Chapter 509

509 Moves On The Board

***CONTENT WARNING: LANGUAGE***

Maevis’ features froze in horror as she stared at her best friend; “What?! What do you mean?! What are you-”

“We don’t have time to stand idle, and talk about it here. I can tell you what I know on the way, but we need to get moving Now,” Nic replied right as Lieutenant Tryst popped open the cage door.

Maevis’ heart was pounding in her chest as they fluttered into the air. Warrick Forest was already divided over the increased interactions with the humans. They didn’t mind the gold that they earned, but didn’t like directly dealing with most humans.

‘If Marco does attack our home, then Aero will make sure there’s a war..’

As she shoved back her desire to question Nicolas, they flew up towards the skylights. When the two fairies realized that the they were permanently shut, they quickly checked all of the windows to see if they could simply fly away. But the others had screens on them to keep bugs out, and were reinforced to keep patients inside of the Medical Ward.

Figuring that they could find a window to exit out of on the next floor, the small group of Fae went out into the hallways again. There seemed to be even more people running about than before as the group carefully made their way down the stairs. There was nowhere for Nicolas and Maevis to hide if any humans came in, which is exactly what happened as they made it to the second floor.

As panic rose within them, the three Brownies distracted the small squad of soldiers before they could glance up, and see the two flying about. Lieutenant Tryst took off after stabbing a lingering guard in their ankle. Their armor protected their shins, but regular boots did little to stop the equivalent of a small dagger.

As they chased and hobbled after the spies, Maevis and Nicolas flew as close to the ceilings as possible. Making it a point to keep an eye on the way that the sun streamed in through the windows, and how the chandeliers cast their light. Both knew from experience that one of the easiest ways for them to get caught was to have someone catch sight of their shadows.

.....

A small glimpse of an unknown darkness usually put most animals on alert, and humans were no different. The fact that the guards and soldiers were all out searching for something, or someone, made them extra vigilant. Which in turn made Maevis and Nicolas even more cautious as they warily flew through the palace.

As soon as they’d reached the second floor, the two elder Fae hastily tried to go into the nearest room. They knew their mistake the moment that their eyes landed on a dignitary from Meccano that they had been dodging for weeks. He smiled brightly before exclaiming; “Lady Maevis! Sir Nicolas! Such a pleasure to see you here! Have you finally come to discuss my trade proposal? It’s a private company that I-”

“Sorry, laddie! But you’ll have to excuse us!” Maevis yelled as a group of soldiers a few rooms away turned, pointed at them, then started to jog towards them.

As the dignitary stood completely dumbfounded by the situation, Mae and Nic flew for it. They went above the man’s head, into his room, and barreled towards the unopened glass window leading out into his courtyard. As long as there was no screen, then they could escape.

Maevis had considered using her Earth magic to get out of the Medical Ward, but someone might sense her magic. It wasn’t extremely common for even mages to be able to detect magic, but they both knew that Marco’s personal guards were extremely powerful. One of them might’ve felt Maevis use her trait, then they would know where they were, and the Brownie spies would’ve been cornered.

Nicolas felt Maevis grab his wrist as she said; “Hold on, old man!”

Before he could even finish uttering the word ‘what’; they were through the window, and flying through the air at incredible speeds. Marco would know that they were heading for Warrick Forest, so it technically didn’t matter if she was using her magic anymore or not. Even if Doctor Stein didn’t mention the fact that he had blabbed, they would still know where they were going, so Maevis blocked off the palace gates as they passed.

Flying to catch up to Skye and Tidas had crossed Maevis’ mind, but they needed to warn Dragonhorn, on top of Celestia. The people there were innocent, and didn’t deserve whatever terrible fate was heading their way..

Glancing at a wind-stressed Nicolas, Maevis yelled to him; “Care to explain why Dragonhorn and our home are in jeopardy?”

Tilting his head to catch his breath from the extreme wind rushing passed them, Nicolas screamed; “Only if you stop, and we use Hugo to fly! I’m getting bloody whiplash from the wind!”

Maevis slowed and released her hold on his wrist as they flew over to a tall pine tree to rest, and wait for Nicolas’ companion. After they had landed, Nic quickly explained the odd and terrifying conversation he’d had with Doctor Stein. Once he finished, Maevis nodded with a quizzical expression on her face..

???????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????? ????????????????????-????????????.????????????

“I understand your insistence now, but you know that Aero is going to argue over an evacuation. He’ll say stupid things like ‘it’s unnecessary’, and I bet he’ll even suggest fighting back.”

