Chapter 274 - The North (2/2)

So far, nothing of note worth was happening.

Most of the troops that were stationed at Riviera had left on march for the west, but that did not mean the city was undefended. Leon, Launcelot's brother, had arrived recently, and with his key, the defense of Riviera was complete. The walls flowed with power, its statues ready to animate at a moment's notice, and above them, an azure dome of magic stood tall and strong.

The farmers, of course, could not enjoy the defenses of the dome and walls, but Iona had been working overtime, stationing the justicars in key locations around the farms and raising a veritable army of powerful treant warriors.

It would not be an exaggeration to claim that with Iona's power, Riviera's own defenses, and Li's totem that could fend against demonrot, that Riviera was the safest place in the entire duchy, and it showed. Migrants from all around the kingdom, including beastmen from the west, were filing into the city.

The city itself could feed them with the massive amounts of crop from the farmer's guild, but it lacked housing. Most of the refugees therefore camped along the farms in large tented settlements organized by Sindra in tandem with the city council. Alexei was generous in providing financial support and manpower as well.

But the situation to the north was much murkier. Li had received only a single update from Meld through the synarch seed, and that was almost a week ago to say that they were flying on Gronn en route to a key destination.

Li figured now was a time as good as any to get another update from them. He put his hand into his pocket, caring not to move much to awake Tia, and withdrew the stem of the synarch seed he had given meld. He channeled magic into it and focused, reaching out to the seed of the stem in Meld's possession.

After almost a minute of waiting, the connection established, and Meld's voice rang through into his mind.

'Having a long break now, are we?' said Li mentally.

'My greatest apologies.' Meld's voice, or her mental voice, rather, sounded incredibly tired.

Li raised a brow. 'Is something the matter?'

'I am recovering from a few injuries.' A pause. 'Nothing grievous, however.'

'Was this not supposed to be a stealth mission? Explain to me everything that happened. Your last report to me came from atop Gronn's back. You were one day's flight away from Cicero's safe point, were you not?'

'That is where I am now. There were complications. We flew high, far higher than the clouds themselves, for Cicero recommended that was an elevation that elven clairvoyant mechanisms could not identify. However, shortly after my last report to you, we were attacked.'

'Elves?' asked Li. He did not have an exactly clear idea of what level of technology the elves had. He knew generally that at a standardized level, the elves seemed to have technology that straddled the line between modern and magic, existing at a steampunk aesthetic. That kind of technology likely did not have the ability to take to high elevations with any real finesse.

However, the elves, from what Cicero knew of, had remarkable outlier cases where they had advanced technology that equaled modern era weaponry that Li was familiar with. Artillery lines and standardized rifles, for example, were not unheard of, not to mention the presence of nuclear weapons.

It was not unthinkable that the elves could possess fighter jets or craft even more advanced.

'Not elves,' said Meld. 'Dragons.'