Using all of their strengths together and finding a place for them was difficult.
Cassie walked through the room and handed Josh a piece of paper.
He held it in his hands, frowning as he read it. “What? Is this real?” Josh asked in a private chat with Cassie.
“I just had the ambassador from Markolm give it to me,” Cassie said.
Josh didn’t know what to say for a few moments. “When will they start pulling back their forces?”
“They’ve already begun,” Cassie said, her face and voice solemn.
“Shit. All right, well, if Markolm is pulling out of the Terra Alliance, then wasting people on helping them is useless. Inform the commanders in Markolm what is going on and order them to pull back to Terra to receive new orders.”
“Got it.” Cassie reached out to squeeze Josh’s hand.
He smiled to her.
“Nothing stops the Stone Raiders,” Cassie said.
“I thought you were a golden sabre?” Josh joked.
Cassie’s eyebrow lowered, as if she saw Josh in a whole new light.
“I’m joking,” Josh laughed, squeezing her hand.
The corners of her mouth lifted into a smile.
“I’ll see you later,” She said, giving him a deep look.
With that, Cassie turned around to carry out his orders and Josh contacted Lucy.
“Josh?” Lucy answered a moment later.
“Did you know about Markolm?” Josh asked.
“Is it official—did they pull out of the Alliance?”
“Yeah.” Josh sighed.
“That bitch. Damn, she’s good,” Lucy hissed.
“What happened?” Josh asked, at a loss for what had happened while he hadn’t been watching.
“The Lady of Light had Khanundra and her generals of Light step in and save the people of Markolm. They almost singlehandedly moved through the entire continent; Light teleported them from battlefield to battlefield just as it looked as if all hope was lost.
“They valiantly defended the people of Markolm in a way that the forces of the Terra Alliance couldn’t. It looks like she made the generals and Khanundra her champions. The power that it must have taken to do that would be immense, but they’re all now some of the strongest people on Emerilia.
“They sealed the portals as well. Now the people are turning to them, the angels denying that they killed anyone who might argue against joining the Lady of Light. Without those powerful figures, few are willing to deny the Lady of Light now that the people are starting to get behind her.
“The angels are calling the deaths of those people a fabrication of the truth. She was smart about it. She took out the resistance ahead of time—then, just as everyone was in a panic, ready to sell their souls to the devil, her angels rush in to save them. She has already inserted some of her people as priests and priestesses within Markolm.”
“In desperate times, people are willing to look to anyone who offers them hope.” Josh shook his head.
“She’s growing in power with every day the elves of Markolm are devoting more and more of their energy to her. However, she’s not the only one from the Pantheon who’s increasing their power,” Lucy said. “The Dark Lord has been oddly quiet but here and there, Dark forces have been pulled from different locations. We think this is him bringing his strength together. The Earth Lord has also been gathering creatures from Emerilia. Even if they are not the same Affinity, they are still of Emerilia and they trust the Earth Lord and his more simplistic ways, as well as bow their heads to his power.”
“So, the beasts went to the Earth Lord, the Dark Lord is pulling those who practice his arts to him, and the Lady of Light is growing her power base through the people of Emerilia, shoring up her position as she waits for her Legions of Light to return.” Josh held his head, rubbing it with his hand.
“In the meantime, we can do nothing but fight among ourselves and try to counteract all of the creatures and species that have been unleashed upon us,” Lucy said. “This is but the first wave of the war. The mortal war has started but the war of the Pantheon is about to start.”
“Well, isn’t that just lovely.” Josh looked at the chaos across Emerilia. The people had holed up within their cities, fighting off the things that came out of the wilderness or the portals. The castles surrounding portals were heavily contested in most areas.
They were in a state of chaos; the Terra Alliance was , reacting and making adjustments where they could. Through this they might forge themselves into a stronger entity or they could be torn apart, too weak to resist the forces on Emerilia that were on the move or being put into play, and nothing but ants in front of the gods’ growing power.
We dance the blade, to gain levels and increase our strength fighting through this hell, only to step deeper and continue against the gods of Emerilia, always courting failure and instead being stripped of that power and once again having to climb higher to hopefully fend off destruction.
“Esa reports that her people are ready to assault the eastern castle.” Shard appeared next to Josh.
“Thank you.” Josh looked to the screen that was relaying information back from that battlefield.
Josh switched back to Lucy’s and his chat. “I’ve got to go. Keep a watch out for the gods and see if there is anything we can do to try to decrease their power gain.”
“Okay. Talk later.” Lucy ended the chat.
***
Induca and Suzy watched from above, as the rest of Party Zero led an attack on a captured castle.
They were fighting against Ooinfa, which made it hard for casters with low Willpower. With the Ooinfa’s ability with illusions, the mages were much more likely to hit their own people. Thus, the fighting had resulted in melee fighters coming to the fore.
Suzy commanded half of her creations to protect her mind from the illusions while Induca laid down supporting fire walls to block off the Ooinfa’s attacks and also limit the amount of Ooinfa that could clash with the player formations advancing toward the Ooinfa-controlled castle.