Nicolas looked at Maevis with an unnerving amount of fear as he replied; “We’re not ready for this, Mae. Remember in our youth, that would-be necromancer we came across? He only got One corpse up and moving, and do you remember how much trouble that bloody thing was?! Marco has an entire Army of those things! And they’re not just humans! If he really sends a bunch of zombie goblins at us: we’re fucked, Mae.”

Maevis sighed with annoyance; “Zombies, of all things.. This Doctor Stein needs to be killed yesterday.”

“Good luck with that.. I don’t know what his magic is, but he’s crazy. The look he had when he was showing me that goblin... I’ll have problems sleeping for the next month,” Nicolas said before looking up to the sky.

Hugo screeched loudly as he circled above them, then dove down to meet up with them. He nuzzled against Maevis first, which annoyed Nicolas slightly, but they had bigger issues to deal with..

“Let’s go, Mae. We need to stop in at Dragonhorn, and who knows how long that will take. I hope Jonathan is nearby when we get there. He can help us convince the others to flee,” Nic said as he climbed onto Hugo’s back.

Maevis could fly faster than Hugo, so she opted to fly next to him until her wings grew tired. Dragonhorn was just under a day away for them since they were flying, but it would take at least two days to reach Dragonhorn for Marco and his lackeys. Nicolas sighed with relief, but Maevis still felt apprehensive.

Warrick Forest was in the middle of Moonshire, just a few miles away from Moonstone Castle. Maevis worried not only for their home, but Skye’s father’s as well.. ‘If they’re really after Tidas and Skye’s supporters, I bet they’ll go after Lucas, especially now that Magnus is gone..’

As the thought crossed her mind, Maevis looked at her best friend with a grim expression, and yelled; “Tell Hugo that if he can keep up with me, I’ll use my magic to force as many earthworms to the surface as he can eat!”

************

Marco sat comfortably staring out the window in his new office as he waited for Draco and Sheri to report in. Doctor Stein, Benzo, Norvis, and Zas were all present, and simply waiting for the others before their King would lay out his plan. As soon as they had arrived and were harassed by Benzo for being the last ones, the six gathered around to listen..

Marco stood up from his chair, walked the couple of feet to his new desk, then pointed to a map that was sprawled out on it as he spoke; “This will be quick and simple, so pay attention.. I want Norvis and Doctor Stein to travel north, and go straight to Warrick Forest. Meanwhile Benzo will travel with Zas to Dragonhorn to clear the town. Tell them that they may travel here to the capital where many new jobs will become available very shortly, or go their own way. I just want them out of Dragonhorn.”

Zas felt his anger surge as he stared at his new King; “What are you talkin’ about?! Why do they gotta leave?!”

“Hey, soldiers don’t question orders. They follow them, got it?” Benzo stated as he turned towards Zas, and puffed up his chest.

“You do know that my tavern is in Dragonhorn, right? My daughter’s life and most of my family’s lives are in Dragonhorn,” Zas replied curtly, trying to maintain his cool.

Benzo scoffed; “Actually right now their lives are in the dungeons, but I get your point.. It just doesn’t matter. Now, shut up, and listen to your King.”

“Enough, you two,” Marco ordered as a low growl escaped the General, then he looked over at Sheri; “I want you to accompany some equipment that I had our resident inventor create. Mr. Yeager worked very diligently to complete them, and I want them set up along Sai’s boarders as soon as possible.”

Sheri nodded in agreement, then asked; “Where along the boarder should they go?”

“Along the entire thing,” came the King’s simple answer.

Being used to her King’s naturally evasive nature, she added; “What are they for?”

Marco glanced at her before returning his eyesight back to the map; “They make Tamers lose connection with their companions once they cross the threshold. I want the entire boarder guarded, and I want these generators set up as quickly as possible, understand? I don’t want my brother learning about our Father until I’m ready for him to come home..”

Sheri nodded her understanding, then stood back as he and Norvis went over his entry point for maximum damage to the forest. The machine he had built was based off of the ones that ancient humans used to cut down forests. It was larger than a house, and noisier than the car from the museum.

Sheri felt her heart twist in her chest as she thought about what Skye and Tidas were eventually coming home to.. ‘I wish there was something I could do, but I’m not willing to die for this yet.. Poor Tidas.. Poor Lawrence.. Poor Shasta.. We’re all fucked..’

Glancing over at Zas, Sheri felt especially bad for him. He was essentially being forced to choose between his family’s lives and his morality. Sheri couldn’t wrap her head around what the General was thinking or going through, but she did know that one day: Zas would have to choose between the people of the Kingdom, and his family’s lives..