Twelve days had pa.s.sed after the expedition began. George was looking over some new design drawings for KarGoth, designs for shafts sporting mirrors and windows capped by gla.s.s domes for streaming sunlight in from the top of the hill, proper airship docking facilities atop Kar02 rather than barebones mooring atop the clear s.p.a.ce of Kar01, ma.s.sive balconies with gla.s.s sliding door access to the outside of the higher floors of the hill...Those designs came from a professional architect based in Ecclesia who had been called upon by Sir Ivan"s wife. Using them would certainly improve the quality of life in KarGoth. They looked downright luxurious. The problem was security. A fierce Beast Wave from flying Wilds, like the Eagle Lord"s, and they"d be hard pressed to defend the place.
"I like the sunlight shafts idea, but those clear domes on top have to be made with some tough transparent material, like hardened decaquartz." George told Sir Ivan"s wife. "We can certainly set up a full-scale airport above Kar02, but the entryways will have to be better protected. Also, I"m afraid balconies are out of the question. If we do have large transparent windows, we"ll have to make them out of tough materials, like the domes."
Song Chen nodded. "Plus, during battles, we could set up firing teams with ammo carts at those windows. Better yet, bring up cart-mounted Scorpions, a sort of mini-ballista on wheels… they could add a lot of fire-support, and depending on how the battles go, we could shut and bar those windows tight if necessary."
"Bars." Sir Ivan"s wife stared at him as though he were mad.
"That"s right. As nice as wide open views would be, surely a few safety rails are warranted." George said smoothly. Or at least, he thought it was smooth enough. Song Chen seemed to agree, but Madam Margerita looked somewhat peeved. "n.o.body wants people falling right out the windows, after all. Merely a few spa.r.s.e, stout bars horizontally across the lower half of those windows would do, just enough to block out any flyer larger than a Tier 2. Surely that wouldn"t ruin the views too badly."
Unfortunately she disagreed. Strongly. "Bars would totally ruin the views!"
"That"s too bad, then, because I have to insist." George had his bottom line too. "Security comes first. This is the Frontier and the dangers out here are very real. Either we secure the windows with safety bars, or we have arrowslits instead of windows."
That was when word got in. "Report from the lookout post; they"re back!"
"Who"s back?" George asked.
"The Expedition for the Source of Magic! Mindy is back! And she"s riding a fire-bird!"
"What?!" George dashed for the stairs and never mind the look Madam Margerita shot at his back.
As fast as he was, others were faster. Father Petrov was already speaking to a gathering of shocked and moody people when George arrived.
"I"m so sorry." He was saying.
"H-how…?" More than one voice asked.
Father Petrov did not answer, but Sir Ivan spoke up. "There were different ways."
He turned to one woman. "Got lost in a Dream Fog and then eaten by a Bog Serpent."
He went on to another person. "Ambushed by a giant spider."
Sir Ivan glanced at a third harrowed face. "Trampled by a Rhinotle."
"But Professor Alexei was with them!" A skinny man protested.
"Professor Alexei! Where is he? What happened to him?" a woman asked.
Father Petrov grimaced. "Died in an explosion at the Source of Magic."
"So… you found it?" the skinny man pressed. "Where is it? Show it to us!"
"We found it… but it is not an item. It is a location. We can"t take it with us. We can"t move it. We can"t do anything with it." Father Petrov told them.
"Then what was it all for?!" the skinny man shouted. "Alexei"s death, this whole expedition… what was all of it for?!"
To that, Father Petrov had no answer.
Mindy meanwhile, had slipped away from that mess and greeted George. "Hey. I"m back."
"Welcome back." George slipped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed. "Whoa… are you all right? You"re burning up. Is it a fever? We should get Phoebe…"
"No, no, it"s fine." Mindy grimaced, then sent him a private message with thought-speak. [Actually, this is my new normal. I made a new friend out there. George, I made friends with the Flame Emperor.]
[The what?]
[You know that there are Kings above the Lords of the Wilds? Above those Kings are the Emperors. There are five of them, and the one nearest to the Source of Magic is the Flame Emperor. She"s my friend. Or my Comrade. Something like that.]
