Tonight, I am going to have dinner with the Duke at his mansion. He will give me a tour of this new “Training Barracks” where he will train a new guard force to defend the city. He wasn’t clear on where the recruits would come from or why it was adjacent to his mansion rather than the city.

Mayakku spent all of yesterday with Ruku at the army base while I looked at the city accounts. The Army’s emergency Rune communication system had been tampered with and was not functional. Mayakku had no idea what most of the runes did as it was way outside her speciality, but the person who did the tampering had no clue either. Hence, the sabotage was rather obvious. She is 80% confident she can reverse the damage using her general knowledge of runes.

This morning, I took Mayakku on an inspection of the walls. The wall runes had not been sabotaged, just very poorly done. I then dropped Mayakku back to the army compound and interviewed a few key people in the city guard. It is times like these I wish I had Wiremu here with his Truth Sensing. The only person I was really sure was guilty was the one who disappeared and couldn’t be found. I probably shouldn’t assume that. He may have been assassinated, kidnapped, or eloped with his mistress. It was a mostly fruitless day for me.

Ruku, Kelda and I are going to dinner. Mayakku was invited as well, but I am not sure I trust the Duke enough yet. Mayakku and Cōmpēṟi will join Modrica, Težka, Runa and Astrid as our backup force if everything goes wrong. They will station themselves close to the mansion but hidden. Liten should be able to carry messages, or Kelda explodes something, and they come running.

Kelda’s main purpose in coming was to plant some of her watchfires in the house so she could keep an eye on the Duke. She had discovered a snag in her Flame Senses Skill. When people leave a room, they generally snuff out the lanterns to save on oil. She couldn’t very well tell them that her flame didn’t consume oil but was powered by her Spiritual Energy. The trick was to pick key-occupied rooms or areas like the gates that would be lit all night. It limits spying on confidential information.

We left the city gates in the late afternoon. I rode Dusk, and the others were on their horses. We met the Duke and four of his guards outside his mansion, and he gave us a tour of the fort, sorry, training facility.

We were up one of the watchtowers when Ruku said, “You can see a good portion of the road to Waiouru from here.”

I looked, but I could only see trees. Ruku has Farsight, and I do not. Any watchman will also have Farsight. The Duke brushed it off. I had assumed the Duke had built the fort for his own protection. The road to Waiouru is the road to the largest kingdom army base in South Kirghiz. Why would you need to watch that?

Dinner was basically the Duke trying to gather as much information as possible from us. He asked all sorts of questions about the king and the state of the skirmish with the Empire. He tried to discover how I became the Countess Auditor, but I deflected all those questions. He had a lot of questions about Dusk, but I shut that down hard and quite rudely.

After that, he returned to general questions about the kingdom's state. He had heard the Duke of Kirghiz had been assassinated, but the rumour was that Imperial Assassins carried it out. I didn’t change that rumour but assured him my Knights, and I had caught the assassin, and they were now in the hands of the King’s interrogators. The Duke’s successor was yet to be announced by the King.

For my part, I discovered Duke Boris did not have a family. His wife died fighting in the Two-Year War against the empire about ten years ago. His son died in a mine collapse seven years ago, and his daughter was killed in a bandit raid on her caravan five years ago. His nominated Heir was currently one of his countesses who lived and managed one of his outlying Jungle towns. There was some controversy about the appointment as she was a Wolfkin. It was the first time an Animal-kin was heir to a Duchy.

“I am not discriminating against her because of her race.” the Duke declared. “She is a bloody good Countess and has greatly increased our relationship and trade with the Wolfkin City state to the south.”

I didn’t miss the slight frowns on Ruku and Kelda’s faces, even if they were only momentarily. It looks like I need a much closer look at her. And her enemies.

We left the Duke late in the evening, mounting in his courtyard and turning onto the short road back to the city. We were parallel to the fort entrance when Kelda suddenly whirled around and yelled. “Take cover!”

My Spatial Awareness was swarmed with arrows and javelins coming down on us. Dusk jumped ahead, but there were too many to avoid. Nyx blanketed the area in Engulfing Shadows to hide us. Dusk screamed as a javelin pierced her flank, her Tough Hide stopping it from becoming crippling. She Shadow Merged her head, and an arrow went through it. The troll-shitting dragon farters have ambushed us.

“The Fort!” Ruku yelled.

I steered Dusk to the fort as an arrow pierced my shoulder. I Shadow Merged my shoulder, and the arrow came out, but the wound remained. The Fort’s gates were closed, but Dusk reared up and smashed down with her hooves in a Power Strike, crashing them open. We moved to the cover of the tower by the gate, and Dusk Shadow Merged her flank so the javelin fell out. Like me, the wound remained, but I had my Syphon Skills running.

