it.”
“The geyser is only just strong enough to support the protectorate, but it should be enough to let you relax a bit,” Nallia finished, despite her cold exterior it was clear she still cared.
“Once these news people show we’ll get under way,” Orlan decided, then continued seeing the look Lialra gave him, “I can hold on for days more if needed.”
“I know,” Lialra said with a slight sigh, “the thin aether of this side is slowing down all our regeneration, so don’t push yourself.”
Orlan gave her a smile in response, it was true that all of the mana regeneration of both him and the anchorheart had slowed after leaving the rift, but while they’d been inside it there’d been more mana than he could have possibly used. Upon coming out of the rift the anchorheart was as full as it had ever been, but it was true that it was currently using more mana to stay aloft than it regenerated. On the other side, he hadn’t had to deal with that issue for years as even at the fourth sphere he regenerated mana faster than the island consumed it.
“Do you hear that?” one of the younger knights asked, breaking his train of thought. After focusing for a moment he heard the thumping of a helicopter approaching them and he smiled.
“Looks like our guests are here,” he announced, pausing as he looked at what the girls were wearing, all of them were off duty so they had various dresses on, as was typical of women on the other side, “Aila, can we get a wind barrier for you all?”
“Why?” Aila, another of his knights and a user of wind mana.
“Their flying machines tend to kick up a lot of wind and…” Orlan nodded to how they were all dressed, causing Aila to blush for a moment before a spell circle appeared before her outstretched hands for a second.
A few minutes later a helicopter belonging to the same network he’d seen before, though it clearly wasn’t the same vehicle, was carefully settling down on the large flat stone pad Orlan had created some distance from where he stood. The few knights who stood by him had quickly retreated behind the wind barrier once the gusts from the helicopter hit them. Even the one mage from the mage tower who’d joined them retreated when his robe started catching the wind. Thankfully the helicopter wound down soon after landing, a small group of people with bits of equipment emerging before the blades had fully stopped.
“You’re the one in charge?” a woman leading the group asked, approaching Orlan who nodded. Before he could respond she shoved a bag at him, “here, a phone and radio like you asked. Best we could do on short order but should be sufficient.”
“Good,” Orlan nodded again, looking through the bag to find a new, seemingly unused cell phone and a large hand-held HAM radio, still in the packaging, along with a few replacement batteries. With a final nod Orlan put the bag in his personal rift before returning his gaze to the news lady.
She was paused midway through checking her makeup, staring at where the bag had been before it vanished, seeing his look she shook herself before ensuring she was presentable. A couple others began setting up equipment behind her, Orlan recognized the camera, but the rest was a mystery. He figured some of it was sound equipment, judging from the mic one of them held. A few cables led back to the helicopter, presumably for power and transmission.
After a few minutes the woman was finished checking herself and straightened again.
“Alright, we’re doing this live so just look into the camera when speaking, that’s the box thing with the lens-,” she started only for Orlan to interrupt her.
“I know what a camera is,” he said.
“Alright,” she replied skeptically before schooling her expression and looking at the camera for a minute. Orlan could just barely make out a voice from an ear piece she wore, though he couldn’t understand what was being said.
“Thanks Kathy, and that’s right,” she said in a much peppier voice a moment after a red light came on from the camera, “we’re currently on the mysterious floating island that appeared over Boston during the mysterious attack last night. Joining me is the man claiming to be in charge. So tell us, who are you and what is going on?”
“I’m Protector Lord Orlan,” he said as the camera turned to bring him into shot, “my knights and I came through the rift last night, that was the strange event with the monsters.”
“Fascinating,” the news woman replied, “you said you came through that ‘rift’ as you called it? Can you tell us why?”
“Sure,” Orlan nodded, “as my title implies, my job is to protect people, specifically from the monsters that the rifts bring. On the other side these rifts are common, but, until recently, they’ve been exclusive to that side. When we realized that rifts were appearing on this side we knew we couldn’t leave you unprotected.”
“What do you mean by ‘other side’?”
“The other side of the world, not like… Australia?” Orlan paused to think, “the world has two sides, like a coin, one mundane, one magical. These two sides are largely separate, rarely interacting.”
“Are you implying the world is flat?” The reporter asked.
“What? No, don’t be ridiculous,” Orlan shook his head, his smile faltering slightly, “the coin is just a metaphor, clearly the world is a sphere.”
“Does this mean there are an infinite number of worlds like ours?”
“Not so far as we’ve been able to tell, just the two sides.”
“I see,” she paused, holding a hand to her ear, indicating she was listening to something, “there are reports of your people helping out during the… rift last night, is that true?”
“Yes,” Orlan nodded, looking more somber, “as I said our job is to protect people from monsters so as soon as we arrived we, well, did our jobs. I’m just sorry we couldn’t get here sooner.”
