The Elgrys Diaries, Part II

THIS IS THE SHAPE OF DESTINY
FROM WHICH ALL FORMS DISEMBARK TO THE WORLD

LEARN A COLOUR THAT EVEN DREAMS ARE POWERLESS TO CONCEIVE

YET FOUND IN FIRMAMENT'S BLOOD

A SHARP HUE PUNCTURES THE SKIN, THEN THE WORLD IT INHABITS - -

"You listening or just making noises to give that impression?"

Ianos stared into the foggy expanse beside the Calyndian encampment. The morning mist was brisk, but the Palefields tended to give it a slightly stale undertone. After a moment, he shook off his inattention. "Huh? Sorry."

Enbrecht threw his hands up in mock exasperation. "I guess it falls upon me to make sure we're not heading for an early grave, since you're so busy daydreaming." Perhaps the Torchbearer thought banter would jolt his colleague out of his inner world and back into this one. It typically worked, but Ianos' preoccupation was deeper than usual. 

"Heard the chant again?"

"I don't hear it," Ianos clarified. "It's more like something forces me to think of the words in that order." 

After letting another moment linger, Enbrecht repeated his earlier, unanswered question. "So, have you noticed where we're headed?"

"North"

"And what's up there?"

"Lots of things, though I guess you're talking about Godsgrave."

"You seem unconcerned."

Ianos made a gesture that approximated a shrug. "If you've got the appetite to eat than one spoonful of shit at a time, go ahead. Plenty of things can go belly-up long before we're within hundred leagues of the place."

"Is that supposed to reassure me?"

"Just suggesting you refocus your worries on how to avoid taking a Pleronnian spear to the gut. No use in worrying over future hypotheticals."

Enbrecht obviously wasn't satisfied with the answer, but Ianos wasn't in the mood of belaboring the topic and got up. "I'll go grab some stew. Want a bowl?" The tall magus made a sullen, affirmative grunt.

Following the smell of cookfires, Ianos weaved through bleary-eyed troops. The men were so tired from constant marching that most couldn't muster enough energy to even properly gripe about it. The haste in which this regiment had been assembled and sent off made Ianos question his judgment over accepting the Calyndians' commission. The hazard pay was generous enough, but the fact he and Enbrecht were two of the three magi that had been recruited gave weight to his friend's apprehensions. 

Returning with two steaming bowls, Ianos saw the Commander debriefing three scouts. They'd just returned from a mission and looked ruffled. "I'm not sure," Ianos heard one of them reply to the questions. "As soon as we'd entered the grove south of them, we could hear their cavalry closing in and had to turn back. Either they were lucky, or someone's warning them about us."

Probably the Aradhi, Ianos thought. Her cottage was one of the places the commander had visited when scouring Elgrys for potential recruits, but had found it empty and her wagon missing. In all likelihood, Pleronn had managed to contact Eoda first, given her reputation as one of the most talented seeresses across the Firmament.

Once Enbrecht had finished eating, he set his bowl on the side and eyed around him to check anyone wasn't within earshot. "Right before you'd grabbed me along this little jaunt, I had a short contract with the Peacekeepers' enclave on Elgrys. Landed a commission to check if their rune sequences were up to date. Maybe a week ago, a guy with Pleronnian accent comes in, asks to talk in private with a representative. A few days later, one Peacekeeper with a malfunctioning ballista and all his cadets stop showing up.

"Malfunctioning?" Ianos interjected.

Enbrecht waved him off. "Some kinda problem with the rails. Didn't have the time to check it out before they left. As for our Peacekeeper contingent, I don't think we have one, unless we've stashed them among the provisions."

"Maybe that's just bad luck," Ianos replied. 

"Or maybe Pleronn beat us to it. If they've managed to grab both the Aradhi and their own personal squad of death-dealers, we're knee-deep in shit. Pleronn might've invested a mountain of gold on this. They're already losing the war, but are willing to send an entire battalion's worth of resources to Godsgrave?"

Ianos sighed. "You know, I really hate it when you talk sense to me. I just heard the scouts report about getting caught and chased off by cavalry. "

Enbrecht leaned forward. "So what are we going to do?"

"Nothing just yet. But we should start preparing a contingency plan. Keep the tanks full and conserve Stryon for shit hitting the fan. Let's stash some supplies and a tent in case we need to find our way back to Elgrys on our own."

Ianos froze, then started backing off slowly. The beast's eyes erupted into twin stars of intense brightness that overwhelmed his senses. In his head, there was a sudden crackling that left his ears ringing. He stumbled away from the glaring in disorientation. His rational mind had been shocked into quiescence, but his body still reacted in a way that all living things do when wounded or scared: Move away from the source of the danger!

Enbrecht grabbed Ianos by his collar and yanked him behind a large tree. "Don't move," he mouthed. 

Ianos narrowly stifled an urge to vomit. His head was a throbbing, aching mess. The glaring's flash had left a smeared afterimage in his eyes that occluded whatever he focused gaze on.

Enbrecht pointed his staff at the critter's general direction while keeping himself out of its view and muttered an activation phrase under his breath: "Chandrakal's Lightworks!" The air between them and the glaring became inundated with a rush of bright flashes and thunderclaps. The beast darted off, startled by the noise.

After a few minutes, the glaring's assault on Ianos' senses had worn off. "

 

[ torchbearers are given unreasonable requirements ]

Enbrecht's brow glistened with sweat. "You should get out of here."

Ianos stared at his colleague. "And leave you behind?"

"Better than getting yourself killed."