by John Nest
Espion immediately left. Smoke turned to Ledur and told him that they needed to create a secure transport for these goblins. He was going to take them to Verbrannt.
* * * * * *
A full moon brightened the night sky, providing good visibility on the ground. Smoke and his private army were standing in front of Banal's main gate. They could have left the village sooner, but Laernea and Gandiva begged Smoke to let them have a proper supper.
Sot and family members of the Banalite volunteers had also gathered near the gate, as they wanted to see them off. Despite failing the quest and having his Intimacy with the Banalites reduced, Smoke still thought it best to be friendly with them. He wished them good fortune, as they were determined on rebuilding their village. He also planned on having Espion check up on their development after a few days.
With their farewells done, Smoke ordered his army to start riding for Verbrannt. The Tikbalangs and some of the Condortlian Warriors sat comfortably in the Lioumereans' carriages, while those fit to ride on aardwolves hitched a ride with the Bowed Fishermen.
As Smoke sat alone in the back of Gandiva's carriage, he took out his white metallic staff and started to do some Manatl exercises. Since he couldn't convince Saru to join him, Smoke had to refine his Manatl ability on his own, by just practising as often as possible.
A purple Manatl four times the size of his fist appeared on top of his left palm. However, while he did this, his mind kept wandering off. Thoughts of Sierra were constantly popping into his head. He took a deep breath and tried to clear his mind when he heard someone call his name.
Smoke turned around and saw a familiar Aqua Knight ride next to Gandiva's carriage. Mamelon let out a forced cough, "Ahem."
"Hey, Mamelon. Sorry, I didn't see you there." said Smoke.
"No worries." she replied, "I know that you're very busy, but I was hoping you could spare a few seconds for me?"
"Sure. Anything for the hero who saved us from Crucibelle and her goblins." said Smoke with a smile, "What's on your mind?"
Mamelon made a modest gesture with her hands. "Nah, we were just lucky we arrived in time. Sierra was the one who told us to go to your coordinates."
Smoke's eyes widened as it was the first time he heard about this.
"Anyway, I just wanted to ask you about Ilad. I heard that he was with you when you went to the Margome mountain range, but I don't see him anywhere." stated Mamelon.
"Ah, I already sent him to Verbrannt before I got the Banal quest." said Smoke with a straight face.
"I see..." Mamelon casted her gaze downwards after she heard Smoke's answer. "I guess I'll see him in Verbrannt." she said in almost a whisper, "Well, could you just tell him that I need to talk to him?"
"Of course, I'll pass on the message." replied Smoke, "That reminds me, Ilad did tell me that he apologizes for not meeting with you. I know that you still need to divide the loot from the mounted race."
She answered in a surprised, cheerful voice, "Really? I mean, that's right. So...please tell him to come see me as soon as he can."
Smoke watched Mamelon's blue armor shimmer as the moonlight reflected off of her. She happily trotted towards her regiment, pleased with what he told her.
'Note to self: Schedule a meeting with Mamelon as Ilad.' thought Smoke.
He tried to clear his mind again but just couldn't concentrate. So, he decided to work on his Gobberish instead. He took out the goblin parchment and kept re-reading it.
His conundrum on what to do with the information that Crucibelle and her sisters were the Magietrois needed resolution. He knew of only one man who could give him the enlightenment he badly wanted.
Smoke called his closest friend in Zectas, Darius.
"Hi, Darius. It's been a long time." said Smoke cheerfully.
"Yes, it has. You should find some time to come visit us, even though Nanahuatl hasn't really changed much." said Darius.
Smoke could already picture Darius' wrinkled face smiling at him as they talked.
"So, how have you been?" asked Smoke.
"Can't complain. I'm slowly regaining my strength and vigor. The Nanahuatlanos keep me so busy that I barely have any time to notice my powers growing stronger." explained Darius.
"That's great to hear! I'll make sure to visit you soon. But for now, I was hoping you could advise me on something." said Smoke.
"As long as it's not about money, you know you can always count on me." said Darius with a light laugh.
Smoke chuckled. "Of course it isn't money-related. You see, I came across a parchment in which a Witch, Crucibelle, stated that she's part of a group called the Magietrois." explained Smoke, "I was wondering if you know something about that group?"
"Hmm. Well, from what I know about the Magietrois, they were supposedly a trio of powerful Magi. 'The Three Magics' is what their name means. They were HighElf princesses, each with a different elemental speciality. If I remember correctly, their Jobs were Arch Cardinals of the Gods; the gods in question being Chantico, Cuhtli and Xolotl." stated Darius.
'Xolotl sounds so familiar. Where have I heard that name before?' wondered Smoke before he asked another question, "Do you know exactly what their elemental specialities were?"
"Chantico is the goddess of fire, Cuhtli is the goddess of earth and Xolotl is the god of lightning." Darius answered instantly, as if he knew what Smoke's next question was.