Although the Ooinfa were formidable with their illusions, their actual attacks came in the manner of sneak attacks. In this kind of straight-up fight, they might get one or two lucky hits but the players worked together to neutralize their attacks and push forward.
The Ooinfa’s hidden and weak bodies fell before the players in droves. Anna, Deia, Jung Lee, Lox, Gurren, and Steve moved through the Ooinfa like an unstoppable wave. They might not be able to see the Ooinfa’s actual bodies but their speed and strength made it nearly impossible for the illusion-loving creatures to escape.
“It seems that the world has changed these few weeks,” Suzy said as they watched over the battle. It was furious at times but without their main advantages and fighting players with a high Willpower, the Ooinfa found themselves being driven backward, the players using them to increase their skills and class levels.
“Everyone has hunkered down in cities and towns, with only player alts or massive party groups moving between cities. Markolm has pulled out of the Terra Alliance and their continent and people seem to be devoting themselves to the Lady of Light, who’s amassing her power and getting her angel generals to train up a fighting force of the more radicalized followers, or the devoted. People are flocking to Markolm in search of safety and pledging themselves to the Lady of Light in turn. It has given us more people who were originally aiding Markolm, allowing us to hold all of our castles with full strength,” Induca said.
“Don’t forget that with every minute we hold the castles, the coders are getting to work in using the soul gem constructs to reinforce them,” Suzy said.
“Even with all of this, we’ve just attained a draw. We’re stretched over far too much area. We’re growing Terra faster than ever before, with the third section being connected tonight and the fourth already about twenty five percent completed. We’ve got people pouring in from all over Emerilia who can’t fit in these cities and towns. Food
is running low and while we’re building more greenhouse towers with the Aleph, dwarves, Devil’s Crater, and Terra, it won’t be enough to feed everyone,” Induca said.
“We’ve come this far. We’ll find a way.” Suzy looked to Induca as a spell formation appeared in front of her. A new fire wall cut through the Ooinfa.
“I fear that this is just the beginning,” Induca said.
***
Ela-Dorn looked to Dave, who sat across from her, bouncing Koi on his knee, who looked shocked but amused by the action.
“You want me to leave the Aleph College for at least two years, and I won’t be able to talk to anyone without first having it vetted by an AI?” Ela-Dorn repeated what he had just said to her.
“That’s about the gist of it.”
“Why would I want to?” Ela-Dorn leaned back in her chair. Her hand fell to her summoned wolf and scratched behind his ears.
“To see more than you’ve ever seen before.” Dave’s eyes shone as he smiled at Ela-Dorn.
“Sounds mysterious, but I’m used to that with you.” Ela-Dorn laughed.
“You will see things that you would have never thought were even possible. You will have resources at your disposal that make the materials that the Aleph get in a year look like mere crumbs. You will work with and create technology that rivals the portals that you’ve worked with. What we do will change the face of Emerilia. It could change the balance of power in the known universe,” Dave said.
“What have you done?”
“Come with me.” Dave smiled, standing and putting Koi on his shoulder.
“Okay.” Ela-Dorn followed Dave. He led her out of the Aleph College, and through the teleport pad to the power station.
“Are you taking me to your lab?” Ela-Dorn asked through a private chat. She knew all about the Jukal and had become extremely paranoid about what she said out of private chats and Mirrors of Communication.
“Yes. It’s gone through some changes,” Dave said.
The power station had been fully automated so that there was no one to see them as they passed through the secret passage that linked the power station to Pandora’s Box.
Ela-Dorn entered right behind, looking at the various workstations covered in different items. With her arcane sight, she was able to see what these different items were. Her eyes widened as she looked at the walls and floor. “There’s so much power going through this place. How can you have so much power and keep up power production to Terra?”
“We’ve created something called a fusion reactor. Basically, it harnesses the same energies that we find in Emerilia’s sun and uses that to create electrical power, which is, in turn, free Mana. We also have Mana wells, which give off continuous Mana and will do so for millions of years,” Dave said.
“Okay, so you’ve got all this power, but what do you need it for?” Ela-Dorn looked over missiles that she knew Frenik from the Aleph Council was in charge of building, as well as the Band-Aids that were now being issued to all members of the Terra Alliance. They provided a good boost in defensive stats and they had been turned into a mandatory piece of kit for all people. Being relatively cheap, people from all over Emerilia were buying them in job lots, from the lowest peasant to members of leadership, everyone wanted one.
There were Dave’s orbs, pulled part, and sheets of magical coding next to drawings of Magical Circuits and spell formations.
Ela-Dorn was already blown away with the array of items that covered the workshop. Dave led her through it all, looking back at her as he stood in front of a wall.
“Well, we need them for this.” He stepped through the wall.
“I couldn’t even sense it there with my arcane sight.” Ela-Dorn pushed her hand forward, finding it go through the illusion that had been put in place. She took a breath and stepped forward, entering a space easily as large as the rest of Pandora’s Box.
Automated carts moved between portals, carrying all manner of resources and materials.