I sensed Kelda and Ruku approaching the gate. Both were on foot, their horses dead or dying. Ruku was pulling an arrow from his leg and had another in his back that he couldn’t reach. Kelda was leaking blood from two places, but she had the most warning of us all. She had her bow out and was walking backwards, firing into the sky. The aerial attackers couldn’t see us through the shadows, but we could see out.

Suddenly, Nyx and I screamed in pain as green, spiritual flames ripped apart our shadows as the wyvern made its presence known. Kelda responded with fire arrows, causing it to jerk back up into the sky.

Ruku was dragging his saddlebags with him. I noticed he had cut them off his horse. We had obviously planned and practised against aerial attacks. Since the fight at Kirghiz, we would be fools to leave such a weakness to only the two archers. Ruku pulled some weighted nets from his saddlebags and went up the tower to the wall. As he passed, I ripped the arrow from his back so his Regeneration could work properly. I am not sure Ruku can be killed anymore. If it is not an instant kill, he will regenerate. He was busy soaking the nets in Poison Water.

I saw a bird fall embedded with an Earthern Spike. Modrica had been especially motivated with ranged attacks, pushing her Throw Weapons Skill to the Journeyman level. Our backup had arrived. I saw another bird crash down, its wings entangled in a small net. It wasn’t dead, but it was out of the fight. Težka was carrying a lot of small throw nets for the team, as all you had to do was entangle the wings to bring something down.

Kelda was the one still out in the open when the shadows went down. I saw her suddenly throw her bow towards me and launch herself into the air on her Wings of Fire. This wasn’t planned in any of our scenarios. She lit up the whole area, and I saw the Duke and his Guards standing on top of the Wall around the Mansion, just watching. They weren’t being attacked, and they were not attacking. They obviously wanted to claim innocence under a truth Skill. We deal with this, and they won’t live to be interrogated.

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I was too busy trying to Shadow Spike the creatures in range to pay much attention to Kelda. Most of the birds had a Feather strengthening skill, so I had to go for the eyes or get the angle right to slide under the feathers.

Then Kelda came back into view. She was wreathed in flame, riding a burning griffon into the ground. They were being chased by a crazed Avion who was trying to stop what she was doing to her bond. The griffon was frantic to escape, but Kelda had broken one of its wings. Just before it hit the ground, Kelda lept off, and it was impaled onto a row of Earthen Spikes. Kelda kept rolling as the enraged Avion kept coming straight for her. Suddenly the Avion was bashed to the side as Horny charged into her with Runa on his back. Runa lept off Horny, and Shield Bashed the Avion and stabbed through her neck, almost decapitating her. She then spun, hiding behind her shield, and the area was inundated with arrows.

By my count, there was one more griffon up there, the wyvern and 12 - 15 Avion. At the rate they have expended arrows, I am guessing they are at least halfway through their supply. Ruku and I have dealt with four bonds, which has got to be upsetting for them. I was on the wall watching Ruku’s back and using shadows for selective strikes.

Ruku caught an owl in his net. I think he considers this like net fishing. However, I had no more room to ponder this as a desperate Avion and two of his mates came swooping down to save his bond. This is exactly what Ruku was waiting for, and the three of them crashed into a wall of water and fell on the inside of the fort wall. I dove off the wall after them with a knife in each hand. One died before we hit the ground, and the other two shortly afterwards. They were disorientated, and I was not, and that is all it takes.

I picked myself up out of the mud Ruku’s water created as two enraged bonds assaulted me. I got my knife on one, and Binding Shadows caught the other for me to finish. Then I heard a roar from Težka and saw a green light reflected off the top of the wall. Shit, what’s happening? I lept back up to the top of the wall using Shadow Step.

The others were fighting from the edge of the tree line, and the whole area was now lit with a green flame from the wyvern. Težka caught it worst as he was so large, but I could also see Astrid running between people healing. The wyvern didn’t fly high this time but swung around low to return for another pass. I caught sight of an Avion flying with it in perfect synchronisation. Its bond was directing it carefully.

“Look out,” Ruku shouted and shoved me off the wall.

I caught myself with Binding Shadows, but I could only watch as the griffon grabbed Ruku in its claws and rose into the air. Ruku’s shove had saved me from getting impaled by the spear carried by the griffon’s avion bond. They had executed a joint attack when I had been distracted. I shadow-stepped back up onto the wall. Ruku was being carried higher. I wasn’t too worried about him, and everybody forgot about his bond, Wai who is a small, concentrated bundle of poison.

I looked over to the main group, and the wyvern had just finished its second pass. The one was less effective as everybody had time to take cover. Just as the green flame finished, two things happened unexpectedly. Modrica stepped out of the trees, ignoring the acid flame that licked at her legs, and she threw something at the wyvern. It wasn’t an Earthern Spike or a net. Before I could see what it was, the whole area lit up with Kelda’s Wings of Flame, and she launched herself at the Avion, flying with the wyvern. She caught her as well. And they both tumbled to the ground.