"I fought against Crucibelle and one of her two sisters." quickly exclaimed Smoke. "Crucibelle could create fire, while Terrabelle controlled the earth. Darius, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Well, I think it's too late in the evening for another horned rabbit pie, but I guess just one more won't hurt." answered Darius.
"Hahaha." An enlivened Smoked laughed and said, "No, I'm not talking about food. If Crucibelle's other sister, Horrabelle, can manipulate lightning, wouldn't that confirm that they are the Magietrois?"
Smoke feverishly waited to hear Darius' response. The pieces of the story were slowly falling into place.
"Hm, she wouldn't necessarily have to control lightning. As is the case with many gods, Xolotl isn't just the god of lightning. He is also the god of sickness and passing." said Darius.
"What do you mean by 'passing'?" he asked.
"It means guiding someone into Mictlan, the afterlife." said Darius. The Beggar Legati paused before speaking again, "It is said that the oldest of the three princesses, as the Arch Cardinal of Xolotl, dabbled in the Dark Arts."
Smoke listened intently as he had thought that the Witches only had the basic elemental affinities.
"It was her who used her connection with Xolotl to contact Chalchizin, the god of death. From that point in the story, it is said that they gained immense power and immortality, but also fell under Chalchizin's curse."
"They were cursed?" asked an interested Smoke, "I didn't know that. I've read a book that contained a part of the story about the Magietrois, but its ending was rather vague." He paused for a moment and then asked, "What was the curse?"
"Sadly, I do not know. The version I heard simply said that the princesses were cursed and haven't been seen since, but that they are destined to appear again when the world is in danger and lead their armies to victory." replied Darius.
Smoke's eyes focused as another piece of the puzzle fit into place. "That's the other thing...the Witches I encountered had small armies alongside them as well. That also points towards them being the Magietrois. But..."
As Smoke remembered the Centaurs being turned into Tikbalangs, and Gobble Goblins devouring each other inside a ring of fire, he fell silent.
"Darius, I've seen the methods they use to expand their armies and I definitely don't agree with them." he said in a low voice.
"I can see why you've made that connection. Building an army through any means necessary does sound like something the Magietrois would do." said Darius.
"But you could say that they are the more lawful evil, right? Yes, they crossed the line
, but in the end, if they are the Magietrois, aren't they just doing all that in order to be able to save people when the time comes?" asked Smoke rhetorically.
Smoke's eyes widened as he realized something else. 'If the Witches of Wysteria were amassing an army, does that mean that the Reptilian race is really going to try to take over the world again?'
"Darius, I forgot to mention something. Vijaya told me that, in the version of the story she heard, the Magietrois are supposed to return to protect the world from Reptilians. In the parchment I told you about, Crucibelle also stated that she was building her army in preparation for war against the Reptilian race." said Smoke in a calm voice.
"Now, now. Let's not jump to any conclusions. I do know that there are some stragglers of the Reptilian nobility around the world, but I doubt they would have the means for world domination." replied Darius with a hesitant voice, "Besides, the Zectians have learned their lesson, and with so many Sonstwelters around, I'm sure that Zectas will be safe from their tyranny."
"Still, I think it's a waste to be enemies with the Magietrois. Although, there's only one of them left now." said Smoke. The disappointment in his voice was as clear as the bright full moon. "If I could reason with Horrabelle, I feel that she could be a strong addition to our army, but I know that a lot of people will be against it. Not to mention that she herself probably won't be willing to even listen to us."
"Tell you what, let me get on the Beggar's Tablet with Caid. I'll give him a portion of my access level to the Verum de Mendicantibus. We should be able to find some useful information on the Magietrois. The more you know about them, the easier it will be to plan a course of action."
"That would be great. You know, I'm not sure if I should even do anything. Maybe I should leave it alone. I don't want to hurt Ledur's feelings and Sierra needs Horrabelle's blood to lift the curse affecting her."
"Inaction breeds doubt and fear. If you think this could greatly benefit everyone, then do something about it. You don't want to have regrets later on. Just remember to way everything with unbiased eyes." Darius said in a firm and sincere voice.
"Alright, I'll think about what I can do. In the meantime, you can contact Caid and see what the Beggar's Society knows about the Magietrois." said Smoke with conviction.
"Okay, I'll call Caid as soon as I'm done with this pie. Take care of yourself, Smoke."
"You too, Darius. Thanks for lending me an ear and I'll see you soon."
CLICK
After his satisfying conversation with Darius, Smoke tried to do another round of Manatl training, but his mind would still not allow it. He kept having doubts whether it was a good idea to contact Horrabelle and try to convince her to become allies.
Due to the fact that he couldn't focus on his Manatl training, Smoke decided to log out of Zectas. They still had more than sixteen hours before they would reach Verbrannt. Plenty of time for him to get some well-deserved rest.
