Chapter 54: Night Riders (2/2)
Viv felt her entire being balloon with energy. The shadows of the night fell away and everything appeared in sharp relief. Viv could see every bramble, every thorn, feel the loam under her soles and how it would affect the race, and race she did.
Irao was ahead, running and showing the path but she herself could feel it call to her. A secret way drew her in. That exposed root needed her toes, and she had to duck under that branch just right. Those ferns would give way under her body, and there was sure footing beyond. They ran. Viv breathed big gulps of air, fresh and crisp. She just knew how everything should be.
A part of her almost resisted the effects, but she knew it was Irao’s doing and so she let it happen.
Finesse +1
You have reached a milestone! Your coordination and reflex are vastly improved. You will find it easier to execute precise movements. You can move faster.
Viv felt part of her body and soul absorb all those instincts and retain some of them, only an infinitesimal fragment and yet it made a difference. To be that good, Irao’s finesse had to be… she could not imagine, but he had to sense the world differently.
Viv’s consideration lasted as they kept going. Her improved mind could process the travel and take some distance at the same time. Her earth brain would have been overwhelmed by the influx of information in a mere minute, yet now she could keep going for the whole night.
She really could.
Realistically her body should have dropped very quickly, unable to bear the strain, yet she kept going without much discomfort. It was as if the power she used was borrowed. Diving deeper, she found traces of colorless mana in her conduits.
They went faster still.
Irao’s effects on his surroundings were amazing. He was doing something with the shadows, something that used black mana. She tried to focus on it but had little success. The black mana carried a meaning that escaped her. The concept was simply too mind-defying, or she was not experienced enough.
Exactly how powerful was the Hadal strain human?
Viv did not know, but she suspected that Kazar had two of the most dangerous entities on Param. And they both lived in her house.
Little by little, her considerations faded away until the path ahead became the center of her focus. It was not by choice. The pressure on her mind simply grew too much as minutes turned to hours. Eventually, it was well past midnight when they slowed down.
“Stop,” Irao said.
Viv resisted. They were so slow. It wasn’t right. The next spot of shadow was just over there.
“Stop. We have arrived.”
No.
“Wake up, Viv. Qi Chuang.”
“What?”
The strange language woke her up from her reverie. The skill broke and she collapsed forward, only saved from kissing the dirt by Irao’s timely support.
“Ooopensates for your lack of finesse well,” Irao said.
“It hurts…”
“Drink and eat, it will help.”
Viv grabbed for another energy snack and ate it thoughtfully. She took her time to drink slowly to keep the nausea at bay. They were smack in the middle of a thicket of ancient trees, their barks marked by the passage of generations of predators. Stunted shrubs battled for the few holes in the canopy, though only the moon shone through them at that moment.
“We have arrived. We are about forty Halurian leagues from Kazar.”
Viv searched her mind and calculated that it was a bit less than sixty kilometers. They had traveled at the speed of a car. Not a very fast one, but still an impressive performance.
“Arrived where?”
“Come and look.”
Viv stood up on shaky legs and followed the bald quasi-human as he guided her up a beast trail. They ended up on a small elevation, barely deserving the term ‘hill’. There, a small promontory gave a decent view of the valley below and the massive encampment sprawling there.
Viv’s heart sank in her chest.
“At least… three hundred combatants. Heavy infantry. Horses,” she counted.
“Forty cavalrymen. Useless here but useful for roaming at the edge of the deadlands. They have black-mana shielding cloaks,” Irao said with the same detached tone.
The fighters had pitched their tents in orderly rows along the edge of the road. There were earthworks as well.
“They must have been here for a while.”
“No, this is earth magic.”
“They have a caster?”
“Three of them. Much weaker than you.”
That would not help.
The simple tents surrounded a much larger one topped by a white and blue flag displaying an unfamiliar heraldry, but she knew what that army was here for.
Beyond the army camp, there was a much larger, messier one composed of massive carriages drawn by teams of cornadons. A few sentries milled around, wearing no uniforms. It was a civilian camp, and it was at least twice as large as the military one.
They had not come to collect taxes.
“They are here to evict the local folks and replace them with loyalists,” Viv whispered.
“The earth at the edge of the deadlands is very fertile. The dust is filled with nutrients,” Irao said.
The locals were going to be forced out, then they would starve to death in the wilderness. The fields were long-seeded. The granaries stood almost empty.
Even with passing soldiers and the temple guard, there was no stopping that army. Not with three casters who could manipulate earth.
The walls of Kazar were going to fall.
People’s houses and belongings would be seized.
They were going to lose the city.
All those folks she had been helping would end up dead. They would fall one by one.
“Maybe…”
“Even if I assassinate the Prince, it will not help. They will still come, but they will come to kill indiscriminately” Irao said.
Viv had meant to use Solfis, but the result was going to be the same. Viv suspected that Irao could slay an emperor, but he could not slay a thousand people. Maybe, just maybe, Solfis could. But Viv would not give the order to kill hundreds of civilians. She was not insane.
“Could we lure savage beasts to them, delay them a bit?” she asked.
“If we had more time. They will reach the city in less than three days.”
The Hadal human studied Viv’s downcast expressions for a few seconds.
“I did not notice them before,” he finally said, “I am sorry.”
“Not your fault.”
She thought about it. Mayor Ganimatalo had to be told. They would probably have to evacuate the city with whatever food they could carry. There was no other way.
“We need to head back.”
“Not now. You must rest first.”
“I cannot rest while this band of legal highwaymen is set to fall upon all of us.”
“You must, or you will not be able to withstand the skill. Sleep first.”
Viv made a token effort to protest, but exhaustion quickly caught up to her. No matter how good Irao’s skill was, she still had to make some effort herself. She found a recess between two roots and placed her head against her backpack. She was out in seconds.