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Our surroundings became more mountain and less forest during our next two days of travel. We left the forest behind entirely once we ascended our last high mountain pass. In that place, snow still clung in many spots, even though the new moon had now come and gone. That was a little mind-boggling to me, when it was now the Month of Summer Storms, the seventh month of the year.
<That’s just how high up we are. Many of these peaks have year-round snow caps,> Sen explained.
Intellectually, I already knew that, but that fact doesn’t make it any less amazing to see snow after the summer solstice.
Being on scouting duty, I was again using my Stage One form, and my little ‘nieces’ were still in the area, but I managed at last to persuade them to scout around the expedition’s flanks rather than tagging along with me. We didn’t need four pixies obviously scouting ahead, when demonic eyes were in the area.
And those eyes were indeed around, because we had passed beyond Alwain’s domain.
Technically, this territory belonged to the ‘Lords of the Mountain Freeholds’, a league of minor fairy patriarchs, but in reality we were barely on the fringes of their domain, in land that was more unclaimed wilderness than actual territory.
Those patriarchs were anemoi, the male counterparts of sylphs, so this was the natural habitat of Lady Serera’s kind. But the ‘Lords’ had no connection to her clan. Her father’s domain, the Gray Mountain, was north of Relador, as part of the Great Wall.
They weren’t completely unrelated, though. Apparently one of the Lords was her older brother, a man estranged from her father and her clan but friendly toward her. We would be banking on that, if we ran into trouble with the local fairies.
I reached the crest of the pass, then flew upward to get a better view down the other side. Instead of yet another deep, heavily wooded hollow or worse, ravine, I saw a high mountain valley no more than two hundred paces below the pass. Across the flat expanse, a series of peaks marched into the distance, becoming lost in the west in a haze of a mountain storm. To the east, the flat-bottomed valley closed and rose to become the saddleback between mountains.
<Use [Vampire Cloak] and fly across. I believe those peaks ahead of you to be where Shindzha and Kiki have been exploring.>
I jolted when I realized the invisible voice was Rhea rather than one of my ‘big sisters’. But I agreed and did it, flying westward while paying close attention to what my [Spiritual Sense] could discover.
<Don’t drop the cloak for any reason,> the goddess warned. <Kiki has spotted mid-level demons.>
<Wouldn’t it have to be at least a higher demon to see my immaterial form?> I wondered. It was just a blob of Will and Blood wrapped around a spirit body that Fan Li’s spell generated.
<They might still spot the spirit body, without your cloak,> Fan Li noted. The back of my mind was getting crowded.
<Can you not spot the demons yourself, Goddess?> I wondered.
<Only if I managed some form of proxy. I currently have no such thing in the mortal world, and I don’t have any pets that can ascend to such a high altitude.>
<And you can’t manage a proxy because…>
<It’s next to impossible for someone of my realm,> she explained. <We must strain against the chains of the Law of Heaven, which reject our presence in the Mortal Realm. And I would never break the chains of the law and become a renegade like Astaroth, so I will go absolutely no further than straining against them.>
When I heard her words, I remembered the resentment I had felt as an orphaned slave child. I thought that if the gods were going to abandon me to such an ugly fate, I would have preferred not to be born.
But this woman was saying it was because some ‘Law of Heaven’ wouldn’t let them come down and make things right? If so, then I just resented that such a law ever existed.
<We’re not gods in the sense that mortals believe in us, and our most ancient seniors imposed the Law to protect you from us,> she answered gently. <We do not oppose the imposition, because we admit its wisdom. We must not reduce you to mere bugs under our feet. We must treat you as precious children, because you have the potential to grow and someday join us. The Law keeps us out of your world for your own benefit.>
I made no reply, because we were approaching the far side of the valley, and the slopes of the first mountain. My mind was beginning to focus on the place beyond the peak above us, the summit where the bodies of Mother and Owen rested.
Rhea wasn’t done yet, though.
<With great difficulty and sufficient time for her to be born and mature, I could create an avatar who would contain a small portion of my awareness, similar to how the current Tiana is a small portion of the awareness that is all of your incarnations together. I dislike doing so. It’s a rather cruel trick to play on the prospective mother, don’t you think?>
Remembering Tiana’s childhood Temple School lessons, I noted, <But you and the others have done it anyhow. The scriptures include stories of several divine avatars.>
<We do so only when it becomes a vital necessity,> she declared. <Otherwise, we would always have one ready to go. We find it better to avoid creating avatars, if at all possible.>
I rose up the side of the mountain, taking note of suspicious spots here and there. It was probably already time to return, but I wanted to see our destination at last. Once I reached the summit, I went back to my Stage One ‘pixie’ form so I would have proper eyesight.
The peak I had been able to see did indeed turn out to be what I suspected, the secondary peak of the very mountain that we were seeking. At the other end of a long ridge, at an elevation perhaps another two hundred paces above my current altitude, a silver half-dome rested. It would actually be a sphere, according to Serera, with its lower half buried within the rock beneath their bodies.
Then I saw a suspicious motion, down-slope from my position. At first, I thought it was a demon, but as I move closer, I recognized Kiki, patrolling the mountain slope.
<Don’t approach her for right now,> Rhea warned. <Return after dark, when they are resting.>
We were in the middle of a demon-infested land, and she had no idea I was there. Yeah, I could see the wisdom of waiting for later, rather than exposing both of us with an encounter while she was patrolling. But could I find her when the time came?
<Let me take care of that,> the goddess answered. <Go out once your comrades have made camp, and Shindzha will be there to meet you.>
Was it really okay to have a goddess deliver messages for me?
