Chapter 60 - Avoidance (Patreon)

When the boat arrived in town, they were unloaded and heading west out of the city.  At every shop they stopped at along their journey out of town, they made sure to comment about their destination being Elvenlock.  There was a bridge near the Y in the river, so traveling west made plenty of sense to those in town.

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Fourteen hours earlier:

“Why is an Ancient Nature Mage attacking us?” Rick asked when it was clear they were no longer being followed.

“The only Nature mages I know of in Kasmaya, other than mother, are male.  A foreign mage attacked us, and this goes completely against anything Astresh has done in the past.”  Regina replied.

“As much as I dislike Astresh, I agree this is not their usual form of attack.  They would be going against the ‘Rules of War’ contract both kingdoms signed.  Attacking someone from the Royal family is enough to trigger the contract penalties.  The only way they could get around that is if the royal that was attacked was within fifty miles of a battleground.”  Zane said with a frown.

“Regardless of who attacked us, we need to change our plans.  The map with our route was on the wagon’s wall when our camp was invaded.  If it is the same person, she knows where we are going.”  Violet put in.

“The important places we need to visit are six and eight.  Those two sites are intact, with a barrier around them for protection.  From what I remember of site three, it is just a pile of rubble with no way to easily access the lower floors.  We were hoping that Zane might be able to find a void and tunnel us into the ruin, but we can skip it.”  Regina said while pointing at the map.

“What do we know about sites four and five?”  Zane asked.

“They are in similar condition as site three.  I believe site five has one room open, but nobody has reported anything interesting.  Again we were hoping Zane may be able to help open new areas for us.”

“Why don't we skip sites three and four.  Site five is along the way to six, so we can take a look at it as we go.”  Violet ran her finger along the new route she proposed.

“I’m not against skipping sites.  But if we take that route, we will still need to figure out how to get across the river.  There aren’t any bridges that far north.”  Zane said.

“I can build an ice bridge to get us across the river anywhere we choose.  I didn't suggest this before because I will need to make temporary enchants for the wagon to make it lighter.”  Violet said.

“That sounds expensive and foolish.  The river runs too swiftly for a bridge to last long on its surface.”  Rick said.

After a moment of silence, Zane said, “What if I make a stone boat?  I can make it light, and it will float as long as I bring the sides up high enough.  That should be tough enough to last for the entire trip.  But I won’t have any way of propelling it across the river.  Does your water magic have anything that could help with that?”

Violet thought about what she would need to do to propel the boat.  She didn't know how the ship they were on was moving, but she did know how to make a water wheel move with water manipulation.  “If you can make a water wheel on the back of the boat, I can make it move.”

When they had agreed on their new course, Rick brought up an important fact.  “We need to stay out of towns.  Buy extra food when we land.” Rick added.

“I’ll make sure to pick food that will last until we make it past site five.  Violet, we will depend on you to make it palatable.  Jerky, oats, rice, and flour are not my idea of a rounded meal.  At least we will be skirting a forest so we can hunt for meat.”  Regina said.

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Present Time

“Do you think she will take the bait and lose our trail?”  Violet asked Zane while they drove out of town.

“I’ll be hiding our tracks as soon as we turn off the road.  With Regina holding a cloaking spell over our wagon and the amberclaws, we will have a good chance.”

Raising her voice so Regina could hear her on the roof, Violet said, “You two, let me know if you are running low on mana, and I will either help supplement you or take over for Regina.”

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“I’ll scout ahead for caves we can use. These hills are riddled with them,”  Rick said a few hours later.  The party had made good time after leaving town.  They left the road as soon as it would not be seen, but they had only traveled five miles north before continuing west again.

The further north they traveled, the sandier the terrain became.  Rather than taxing the amberclaws, they decided to parallel the road for a few days until the ground in the north became more hospitable.  Their original travel itinerary had them following a northern road to avoid the sand.

They traveled until the sun was below the horizon, trying to get as much distance as they could from their pursuer.  Rick did not end up finding any caves during his scouting, so it was up to Zane to make a shelter for them.  With the help of Violet’s mana, he molded the ground around them to look like just another rolling hill that encased the wagon and gave them enough room to walk around in.

“As long as we leave at first light, the chances of us being noticed are at a minimum.”  He said, breathing hard with exertion.  Even with Violet supplying most of the mana, it still taxed him to shape it.  He had been using his Earth magic the entire day to keep any dust from kicking up and hiding all signs of their trail.

“We only need to keep this up for one more day, and then hopefully, we will be far enough west to start turning north.  At the rate we’ve been traveling, I wouldn’t be surprised if we start turning north tomorrow.  Violet, can you work on the gravity reduction enchants you said you could make?  If we can lighten the load for the amberclaws, then I want to make sure we do it.”  Regina said.

“I can, but it will wipe my mana out. The enchants will only last around an hour before I will need to recharge them.  It will take a minimum of four, one on each corner, to safely lighten the wagon.  If we are near trees, I can drain some mana from their life force to power the enchants.  I’ll just need to be careful not to kill the tree in the process.”  Violet replied.

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AN:  I still have a bit more I will add to this chapter.  I plan to cover the river crossing and end up at site five by the end of this chapter.  More to come tomorrow!