“Contact spotted! Airship coming from the south!”

Jay stuck her head out of the open cabin door, squinting her eyes against the stinging rain. The clouds that darkened the sky that morning had grown steadily heavier all day until a few hours after the sun had reached its zenith, when their bellies had split open and a pelting downpour had begun. The deluge had been heavy for thirty minutes, drenching soldiers and Demons alike and covering the landscape in muddy rivulets and churning ponds with hidden depths. Though the rain had slackened in intensity, it persisted continually for the rest of the day, accompanied by a biting wind that threw the droplets into eyes and carried an unseasonable chill.

“Is it the Roc?” Jay asked as her eyes found the distant shape flying low below the clouds.

“Yes, Lady Jadis,” the therion said confidently. “I see its flag.”

“You can just call me Jadis,” Jay repeated for what felt like the hundredth time. “I’m not royalty.”

The man saluted in the way of his people, giving her a slight bow, but said nothing more. Which was to say, he was going to call her Lady Jadis as he was no doubt instructed to by his clan, and that was that.

After the first day on the move, Jadis had recruited several of the Nox archers to stand watch on the Leviathan and call out what they spotted. Their classes gave them skills that enhanced their vision and improved their ability to spot enemies and dangers, so they made for better lookouts than Maeve or Sorcha, who could put their time to better uses. With three on each exterior deck, the six therions had an almost full view of the land around them and very little escaped their notice.

Ducking back inside, Jay took the few steps needed to put her next to the large hub Sabina had ingeniously constructed for her budding magi-phone network. The device was too big to be easily mobile, but it didn’t take up too much space compared to the size of the airship cabin, so Sabina was already working on plans to fit it into the standard layout of a Leviathan-class ship. As it was, the bulky contraption had been placed against one wall, taking up the space that a table and four seats would have occupied normally.

“Did you get that?” Jay asked.

“I did,” Maeve replied, one hand pressed against the flat metal console, covering the moonstone that Jadis new rested in the center. “I’m letting Sev and Willy know.”

“Willy, is it?” Jay raised an eyebrow at the Fetch. “When did you get so close to Wilhelm that you started using nicknames?”

“Oh, I haven’t,” Maeve gave her a sly smile in response. “But some of his companions are pretty close to little Willy…”

“Please tell me you haven’t been shapeshifting into one of the others,” Jay sighed at her mischievous Fetch. “I don’t want to imagine what Lucia will do if she catches you and I really don’t want to have to deal with the fallout.”

“How else am I supposed to keep everyone updated on Willy and Jocy’s progress?” Maeve whined at Jay. “Ludger won’t take bribes and Tiernan falls asleep as soon as he’s done eating at the end of the day! Ammy isn’t having any luck catching them because she’s not as sneaky in her new body and don’t even bring up Rein. I’m not sure he even knows what sex is.”

“Are you seriously trying to spy on Wilhelm to see if he and Jocelyn have made it to third base?”

“What’s third base?” Maeve gave her a confused glance before waving the question away. “Look, don’t worry about it. My observations are for a private audience, not the public at large. It’s not like any of this will be getting out to the troops or elsewhere. Besides, I’m doing Willy and Jocy a favor. I’ve kept several commanders and runners from interrupting private moments. Those two are absolute children, fumbling in the dark. They need someone looking out for them.”

Jay stared at Maeve, her face a mix of warring emotions. Eventually, she settled on resignation and let out a huff of breath.

“Okay. Just don’t go too far.”

Turning away from Maeve, Jay made to walk to the fore of the ship to let Aila know about the Roc’s incoming arrival but paused mid-step.

“You didn’t mention Halvor in your little spy efforts?” Jay posed the statement as a question.

“Oh, him? No, I can’t use him. Halvor would absolutely tell everyone about what those two are up to in their personal lives. No filter, especially when he’s drunk. Better to leave him in the dark.”

“Fair enough,” Jay agreed after a second of thought. “Let me know if there are any messages.”

“Will do,” Maeve said, her attention focused on the large paper pinned to the front of the communication hub.

