A few days after her heartfelt conversation with Camilla, Prelinsa was called back to a meeting, in a smaller room in White Blossom Castle. It wasn’t a full Council meeting – only a single Elder was present, along with several government officials from the Civil Engineering Department.
“I greet Elder Lumio Silvermoon,” Prelinsa said, kneeling.
“At ease,” the Elder replied, and Prelinsa stood. Even while sitting down, Elder Lumio’s presence was imposing – his mask only emphasized that by giving him an impersonal appearance. He was nearly as old as Kirith, and fought alongside her in the First Civil War. Naturally, Prelinsa respected him greatly.
Although Prelinsa was quite familiar with the Elder, it was rare for them to meet twice in such a short timespan. This was because Lumio Silvermoon worked primarily with the Civil Engineering Department, and spent much of his time overseeing and assisting in construction projects. A number of his visions and designs helped inspire the modern cities, like Cydonia.
“Dame Prelinsa,” Lumio continued. “We have confirmed reports of a landslide in the Alchemilla Plains. The circumstances of this landslide are mysterious, and I have suspicions that it may have been caused intentionally. I ask that you travel to the location in advance, and help clear debris while watching over the site for any suspicious activities. This request may seem menial, but please accept it regardless. I would deal with it myself, but I must continue to oversee other projects that were prioritized after the war ended.”
Prelinsa bowed. “Of course I accept, Elder. This landslide affects the wellbeing of the people. I would bring shame to House Silvermoon if I ignored this.”
The Elder nodded once. “Indeed. Thank you, Dame Prelinsa. Your assistance is greatly appreciated. Now, take a seat. I will brief you on the details of this situation, and how you are expected to proceed.”
“Yes, sir,” Prelinsa said, pulling out a chair and sitting down.
“I will begin now,” the Elder said, pulling up a map on a projector screen, as well as some drone footage of the landslide. “The landslide occurred sometime last night. Debris has blocked the E-11 highway and a number of rail lines, disrupting transit between Pyrus and the western cities.”
Prelinsa frowned, as she saw the footage. It really didn’t look right to her. The landslide occurred on a solid rock face that didn’t appear to have any indications of weakness.
“Elder Lumio, do you have any suspects in mind?” She asked.
The Elder nodded. “I do,” he said. “The location is one that maximizes trade disruption for a low amount of effort. If someone caused this, then it was done by someone who understands trade within the East Realm. In particular, a traffic engineer recently retired from the Civil Engineering Department. Lorena Radcliffe.”
He pulled up a side with the person’s profile. She was a non-mage, middle-aged human woman with brown, curly hair that reached down to her chin. Her picture was somewhat unflattering, as was typical of government photos.
“She had a troubled history with her coworkers,” the Elder continued. “My understanding is that she was treated rather unfairly. She was forced to do work on behalf of others, and excluded from social gatherings, leading to issues with both anger and depression. Although the perpetrators were disciplined and laid off, Lorena chose to leave the Civil Engineering Department on her own. Her neighbors have not seen her in some days, which only adds to my suspicion. Please keep an eye out for her.”
“Yes, sir.”
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Later that day, Prelinsa took flight from Pyrus, exiting the forested areas and entering the Alchemilla Plains. The Plains were a vast expanse – about three thousand miles wide – that sat between Pyrus and the Great Desert to the west. As Prelinsa looked down, she saw the river that fed Pyrus with water, as well as vast grasslands and steppe with occasional trees. Also beneath her were rail and road lines, which she simply had to follow to reach the location of the landslide.
To pass the time, Prelinsa sang a song as she flew. A children’s song that Marianne had taught her when she was very young, which went to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus. Normally, this wasn’t something she sang around others, since it was slightly embarrassing. But she liked the song.
“The fluffy fluffy Kon goes fluff fluff fluff,
fluff fluff fluff,
fluff fluff fluff!
The fluffy fluffy Kon goes fluff fluff fluff,
All day long~”
Prelinsa kept singing various tunes, until soon enough, she passed enough time to reach the site. Seeing the landslide in person only reinforced that the landslide looked deliberate. It looked extremely out of place, with the strong rock walls in the area.
The pokkit landed on the ground, surveying the debris. It was heavy, and strewn all across the rails and roads. Nothing she couldn’t deal with, of course. She began blasting away, launching layers upon layers of rocks and earth to the side. Loud noises echoed throughout the plains.
Eventually, she spotted something else that seemed very unusual. Some of the rocks that were buried underneath had unnatural, sharp looking cuts. Someone had definitely caused this landslide.
Prelinsa took out her phone, making a video call to Elder Lumio.
“Elder Lumio?”
“Dame Prelinsa?” The Elder said.
“I think I’ve confirmed, without a doubt, that someone was responsible for the landslide.”
