Chapter 1-24: Road Trips (1/2)

“Thank you. Father Bower spoke to you?” I asked calmly.

He nodded slowly. “And more. He’s already secured my release to serve as your escort until you don’t need my services.” His dark eyes flashed. “That vivic fire can cause some almighty waves, I was told...”

“Yes. It might even be best if I did my Leveling in another location that didn’t involve undead.” I frowned. “The Shroud is frazzing my memories, and really wants me to stay here and really shoot everything.”

“Your performance yesterday was extraordinary. If what I earned in those few minutes was any indication, you earned enough to send you straight to Six with all the wraiths and shadows you sent away forever.” He seemed pretty thoughtful. “You’re really good at killing them. Going elsewhere may not work as well...”

“Unfortunately, I don’t seem to have any control over the direction I’m Leveling in, which is very annoying. Do you know another place that might be worthwhile?”

He frowned, thinking about something, and nodded slowly. “There’s plenty of necropolises around. Other places... well, America definitely has one of the big ones.” I lifted an eyebrow. “Yellowstone.”

Ah. Something in common with Terra-Luna... “Fire elementals and that lot,” I said thoughtfully. “Just have to be kitted out with cold weapons, and we’re pretty good...”

“Easier for some than others,” he noted aloud, and I had to smile. Having the perfect Weapon was one of the harder things for the bash-them crowd. “But yes, undead won’t be as common there. The Druids from the local tribes like to say the rise of the firelands there is a result of the undead infecting the world, but I don’t know...”

“As common?” I repeated calmly. “If there’s undead there at all, that’s a clear indicator of pyric undead in control somewhere. More likely there’s a magmawight down in the supervolcano, and was woken up by the coming of the Shroud.”

He stared at me like I was raining on his parade. “What,” he had to ask, in the tones of someone who didn’t want to know, “is a magmawight?”

“A fire-based undead of great power, ranging in strength from a Fifteen to post-Twenty. Fully capable of messing around with a volcano. I imagine it very much wants to remain hidden, and is deeply afraid of the source of the Shroud, as the Dark Hierophant can definitely suppress it.”

He gave me that hairy eyeball again. “The things you know are deeply upsetting, Miss Traveler. Wherever did you learn such things?”

“The magmawight is an informed guess, not knowledge. Undead don’t survive in firelands unless the local Lord wants them around for some reason. You didn’t mention any kind of a pyric undead boss aboveground, which means belowground. Below means in the supervolcano. There’s not many undead who can survive in one of those, and control it into an actual fireland.” I steepled my fingers, looking elsewhere. “Consider me to have a self-preserving morbid curiosity about insanely overpowered dead things that might want to kill everything.

“More to the point, does Yellowstone have a Shroud? I can’t recall...”

His face fell, and he looked west. “It does...”

“Those things only form above a Dark Minister or higher Class of undead. If there hasn’t been one seen above ground...” I trailed off, and he followed the train of thought, then nodded. “It also means any Firebound or Fire aspect Druids in the neighborhood are actually serving an unholy power, probably...”

His face twisted again. “Damnation, girl. I’m going to have to ask you to stop thinking about things, aren’t I?”

“There is no such thing as cheap power. You always pay, one way or another.” I glanced past him. “Here comes Helix.”

The Paladin turned to face the powder-blue-haired Stormblood ambling free of care towards us, and Helix looked a little uncertain as he saw the two of us... and the Paladin not in full uniform. “Uh, hello? You ready to go, Trav?” he asked uncertainly.

I wondered when I’d graduated to a flippant nickname. “I am. Sir Pellier offered to drive, he’s got business in Riverhead Father Bower asked him to run. I accepted.” I ignored the way Helix’s face kind of fell as he looked at the solid figure of the holy knight. “Let’s go!” I continued before he could refuse, reaching out and grabbing his arm.

He didn’t have much choice but to go along with it. Sir Pellier smiled as he led the way to the lot with his car.

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Prestidigitation cut Helix’s staff down to half-size (such a useful Cantrip) and I shoved him up front with Sir Pellier, to his consternation, noting that they were my chauffeurs, and were going to act the part!

I certainly didn’t want him continuously bugging me from behind if I sat up front, and I wasn’t going to put up with his constant chatter if he sat back here.

I looked out the windows as I studied the landscape, and Detect Location drew a map in my mind of where I had been, storing it in my Visual File.

There wasn’t a lot of traffic, but there was some, a lot of it trucks bringing supplies back and forth from the camp. Since the Wall stretched the length of the peninsula, there were thousands of people there, and they did have to eat.

Not me, but that was because I’d taken steps for it.