In five locations all over Angaria, the elderly and the children who had been left in their homes while their family members went out to train for the war observed a strange phenomenon which made them come out of their homes and wonder what was going on.
As most of them had also gone to the center of the continent before so that they could support the coronation of the man whom they trusted to save their lives, they had not been present when the thrones all over the continent had risen into the sky before being connected to the one in the center by sparkling pathways which were still marveled at by people, even to this day.
They could see these individual thrones in the sky, though, and on many days, children could be seen to sitting on the ground and staring, with the wish and dream of someday sitting on them and ruling the land from above.
Now, five of the thrones were s.h.i.+ning brightly.
It was so bright that even in the dimness of the early hours of the evening, it seemed as if 5 new suns had risen, and with curiosity that was not squashed by fear as they knew that these objects belonged to the G.o.dking and his followers, the people tried to go as near as possible to see just why this might be happening.
Not many were able to reach very close, though, as some thrones were located above tall mountains which would take a day or two to climb.
The few that did reach the spot directly below the thrones, though, saw that there were actually illegible words s.h.i.+ning on the backs of these magnificent seats of power which had been empty all these days.
At the same time, above the Endless Sea where the members of the Eskilon family were finally gulping in air and enjoying the feeling of not being surrounded, at least at the moment, all five sovereigns who were present right above them…began to glow.
In their minds, the connection they had made with the thrones on that fateful day when they had used their convictions to create the binding that would stay forever was still present, so all they had needed to do was call on it.
The feeling of being filled with so much Energy was so exhilarating that even the usually stoic Kellor and Faxul cracked a smile, before looking at each other and nodding.
There wasn"t a single Hero among them, but together… They knew that they could take on anyone in the continent.
Only… The family below was still together, so first, that had to be remedied.
So far, the creatures that had attacked had merely been attracted by a spike in Energy that they had felt near them.
Now… It was time to call the real forces in.
"G.o.dnet, use the "King of All Bait" spell. I will mark the targets manually."
A moment later, the Heroes inside the formation started to detect that something was gravely wrong.
It was obvious that they had been taking a moment to catch their breath after getting out of the dangerous depths where they had been afraid to attract the truly powerful creatures whom they would not have been able to defend themselves against.
The Heroes in the tentacles were the most fatigued, as they had been doing all of the work, so far.
The individuals in the head of the creature were only giving orders, and it seemed that they had taken the decision that those in the sky were not a threat to them.
This changed with the influx of Energy from the vast formation, if something of that size could even be called that, that had shown itself only for the briefest of moments before disappearing and letting the family know that all was not as it seemed.
Now, as another change came on the battlefield, many Heroes could not help but wonder just how they had gotten to this stage, when everything had seemed fine just a few seconds ago.
Even with all that Energy flooding in their bodies, the five sovereigns stayed where they were, without moving.
It looked like they were waiting for something, but without paying heed to them, most of the members of the family avidly used the opportunity to take out Ker Gems and even a few Ker Roots that they had stored away to replenish themselves of all the Energy they had had to use up during the fight just now, as it was only a few who had felt the change.
The elders were busy trying to find out the reason behind it, even though it had not shown its effects yet. In particular, the elder who had worked with the messaging orb the Church was a.s.sessing all the elementary particles around them, as only the faintest of feelings had allowed them to detect that something was wrong.
"You think they"ll figure it out before it happens?", asked Elanev with a chuckle, and hearing him, the others could not help but crack a smile.
Kellor"s battle speech from before had been met by determined nods from all of them, but now, the mood had changed due to the feeling of power coursing through their veins. As they had a moment of calm before it was time for the storm, the others also relaxed for a bit, to get used to this feeling that they felt they could honestly live with every day, if it was possible.
"The possibility is slim, but…"
The rest of what Kellor had been about to say was drowned out by the appearance of a creature that brought dread to the hearts of everyone present, including the sovereigns, even though they had secured themselves safely in the air.
And of course, this was the storm they had antic.i.p.ated, and with its coming, the next stage of the plan was fully in motion.
If Daneel had been here, he would have said h.e.l.lo to this familiar beast, even though it might have run away if it knew that one of its brethren had been scared to death by him.