-45-
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In the aftermath of the third failed assassination attempt by the Renaultians—or was it the fourth now?—we ramped up our defensive scouting.
Ikuye volunteered to patrol the perimeter twice a day while focusing her detection abilities at a level to find lower power signatures and in their first outing of the night, she and Strea uncovered a group of Renaultians attempting to sabotage the first Aestori runestone that had been erected just outside our camp.
Hailey and I were left to sleep through the whole incident, so I didn’t find any of that out until halfway through our morning briefing.
“If possible,” Aisling continued after giving her report, “We’d like to get one or two parties to tag along for the second runestone being installed. Once they’re up and powered they emit a mid-level barrier on their own, but during the set up they are just colorfully painted rocks.”
Julius lifted some papers from his desk and handed them to me.
I gave them a quick once-over. It was a list of names with their rank and classes.
“You want me to pick some volunteers?” I asked.
His expression lightened, “They wouldn’t be volunteers then, would they? No, that’s the final list of everyone vetted to be guard knights. They’re all at least fourth grade in rank or higher.”
“I have to pick right now? What about the guards Aisling needs?”
“We’ll take whoever is left and assign them to protect the runestones.” he said, leaning back in his chair, “All the rest of our forces have been assigned out and are already running shifts.”
I slowly worked my way down the list of names, seeing mostly unfamiliar ones.
Having a bunch of new faces following after me is an actual nightmare… Huh?
“The boys are on here?” I questioned Julius, “You’d be willing to give Alistaire and Soren to me?”
“They asked to be included. If it’s all the same to you, I’d prefer they be assigned to a combat unit to get more experience instead of being glued to you. Just, uh, don’t tell them I said that.”
“And the kids?,” I asked, “I honestly don’t feel comfortable bringing Taryn into combat against people. She’s barely of age to enter the Academy. Being forced to kill or be killed could be a tad traumatic.”
“They don’t have to if they don’t want to, or if you don’t want them to. What’s with the twenty questions?” Julius started to sound irritated.
“Just trying to figure out how many guards I’d need.” I responded in defense, “Last thing I need is to be overcrowded in a tight street corner.”
I waved Aisling over, “You look through with me, if there are any names you recognize and want them on stone patrol for any reason just let me know.”
We reviewed the list together and I ended up picking five new guard knights, three of them being new faces.
Knights Aeko and Pearson were easy choices. I liked both of them and I thought we had a good rapport. Having at least two women in my guard would make Julius happy as well. He hadn’t been very pleased the times I’d been alone with only men around—not that I couldn’t defend myself, but allegedly, the optics are poor and shitty nobles in Tolin had raised their concerns to him.
Haah, I’m going to reform all the noble houses once we kick Renault’s ass.
Aeko was also more specialized in healing. While I could assist if things got tough, she could remain focused on that job and make sure the rest of us were good to go.
The third pick was the highest ranked among the list, Knight-Captain Flik, an elven spellblade whose abilities sounded really interesting. She was an elemental mage first and foremost but was also trained to fight with a sword.
She had a unique spell called TEMPEST SHIELD that wreathed her armor and weapons in lighting, shocking anyone who struck against them or was struck by them.
My fourth pick filled our party’s need for a Field Monitor, Waystrider Hawken, a ranger and alchemist who used a customized arbalest that could shoot bolts and launch flasks filled with Goddess knows what.
And my last pick was a good ‘ole trusty guardian class that could serve as our primary Initiator. Unlike the previous two, Defender Viktor didn’t have any unique skills or abilities, instead, they had a detailed record of winning many duels without taking any damage to their HEALTH. A difficult feat as an agile fighter and practically impossible as a heavy armor wearing tank.
I handed the pages back to Julius. “I’ll talk to the boys and tell ‘em why I didn’t pick them so they don’t blame you.”
“I’d appreciate that. It’ll be good for them. Soren especially. That kid really wants to be a royal guard, but he isn’t ready.”
We wrapped the briefing up shortly after finalizing the list of who’d be on runestone defense.
Julius had my five guard knights brought to Command and we exchanged introductions—though all of them were aware of me, I didn’t know the other three outside of their names on paper.
Knight-Captain Flik took off her helmet when she entered revealing a short pixie cut. Her hair was a light blue, a similar shade to Ikuye’s. Her green eyes shined like sparkling emeralds as she happily took my extended hand.
She greeted me with a vigorous cheer, “Whoa! It’s really great to see you up close! Those violet eyes of yours sure are mesmerizing. I’ve met a few Emperors in the past and every time those eyes are the most interesting part—not that you aren’t interesting yourself! Don’t take that the wrong way, please. I just… Hah! Sorry, I ramble away sometimes. I’m looking forward to working with you!”
Phew! She’s one of those people, huh? Alright.
“I’m looking forward to it as well, Knight-Captain Flik. If you have no problems with it, I’d like you to take on the role of captain of my guard knights.”
