The Laws Of Elios (Book 2) (36 page)

~~~~~

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 f
rom 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 her
e 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 hear
d 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 the
y?  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 tomorrow?  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.”

“I hate to interrupt this fine planning meeting but I smell fried chicken and fresh cinnamon rolls; both are better tasting when they are still hot,” Ava’s father Gerard interrupted in his
lighthearted manner.  How about we all sit down and then continue our discussion over food.”

~~~~~

The Allyant host that was formerly Nuekirk continued his quest toward Jehhet.  Boosted by stolen life from plants, animals and humans along the way, the host practically sprinted through the night along the empty roads toward the nearly abandoned city.  The sun was coming up in the east when the loping figure of the young man entered into the northern parts of the city; another hour and he would reach his destination. 

The sun was well above the horizon
by the time Pechor guided his host to the ruins of the building where the remaining artifact activator was located.  To Pechor’s dismay the building was mostly collapsed, I could take as much as two days to clear his way into the demolished heap to reach the protected location of the artifact.  Looking through the eyes of his army he saw that they were mere milos from the border. Moving his host into the shade to rest Pechor pulled his mind from the youth and back into the host of the former king of Infin aboard the starblade.  It was time to conquer Luion.

~~~~~

The sun peered over the horizon advancing a sliver of light above the eastern oceans cold waves as Pechor began activating the controls that would allow him to pilot the massive starblade.  With a shiver of released energy the craft lifted from the ground.  Using a simple command he gave a final instruction to the thousands of slaves that were moving toward the border – kill the Luion.

The ship
rose higher and higher the sunlight glistening off its crystal wings. Turning northward he steered toward the border and the magical wall.  As he approached the wall he could see the incredible amount of Lumen with in the massive structure through his monitors and how it was now fifteen times higher and was anchored deep within the ground – further than he could measure.  Testing for effect he aimed the magical cannons at the base.  With a thought he fired.

~~~~~

Shane was in the command pavilion before the first light of day.  He felt nervous, like he had often felt before a big game.  He had said goodbye to Ava and his parents earlier as they had gone to prepare for the inevitable casualties.  He had never seen his mother so intense and self-assured.  His father had gone to Valee Loi to make preparations for the ceremonies that would take place in the following days to complete the process of making the world of Eliom complete and a full transitional world.  Ari and Roger along with General D’Mere were planning advances and fall back tactics and had gone to meet with other Army leadership and were setting up the defenses near the river crossing.

Shane looked south knowing that somewhere nearby and soon the strange machine that he now knew as a starblade would be attacking a land of innocent people.  The more he pondered it he began to be angered. 
How can someone sacrifice so many innocents just for the sake of power?  There was something definitely wrong with the Allyant. It had to be an evil side effect from practicing that form of magic.  Something that caused an interference with the mind,
He thought to himself.

A flash of light caught his eye as he watched the sky begin to transform from night to the grey of dawn.  Watching the source of the light he saw the shape of the starblade take shape as it appeared to be making a cautious approach toward the wall.  As the Allyant ship soared nearer
Shane witnessed a glaring pulse as its weapons released a burst of light that flashed toward the wall even as the starblade veered away.  The wall flared but remained intact; the only sign of impact was a vibrating of the ground that felt like a tremor before an earth quake.

Evidently Shane wasn’t the only person to see the exhibit of the magical attack
for almost immediately after the shot had been fired the camp and the organized battlements came alive with shouting and trumpet calls and orders to form up and make ready for battle.  Shane magically reached out to the wall and saw that there was no damage.  He reached out and mentally to add more strength to the area around Lu Y Onton and was struck with inspiration.  What if the wall became weaker would the Allyant become over confident?  If so what would the Allyant mage do, and what could
he
do to take advantage?  With a smile Shane had an idea.  He reached the pouch with the many neutralizing blue dots and pulled out the three large blue physical glyphs that he had made in the command tent laid them on the floor and began to make portals with the destination ends not set.  He would have to be quick but if he timed it right he may have a chance in weakening and eliminating the starblade.