She used the camera on her phone to show him what she was looking at. The two discussed various possibilities, all of which were very serious. The cuts looked like they might be magically caused.
“…This warrants military intervention,” Elder Lumio eventually said. “I will notify the workers, and make an immediate request for both reinforcements and forensic experts. Halt any further excavation for the time being. The reconstruction of the road and rail lines will be put on hold.”
“As you wish, Elder.”
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Later that day, the workers arrived at the site with mages and plenty of heavy machinery. Soldiers and knights were already present, and expects were well underway in their study the unusual debris. Commander Kiran was assigned to oversee the soldiers, while the knights operated directly under their orders from House Silvermoon.
One of the forensic experts finally stood, approaching Prelinsa and Commander Kiran. She was a human woman with long, black hair and glasses. A very serious expression was on her face.
“Have you discovered anything?” Commander Kiran asked. The tall, muscular lycan had his hands behind his back.
“Yes,” the woman said. “Our preliminary findings indicate that these cuts were caused by powerful hydraulic jets. Jets of water, in other words. The best fit for the damage is either water jet cutters, or strong water magic.”
Water magic. Prelinsa immediately had a bad feeling about this. Only days ago, she had fought Gladys. There was no proof of any connection, but Rensa had predicted that someone might be maliciously spreading the Way of the Leviathan. Her predictions were often ominously accurate.
“If it is water magic, we must be extra careful,” Commander Kiran said. “The Grand Princess has already warned us to keep a lookout for rogue mages. We may be dealing with a case of domestic terrorism. Preserve as much of the debris as possible for further analysis.”
“Yes, sir!” The expert said.
“Commander, what should I do in the meantime?” Prelinsa asked.
“Do another scouting flight around the area. Make sure we haven’t missed anything.”
“Yes, sir,” Prelinsa said, nodding and rocketing off.
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Despite her sharp senses, Prelinsa didn’t find anything. Due to the need to be careful and preserve evidence, it took another two days to clear up the debris. Eventually, the space was cleared out, and repair work could begin. The workers finally began their jobs, but despite her strength, Prelinsa was ordered to refrain from assisting them, and instead keep patrolling.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Lana Lightfoot walked next to her, carrying her spear upright on her shoulder. The Helium One also accompanied them, hovering in the air nearby. Lana seemed less uncomfortable with the drone than she did on the cruise, though perhaps her worries about the situation superseded that.
“Think it was a Leviathan mage?” The wererabbit asked, a bit worriedly.
“I hope not,” Prelinsa replied.
“Yeah, I hope not too. I’m mostly here because lightning is strong against water. Even if I’m not as strong as you, I should be able to hold my own for at least a little bit.” She gripped her spear more tightly. “Not sure about fighting a Leviathan mage, though.”
“Nah, you’ll do fine. And it’s comforting to have you here. I mean it.”
Lana laughed at that. “No wonder Camilla gets the wrong idea so often.”
“Sorry.”
Lana shrugged. “At least your flirting isn’t always intentional. I’m just glad you’re not Mirabelle. She has a thing for me and lets me know it, but she’s holding back. I think she knows we’re not compatible.”
“How so?”
“Well, I can’t stand the thought of kissing another girl,” Lana said, frowning. “But I’m also looking for someone I can be exclusive with. Mirabelle’s looking for an open relationship. We’re as opposite as it gets.”
“Ah, yeah. That really wouldn’t work out.”
“I think you know already, but Commander Kiran is more my type. Actually, I have a poster of him that I admire sometimes,” Lana said, blushing a bit.
“They make posters of Commander Kiran?” Prelinsa asked. This was news to her.
“I made it myself. There are plenty of pictures of him online.”
“That’s commitment. But he has a wife, you know.”
Lana nodded her head, a bit frustrated. “He does! They’re really loving and devoted, too. I’m jealous, but I’m not a homewrecker. I’m content to just admire from afar.”
“That sounds tough.”
“Not really. My crush on the Commander is totally shallow,” Lana said flippantly. “I can move on whenever I want. Camilla has it way worse – anyone can see it.”
Prelinsa’s ears drooped. “Yeah. I feel bad, but I don’t know what I can do.”
“Well, I hope it works out for the two of you somehow.”
Suddenly, Prelinsa felt something violent ripple through the mana streams. She drew her sword, as four Leviathan mages burst out from a small cave in a large boulder near the river. They were already in the mana fury state, and were surrounded by raging auras of water that drew blood from their bodies.
The mages were an elvish man, a lycan woman, a harpy man, and a human woman. Prelinsa frowned, recognizing the woman. She was Lorena Radcliffe, the missing former traffic engineer. Somehow, she’d gotten hold of a Leviathan Core.
Lana and H1 reacted a bit more slowly, but prepared their weapons as well.