“That’d be an honor, Your Eminence!”
One down, two to go.
Next up was Waystrider Hawken, who was like the polar opposite of Flik. Reserved and quiet. He was the stereotypical divisional soldier, with dark hair in a high and tight with a standard issue uniform.
“Hawken, Ma’am.”
“Nice to meet you, Hawken.”
And that was it. He asked no questions and didn’t look like he expected anything more from me so we moved on.
Defender Viktor was geared out in heavy plate from head to toe. He’d set his shield aside when he entered but kept glancing over at it as if not holding it pained him physically.
“I read you have an impressive dueling streak,” I tried to break the tension.
He seemed to relax a little and focused on me, “Oh, yes. I enjoy dueling a lot. Do you spar often, Your Majesty?”
“I’ve sparred a bit,” I admitted, “Have you gotten the chance to see Ikuye spar with some of the soldiers?”
“Yes!” his eyes lit up, “She’s strong. I’m hesitant to spar with her. She’d break my winning streak for sure.”
“She’s something else, all right. She’s my usual partner these days with Commander Julius being too busy.”
Hawken’s eyes went wide and we chatted a bit about his dueling tactics.
I greeted Aeko and Pearson, who were both thrilled for the opportunity—their words, not mine. It was nice to catch up and I looked forward to spending some time getting to know them better.
When Flik heard about the runestone defense team heading out, she recommended that we tag along to gain some experience in the field together. I agreed and that became our plan for the day.
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Our party of six accompanied the runestone defender parties out to the fields between our camp and Axio, trailing just behind their formation.
We passed by the first runestone planted deep in the ground just outside the camp’s gates.
The stone now shimmered in a soft red glow, and amidst the many runes etched into the rock, a single large one was lit up and pulsing.
ᛟ
It looked like one of the strange runic glyphs I see when I inspect Ikuye.
“Hey, Flik, I don’t mean to come off as if I’m discriminating, but…”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Hah! You’d like to know what that rune means?” she laughed my question off, “Yeah I know it. But it’s because I’m a mage, not because I’m an elf, ya’ know!”
“Of course! I’d never assume otherwise, I hope you’d back me up on that claim if anyone asks.”
“Your will is my command, Your Eminence.” Flik made a show of herself, bowing deep and extending her hands up in a flourish, “That is an oed. It’s a rune from before the Iọ-ton’ic runic language that stands for ‘homeland’. It could refer to a people’s legacy or lineage. It’s the basis of the word domis, or home.”
I thanked her for the language lesson and wondered if I could gleam anything from my elvish auto-translation ability—but it still just looked like the same thing with it turned on.
Boo!
A few minutes later we arrived at the site for the second rune. It was still lying on its wagon but freed from the large straps.
Two groups were attending to it.
The artificers responsible for getting it working and an attachment of knights—ones who reported directly to Aisling judging from the crests on their shields and chestplates.
I cut across the field to them and received a rundown on the plan to get the runestone in place. The artificers had a number of spellcasters who could lift the stone with a mix of elemental and aether magick. They’d set it in a prepared hole and connect it to the first runestone through an underground channel with an aetherline conduit.
Though they seemed like some old-school magick, the runestones were actually pretty advanced technology it turned out.
Before we left them to do their work I checked out the rune etched into this stone and it turned out to be different than the previous one.
ᛡ
I was certain I’d seen this one on Ikuye’s status screen.
“Hey, Flik, since you’re a well-studied and particularly talented mage would you happen to know the meaning of this rune as well?”
“They say flattery will get you everywhere, but I never guessed it meant one could be made Empress.” she joked, “You’re in luck. I also know this one. That’s the old rune for Iọ, meaning ‘prosperity’.”
“Iọ as in, Iọ-ton’ic?” I asked.
“The very same. Iọ-ton’ic is just a transliteration of the runes iọ, to, ni, and, ik. Here, let me write it down in my notebook quickly.”
Flik pulled a pen and book from her satchel. She drew out some runes on the corner of a page and flipped it over to show me.
ᛡ-ᛏᚨ'ᚴ was written and I knew these were the very same as the Feyndirian runes that made up Ikuye’s status and showed up under my skin when I channeled heavy amounts of chaos magick.
I was a little overwhelmed at the realization, but didn’t have nearly enough time or knowledge to try and unravel this thread.
“What does it mean if you put all that together?”
“Hmm,” Flik scratched at her head, “That ones a kinda difficult question. It’s been many thousands of years since anyone spoke that language and it’s only still kicking today because it’s a foundation for magick.”
She scribbled a few things down in her notebook.
“Okay,” she pulled her head up from the small book, “I think this is the best of the possible meanings of the runes and the most accurate to my knowledge; ‘Wisdom of the Gods to gain power’.”
That makes sense.
