336 Greener Grass (2/2)
”That's such a waste.” Remian shook his head. ”There's so much they could see and learn there.”
”They didn't like Ashdale. Apparently there's coal fires and smoke everywhere. The whole island is covered with smog. They all have to wear face masks and can hardly breathe.”
”That bad?” Remian blinked. ”I guess… it's a bad time to tour Ashdale. Maybe we should have sent them to Bellas or Germat or something.”
”If you want them to see a big city and other cultures, you can forget about it. They've already been to Ecclesia.” Mindy said shortly. ”They won't be impressed with the Midlands countries. Especially now that mana is drying up.”
”I keep forgetting about that.” Remian confessed. He was practicing Psionics now, not magic, and did not require the use of mana. Plus, even with the dwindling mana, the occasional slip into old habits still resulted in magical results. The comms crystals, for example, still worked, though at shorter and shorter ranges. When he called out for light, it still appeared. When he drank water and found it too warm, and called for a bit of it to freeze, it froze. Small magics like that still seemed to function, somewhat.
But as of this morning, the Sky Fortresses began to lose power. Scroll-casting and chanelling mana into the engines could keep them in the sky temporarily, but moving around would soon no longer be feasible. Both Damien and Lisa Vin were hurriedly looking over places to land… permanently.
”Just land at Three Pines and Kara-Goth.” Remian advised them. ”Unless you want to teach at Fal'Herim?”
”But…” Lisa hesitated. ”What about Dragon Lake, and… Craggy Falls?”
”Craggy Falls is mine. I'll take care of the schooling there.” Remian said shortly. ”Don't interfere. As for Dragon Lake… you can ask Darian, but I doubt the dragons would be pleased.”
They weren't. Darian flat out told his parents not to land there. ”Also, you should avoid Kara-Goth. It won't be long before the next Beast Tide erupts.”
”B-Beast Tide?! I thought that was all over and done with!” Damien Vin gasped.
”Nine thousand, eight hundred and fifty-six dead.” Darian said shortly. ”That was the count as of last night. This includes the number of Wilds killed in the Spectre War, a war that resulted from the actions of humans.”
”B-but… aren't you the King of the Wilds around here? Won't that be invading Kor'ag-dras' territory?!” his father protested.
”I am, and it would.” Darian nodded. ”So? It's still going to happen. The Beast Waves have already been happening. You can ask the Song Clan about that.”
”The fighting at the Great Docks… those were Beast Waves?!” Damien gaped. ”Then the next Tide… it's going to hit them, right?”
”The Great Docks and Kara-Goth, both.” Darian shrugged. ”But Three Pines will be untouched. Probably Craggy Falls too.”
”But… but why? Why Kara-Goth?!” Lisa Vin asked.
”Too many trees felled. Too many polluting factories and mines. Too many Wilds hunted and killed.” Darian said. ”I told them already, but the refugees and even the Temple Knights wouldn't listen to me half the time. They seem to think I would protect them regardless. They will soon realize I meant what I said.”
”Have you told George?” Damien gulped.
”I've warned him. He didn't seem to take it to heart.”
Lisa Vin suddenly turned on Mom mode. ”Now, listen here, son, you can't just go around and kill people because they don't take you seriously…”
”Relax, Mom, I won't be doing anything. I'm just letting you know what the Wilds are up to and why.” Darian shrugged, and then zipped away before they could say anything else.
”Darian? DARIAN!” Lisa fumed, then picked up her comms crystal. ”Darian, you come back here, young man!”
Oddly enough, they heard her voice coming from their feet. Looking down, they found a comms crystal in the dirt.
”Is that… Darian's comm crystal?!” Lisa gaped.
”Yep. I think it is.” Damien grimaced. ”I don't think we're going to be able to call him any more.”
”Why?” Lisa threw up her hands. ”Why did we ever come to this place?! Now we've lost both the boys! We should have gone to Ashdale with Mandy and dragged them along, before all this happened!”
”Pretty sure we've lost the girls too.” Damien pointed out mildly. ”They've all found their own footing here and they don't need us any more. Children grow up so fast.”
”No! We're not losing the girls too!” Lisa jumped. ”We're taking them with us and we're going back to civilization! As for the Beast Tide, if Darian won't do anything, maybe Remian will! He's good friends with the wolfcats, right?”
”Even if he could do anything, I don't think he would.”
”Stubborn…! Maybe our daughter-in-law can talk some sense into our son! Let's go see Mandy at Ashdale!”
”With what? Last I checked, our airships couldn't make it any farther than Kara-Goth. I don't think we'll even be able to reach Fal'Herim.”
”These piles of junk we call airships could hardly move to begin with! No, we'll need to use the Red Fang for that. Surely Remian won't begrudge us that much!”
”It's Mindy's airship, but sure, let's ask if we could borrow it.” Damien Vin chuckled to himself. ”At the very least, there's no harm with visiting Ashdale after all this time.”
***
Meanwhile, in Ashdale, Mandy watched Alani and the others as their airship took off from the airport with their cargo on board.
She whispered to herself. ”Maybe it's time I go visit Kara-Goth.”