“And your people healed some of the victims?”
“Several of my knights are skilled healers,” Orlan confirmed, “but even healing magic isn’t, well, all powerful. Most healing takes a toll on the body of those being healed, but it should be minor for the average person.”
“Then are you aware several of the people you healed have suddenly fallen dead?” the reporter asked.
“What?” Orlan asked, eyebrows raised in surprise, “if they were able to survive the healing magic they should have recovered just fine.”
“Then you don’t know why several people, who reported being healed by your so-called knights, suddenly fell dead over the last couple hours?”
“Nallia,” Orlan said over his shoulder, the blank faced woman quickly approaching while pulling a small book and pen from her personal space.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“What were their symptoms,” she asked in a monotone, yet demanding voice.
“Uh, I’m not sure-,” the reporter said slowly, looking confused at this development.
“This is Nallia, one of my head knights,” Orlan said quickly, “now, answer.”
“I’m being told… they seemed fine, uninjured, before suddenly having a seizure and passing away,” the reporter said, “are you saying you weren’t aware your healing would have this effect?”
“Fine for several hours, then seizing before death,” Nallia said, writing quickly in her book, before looking at Orlan, “that sounds like a mana allergy.”
“Blighted soul? From several people all at once?” Orlan asked, looking equal parts disturbed and skeptical.
“So you didn’t realize this would happen?” the reporter insisted, shoving the mic in his face.
“Some people have a… negative reaction to magic,” Orlan explained slowly, “just like you described, they’re fine for a few hours after exposure, before having a seizure. It’s a known condition but vanishingly rare only a handful of cases are observed a generation.”
“It could be more common on this side, Lord Orlan,” Nallia added, “without constant exposure to magic those with it wouldn’t have been selected out of the population.”
“Damnit,” Orlan cursed softly, before looking up at he worried glances the technical people were giving him, “you should be fine, even if you have an allergy to mana simply being on the island isn’t exposure enough. Nallia, anyway we can identify people who have it?”
“Not without a testing and waiting for a reaction,” she replied immediately, “something that isn’t practical when dealing with injured.”
“Alright, new standard orders going forward, minimal healing for natives to this side only. Only enough to ensure they survive long enough to receive more mundane treatment, and only if needed.”
“So you’re healing magic did cause this?” the reporter pressed.
“Yes, though it wasn’t our intent,” Orlan sighed, “despite everything there’s still a lot we don’t know, and this mana allergy wasn’t something we considered.”
“But you were aware of the risk?”
“You have to understand, on the other side the condition is extremely rare, and those with it rarely make it past childhood since magic is more common over there. Thinking about it now, it seems obvious but…”
“And you intend to keep using your healing magic, even knowing it might kill people?”
“Only if they won’t survive otherwise,” Orlan said, “given a choice between certain death to injuries or possible death to magic, I’d imagine the latter is preferable.”
“Still, shouldn’t people be allowed to decide that for themselves?”
“In an ideal world, sure, but since when is this an ideal world?”
“So you’ll just keep forcing your, potentially deadly, healing on injured people?”
“You make it sound like we’re trying to hurt people,” Orlan scowled, “we’re trying to save people.”
“With potentially harmful methods.”
“Would you prefer we stand and watch people who we could have saved die?” Orlan demanded, his good nature having rapidly vanished.
“Couldn’t you find a way to help people without causing potential harm?” the reporter insisted.
“If you manage to find one, I’ll gladly make use of it,” Orlan snorted, “unfortunately there isn’t one. Now do you have any other questions?”
Before she could respond the light on the camera went out and the woman let out a breath, handing the mic back to one of the assistants.
“Thanks for the interview,” she said, her voice considerably blander now that she wasn’t on camera, turning back towards the helicopter while the others began picking up their equipment.
“You call that an interview?” Orlan demanded.
“Just business hon,” she shrugged, only to freeze as a blast of energy shot past her, impacting the side of the hill the pad was built on in a large blast. She looked back to see Orlan’s knights all glaring at her, several having drawn weapons and one with a fading spell circle before her.
Orlan quickly held out a hand to stop them before things escalated, but the news crew had all frozen at the attack.
“Is this how you respond to basic scrutiny?” the news woman asked after a moment.
“I didn’t realize I approached a tabloid and offered an interview,” Orlan retorted.
“I’m just asking questions,” she replied.
“Not here you aren’t,” Orlan said definitively, “your news company is no longer welcome on my island.”
The woman simply snorted, before returning to the helicopter.
-----
“Want me to take a lance and destroy their house?” Aila offered as the helicopter faded into the distance, her eyes filled with rage like many of the other knights.
“No,” Orlan shook his head.
“You said that… camera thing would allow many to watch that interview,” she said, “yet she still had the gall to imply… that.”
