by R N Skye
With over a day before the Infin army would reach the border he closed his eyes and guided his host with the ring back to Jehhet to energize the ring.
~~~~~
Shew and Junior ported aboard the INS Armstrong. A newly dedicated scout and command vessel that Lance and John from Shane’s lab had just installed with Shane’s latest navigation and location artifacts as well as propulsion system. The Captain on board recognized Shew, but the giant next to him was unexpected. Shew had opened a Comm to Admiral Cyrado and his staff telling them that the entire Infin Armada was coming and that any ships not equipped with either stealth, magical propulsion, or both should head back to the mouth of the harbor and be set up as a blockade. The rest needed to come and be decoys and rescue vessels if needed while the Armstrong would take the task of sinking ships.
Shew took command of the viewer and using Shane’s instructions he tied the targeting of the ships viewer into his portal device. Addressing the captain he said, “No need to get us close just keep us moving in case they have the same magical blasters that their flying vessel had the other night. I need at least three of your guys picking targets. As soon as you have one say acquired. I’ll say next when I’m ready for another. You three,” he said to the sailors manning the viewer. “Just keep rotating; next to next to next. Got it? Start with the closest enemy ships first then we will work our way back in case they don’t retreat. Junior once I have the target locked in the viewer you tell me if I need to move bow or aft, port or starboard. If it’s a small vessel I’m just going to split it in half like we did with that artifact in Jehhet… if its larger we will open a hole inside the hold and flood it. Got it?” At the nods from all the crew in the navigation section Shew smiled, “Let’s go get em.”
“Target acquired,” spoke a clear loud voice of the first in the nav line.
“Ok Junior, I’m locked see the red line? Where is the best place to chop it in two?”
“Two cubits Aft,” the large fisherman said. I know that craft and if you cut it there everything sinks.”
Shew tapped the activation glyph and silently through the viewer the enemy ship separated. Within moments both ends slipped beneath the surface of the water. A loud cheer went up from the nav crew. “Don’t get too excited,” Cautioned the old spy. That’s only one down and about four hundred to go. Next!”
~~~~~
Shane and Ari arrived at the capitol in Lu Y Onton and were met immediately by Roger and General D’Mere. “Sorry for the short notice,” Ari greeted the each of the men with a brisk handshake. “We need to move all soldiers to the border at or near the L’raine Bridge where it enters into west Lu Y Onton. The Infin army is headed this way. Allion’s troops are marching at a rate that will be here by tomorrow afternoon at the latest, more than likely in the morning.
The sun was mid-way across the sky by the time Shane and Ari had briefed the general on the last day and a half. The General of the Luion Army stood and watched the southern side of the boarder across the L’raine River pondering their briefing as it was received. With quick resolve he was soon coordinating with his officers and soldiers were swiftly at work setting up camp; setting up the different mess facilities readying weapons and setting up temporary quartering.
“No sense waiting around,” muttered Shane impatiently. “I’m going to increase the height of the shield wall and anchor it deeper. With a little luck it will slow them down long enough so that we can neutralize the wristbands and get them to surrender. Is it alright if I use your pavilion, General?”
“Anything you need,” nodded the general. Turning to his aide standing nearby he directed him to get a detail of men together to give Shane whatever he needed.
“While Shane does that,” commented Ari I’m going to get with Roger and see what we can do, magically, to slow them down and track them. General if you would come with me to your command tent so that I can make some changes to the artifacts that we gave you. Also we need to get Lance and John and professor Wetz from the lab on the comm. We are going to need all the help we can get and they are the only glyph mages that know what we have given you. I also need to check in with Shew and see how things are going with that armada.”
Shane walked to a large canvas tent that was open on the lee side facing away from the slight but chilly northern breeze. Several portable chairs and tabled had been set up inside and in the corner was a small unlit wood stove. So far the winter had been mild but it was likely to change any day as the wet season was due to start. Shane sat and closed his eyes.