Using the rune’s meaning as the basis for how you call that language just makes so much sense. Like the imperial common’s use of an alphabet, being a literal start of the system itself: A, Alpha; B, Beta.
I wanted to hole up in a room with Hailey, Rias, Sara, and Ikuye to delve into this mystery right away.
“I’m inclined to agree,” I said, “I know for sure they’re related to the Celestials and they’re definitely related to power. See?”
I quickly charged up a CHAOS BOLT and lifted my sleeve up to reveal the blood-orange runes shimmering under my skin. A whole slew of to—ᛏ—runes were lit up.
Flik nearly dropped her pen and pad scrambling to inspect my arm, “Oh, whoa! Never seen that before. How are you doing that?”
“By casting magick given to me by a Celestial Goddess.” I replied sheepishly, rolling my sleeve back down and dispelling the bolt of chaos magick.
We’d managed to kill enough time discussing the semantics of the elvish language that the artificer team was beginning to move the runestone into place.
I tapped my newly acquired ‘Communirune Mark Two’, energizing it, and called Alistaire and Soren. They were participating in rune defense same as us—in fact, I could see the two of them from across the field.
The static crackle cleared, indicating they’d both answered.
I heard Alistaire’s voice, “Go for Alistaire.”
“Heya, boys. How’s things on that side of the field? Grass any greener?”
“Your Majesty!” he responded excitedly, “Are you out here as well?”
I saw both of them turning around and looking in every direction. They spotted me and waved.
“I told you to ease up on the majesty crap,” I chided and waved back, “And yep, I’m here to break in the new guard knights.”
“Oh,” Alistaire sounded way less excited now, “Did you pick them already? Soren and I put our names in as well, did you see?”
“I did. While I’d feel secure with you two watching my back, I unfortunately need that security on the front as well. You know how much trust I have in you both.”
“Of course we do!” he called back immediately, his cheerful energy had been reinvigorated.
“Good,” I sighed in relief, “Just know when all this bad business with Axio is wrapped up it’ll be a different story, alright? Anyway, let’s keep the comms channel open in case the Renaultians try anything again today. You guys call me if something seems weird.”
Alistaire gave me a quick verbal response, “You got it!” and I saw a very tiny thumbs up from across the way from Soren.
Things were quiet after that.
The elven artificers moved the stone into position and dropped it into the hole.
It was a very anticlimactic ordeal.
I had thought it would energize up and start glowing like the oed stone or flash brightly—but it remained lifeless after being packed in with earth.
I guess now they wire it up? Or… is it already wired since they buried the bottom part?
If only Rias were here to explain the techno-bits to me.
I glanced at my new companions and decided against coming right out and admitting I didn’t understand the very technology we were employing to wage war.
I gotta build up confidence before they find out I’m not fit for this job.
“Your Majesty,” Alistaire’s call came over the communirune, “We’ve got movement coming from the city. Two individuals are hard-lining it straight to us.”
“Got it. Are your teams going to intercept?”
“Affirm, the division leader wants to make contact before they get into range to attack with spells.”
I acknowledged the plan, told them to be careful, and filled my party in on the update.
We repositioned ourselves to keep watch over the runestone and see where the boy’s group was heading.
Sure enough, two tiny figures way off in the distance were covering the ground between us in no time. Not incredibly subtle but they were quick, if nothing else.
I cast my inspection spell to be pleasantly surprised it activated at this range but perturbed by the results.
TARGET
STATISTICS
VALUES
BIANCA
The White Rose
HEALTH
STAMINA
MAGICKA
675 / 675
229 / 300
50 / 50
TARGET
STATISTICS
VALUES
VICTORIA
The Black Rose
HEALTH
STAMINA
MAGICKA
300 / 300
543 / 615
250 / 250
They were in the same average attribute area as I was, and if they had any tricks or powerful items they would likely be a problem for the defense team that just went to intercept them.
I warned the boys over the communirune, “Hey you guys, let your captain know those two are around my level. They aren’t punks like those two-bit assassins. Stay on the defensive if you can. I’m calling Julius for backup.”
After I got an acknowledgment, I cut the channel to standby and called both Julius and Hanna.
Hanna picked up first, “Paladin Hanna, go ahead.”
“Hanna, it’s Airis. We have two inbound from Axio that might be too tough for the defense team. Anyone who can be spared should be deployed out to the second runestone site.”
“Ah, I copy. I’ll get people moving. Stay safe, Your Majesty!”
Alright, now that we’ve got backup coming… How do I deal with this without leaving the stone undefended?
I glanced back and noticed Aisling’s knights were still with the stone, “Oh.” I said aloud.
“Oh?” Aeko questioned my seemingly random outburst.
“I was just thinking how to go help the defense team. I’d forgotten there was already a group of knights here without us extras.”
“Oh.” she nodded in understanding.
“Well, let’s go then, shall we?” I asked my guard knights.
Everyone was ready to go, so we followed after Alistaire and Soren.