“Doesn’t matter, not like she, or anyone, can stop us.”
“Lord,” Nallia said, the only knight present with a blank face, before pointing into the sky, “is that one of those ‘fighter jets’ you told us about?”
“I think so,” Orlan said, shielding his eyes as he struggled to make out details of the distant object.
“I don’t know any mage who can fly that high, or that fast,” Nallia commented, flipping to another section of the book she was holding before starting to write, “and you said they do that completely without magic?”
“That’s right,” Orlan nodded, grateful for the distraction, “I’m no expert on how they work though.”
“Any chance we can acquire one?” she asked, not looking up from her notes, “if we can incorporate the knowledge that goes into one of these fighter jets with our magic, we might be able to enhance our cutters.”
Orlan simply shrugged, holding out his hands and returning the helipad to simple dirt, no need to seem inviting. Thankfully the knights had been successfully distracted and spent the short walk back to the main castle talking about the various things they’d seen during the battle the night before.
-----
“Damnit, it’s worse than I thought,” Orlan cursed, he’d managed to figure out how to work the cellphone and found it had an internet connection, which had surprised him. According to the news there had been several rifts over the last couple months, the one the other day simply being the largest yet.
“Hmm?” Lailra hummed in askance from across the table, tilting her head sightly.
“Any progress on detecting new rifts?” he asked, turning the phone off.
“The mages say they’re confident out to about a hundred miles,” she replied, “but not beyond that. They’re suffering from the low aether of this side more than the rest of us, though the mana geyser has helped.”
Orlan nodded, the knights had a bond to him that granted them a small portion of the regen of the anchorheart, but the mages were on their own. Normally such a small difference wasn’t noticeable except in extended combat, but here it was drastically slowing them down. It seemed that they didn’t have the energy to fully power the detection array, or they’d have a range closer to a thousand miles.
He opened his mouth to respond, only to freeze at a tickling at the back of his mind. Lailra seemed to notice this and straightened.
“Invaders?” she asked.
“A couple objects just entered within three miles of the island,” Orlan said, “feels like military helicopters.”
“I’ll get everyone armored up,” Lailra said, dashing from the room. Orlan only took a few minutes to swap out his clothing for his full plate armor, one of the many benefits of his rift mana giving him a large personal space. His knights were also granted one, due to their bond, but it was noticeably smaller than his. Moments later he appeared in the main hall, a dozen of his knights already waiting, armed and armored.
“First lance with me,” he ordered, “second and third guard the castle and villages.”
Without waiting for a response he left the castle. He was still tracking the helicopters, and it felt like they were down close to the water, presumably to avoid detected, and would only rise up to the island at the last moment. He quickly identified the best place to greet them if they kept their current heading and ran at superhuman speeds, followed closely by his knights.
-----
“Sixty seconds till contact,” the pilot reported over the intercom, the dozen men in the back of the helicopter ensured their rifles were ready. No one quite knew what to expect when they landed, they’d been told to treat everyone on the island like a potential combatant, but they were sorely lacking in information. And clearly they didn’t enjoy the feeling, judging from the two fully loaded chinooks they’d assembled, complete with air support holding a few miles out.
The strike had been delayed as the island had moved once more, but when it settled off the coast of DC those in charge only seemed to grow more nervous.
The helicopter shifted as they began to climb rapidly, near as recon could tell the island had no radar capability, so they figured approaching from low to the ground with lights off shortly after night fell would ensure an easy approach. Getting off the island was also easy, as everyone was rated for paradrops, they could simply jump off the side of the island and pop their chutes since they wouldn’t be needed for landing. It was an odd situation, helicopter in, parachute out, but it was what they were paid for.
“Hey Dan,” one of the soldiers asked, leaning forward, “do you think this magic man can help you with your ‘issue’?”
“Maybe he can summon a condom small enough for you,” Dan retorted, the squad laughing in response.
“Quiet back there,” the sergeant interrupted their joking as the chinooks cleared the lip of the floating island.
“What the,” one of the pilots stammered.
“What?”
“I think they detected us,” the pilot explained, the sergeant opening the door to the cockpit to see what they were talking about. Hovering in the air a third of the way into the island were giant neon glowing letters reading ‘Hey army man, land here!’ with an arrow pointing to the ground where a large area of flattened land waited them.
“Oh for crying out loud.”
-----
“I think they see it,” Lailra said, her voice full of mirth, as the two army helicopters seemed to stumble, as if unsure what to do.
“I should hope so,” Nallia replied simply, being the one responsible for the light show with her light magic.
“Will they actually land here?”
“No idea,” Orlan shrugged, a smirk on his face as he imagined the discussion going on. After a few moments the helicopters began moving once more, both in their direction, apparently deciding not to attempt stealth.