Beyond?

“There is a person who is wandering the world and helping people. They call him the Wanderer and he, if the stories are true, has been on his journey for several hundred years. He is a just person and slays evil wherever he finds it. Though many who met him think that he is desperately searching for something.”

-The Southern Legends.

***Free City States of Nict, Capital***

***Azir***

I am sitting on the ground and watching the light sculpture angrily. Stella has her legs around me and is holding her hand onto my mouth to stop me from talking. I realized that I can't get her off of me without hurting her, so I simply have to accept the situation for now.

In the meantime Helen took on the burden of negotiating with Quinn. It turned out that the soldier had something like a mobile radio in his car. He returned after fulfilling Helen's request and informed us that his superior would show up soon. Afterwards he continued stuttering something about a diplomatic mission.

If an army of that size is Quinn's version of a diplomatic mission, then I don't know what their version of war is supposed to look like.

After a while a second bigger car closes in on my drone. It came directly from the big moving fortress and looks even fancier than the scout's vehicle. This one has six wheels and seems to be heavily armoured. Contrary to the other vehicles it doesn't seem to have any weapons. The colours on it range over the whole spectrum and it looks like the artist who was in charge of painting this monstrosity was in a hurry and simply splashed the colours onto it.

A ramp opens in the side of the new arrival and a guy and a woman in frilly clothing exit the car.  Like the soldier, both of them wear their hair in various colours. Even their horns are painted and their garments are tight fitting with frills all over them.

A long time ago I visited a wandering circus with Stella. That was back when she was still hiding her true identity. They had a show there. The actors were calling themselves clowns and tried to entertain the audience by wearing funny clothing, telling jokes or performing strange stunts. If those two would paint their faces white and add fluffy, red noses to their appearance... they would match those actors perfectly.

The guy has a small pointy beard on his chin. He doesn't look very old, thirty at most and there is a small scar on his right cheek. His whole demeanour demands being respected, despite his strange clothings. The face is a little round, though that seems to be caused by his heritage since his body isn't fat at all.

The woman at his side wears a dress and if it wasn't for her over-usage of red lipstick I would probably call her beautiful. Her sharp facial features make her look like someone who is used to being in command, but her high, strong cheekbones give her the appearance of an evildoer.

Both of them stroll casually down the ramp and approach the soldier and my drone. Either they are very confident in their protective measures, or they are very stupid.

The man eyes my drone with a confused expression. “You said that the leader of Nict wants to talk to us?”

Helen decides to intercept the soldier's answer. “Indeed. I am Helen Gejene and I am using this device to talk to you. Can I assume that you two are the leaders of this caravan?”

The man turns his attention to the drone. “My name is Prince Leon Zerces and this is my sister, Princess Giana Zerces. The king of Quinn entrusted us with a diplomatic mission to Nict.”

Helen answers with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. “I am sure that a purely diplomatic mission would look a little different. What do you need that many troops for?”

Leon smiles knowingly. “The eastern plains are a dangerous place and since we have two members of the royal family travelling to a faraway and possibly hostile country, the king decided to give us a force that can't be easily messed with. And the most important point is that we are able to protect our own interests.”

“That still doesn't tell me what you want. Nict didn't bother itself with Quinn for a few hundred years. We aren't interested in anything besides our own problems.” Helen answers with a steady voice. There isn't a reason to fear Quinn from our point of view.

Giana decides to speak for the first time. “Something like that may be best discussed in private. We have our reasons to come in force, as we aren't entirely sure if Nict isn't our enemy.”

Helen doesn't give in. “You can talk through this device. It's safe and I trust the people with me. I won't allow your army to approach our borders any further.”

Leon gestures at the drone. “Then what proof do we have that we are really speaking with the leader of Nict? Our enemy is also capable of creating strange magical artefacts.”

Helen's voice turns interested. “Hooh, so your vehicles aren't using magic? I wondered how a country that despises the most important members of its society could create such vehicles.”

Leon raises his head proudly. “Those are the fruits of pure science! The new V16-Mechanized-Troops are Quinn's newest forces. They run purely on oil and electricity. There is no heretical magic involved at all!”

I start laughing while Stella hugs me tighter, but it's no use. The clown's joke was too funny. Why would someone build a purely mechanic engine in a world where mana is available in abundance. It would be reasonable in a world without magic, but why would you make your own life harder if it isn't necessary? Magical circuits are a shortcut to many things you wouldn't otherwise be able to achieve without excessive investments in time and resources. These guys are too funny.

Stella's grip on me tightens to the point of almost cutting the air circulation to my brain. I feel my head burning and my vision sways a little. Finally I am able to stop laughing.

The prince's expression turns sour. “Is there someone laughing in the background?”

Helen glares at me. “I am sorry, it seems like your technological approach was deemed as funny by one of my researchers. Why don't we make a compromise. We'll prepare a proper location half a day south from your current position. There we can talk. The drone will lead you there.” Helen gestures for Ivy to cut the connection, then she turns to Stella and me. My face must have turned blue by now.

A chopping motion of Helen's hand signals Stella to let me go. “I need him to place a stepper disc to the south of their army. There is a big, grassy, open field there. It's perfect to prepare a show.”

Stella lets go of me and I can finally breathe freely. “A show? Why should we make a show for them?”

Helen smiles and kneels down in front of me. “Because they obviously brought their army to impress us. So we'll build a small fortress in a place where they drove past just a few hours ago.”

A small fortress? “I know that you guys can build houses very fast, but a fortress?”

She nods. “Who says that we'll use just a small meagre workforce? When they get there they'll be confronted with a huge palace and a strongly fortified position. One of our armies will be there and we will show them that we are able to move our troops as we please. Maybe we could even imply that the fortress was there all along, hidden under a spell.”

I nod eagerly, understanding her point. “Which should make them think twice before they try to wreak havoc in Nict. Though I think saying that you built it within a few hours is way more impressive.”

***Eastern Plains***

***Leon***

“Unbelievable. Are you sure that there is no mistake? How could we drive past such a structure without noticing it?” I gesture at the fortress in the middle of nowhere. “Did they conceal themselves?”

After our encounter with the strange flying device we returned to the command deck of our moving command post. The huge tracked vehicle was designed to carry supplies and protect a moving force from strategic attacks. It's two hundred metres long and fifty metres wide, a moving ship on land. We are currently on the bridge, which is made out of the finest steel. There are control desks for weapons, engines and defence together with navigation. A huge window grants me a perfect view on the area ahead of us.

The general at my side, who is commanding the expedition, shakes his head. “Our equipment against magic should have detected something as big as that. Currently the detectors for magic are going nuts. There must be several hundred mages in that fortress over there.” He sighs. “We estimate about fifteen thousand normal soldiers.”

I snort. “Such a meagre force is nothing we can't deal with. Quinn won't bow to heretics like them.”

Giana tugs at my sleeve. “Brother, think about what you are saying. We have never seen so many magicians in one spot. Who knows what they can do together? You can't judge them simply by their numbers.”

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