While Aila had been able to put together a simple morse code alphabet while not busy piloting the airship, she had only just given the key to Maeve, so it wasn’t yet in use. It would take time for the Fetch and anyone equipped with one of the buzzers to learn the system, so Maeve was mostly just focused on memorizing the different signs. In the meantime, they had enough basic signs for warnings and calls for help that the two buzzers Sabina had crafted were already seeing use.

While Sabina was hard at work making more, she was limited in how quickly she could craft the mobile communication devices as they required delicate workmanship and melting glass and eleria, neither of which were things that could be done in a moving airship. So, for the time being, all they had were two of the buzzers linked to the main receiving hub. One had been given to Wilhelm, since it made sense for them to be able to get the Hero’s attention as quickly as possible in an emergency situation. The other buzzer had been carried by Jadis, but upon returning from her flyby of Kastoria that morning, she had given the device to Alex. Since she was at the front of the march with the mages, she wasn’t aware of everything going on unless a runner was sent to inform her, Tiernan, and the rest of the leading group. Jadis wanted Alex and anyone with her kept informed, so she had given up her buzzer for her.

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There was also the possibility of Alex needing to call for aid, which was a constant thought in the back of Jadis’ mind. She trusted Tiernan, and the mages who were working the road seemed fine enough, and she didn’t think anyone in the army would outright attack Alex, but Jadis still worried about some soldier deciding that putting himself at risk to save a Demon during an attack wasn’t in his best interest. At least there was always at least one person of their group with Alex at any given time, so Jadis had that thought to give her some peace. That day it was Bridget, which meant the orc would be due for an extra special reward that night.

Jadis knew Bridget found the duty of guarding Alex boring, especially since she was so close to reaching CLR sixty and thus wanted to be on the roaming fighting teams. But she had taken on the responsibility without complaint, as she took the safety of Alex and everyone else in their group seriously. Jadis smiled at the thought, imagining the things she might do to her warrior woman once they had some relative privacy later that night. It wasn’t Bridget’s turn to help with Aila’s greater ritual, but Jadis was pretty sure she wouldn’t mind being involved in the seed gathering process…

Such thoughts only lasted as long as it took for the next minor demonic assault to occur, and then Jadis was back on duty, relaying information to the generals and everyone else who needed it. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

It didn’t take long for the Roc to catch up to them. The wind was blowing from the south, carrying all the cold of the sea with it, but at least it made for a fast flight for the incoming airship. Once the Roc was in range, Tacitus flew over and landed on the Levithan’s deck, delivering the relevant news of their trip to Eldingholt in a brief report.

There had been no issues flying down to the empire and the trip had been mostly successful. Thousands of pounds of tightly packed rations had been purchased and loaded into the Roc, some of which had even been donated rather than purchased. Apparently, the priesthood of the nine high temples had been singing the praises of both the Hero and Jadis and their efforts to defeat the Demons in Volto, which had inspired many of the local nobles and citizens alike to loosen their purse strings. No official donations had come from the emperor or the palace, though, which said enough as far as Hraustrekr was concerned. While they had been able to procure most of the materials on Ammy’s shopping list, some of the rarer and more expensive ingredients had not been available. There also had been a shortage of eleria, and while Fortune’s Favored had been able to purchase enough to fulfill Sabina’s needs, the price had been nearly double the normal market rate, which was already high thanks to the war. The company still had money in its coffers, but Ahlstrom Aviation needed eleria to keep building airships, which was becoming an issue due to the limited supply.

Aside from business concerns, the rest of the news Tacitus had to deliver came in the form of letters and packages that had been mostly sent by loved ones. Only mostly, though, as there were some messages in the large sack that had come from officials, including one that bore the seal of Prince Kestil. Seeing the wax crest was a reminder to Jadis that Eir’s time to commune with D was coming up, which was another reason in favor of her flying to Eldingholt for a day. She had made a promise that the two princes could ask one question each during the next Party Line to D ritual. If she wanted to maintain even a reasonably cordial relationship with the two potential rulers, much less fulfil Somerulf’s request to reconcile the two elves, Jadis couldn’t skip out on her promises. That said, her leaving the march for even a single day was a true concern, and taking Eir, one of the most powerful healers around with her, wouldn’t make anyone left behind happy.