Ela-Dorn simply stood there, looking at the room. Her eyes moved from portal to portal. “Y-you have working portals?”
“Yes, I do.” Dave smiled. “All that power is used to keep these portals activated. They’re connected to other locations, I can’t tell you where these locations are or what’s at them, but I can tell you that the stuff there makes everything in Pandora’s Box look like child’s play.”
Koi, supported by her father, looked at the portals before flopping onto his shoulder, her little arms encompassing Dave’s neck.
Ela-Dorn’s pup Kelo rubbed his side against Ela-Dorn. By reflex, she patted his side, still looking at these portals. “I knew that your understanding of teleportation was advanced but I didn’t think that it had yet reached this level,” Ela-Dorn said, stunned by what she was seeing.
If the Jukal could see what she was, they would have spat blood at the resources and power being used in order to create this network of bases.
“Do you want to learn more and go further than you have before?” Dave asked.
Ela-Dorn’s face became solemn as she saw what she had never even dreamed of in her life, just waiting for her beyond those portal event horizons.
She cracked a smile. “Well, with modern treatments, I can live for another hundred or two hundred years. What’s just two of them trying to broaden my horizons?”
“Then I welcome you to the Pandora’s Box team.” Dave held out his hand to Ela-Dorn. She shook it as Koi moved once again, using her dad’s face in order to right herself.
“Hey, this was supposed to be a serious moment, missy,” Dave said to Koi as he moved her hand away and moved her into a different position.
“So, what now?” Ela-Dorn asked.
“First, we’re going to need more people to help, and then, we see if we can’t write our own future.” Dave smiled.
***
“We need dwarven master smiths now more than ever, but you and Dave want to hire away as many as possible in order to help with some mysterious project that you can’t tell us?” Sola asked as the Council of Anvil and Fire was all in attendance.
“Correct,” Kol said.
“We need something more than that. I trust you and Dave, but he’s not even here and this is a large request,” Jesal said.
“I will be honest. Most of the things that Dave wants to work on are not something that will assist us here and now. Most of these projects are aimed to be of use in a year or two. I have never lied to this council nor will I ever. However, there are things of importance that are hard to explain. To know more, each and every one of you must make an oath on smithing,” Kol said.
“You don’t trust us?” Rola asked.
“I trust you, but this—” Kol shook his head before he looked directly at Rola. “This is larger than anything we have ever worked on or done before.”
“I’ll swear,” Quino said.
“I will too,” Endur said. “However, no matter what, we must keep a number of dwarven master smiths working within the dwarven mountains or at least helping out in the smithies and keeping everything running. If we all disappear, then it will create instability.”
The other dwarves all agreed and swore on their smithing that they wouldn’t say anything about what they would see to anyone else.
“Very well. Meet me in Terra,” Kol said.
He exited the Mirror of Communication, finding himself in the conference room of the Terra smithy. The other dwarves also left the Council of Anvil and Fire conference, all of them looking to Kol.
“Follow me,” Kol said. They went to a teleport pad. It didn’t take much time before the other members of the Council of Anvil and Fire teleported to Terra and joined them.
People talked to one another but the atmosphere was tense. As everyone was gathered, Kol indicated for the controller of the teleport pad to connect to the power station.
He guided them through the teleport pad, and then through the power station. The dwarves were a bit shocked when they walked into
Pandora’s Box through its secret entrance. When they were inside the workshop, their eyes went wide as they looked upon various machines and items that surpassed what they had been working on.
Kol saw that a number of them just wanted to grab onto these items and never let them go. They contained themselves, their voices excited as they followed Kol through a wall and into the portal room. Just as Dave had shown Ela-Dorn not more than a few hours before.
As they all reached the portal room, the dwarves let out various noises.
“You got portals working?” Endur asked.
Dave stepped out of one of the Portals carrying Koi and walked over to the group.
“Yes, indeed we do have working portals,” Kol said. “I was going to take them to the ark shipyard.”
“Good idea. It’s been some time since I was there myself. I need to check it out and the moonbase before I get this one off to bed,” Dave said. “Also, while we can make portals work, we can shut them down.”
There were angered and frustrated noises from the dwarves. Endur held up his hand and the dwarves quieted.
“Dave doesn’t usually do these things on a whim, so before we start jumping to conclusions, it might be best if we asked him why he hasn’t shut down the portals that different races are currently exiting through in order to attack us.” Endur couldn’t keep a bit of heat out of his voice. A number of people from Emerilia had died because of these open portals.
“As you all know, there is a power that usually keeps the balance within Emerilia, a person by the name of the Grey God, or Bob as he is going by now. You all know that he gets his orders from someone else. These people are called the Jukal, who nearly wiped out our ancestors and only created Emerilia and us so that we could fight off the species that they didn’t want to—the creatures that are currently coming through the portals. Now the Jukal made this place and they monitor us. If I was to shut down the portals, then it might take some time for the Jukal to figure out just what the hell is going on and then when they did, they’d start raining down hell from the sky and kill us all off,” Dave said.
Of Myths and Legends (Emerilia Book 9) Page 18