[What do you mean, "something like that"?]
[I can"t give her orders, but I can use some of her power.] Mindy grinned. [It"s awesome.]
George glanced about. "Somebody said something about a fire-bird. I don"t see one."
"Yeah, it left. Mostly."
"What do you mean, "mostly"?" George had to ask again.
Mindy hesitated, then slipped her hand into her coat"s inner pocket and took out…
"A red chick…?" George blinked at it.
"Chirp." The little bird greeted George cheerfully.
"You rode THAT all the way back here?!" George stared.
"Not exactly." Mindy grimaced. [Chirpy is just a wisp of the Flame Emperor"s consciousness. The form we rode back was a lot bigger, containing a much bigger piece. That one was way more powerful. This little fluffy here… it"s almost nothing. My friend said that seeing things from Chirpy"s perspective is like dreaming.]
[So this little bird… is a dream of the Flame Emperor"s?]
[Something like that.]
"Say hi to Chirpy, George." Mindy invited, holding out the bird in her hand.
"Hi, Chirpy." George said, very politely. Whatever the case, he felt it most prudent to never, ever be mean to the little bird.
[Did you manage to talk to your friend about the Beast Tides, by any chance? Could she call them off?]
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[Yes, I did, and no, she can"t. Sorry, those Tides are the work of the Stone Emperor, and he seems to be in deep hibernation.]
[Any idea when he"s supposed to wake up?]
[According to Chirpy, it won"t be long… just another hundred years from now.]
"A hundred years?!" George burst out loud, unable to keep it in.
"Yeah, I had the same reaction." Mindy patted him on the shoulder and even left Chirpy on it for fun. "Anyway. Where"s Remian?"
"About that…" George paused, glanced at Chirpy on his shoulder, then said simply. "Remian"s in the hospital."
"What happened this time?"
"This time? Remian died."
Mindy tripped over her own feet and directly fell flat on her face.
***
At this point, some explanation is in order. The whole situation might be blamed upon Song Chen, but the fact was, he was only trying to help. See, the theory was that martial experts could increase their lifespan according to their levels of cultivation. At the very least, strengthening his body could help Remian improve his health condition.
Word got around and between one thing and the other, Remian"s friends all pushed him to practice cultivation.
Remian tried it, under Song Chen"s enthusiastic guidance and much encouragement. They put together a rigorous programme trying to get him to advance through the basic Breath stage in two weeks.
Remian had trouble breathing after one hour. By the second hour, he was gasping.
And then he died. Just flat out collapsed in the middle of the practice yard. Heart stopped beating and everything.
At that point, everyone thought it was over.
But again, he surprised them.
***
n.o.body really understood what happened at that point except for Remian himself.
Remian, upon dying, basically found himself tightly in Death"s grasp. Death cheerfully hauled him away from this plane of existence and brought him right before G.o.d before he could so much as protest.
"Oh, come on! I can"t die now! I still have much to live for!"
"You basically did this to yourself, you know?" Death pointed out.
"Still! They aren"t ready; Mindy, Tim, George, even Darrian and Eriane... They"re not ready!" Remian protested.
"Death…" G.o.d gave him a flat look.
"What? I"m just doing my job!"
"There is a proper time for everything…"
"Fine." Death grouched. "But the pain? Do you really want to bear that?"
"You can heal, right?" Remian glanced at G.o.d.
"Death…" G.o.d gave him a look.
Death sighed. "Fine."
Then another voice sounded in Remian"s ears. "Clear!"
Shock coursed through his veins. Remian opened his eyes and sat bolt upright suddenly.
With a yelp, Phoebe, who had both her hands on his chest, slipped and stumbled.
Still half-dazed, Remian made a grab for her, trying to save her the only way he could; with both arms around her waist.
There was a stunned silence in a sudden awkward situation. Remian found himself sitting up in bed, both arms around Phoebe, who was half-sitting on his lap, both hands on his chest… and everybody staring at them.