MAZE - The Endless Quest

After the small picnic, where even a few of the soldiers that were nearby joined in, Helena had to go back to the crafter area. She had to test the spell on their weapons so they could have two buffs working together at once. Doing that with someone’s weapon was one thing, but they were trying to add that mixture to the defensive structures that would be built once inside Kertal.

Hera, on the other hand used the map data that was given to her to make the spell circle. Like she imagined it was pretty easy, and since the place was too big, she could even take some liberty with the position of the snakes. Especially the one that would be acting as herself being the catalyst of the spell.

This didn’t mean that she wouldn’t have to do anything, but instead of having to stay in the same place while the circle was being drawn, she could move around and when the time came, cast the magic through that particular snake. And because of the sheer scale of the spell, the Empress was even able to add a few redundancy tweaks, so that if someone discovered one of the snakes, or they were killed by a monster, it wouldn’t affect the Pool of Styx.

She spent about an hour and a half working on it, and also using the spell on the other Harmony Guardians to make sure it worked properly. Once that was over, she headed back to the command tent to report her success. Once there, she told the guards she came to see the commander, and they asked her to wait. But instead of him, one of the assistants walked out of the tent.

“Hello,” the elven man said.

“Hi, Cadion, right?” Hera asked.

“Yes. The commander asked me to give you the next orders. Were you able to complete the spell?”

The Empress nodded, “Yeah. Made some extra adjustments so it will be harder to interrupt it too.”

“Great, in that case, please head to,” Cadion looked to the left and saw another large tent, but this one mostly brown instead of the tan of the commander, “There. I’ll let Scout Swiftclaw know you are on your way.”

Hera nodded, “Thank you.”

She quickly reached that second tent, after all, they were not really far away. There was also a guard in there that allowed her to enter right away. Unlike the place where she met with the commander and the other leaders of the army, this was cramped. There was a table with a map, but no markers, a cabinet, and several large objects covered in black tarps.

“Hera, thank you for coming. The spell worked?” Kaela, the dog beastwoman, asked.

“It should work. I can only say for certain when I cast it. But it should be ok. I just never made something that big before.”

Kaela nodded, “If we had time, we would do a test somewhere else, but that’s not the case,” she walked over to the map, pulled a pair of glassed and gave them to Hera, “Wear these, please.”

The Empress did as she was told and the map was suddenly covered in tiny red and blue dots. Those were the positions of the human army, their defenses, and the allies the alliance had inside. As well as any landmark or environment they could use to their benefit.

“Can you show me how the spell will be placed?”

Hera nodded and sent the image from the tablet. It became an overlay on the map, and the two discussed the best places to actually place it. Mainly, where the snakes would be located. There wasn’t much that could be done, but rotating it so that the important places were not directly on top of the major defensive positions was important.

“Ok then. This will work, I hope. And you are level 56, right? The rest of your team are on their 60s?” Kaela asked.

“That’s right.”

“Are you all willing to help liberate the camp? Where the families are being kept?”

“We are,” the Ophidianite replied, “We’ve already discussed that possibility, and yeah, that’s where we would be better used. But, one of us is a performer. Most of his spells involve being able to hear them. We do have some options using a soundproofing spell I have, but that is not exactly mobile.”

“That’s fine. We will be moving with a mobile soundproof spell. And we have people who are specialized in that kind of spell. Once we start the attack, the entire camp will be muted from the outside.”

“OK, by the way. I have a friend who has family there. Could she join? She’s the human mage with spells that can remove the senses,” Hera asked.

“I heard about her. What’s her level?”

“41, but she can also buff weapons to take two elemental buffs.”

“That’s too low. All members of the team that’s going are level 50 and above. I don’t want anyone weaker than the average human soldier. We are already going to have to fight while protecting people. We can’t bring another person we might need to protect.”

“She was able to hide from wendigos during the wall break along with a group. They all survived because of her. That might help when we are rescuing the families.”

Kaela paused for a moment, “I’m calling the rest of the team. Have her come along. You mentioned the buff, right? Can she do our weapons? And for her to come along, if she can hide from me, she can come.”

“Got it, where do we meet? Here?”

“No, we are using the dining tent. We had some intel about the room and we need to move quickly. I know a lot of people just got here, so we will have a meeting, everyone is to sleep for 8 hours after it and then the operation starts.”

“Already? I thought we would have more time,” Hera gasped.