Then, the wyvern crashed to the ground next to them. Its wings were all twisted with a twelve-meter-long Venom Serpent wrapped around them. I had forgotten Tāoke wasn’t with Wiremu. I saw Tāoke try to sink his fangs into the wyvern, but the scales were too hard. I also saw bits of Granite crumble away from Tāoke’s body, so it looks like the scales also resisted the Granite Spikes. Then I saw his body tighten around the wyvern, twisting the wings more and breaking one of them. Then, his body started to glow with heat. If the scales are like Tāoke’s, they are weak to temperature.

Ruku and the griffon crashed into the trees not far from the road. I sent Nyx to help him as I jumped onto Dusk to provide air cover for the main fight. Now the wyvern was grounded. I could canopy my shadows to confuse the archers above, maybe binding some to bring them down. I have realised my Binding Shadows can act like flexible nets. They need wings to keep flying so they can be brought down with some small entangling.

Dusk and I exited the gate and headed to the main fight when I saw the wyvern enshroud its entire body in acid flame, trying to get rid of Tāoke. Tāoke’s lava, or it was probably Puia, resisted this and kept burning. What scared me was the Avion Kelda had brought down did the same thing to her, and her fire winked out. The Avion cast Kelda aside and turned to help her bond, launching herself at Tāoke. Kelda lay still on the ground, green flames licking at her body.

I caught the Avion in Binding Shadows. She quickly burned through them, but it was enough that she landed short, and Težka charged her with Modrica beside him. The Avion shot flames at them, but those two had Armoured Skin. The flames burned through part of the Armoured Skin, but those two don’t know how to stop. The Avion was distracted by a crazed flaming sparrow that dive-bombed into her eye. If Liten has lost it, Kelda may not be alive.

Težka bowled over the Avion, who was now blind in one eye and the crazed sparrow was circling and diving at her. Modrica’s flail came down, chipping the scales that appeared on the Avion. She obviously shared skills with the wyvern. Her wings were the weakness, and Modrica’s second strike broke one of her wings.

I was mostly concentrating on what was happening above us, and two more bonds had crashed in my Binding Shadows as five Avion dived down to help their leader. I saw Astrid’s bond Trassig dash to Kelda. That cleaver stoat managed to pour most of a potion down her throat. I hope she is alive.

I directed Dusk, and we charged into one of the Avions, Dusk’s hooves cracking bones. Runa and Horny engaged one each, and Mayakku riding Cōmpēṟi took out a fourth. The fifth was swiped out of the air by Modrica’s flail, and I don’t even know if it was deliberate.

I was more worried about Tāoke as the wyvern had one foot free and clawed at Tāoke’s body. I left Dusk to deal with the Avions and launched myself at the wyvern. I came down on him with both knives stabbing at his neck. Only my Blacksteel knife penetrated the scales. The other knife just bounced. The wyvern’s head came around at me to either bite or flame, but I shadow-stepped over it. If it is concentrating on me, it is not ripping Tāoke to shreds. I flashed Intimidating Aura to distract all enemies, but I didn’t have any attention to spare.

I stabbed at the Wyvern's eye but only scratched the scales next to it. It was fast, and I would have lost a hand without Shadow Merge. It meant I dropped my knife, but that wasn’t too bad, as my Shadow Manipulation brought it back to me. Only my Blacksteel knife was doing any damage, and even that was only minor. My role was to keep it distracted and keep Tāoke and myself alive until Težka and Modrica could get here.

My arm was burned badly, and my leg was bleeding badly when help finally arrived. It wasn’t Težka and Modrica. It was Cōmpēṟi. That massive lion bit into the wyvern's throat and his piercing affinity meant those massive teeth cut through the scales. He was not letting go for anything. The wyvern tried to throw him off but couldn’t move much because of Tāoke. Blood was pouring out of the throat past Cōmpēṟi and being splattered everywhere.

I just backed off and looked around. Mayyakku was with Astrid doing something with Kelda, so that is hopeful. Modrica was wounded. Her arm was limp. Težka had the Avion pinned and was in the process of ripping out her throat. The five Avion were all dead. Runa was probably the healthiest of us all, but Horny had a broken leg. Dusk’s wounds were closing, as were mine. I saw Ruku limp out of the edge of the forest onto the road. He was seriously hurt if he was limping and using a spear as a crutch. Then the wyvern bled out and died. We were all tired, we all had wounds of some sort, and we were low on energy.

The remaining Avion had fled, and then I heard Duke Boris say, “Kill them all.” He and thirty guards were fast trotting toward us from his mansion.

Modrica took one look at them, bent down and picked up the avion corpse at her feet, sunk her tusks into the neck and started drinking.

I haven’t used the Rampage Skill since the Month of the Black Butcher in Jern. That was about to change. Shadows closed in. Dusk reared and screamed out her challenge, and I went on the Rampage.