When it was time for the expedition to make camp for the night, they chose a spot on the valley floor near the slope of that final mountain. Without the SAS setting up the perimeter, the camp had a very different character. After all, rather than a defensive ring, adventurers depend upon magic and bushcraft to guard against dangers.
Frankly, this made it easier to go out, but it would make it far harder to return. I would probably have to use the immaterial form, and that was bound to cause trouble in its own way, so…
Calling for everyone’s attention, I just said it.
“I’m going out. When I return, I’ll just suddenly appear, so don’t be surprised.”
“Miss Hiléa?” Lady Serera answered with a baffled voice. “What the hell do you mean, ‘don’t be surprised’? If you do something like that…”
“Okay, then I will call to you in my secret voice technique, and you can tell them to be ready,” I answered, because Sen had just pushed that idea at me.
“Why can’t you just do it a normal way?” Brigitte demanded. “I’ll be going out too, and I’ll be returning normally.”
I nodded. “When you return, you make a call that your party members recognize and they use your party locator stones to verify that it’s you. I don’t have such an arrangement, and frankly, I don’t need it.”
Brigitte stared wide-eyed at me, as did Ryuu and the other two male party members. Melione and Chiara just smiled, knowing what was up.
“How do you know that?” Brigitte demanded.
“I’ve told you, I’m a close acquaintance of Lady Tiana,” I said with a smile. “I know many things about you.”
The fox girl still looked bothered, but Miss Melione spoke up here. “Brigitte, Miss Hiléa really is someone Tiana trusts, and we can trust her too. I can guarantee that. There is probably nobody Lady Tiana would trust more. Don’t be suspicious of her.”
Being the same person and all, I mischievously added in my mind.
Brigitte sighed, then shrugged.
I nodded. “Well, I’m off then.”
With that, I trotted out of the camp, cloaking as soon as the firelight no longer lit me.
The goddess held true to her word. In one of the copses of stunted trees that grew on some higher ground near the mountain slope, I found Shindzha crouching over the body of a dead ghoul.
“Mistress,” she greeted me in a quiet voice, aware that she had to conceal the happiness I could feel bubbling under the surface of her stage whisper.
“Have you been well, Shindzha?”
She nodded happily. “I’ve been able to hunt here, Mistress, so I’ve been able to eat properly.”
I frowned at the body at her feet. “Have you been attacking them? I only wanted you to scout them.”
“This one was very clearly spying on your camp, Mistress. Kiki told me I should defeat him.”
Pursing my lips as I thought about it caused her to become apprehensive. “Should I not have done it, Mistress?”
“Oh… you did well, Shindzha,” I assured her. “I was worrying about you giving yourself away. But we’re close enough that a dead ghoul or two will make them think we have vigilant scouts, instead of suspecting the presence of an additional party. Don’t do it when you are farther away from us, unless you think someone is planning to snipe us.”
Her smile showed relief. “Yes, Mistress. And here.”
She held a rolled up paper in her outstretched hand. I accepted it.
“What is it?” I wondered.
“I’ve written down what we have found so far,” she said. “And tried to note some positions. I hope you will find it useful.”
She’d had the presence of mind to bring writing materials with her? I honestly hadn’t expected that. But I gave her a nod.
“I’m sure we will find it very useful,” I agreed.
Turning anxious again, she wondered, “Mistress, when I called out to warn you before, did you hear me?”
“I did,” I assured her. “Thank you.”
Her relieved smile returned. “Good. If I do see something…”
“Ah… the other Servants also heard you, Shindzha,” I cautioned her. “Save it only for severe emergencies, because I’m not sure who else your voice might have leaked out to.”
Her rapid mood swings again took a downward turn. “So there is no way for me to send messages to you?”
“Kiki can!” a bright voice declared out of nowhere.
After jumping in surprise, I looked around for the pixie in question and saw nothing.
But I heard a giggle, and then heard, “Kiki sneak sneak hide hide!”
With a smile, I told Shindzha. “Depend upon your companion to send your messages. Now, get out of here before some demon comes looking for their buddy.”
She nodded and used her stealth technique to disappear. I slipped the rolled paper up into the mustard seed pouch, checked to be sure the demon corpse had nothing of interest on it, then went immaterial and returned to the camp.
The adventurers were gathered around the bonfire in the middle of the camp, having a late meal. I located the senior fairy knight as I neared them and called out, <Lady Serera, I’m returning.>
“Hiléa’s returning,” she warned the rest as I arrived. I waited for a bit longer before resuming my Stage Two form.
“I don’t know how you’re doing it,” she commented with a wry smile, “But I’m certain I caught you incoming.”
“Your eyes should certainly be able to,” I admitted as I took a seat at the fire.
“You returned awfully soon this time,” Lady Ceria noted.
“I had good reason,” I answered. Then I looked around at the rest. Nineteen in all, since Brigitte was still out doing her rounds.
Eight fairies, six members of the Hero’s Party, Ceria, Bruna, Diur, Pasrue, Terese and Matthias. I would never do this with the mortal soldiers in tow, but these people should be able to handle it. I decided, for Shindzha’s safety, now that actual enemy demons were near, that it would be for the best.
“Can you seal this place from eavesdroppers, please?” I requested of Lady Serera.
She nodded, and a [Realm of Silence] large enough to cover the entire group appeared.
I pulled the paper from my pouch and unrolled it. But before I spoke about it, I needed to explain it.
“Ceria, Melione, Chiara, Diur and Pasrue know about this, but I doubt that they’ve told anyone else. So before I talk about this paper, I need to tell you about the final member of our party…”