Slowly he let his thoughts race out through and past the crowds of soldiers and to the other side of the large slow moving L’raine River. About a half a milo beyond the southern shore of the Infin side he could feel the energy and see the lumen that made up the protective wall that blocked the Allyant soul lumen. With his mind he spanned the nearly two thousand miles from east to west along the entirety of the magical wall. Using a mental portal he reached out to each of the twenty plus individual towers spaced one hundred milos apart and began adjusting heights and depths of each massive obelisk. Presently they were just under twenty cubits deep and twenty cubits tall. Carefully he began to increase the depth of each obelisk by a factor of five. At the half way point while lowering one of the subterranean pillars near the center of the continent near the head-waters of the L’raine River where the mountains began, he noticed or felt a new source of energy. As he studied it, it appeared to be a fluid of immense heat. Reaching out with his lumen site he saw fractures in the ground that spread like tendrils the closer to the surface they reached. He followed them back into the depths of the ground and like branches of a tree they made their way to a large trunk that grew larger the deeper it went until it blended with the molten core of Eliom.
Shane reached out to his instructor and began to study the significance of what he had discovered.
After learning about the properties of volcanoes and fault lines; just skimming over the side effects of what could happen if they were changed - he began looking into converting the tremendous heat into energy. The instructor showed numerous methods available. After reviewing he decided the simplest method would be to use dissimilar metals to generate a form of energy that he could convert using glyphs to increase power to the shielding that he had initially built into the wall. To reach the heat he sunk the bottom half of his obelisk like a giant tap root into the magma below the earth. Starting back at the beginning he repeated the process for all of the obelisks. Shane couldn’t help but notice that the fissures and tendrils seemed to follow a line along the entire border and out into the ocean on both coasts. It must be the fault lines that the instructor had mentioned, he thought.
~~~~~
The afternoon sun was bright but the winter sky of the northern ocean claimed all warmth and exchanged it for a bitter wind. The sea was beginning to swell and grow teeth in the form of white caps as it began to throw the Armstrong up and down the peaks and valleys of the wind driven waves.
“How many ships have we sunk so far,” Mister Shew, asked the Captain of the Armstrong as he steadied himself with the increasing roll of the ship.
Shew didn’t look up from his viewer, instead he spoke to Junior. “This one is a bit large to cut in half; we’re going to have to fill it up. Where’s the best spot, Junior?”
“Can you open portals in these three holds,” the large man replied as he pointed near the water line on the image of the ship at locations near the bow, the stern and amidships.
“That I can,” commented Shew and he tapped a series of glyphs. The image of the larger ship visibly lowered in the water with increasing rapidity; with a sudden rush of air escaping from the open hatches and portholes the boat disappeared beneath the waves as the crew hastily swam to the barely deployed life boats. Turning to the patiently waiting Captain Shew smiled his best apologetic smile and answered. “We have just sunk number one hundred and thirty six. By my count that leaves us with about three hundred and forty to go;
give or take a handful. All of those destroyed so far have been those that were the closest to Luion waters. It looks like we don’t have anything closer than three to four hundred milos so we have some breathing room.” Turning to one of the sailors manning the viewer he said,” Jerome, Any sign of anyone turning around?”
“No sir,” the sailor replied alertly.
“Alright, Junior, this is taking too long. Now that we have some a little time, let’s see if we can pick up the pace. “I’m feeling like we may not have to kill all these sorry bastards if we can disable them. The sea is getting a little rough this afternoon let’s start with filling up their bilges and lower them into the water a bit; not enough to sink them but enough to make them wallow a bit - maybe they’ll reconsider continuing north. Hopefully the combination of the high seas and taking on water they will turn back for Jehhet.”
Turning to the large fisherman Shew continued, “As we pick up the pace and I need you to show me where to flood these next two hundred boats. I’m going to open a bunch of small portals at once in the next two hundred targets. My hope is to flood them faster than they can pump. Most of them can make it to Cliffs Port before they sink if they react fast enough. If they continue on toward Luion,” Shew shrugged, “then they’re digging their own graves. You boys ready?” The three sailors at the nav viewer acknowledged with a round of yes sir. “Okay I’m going to be calling out ‘Next’ fairly quickly so get me targets as fast as you can.” The ship lurched into an unexpected wave, the sailors held on to a convenient rail as Shew fell forward just short of knocking his head against the wall. He felt Junior’s large hand grip his upper arm preventing him from colliding with the captain. “Captain,” Shew said as he regained his footing, “see if you can get Admiral Cyrado on the comm and get one of the glyph mages here. We need to see if they can get us above and out of these waves.”
