Kat PoV
We all frowned at Adelina as she said "The House who purchased the Legion's contract was the Sariel's..."
I studied her facial features and eyes as she said that, and I narrowed my own eyes as I saw a hint of guilt and hesitation in those pale golden orbs.
Glancing over at the others, I saw that each took that news just as I had; they were frowning and looking between one another, each of us communicating via our eyes.
Jahi and Anput were annoyed, while Nirinia and Leone were cautious, both glancing towards the entrance of the command tent with wary eyes.
"When was this?"
Hearing the sharp tone of Jahi, the commander sighed as she answered, her tired voice matching her weary features.
"The day that you arrived is when it was announced. The deal had been going through the process of being finalized for the last two weeks, but we received our equipment upfront..."
Nodding, the Demoness peered at Nirinia, who shook her head slightly.
"Very well then... I'm guessing for now we just need to rest up for the eventual battle tomorrow? I'm assuming we are allowed to fortify this position as best we could, yes?"
Adelina nodded, a small smile on her lips as she said "We have quite a few Earth Mages in our employ, and an equal amount of potions. I was thinking that, if we couldn't harbor ourselves in the mountain pass, we could just create a fortress instead. After all, we need to defend this position for as long as possible, to hold out for when a Knight arrives..."
Glancing at Anput, I shook my head slightly at her, letting her know to not offer her services; Nirinia had said it before, but we don't truly fall under Adelina Leonisa's command, so she can't order us to aid her forces however she sees fit.
Of course, I didn't like the idea of not helping at all, but I was going to be selfish and have Anput fortify our own position, so that we could minimize risk of tampering.
With that in mind, the Djinn gave the Lioness a tight, small smile as she nodded, saying "Very well, Commander. We'll be going back to our tent now... If you need us, send for us."
Adelina nodded, though the obvious reluctance at sending away valuable assets seemed to pain her greatly as we exited the tent.
Exchanging another swift glance, we sped up and returned to our carriage, where we instantly entered the box.
Casting a Wind Spell to shroud the interior with a slight gale, I made it so that people couldn't listen in to our conversation, getting a nod of approval from Jahi and Nirinia.
The Djinn let out a low growl as she tapped her fingers against her knee, saying "This is fucking annoying. Not only do we need to worry about two strong enemies plus an army coming tomorrow, we need to worry about whether or not someones going to stab us in the back! Fuck!"
Jahi let out a mirthless chuckle as she nodded, adding "Plus we don't know who is and isn't in the Sariel's pocket, and how powerful these people can be. Alright... let's stop speculating though and start acting. Leone, can you cast some kind of ward around our tent to protect us during the night? One that people can't notice?"
We turned to look at the Vampire, who nodded, before we all turned to Anput, who was up next.
Jahi sighed as she said "As for you, Anput, we need to create our own little bastion again, so we'll need you to work with that Earth Magic of yours. I'll help design it, and we'll go from there."
The Jackalkin nodded, and we all smiled wryly as we looked around the carriage.
"I thought this was just going to be a rather easy, boring outing too... now those Elven bitches are making this such a drag..."
That made each of us chuckle as we smirked over at Jahi, who was frowning comically.
Nirinia rolled her eyes at that, before she coughed gently and brought us back on track.
"Just... as a warning. As much as I don't want to think it, we need to be aware that... that Adelina might be with them as well. Money changes people, as does the promise of power. She might be loyal to the Empress, but a few honeyed words here and there could make her act against us. Besides, she comes from a long line of competent, storied Commanders and even a few Knights, so she might see this as an opportunity to increase her own power through a connection to the Sariel's. Same goes for her Command Squad. Each could betray us at any moment..."
Those words of caution sobered everyone up instantly, and we all frowned as we glanced at the Djinn.
She looked away from us when we turned to her, and I could briefly make out the small glimmer of anxiety and hurt in her eyes as she thought of her childhood friend turning on her.
They might not be on the best of terms now, but they grew up together, fought together, and learned together. Hells, they even dated for a while.
Bonds like that might slowly wither away, but it takes something large to snap those bonds apart.
