It was gone 7 when I awoke. I remembered the warm feeling of Chi healing during the night, and my leg was definitely much improved as I skipped across the short gap between my bed and the john.
When I consider all the people I have known over the years, there are very few who like me have no qualms about being naked in front of strangers, let alone strangers of the opposite sex. Leaving my pants in the john, I crossed the shelter, put on a fresh pot of coffee, re-crossed the main room and entered the shower, ignoring the startled looks from everyone except Vialle. As I showered I considered the night's events, and brought up the pattern. The shower's glass screen would prevent them from determining what I was doing, whilst not interfering with what the lens would tell me. Each had golden hues to their auras, and the warrior, Daida, had the mark of a Chi adept. Of the two women, the one calling herself Taala was a mage, and judging from the absence of sorcery or conjuration markers probably a Power Word adept, the other who dressed in clothes akin to my own and called herself Charity was a shifter.
It is a known fact that you get a phone call when its the most inconvenient for you to take it, ie in the middle of having sex, when your in the shower, or just as you've stepped out of the towel to cloth yourself. In my case it wasn't a phone call but a Trump call from Fiona just as I was retrieving clean clothes from under my bed.
In normal circumstances I would have not taken the call, or taken the call and continued dressing, but with Brand on the loose and known to be a Trump Master not taking the call and getting Fiona to call back was risky, as was not doing anything except concentrate on the call.
I have yet to meet a man of any age, that when presented with a naked woman doesn't stare at her crotch, especially when she's bending over to retrieve underwear from the pack under her bed. It didn't therefore surprise me to find Daida staring at me as I finished the call. As I threw on clothes, I suggested that breakfast would be nice. Charity seemed to be the only one who understood how to make an omelet!
Fiona's call had now given me urgency of purpose, for they were under siege at Carnelian and the cannon were ineffective against the siege trenches the besiegers were in the process of digging. As I went upstairs, to see if the night's events, extant to the shelter had changed anything, Daida and Taala followed me. A cursory survey from the wreckage of the upper story of the condo showed nothing immediately amiss, and ignoring rants from Taala about nothing happening or being done, as the smells of fresh coffee and omelet assailed me I retreated to the shelter and ate breakfast.
Amongst any group, you will always find one who bleats no matter what happens, for nothing is every "right" according to their view of the world and they are incapable or refuse because it's beneath them to do anything about it. Taala seems to fit this category perfectly, for as I finished buckling up the armour and stowing things in my pack, all she could do was bleat about the lack of servants, having to help the Queen, and having to embark on a hike to go and fetch supplies for delivery to Carnelian.
Her bleating continued as we made our way out of
the city, although we'd left the Shadow Earth I call home within 3 blocks - not
that any of them noticed. As I manipulated shadow to bring us into a forest, she
did suggest that progress would be quicker if we had horses. I can only put the
reason why I didn't think of that down to a consequence of the nights events.
It took me a while to find a suitable stables with horses waiting for us, and as
we mounted to leave I felt the building of power that accompanied the arrival on
one of those Logrus tendrils. I'm going to have to find out what this Dierdre
Entity is and what connection it has with Brand.
I'd just about got a pattern shield built when the tendril materialized, not to
grab us but to dump yet another waif upon me. I'd like to know how many more
it's going to dig up and get me to baby sit. The waif in question was 6'1",
220lbs, of what I took to be a misplaced medieval knight, who announced himself
as Ion of Still River and demanded to know what sorcery was this and to be
returned to his homeland.
It appears to be the case that where ever we are raised our natural abilities cause us to rise to the top, and with a large portion of the family appears to generate the arrogant attitude that we have are above everybody else and therefore they will immediately do what we want. It is also true that when this is attempted on other members of the family it has exactly the opposite effect. Being already encumbered with three waifs I was not best pleased and in no mood to argue with the sap. "You can either get a horse and ride with us where you might learn something or you can stay here where you'll learn nothing". I spurred to horse forward and he scrambled for the stables.
We rode for another six hours before I reached the place in Shadow which Fiona had implanted the imprint of in my head during her trump call. Waiting for us were a pair of 60 tonne armoured articulated transports. Whilst I was in a hurry to get to Carnelian the waifs were obviously feeling the strain, and I was forced to agree to a short break. Of the waifs only Charity seemed familiar with technology and proved capable of driving the second truck, which saved me the effort of having to rustle up a driver. We left within the hour with me in the lead and Charity following.
The return trip to my Shadow Earth was much quicker, at a little over three hours, and we arrived at the Fort Worth Munitions Factory at just before 06:00, having then to wait for the days shift to arrive before we could get the cargo of 20 tonnes of muskets loaded.
Well I'm making this entry under the 19th January, although I haven't a clue as to what the date actually is where we are. Keeping track of time and dates in shadow is notoriously difficult and I can only go on what my body clock tells me. Given the events of the previous nights I had hoped for some rest but is was not to be.
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