~~~~~
The sun was setting as Shane concluded his last modifications. The invisible wall was now so deep that to go beneath it would require one to tunnel into the hot mantle of the world itself. The height was now an immense fifteen hundred cubits tall. Shane’s only worry was that it might not hold; he had no way of knowing the capability of the starblades destructive abilities.
With a jolt Shane jumped as he felt something soft and warm on his neck. Nearly falling from his chair he turned and looked into the mischievous eyes of Ava who was unsuccessfully trying to hide her mirth at the unexpected kiss on the neck. “Bonjour Mon Cher,” she bubbled as she pushed him back onto his chair. Taking a seat on his knees she gave him a hug and wrapped her arms around his neck, presenting him with a more conventional kiss.
“You startled me. I was concentrating,” he apologized. “Did you just get here?”
“We have been here for a couple of hours. I have spent most of it looking over your shoulder; you haven’t looked away from you maps the whole time. So I took it upon myself to let you know it was time for a break. Mother and father wanted to take us to dinner to discuss the wedding but then Ari mentioned what was coming and when we decided we better do it another time. We also decided that we better bring dinner here since it is plain to see you will likely be her for a while.”
“We,” Shane said, as he looked around the room and saw the small crowd that had gathered. The room wasn’t quiet either. Several soldiers were pulling in additional chairs and setting up tables while his mother, Ava’s mother, and her aunt Leslie, were opening baskets of food setting up for what appeared to be an evening meal. “I must have been concentrating more deeply than I thought,” he smiled. “Sorry if I didn’t hear you come in. I’ve been enhancing the magic in the border wall.”
“Speaking of which,” interrupted Ava. “Could you tone it down a bit, you’re glowing again.”
Shane increased his internal lumen shield making the tent suddenly dark to match the early evening as he returned to normal. With a laugh he heard either Louisa or Leslie exclaiming, “I got this, I just learned this this morning, watch.” He wasn’t certain which of the sisters did it but suddenly the large pavilion was brightly lit as the underside of the canvas roof began radiating a comfortable but brilliant glow. Shane couldn’t help smile at the enthusiasm the sisters had for the magic that they were just beginning to learn and explore.
Moments later Ari entered the enclosure followed by Gerard and Roger. “Hi Ari, hi Rodge, “Shane said with his usual high energy. “What’s the word on the advancing Army?”
“They are continuing to march, looks like they plan to continue throughout the evening. By my estimation they will be here sometime late morning.” Ari said as he greeted Leslie with an embrace. “How about you, were you able to make any improvements on the wall?”
“A few,” Shane replied as he gave the details of his activities with the soul lumen protection and how he had increased the size and effectiveness by tapping into the very bedrock and the magma beneath.
“Have you heard anything form Shew and Junior,” Shane asked.
“They comm’d looking for John or Lance, earlier this afternoon. I got it second hand from D’Mere while Roger and I were making glue spots in the road along the march in efforts to cause congestion. We stopped because the mass of the army wouldn’t halt, they just continued marching and eventually crushed the stuck soldiers into road kill and didn’t even break stride. While we were paused D’Mere comm’d me and asked if I could send out John or Lance and see if they could show them how to activate the levitation on the new Scout ship; the seas were getting pretty rough,” Ari answered taking a chair. “I ported both John and Lance. They got them up out of the water and the remote propulsion going so the wind wouldn’t be blowing them all over the map. The last I heard is that about sundown Shew had nearly two thirds sunk and the rest wallowing their way into Cliffs Port or back to Jehhet due to unexplained water found in the bilge and holds. John and Lance went back to the lab in Yllyan looking for Leo and Shew went to Coh Y Nord to have dinner with Oscaar Junior. They said that they would check on the armada through the night. In the morning if it looks like they have given up then they would come here to Lu Y Onton and pitch in here as needed.”