"Alright, let's get to work. The other Earth Mage's should be working already, so we should be able to figure out where to position and add our bastion onto the existing structure. However, we need to make it safe for just us. Leone, go work on shrouding this area with some spells and Ritual Circles, and keep it discreet. Kat, help Leone as best you can, be it covering her or speeding the process along. Nirinia, if you could, can you try and keep the soldiers away? The Banshee should already be doing that quite well, but..."
The Djinn chuckled as she nodded, her serious jade eyes landing on each of us as she said "Of course, Lady Asmodia. It's the least I can do to repay your parents."
With that, I dispelled the gale and opened the door, bowing as the others filtered out.
Leone instantly went into the tent, while Jahi and Anput glanced towards the rising pillars and walls of earth around us.
Leading the Jackalkin away, the Demoness glanced over her shoulder and gave us a curt nod, before slowly disappearing between the tents and walls.
Nirinia hopped out and glanced at the stationary Banshee, which was still standing guard between the tent and carriage, it's helmeted head slowly swiveling around as it rested its hands on the gigantic claymore before it.
She climbed onto the top of the carriage and looked around, and I briefly saw her smile before she slid back down, making her way over to the cluster of soldiers a few dozen feet away.
Watching her leave, I walked over to the tent and entered it, where I was greeted with the sight of Leone digging through her bag before letting out an "Aha!"
Grinning childishly at me, she held a large chunk of Fire Crystal in her hands, the mana wafting off of the orangish red rock looking like a haze of heat on a summer day.
"Found it~! Alright, time to make myself an array~!"
Seeing her excitement, I shook my head slightly before watching as she laid the Fire Crystal down on the floor.
Taking a deep breath, she let her happy, jovial features melt away as pure seriousness took over, the Vampire looking down at the stone with narrowed crimson eyes.
Raising her finger, she began to trace our complex runes on the ground around the Fire Crystal, slowly but surely filling out a rather large, extremely complex, and really hot Ritual Circle.
"First one done..."
Hearing her mutter, I raised a brow as I stared at the rather complex arcane symbology below us, which made the Vampire smile smugly at me.
"This here, Kat, is a bolstering array; in simpler terms, it empowers those its tied to. Now, how do I tie it to someone, you ask?"
I listened as she began an impromptu lecture, the academic genius of the Vampire being put on display as she grinned haughtily at me.
Giving her a nod, I shifted my expression to look like a diligent student, listening intently to her explanation.
"Well, it's rather simple. See, this rune here is a tether rune; it lets me 'attach' it to something, which in this case is each of us. When it's attached, it begins to function properly. The 'core' of the Ritual Circle is being fueled by the Fire Crystal, and it will also have a rather large amount of my own mana inside of it.
Now, the way it empowers you is rather simple; it's just a few basic enhancement spells weaved together that would enhance your healing capabilities, mana sensitivity, mana control, muscular control, hardened skin... the list goes on and on."
My jaw dropped slightly as I heard her list its benefits, before she continued on, becoming more animated as she saw my disbelief.
"Anyways, the reason this works is because this Ritual Circle is going to be tied directly to each of you, kinda like a tattoo.
Besides those enhancements, I'll be adding a sensing spell on top of that, using raw mana instead of Fire... though I think Ash would work better... hmm..."
She fell silent, her expression thoughtful as she turned and began to mutter to herself, glancing at the Ritual Circle.
I remained silent as well, letting the woman think as she continued to mutter her thoughts aloud, allowing her to think.
Sure, I prided myself on having a rather great grasp on arcane studies, but Leone was simply on another level then me; it was her ONLY focus.
And it wasn't just smaller, niche fields that I studied; no, she studied various different theories and ideas, with each being vastly different from one another.
With each word she mumbled to herself, the Vampire grew more and more excited as she began to scribble some runes into the air, looking between the different combinations as she nodded or shook her head.
Watching her was rather amusing, so I sat back and observed what she was doing with a warmed heart, relieved that she found something to occupy and distract her mind from what happened yesterday.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om