"What about them?""They"re not coming back." George grimaced. "Your parents and the others there are staying in the treetops with the Eagle clan and they said they"ll be safe, but… can we really trust the eagles to protect them?"
"Where is the Tide coming from?" Remian asked. "Would they pa.s.s through Three Pines in the first place?"
"Wouldn"t they be coming from the same place as before?" George asked.
"No. This isn"t a Beast Wave, and Tim has already taken out Fal"Herim"s Underground King. Any Waves and Tides that might come in the future won"t be coming from the route we"ve been used to." Remian mused. "What about these other colonies I keep hearing about? Are they coming?"
"They said they"ll handle the Beast Tide on their own." George shrugged.
"They"re all going to die." Remian said flatly.
"Maybe." George paused. "They have real armies and Battle Mages and fortifications protecting them. They"re in much better shape than we ever were."
"George…" Remian drew a deep breath. "This is the last time I"m going to give you instructions. Are you still willing to follow them?"
"Of course!" George said immediately.
"First; find out who"s leading the Tide, where it"s coming from, and when it"ll arrive here. If possible, try to influence it to someone more sympathetic toward us. We"ve been trying to befriend the Wilds since I met Vigil, and that has to count for something."
"Understood." George whipped out a notebook and made a note.
"Second; a.s.suming we can safely use the airport, draw up an evacuation plan for the other five colonies. Make sure we have enough accommodations for everyone underground."
"At worst, we"ll have to evacuate people to Fal"Herim." George mentioned.
"I"m not sure Fal"Herim is going to survive this Tide." Remian shook his head. "The Wilds aren"t going to stop at the desert line any more. It"s likely they"ll charge all the way up the Iron Legion"s Road to the city and then some."
"What?" Mindy yelped. "But what about the industrial center?! And the Wasps!"
"Can they do that? Cross the desert?!" George gaped.
"We don"t know." Remian said. He glanced at Mindy. "Tim will take care of the industrial center."
"But… but…" Mindy tore at her hair. "I"m going back there! I"m taking all my airships with me! Talia!"
"No!" Talia shook her head vehemently. "I"m not leaving KarGoth again! Never again! I"m sorry, Mindy, but I quit!"
Mindy grimaced. "I understand, but then who"s going to fly the Free Wings? My Sky Galleon needs a captain."
Raven"s hand suddenly shot up. "Me!"
"What?" George jumped. "But I thought you wanted to stay with me!"
"Sorry, George, I quit." Raven said, plainly.
"But… but I thought…" George"s face turned red.
"You"ll be fine underground. Plenty of other guards around." Raven said.
"Are you sure?" Mindy asked Raven, looking at George"s red face. "It"s a job with a lot of travel."
"I want to fly." Raven said simply.
"You"re hired!" Mindy exclaimed at once.
"Guess that means you"ll have to put up with me." Talia told George. "Since neither of us are going anywhere."
George blinked, scratched his head, and asked Remian, "What just happened?"
"Raven and Talia just swapped places." Remian explained. "Though I don"t think Talia is going to be your personal bodyguard. I"m pretty sure she"s more suitable for an administrative role… which is what you need more."
George paused, thinking furiously. The red slowly faded from his face and he nodded, a bit glumly, but he nodded.
Remian lowered his voice. "Besides… a job is one thing. A relationship is something else."
George turned red all over again. Oddly enough, he glanced at Mindy, of all things.
Remian turned away. "Everything else, I leave to you. KarGoth and Shadowflash Fief are all in your hands, now."
"What about you? Where are you going?" George asked, still trying to rally his thoughts from where they had gotten lost.
"I"m going to Three Pines." Remian answered. "Can you spare me a small airship? A Tug or something?"
"You can take a Patrol Corvette. We have twenty of those, now. We can spare one."
"Thanks." Remian nodded. He turned around. "Phoebe?"
"I"m coming. Just give me half an hour to pack. You should get something to eat before we go." Phoebe advised. She glanced at George. "Are my supplies and supplements ready?"
"The supplements…" George instantly thought back to Herb Valley. That"s right. Just about everything there was planted specifically for Remian. "We have them stashed at the hospital. I"ll get people to load them onto the corvette right now."
"I"ll go see if we can find out anything about the King leading this coming Tide." Talia offered, and went to find Joshu.
***
The Wildlands had Five Emperors and roughly fifty Kings. Of those Kings, thirty-six had expressed desire to lead the Beast Tide to trounce the humans in the Frontier… and beyond.
There was a Psionic conference on the issue. It was an uproarious clamor with no clear winner or anyone having an advantage since Doom bowed out.
Far to the west, a terrible furry form stirred. The creature that lurked in an immense cavern let out a telepathic roar that drowned out the entire conference all by itself and sent hundreds of Lords and Lord-challengers reeling. [SILENCE!]
[W-Wind Emperor…] a dozen feline Kings whimpered in acknowledgement and obeisance.
[Dark Fang King!] the Wind Emperor called.
From where he crouched in a jungle, a towering black tiger roared in response.
[From my domain, I choose you! Everyone else, shut up!] the Wind Emperor ordered.
[I obey!] Dark Fang answered.
Nine of the applicant Kings bowed out. Of the Kings under the Wind Emperor"s dominion, only the Dark Fang King remained.
Suddenly, the Flame Emperor stirred. [Bone King!]
[I am here…] the hissing whisper sounded.
[Of my domain, I choose you! Everyone else, stand down!]
[I obey…!] the Bone King hissed.
From the far north, the Deep Emperor stirred. [Storm Pegasus!]
[I answer the call!] Storm Pegaus King neighed.
[You are my choice!]
[I hear and obey!]
There was a short silence.
[Wood Emperor? Stone Emperor? Are you guys awake?] Deep Emperor asked.
There was a strong mental grunt from the Wood Emperor, and then a groan from the Stone Emperor. [It"s too early… I still have about a hundred years to sleep…]
[Mal"thor-dras, would you kindly just pick a candidate?]
[Forget it. n.o.body from my domain is going. Just let me sleep.] Mal"thor-dras, the Stone Emperor, replied.
There was another long pause.
Deep Emperor tried again. [Wood Emperor?]
There was no reply. Not even a grunt this time.
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[I guess he"s out too.] Deep Emperor sighed. [Very well. Dark Fang King, Bone King, Storm Pegasus King… one of you three will lead the Tide.]
[Or all three.] Wind Emperor growled. [This Tide shall be unlike the one before. There shall be no stopping at the Desert Edge! The Tide shall strike freely at the very lands of the humans! No mercy! No retreat! We will tear them all to pieces!]
[All three, then.] Deep Emperor agreed.
[Bone King, I a.s.sign you to the east of the Frontier. You strike at the three settlements on the east side.] Flame Emperor ordered.
[Then I shall strike at the three on the west.] Dark Fang King decided. [And then strike north following that!]
[Storm Pegasus, we will strike directly at the lands of man!] Deep Emperor murmured. [I will travel north myself, and open a river through the desert. Follow me and cross the sea… all the lands of man are at your mercy. Show them none.]
As the conference dispersed, the Bone King had one more issue to address with his Emperor [Wait. What about that treetop human colony? The one at the Red Cloud King"s domain?]
[They live in accord with the Eagle Lord, in friendship with the Wilds. Leave them be.] Flame Emperor ordered.
[As you command.] Bone King replied, and went to get ready for the Beast Tide.