Prelinsa swung her sword, which emitted a bright yellow-hot arc of phoenixfire. The harpy’s eyes widened, but he couldn’t react in time. The fire blasted right through all the water, creating a big cloud of steam as the mage was felled in a single strike. He toppled to the ground in a charred heap.
Meanwhile, the elf and lycan tried to attack Lana. With deft bolts of electricity, Lana electrocuted them both, then charged forward and stabbed the lycan in the chest. The lycan coughed blood, dying on Lana’s spear. The elf however was not stunned enough and while Lana was pulling her spear back out, he blindsided her, punching at her head.
Lana managed to avoid the worst of the blow, but didn’t escape unharmed. She stumbled, her head bleeding from the sharp jet of water. Prelinsa was about to come help, but the H1 was closer and came to her aid first, blasting the mage with lightning at maximum power. He dropped to the ground dead, his body trailing smoke.
“Prelinsa! The workers!” Lana shouted and pointed with her spear, holding a free hand to her wound.
Lorena was running off at high speed, the mana fury enabling her to use jets of water to move far more quickly than she should otherwise. If she wasn’t stopped, she could reach the construction site and explode, killing everyone there. Commander Kiran could probably deal with her, but there was no reason to leave it to chance.
Lana and H1 tried to give chase, but they weren’t fast enough. Prelinsa rocketed past, using her Phoenix wings to gain speed. Quickly enough, she caught up with Lorena, passing by her and swinging her sword to launch a big blast of fire. Lorena was pushed back and landed, skidding against the ground. But she continued to gather mana rapidly. The two squared off, Prelinsa preventing her from advancing further.
“Why are you doing this?” Prelinsa demanded, hoping to at least get some information out of her before she took her own life.
“Simple. I want to destroy this rotten world. You Silvermoons couldn’t do anything for me! I’ve been ruined and it’s all your fault!” Lorena replied, drawing a falchion from her belt. She had a tired look on her face that Prelinsa could relate to – it was the face of someone who had lost faith in the people in power.
“Who taught you magic?”
“Don’t know!” Lorena swung her sword at Prelinsa, launching a large arc of water.
Prelinsa parried, deflecting the water into a cloud of droplets and steam. She wanted to keep Lorena alive as long as possible. But Lorena was crossing the critical threshold – soon, she would explode.
Prelinsa had no choice. She rushed forward to deliver a killing blow. Lorena kept firing blasts of water, but Prelinsa continued to deflect them into harmless splashes.
Suddenly, before she could attack, she felt a surge from a powerful Phoenix Heart, and the whooshing and crackling of fire.
“Dame Prelinsa, back away!” Elder Lumio ordered, rocketing down from the sky.
Prelinsa immediately made a right-hand turn and backed off, not yet sheathing her sword. As this happened, Lana and H1 caught up with her. Luckily, Lana didn’t seem too badly injured – her head wound was pretty shallow.
They all watched in horrified fascination as Lumio tackled Lorena to the ground, the two tumbling through the dirt and grass. Lorena screamed and thrashed about, her jets of water cutting Lumio’s skin. The Elder yelled and drew mana from the ground, putting his hands on Lorena’s chest and trying to force her raging Leviathan Core into submission.
It occurred to Prelinsa that if this weren’t a mana fury situation, a man groping a woman’s chest would look pretty bad.
The two struggled violently, both physically and magically. Despite the massive flow of mana, Lumio’s magic was highly controlled, and he wasn’t going all out. Doing so would kill Lorena and put his efforts to waste. For a few moments, Prelinsa was worried he wouldn’t be able to pull it off.
But finally, with a loud shout and a show of overwhelming force, the Elder quieted Lorena’s magic. Lorena twitched horribly, before slumping and falling unconscious. Elder Lumio stood, as his wounds glowed with white phoenixfire and closed.
Prelinsa sheathed her sword, bowing to the masked Elder. Lana also bowed.
“We greet Elder Lumio Silvermoon,” they both said.
“At ease,” Lumio said, approaching Lana. He pulled his mask from his face, revealing his grizzled countenance, while outstretching his free hand. Tendrils of phoenixfire flowed out from his fingers, enveloping Lana’s wound and healing it.
“Thank you, Elder!” Lana said.
“It is only my duty,” the Elder replied. “It seems that we have found the cause of the landslide. We must return to Pyrus posthaste. I will notify the Grand Princess of what has taken place here.”
“Elder Lumio, what brought you here?” Prelinsa asked.
“When I heard that Leviathan mages may have caused the landslide, I made time in my schedule to survey the area for myself,” the Elder replied. “As one of the few people in the East Realm who can deal with mana fury, I believed my presence would be valuable.”
Prelinsa nodded. “Thank you, Elder. Your help was very timely.”
Lana looked at H1. The drone had, after all, helped her out of a tricky situation.
“By the way, I guess you’re not so bad after all,” she remarked.
“Your feedback is appreciated,” the drone replied.