* * * * * *
A chilly breeze at three in the morning greeted Nash as soon as he got out of his game pod. He instantly noticed the open window he forgot to close. He stretched his arms as soon as he got out of the bed-like capsule and quickly grabbed an energy drink placed within arm's reach on his side table He then started shaking his arms and legs, as they felt numb. He would often get a mild case of muscle atrophy after being logged into Zectas for too long, which was why he took his Eskrima stretching exercises to the extreme.
With his right foot over his head and placed comfortably up against the wall behind him, Nash grabbed his left foot with his left hand while trying to reach his right shin with his right hand. He would repeat the same stretching exercise using opposite hands and feet. He hoped that someday he could reach his other foot, but this was the current limit of his flexibility.
Next, Nash rotated his wrists and ankles. He twisted them into awkward angles that it almost felt like they would tear apart. He then sat down on the floor and spread his legs in an almost one-hundred-eighty-degree angle. He then reached out his hands as far as he could. His stretching exercises lasted for about thirty minutes.
After he was done, Nash headed downstairs to make a light meal before taking his power nap. Before he could reach the stairs, he noticed that light escaped under the door of Seth's room.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
"Hey, you still up?" Nash spoke in a soft voice.
Seth opened the door with a book entitled "Introduction to Big Data" in hand. "Yeah, I was just reviewing for my Computer Science elective." he said while rubbing his eyes.
"Computer Science? I didn't know you took an elective." said a surprised Nash.
"I picked it up fairly recently." he replied. "Hey, did you know that back in 2012, over two exabytes of data were created every day? That was the time when the world's largest companies began spending hefty sums of money on analysing the massive amount of information gathered by various social networking sites and apps." said Seth all knowingly and continued even further, "They aimed to use this information to predict which product concepts would receive good feedback from their customers and were worth investing into."
"You seem pretty interested in this stuff." Nash said as he was imagining a bright future for his brother.
"Well, I was inspired by Dad. He was one of the leading computer scientists on Big Data. He started his research back in 2009 and even today, thirty years later, his work is still the foundation of all the new technologies being developed." replied Seth while looking at the cover of his book.
Nash only remembered their father as a nerdy goofball who kept playing role-playing board games with him. "Really? I do recall Mom saying that Dad was some big shot programmer, but I never knew he was that famous." he said.
"He was. Though, for some reason, after just eight years, Dad abruptly stopped his research and resigned from his position of director in Gartner Corporation. That was about two years before you were born, Nash. At least, that's what the articles about him I managed to find on the internet say." said Seth.
"He never really talked about work. I just remember him being home all the time, often looking busy. I figured he was working from home or something." Nash responded while reminiscing, "He was spending a lot of time with us and that was what mattered to me, so I never questioned it. "
Seth listened carefully, as he liked hearing from Nash what their parents were like.
"Celebrity scientist or not, he was the best play buddy a kid could have." he said, with a nostalgic smile on his face. "What made you do this research on Dad, anyway?"
"I had to write a school paper on a dead person I'd want to meet." answered Seth somberly. "I never thought I'd discover how awesome Dad was. I barely remember him at all. However, I do remember wanting to join in on one of your board games with him, but you kept saying no." he said and crossed his arms in front of him .
Nash laughed nervously. "Oh, you remember that part, huh? Well, you really were too young to play that type of board games." explained Nash nervously. He couldn't find the courage to tell Seth that he was pretty much annoyed by him when they were younger.
Nash loved the attention his parents were giving him when he was still the only child, and was somewhat of a mean older brother to Seth and Donny while their parents were still alive.
"Well, I'll let you get back to studying, then." said Nash hurriedly as he half-sprinted towards the stairs.
After a few minutes, Nash finished his tuna sandwich and went back upstairs to his room. He made a jumping dive for his king-sized bed and reached for a red alarm clock. He set it for three hours, just in time before he and his companions would reach Verbrannt.
* * * * * *
A caravan of mounted Elemental Knights, Bowed Fishermen and Pathfinders reached the village borders of Verbrannt. With a white metallic staff in his right hand, Smoke stood alone in the back of Gandiva's carriage. His whole body was encased in a purple Manatl.
Smoke canceled his Manatl as he wanted to shift his attention to checking
out the development of their revived village. He signaled for Igniz to fly to a higher altitude and then used his Symbiote Vision ability to observe the changes from an aerial perspective.
He expected to see a defensive wall right about now, but was instead greeted by a forest patch that wasn't there when he left. A wall of brown baobab trees over thirty meters tall blocked their passage as soon as they reached Verbrannt's boundaries. From his acquired knowledge, he knew that the bark of these trees is fire resistant and that their fruit is edible. He alternated between his and Igniz's vision as they went further in.
He also noticed the discreetly-placed wood planks and camera runes up on the trees. He knew about the camera runes that Light Wizards placed, but he wondered what the planks were for. They didn't look strong enough to hold a person. Laernea and Gandiva led the caravan into the hidden entrance among the boabab trees.