Such thoughts of returning to Eldingholt had to wait, though, just the same as reading all the letters and unloading the Roc did. Once the marching column reached the next campsite, supplies could be distributed and discussions could be had.

It took another few hours before the army reached the wide, low plain where they would be camping for the night. In that time, the rain had petered out for an hour or two, then had come back harder than it had been at the start. Thunder rumbled in the sky overhead, a worry for the floating airships, but there wasn’t much they could do to avoid the storm. All they could do was hope that the static electricity in the air stayed in the clouds.

As the scouts who had been sent ahead had noted, there were a few small packs of Demons wandering the area around the planned campsite, though their total number was negligible. The area had been a large farm before the invasion, so the ground was flat and had good drainage. With all of the rain, it looked like the east side of the field had flooded a bit, but that was an issue that the mages could handle, Jadis was sure. There was a compound of seven buildings on the north side of the location, including an impressively large stone barn. The structures had been checked by the scouts and while there had been a few Demons lurking inside, none were a serious threat, and all had been dealt with.

As the mages and the leading column of the army moved into the field to begin the process of setting up the camp, an urgent shout came from Maeve who still sat at the magi-phone hub.

“Jadis! Danger from Wilhelm!”

Even as Jay turned towards the Fetch, a shout came from all three of the therion watchers who stood on the port side of the airship.

“Demons incoming! Threat level high!”

Stopping in her tracks, Jay stuck her head out through the cabin door to see what had been spotted. Even with the setting sun hidden by black clouds and a thick miasma obscuring the ground, she had no trouble picking out the undulating movement of hundreds of Demons approaching from the northeast. It was a dark tide that seemed to rise out of nowhere, coming towards the leading line of soldiers and mages with speed. Or rather than coming from nowhere, Jadis quickly realized that the fiends were coming up out of the ground. Hidden either in shallow holes or a wider tunnel network, the Demons had been waiting for their arrival and had sprung an ambush when the soldiers would be at their most weary.

As Jadis conveyed the unwelcome news to Generals Salvius and Ovinius, her Jay self watched a golden-armored man on a gray griffon circle above the incoming Demon horde. No doubt the Hero had spotted the enemy at the same time as the watchers on the Leviathan, which explained his urgent call of danger to Maeve.

“Jadis! Danger!”

Pulling her head back in, Jay turned towards Maeve, who had just been joined by Sabina at the hub.

“I know, I can see the Demons coming,” Jay called to them. “Wilhelm is circling and the generals are already ordering their troops forward to secure the—”

“No, not him,” Maeve cut into Jay’s response. “Alex is signaling danger, too! High urgency!”

Jay frowned, but she wasn’t surprised. Alex was at the front of the line with Bridget and Tiernan and all of the mages, so they had likely spotted the incoming horde as well. Still, Jay quickly stepped out onto the deck, squinting into the dark and rain as her gaze sought out where her lovers would likely be located.

Flashes of blue light caught Jadis’ attention, sending an immediate chill down her backs. She knew that light, knew that the two sources came from Bridget and her blue flamed lantern, and from Alex and her smiting blows. There was no reason for the flashes of blue light to be seen, not unless the two were already fighting. But a glance to the northeast told Jay that the incoming wave of Demons had not yet reached the campsite. Which meant—”

“Emergency!” Jadis called out from all three of her bodies. “Demon ambush in the campsite! Deploy all hands!”

Almost as though her voice was the trigger, Jay saw the expanse of the wide, flat farming grounds heave and shudder like a great beast taking its last breath. At the same time, the sounds of thousands of men and women screaming in confusion and fear echoed above the roar of the rain. Jay could only watch as the ground upon which soldiers, Demons, enemies, and friends alike collapsed underneath their feet.