An exclamation from across the table by Ava’s mother cause both Ari and Shane to look in her direction. “I completely forgot,” she interjected. “There was a terrible accident and Professor Wetz dropped by the house today looking for you; his friend Kaysee had been severely injured. I had come home earlier from the records center to take a nap to receive some medical training. I was just waking up when he showed up through your pantry portal. The poor man was beside himself with grief. The young lady was very near death. Thank heavens Professor Wetz had had the sense to wrap her in the healing gauze that you make there in your lab otherwise I doubt she would have survived the trip to the house.”
Shane hurried to Louisa’s side. “Where are they? Are they alright? Ava, see if you can get hold of Alicia she has a very powerful healing amulet.”
“I have things under control.” Ava’s mother assured him.
“You healed them?” Shane asked puzzled.
“Heavens no dear, I have only been trained in triage and the healing machines so far.” In way of explanation she added. “This morning I was worried about possible casualties and injuries with this war that is brewing, so I sought out training and information on hospitals and catastrophic injuries. Given the suddenness of the accident and her condition I immediately put her in stasis until I could either get a healer or finish my instruction. The poor professor looked so upset I put him in stasis too.” Louisa concluded with a look of satisfaction.”
“Wow Stasis,” Shane said followed by a low whistle. “I’m impressed.” Turning to Ava, Shane scratched his head in thought for a few moments. “I think it still can’t hurt to get Alicia and her amulet involved. Can you coordinate with her, the Luion military, your mother, Laura and Leslie and see if we can set up a medical protocol and work out some sort of system where we can treat injuries if things get ugly tomo
rrow? Since we have a portal I see no reason that we can’t have all of the injured moved treated and convalescing in Coholo somewhere safe. Perhaps Coh Y Nord as that city is still mostly uninhabited.” Turning back to Louisa he continued, “Where are they in stasis, can they be moved?”
“No need,” answered Ava’s mother pointing to an amulet that she was wearing very similar to the family heirloom that he had repaired for the glyph mage Alicia many weeks ago. The Stasis location is on a world somewhere where time is different than here. I can access it no matter where I am. Coh Y Nord is fine. If the Generals medical troops can work with whoever you have that can create portals on this side to a portal at the triage location in Coh Y Nord, we ladies can handle it from there.” Taking charge Louisa smiled at her sister, “this is so fun.”
“First things first,” Louisa said seriously. Ladies, she looked from Leslie to Laura to Ava. “Tonight I need everyone with an instructor to make sure you receive emergency medical training, triage and stasis, and basic analgesics. In the morning I will give you each a stasis and healing amulet. Ava, dear, can you please mention this to Alicia as well. We will all meet at Gerard’s and my home for breakfast. Ari, would you please inform General D’Mere to have his medical officer comm me in the morning and I will send someone for him. I would like him or her to be at the breakfast as well, I will make blueberry pancakes and ham. We will all need our energy. Shane, dear can you please set it up so that everyone can enter the kitchen through the pantry like you and Ari do? It will make things more convenient.”
Shane thought for a moment. “Laura and Soaris can port to anywhere without glyphs so I won’t need anything for them. Ava could as well if she wants to but she has her portal device if she isn’t up to trying it. Leslie can port from the lab but I’ll add a pantry glyph on the lab portal for Alicia.” Shane closed his eyes and produced a glyphed ring then transmuted a brass obelisk along the center side of the pavilion. “All the military medical liaison has to do is wear this ring and touch the obelisk and he will find himself in your pantry.” Shane placed the ring on a holed that appeared. “Have whoever D’Mere assigns to you get the ring from here. They will need a mage at your house to get him back here. Have Ava, just take back the ring and remove the lumen when you are done that way you won’t have the military showing up unexpectedly later on out of curiosity. The obelisk and the ring will fade away once the lumen is removed.”