“We did too, but a large human army was seen closer than we were expecting. It seems they are crossing more than 3 rooms a day and leaving behind anyone who got stuck. There still is a limit, and five crossings are very dangerous unless they are willing to lose half their forces. So we need to rush.”

“Shit…”

“Yeah, that’s why we are having the meeting. While we wait for everyone to arrive, I’ll test your friend. So go get her.”

“Got it,” Hera nodded and was about to walk out but she stopped, “I have a really fast flying mount. Can I use it here in camp?”

Kaela typed a few things on her tablet, “What kind of mount?”

“A griffon.”

The scoutmaster tapped a couple more times and sent a file to Hera’s tablet, “Leave that one open as you fly. Our watchtowers can confirm if you are allowed to be there or not. If you are not, you will be shot down.”

“Got it,” Hera gave the glasses back and flew off. First, stopping by the lot where the Harmony Guardians were and telling them about the meeting before rushing to grab Helena. It didn’t take long to find her, and even less time to convict the mage to come along.

Arriving at the dining tent, there was already a nice group of people inside, but it was clear that the team was still incomplete. Kaela quickly introduced herself to Helena before walking inside the tent.

“Everyone listen up! We are going to have a small game before we start this,” she gestured to Helena, “This is a mage that could hide from level 90 wendigos. Whoever finds her gets first pick on gear. And don’t think about placing a tracker on her now. That’s not the idea. Especially since she’s a human, it is less likely for them to do something like that to her.”

“You said she had to hide from you,” Hera frowned.

“She does, and I’m using what I have at my disposal. Besides, she will be hiding from a number of people in the camp, and the location is pretty similar. We won’t find a better testing ground than this,” Kaela turned to Helena, “You have two minutes and stay within a radius of 50 meters. Go.”

The mage didn’t even have a chance to say anything as the scoutmaster showed a timer on her tablet. Despite that, Helena still knew what to do. She quickly rushed out and found a small spot between a couple of crates, it should work, but not in the way that proved she could be an asset. Instead, the mage found a nearby tent. A small one, but still one that could have a few people inside.

Casting a couple of spells around it, she made it so the entrance was pitch black, but also that would force people to close their eyes when looking at it. It was a similar effect to what she did against the wendigos, that caused the monsters to avoid looking at that place unconsciously. In addition, she used a light spell to make it seem like the tent was exactly like the tents on either side, down to the smallest detail. That way, once someone looked at it, they would think they’ve already seen it before.

The two minutes passed and the people who were about to participate in the operation rushed out of the tent. They all looked around the best they could, each using a different kind of spell or skill to try to locate her. Some got close to the tent and moved away, while a couple decided to inspect it closer. When that happened, the mage used an illusion to create movement nearby, as if she was trying to run.

About five minutes later, Kaela, who was also walking around, also searching, suddenly entered a tent. The one with a pitch black entrance.

“Not bad,” the scoutmaster smiled at Helena.

The mage sighed, “What gave it away?”

“No one was getting close to this tent, and every time someone did something attracted them away. Also, the magic here is pretty intense. A couple of others had already noticed by they thought a human in the team could be an asset,” Kaela said as the two walked out of the tent.

“And are you ok with them going against your orders?”

“In a matter like this? Yes. The people who did that are those I trust, and that I gave enough freedom to act this way. If it was someone else, things might be different.”

Hera heard the tail end of that conversation. She was just waiting inside the dinner tent. If she walked around, there was a chance she would realize what Lena was doing and she didn’t want that, “So, where does that leave her?”

Kaela turned to Helena, “Hera also mentioned a spell that can make elemental buffs overlap, how long does that last for?”

“If I’m doing directly on the weapon, as long as the person can handle the upkeep. If I’m doing on something that is going to be used later, a few hours at most. Depends on my mana.”

“Oh? Ok then, you can come along. You might be able to move around better in the mayhem and gather the people in the camp more easily. And you seem to be able to handle yourself. The benefit outweighs the risk. How does that work, by the way?”

Helena pulled a small dagger, “Basically I cast a coating on the weapon that treats what is placed on one side as the light, and on the other as the shadow. Then both elements will act as two parts of the same thing. This lets the both buffs to work together,” she placed a fire buff on one side and a wind one on the other and showed how both effects shared the same space, as if they were mirrors of each other.

“I see. I will ask for your help later, now if you excuse me,” Kaela walked to the other side of the tent as the last people who would be a part of this operation arrived.

Once she moved, the entire place turned quiet. All painfully aware of the stakes surrounding what they were about to do. All waiting for her to explain how they were going to save the families and take over the room.