Chapter: 499 – Lunar Hunt

Tala and Rane left a… blackened plain in their wake as they headed north, moving through the air in their unique ways.

Terry stuck around for a bit, flickering around the edges of the area that Tala had devastated… No, devastated was too gentle a term.

Her third and fourth blasts had been done as sweeping strikes across larger areas of land.

Those had obliterated everything down to the soil—and from what the Talons could tell, an inch or two of soil as well—but the attacks hadn’t reshaped the terrain as much as the first two breaths had, understandably.

Those—overlaid one atop the other—had made a decidedly significant alteration to the hills that had been at the center of her area of effect.

Terry had stayed behind because he seemed to think that some things could have survived the sweeping devastation of her third and fourth strikes, and some of those lesser prey animals might be fleeing the area when they had cause to believe that the devastator—Tala—was gone.

He was apparently hankering after a snack, or at least a different type of hunting.

Tala was… surprisingly okay with that. As she considered, she realized that she’d likely killed millions of insects, along with anything else that had been a part of the local ecosystem within the area affected—though, some hole dwelling critters might have survived… if they’d been deep enough, or if they’d had a means of sealing their tunnels.

Regardless, Tala had left the dark, rich soil behind.

One of the Talon researchers who had been a farmer before his rebirth—and who still worked with the farmers of Irondale—had commented that that dark, rich aftermath was actually likely an incredibly rich soil for planting. Apparently, fire was often one of the tools used to refresh areas of land to help maintain crop health and harvest nutritional content. The additional destruction of most of the rocks in the soil would make it even more ideal for large scale farming.

It was almost a shame that it would never be of use to anyone.

Imagine the boom in productivity and population if the average citizen could have even a modicum of safety in the Wilds.

-And if they could build something that was really theirs, something that they could pass on to their…- Alat hesitated at the charged topic.

Tala decided to leave the topic entirely.

Lyn was apparently currently in discussions with Irondale farmers—of which there were a surprising number, which added weight to her previous contemplations—on incorporating dissolution magic cycling into the field rotations for the best harvest results.

They were also discussing what, if anything, to charge for the service, to ensure it wasn’t abused or taken for granted.

-Your mind keeps going back to your breath.-

Well, yeah. That was amazing. I love it when a plan comes together.

-And this time it didn’t even take a team to clean up after your experiments.-

After a long moment of irritated silence, during which she continued to run through the air with great leaping strides, Tala sighed. …I have nothing meaningful with which to threaten you.

-Nothing that you’d actually do. And I thank you for that.-

Tala groused in her own mind as the mountains scrolled by on her left, the sun dipping down behind them.

-Oh, Rane is wondering if you want to set up for the night on a mountainside? He’s found a nice little ledge that should have a commanding view of the surrounding vistas.-

She considered for only a moment. Sure, that sounds wonderful.

* * *

It only took them another day or so to reach the edge of the forest, and it only took even that long because they weren’t pushing that hard.

Tala, Terry, and Rane landed and symbolically came together on the plains just outside the southern edge of this northern portion of the encircling forest.

There were some individual trees farther out, and it could be argued that the forest really started at the far edge of the great, interlacing root-system that Tala could see with her threefold sight, but the three weren’t concerned with exactness. Again, it was symbolic.

“Shall we?” Rane gestured for them to move forward.

Tala grinned. “Into the woods we go.”

-You two are ridiculous. You were just here with Terry a little bit ago. This isn’t a ‘first’ of anything.-

Terry trumpeted toward the sky, adding his opinion to the mix.

-You too?- Alat was clearly purposely speaking into Terry and Tala’s minds at the same time.

The terror bird looked toward Tala and let out a decisive chirp while bobbing an affirmative.

-I’m surrounded by crazy people.-

And avians.

-…Crazy. People.-

Tala huffed a laugh but didn’t respond further.

The three moved forward, passing under the trees.

There was no ringing pronouncement, nor any swelling melody, but they all felt something shift, something that hadn’t been present the last time that they’d come this way.

-Oh, come on. You couldn’t have known that this would happen.-

True, but it felt weighty, like something was awaiting us here. So we treated it with the gravitas that seemed appropriate given the feeling.

Alat harrumphed just as a small—actually normal sized—wolf came from deeper in the woods.

It was alone, which was the first sign that something was odd. Where was its pack?

Then, there were the facts that it was a mundane wolf, and then the fact that it was walking straight for them, not stalking, not flitting from tree to tree, just walking as if on some sort of summer stroll.

The lupine was simply trotting their way like a puppy called home to his master.

-It’s a trap!-

Tala almost jumped, and her armor had instantly flowed out of her in unconscious reaction, encasing her in its protective embrace. What? Where? How?

-Well, look at him?- Alat indicated the wolf as it sat back on his haunches some thirty feet away. -Is there anything about that which doesn’t scream ‘Look at me! Don’t pay attention to your surroundings.’? I mean, really… Who would fall for that?-

…So, to be clear, because the wolf is eye-catching, you think it’s a trap?

-Yes.-

Alat… Are you kidd— Tala’s thoughts hitched as something seemed to violate her authority, while leaving her aura intact. She only noticed at all because of all of the training that she’d been doing with Alat to separate her perception of the two.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Greetings, human.” A massive wolf seemed to appear out of nowhere, crouched low as if about to spring forward… or so its eyes would be at the same level as the humans it was addressing. “Your arrival was expected. We bid you greetings, Tala, acknowledged of the Pack.”

Tala twitched, grateful that her armor was already deployed.

Rane’s head jerked, twisting to the side so that he was looking at the large wolf without having to turn his body to face it.

Terry flickered away, appearing behind Tala and Rane, facing away from the larger wolf, clearly trusting them to defend his back as he watched theirs.

Alat cackled. -I knew it.-

Tala grimaced, chose not to address her alternate interface, and bowed toward the wolf, being careful to never take her eyes off of its gaze. “Greetings. How shall we address you, esteemed member of the Pack?”

The wolf chuckled a deep throaty growl. “I am not a member of the inner hunt. I am still young and inexperienced, simply one of the minders of the lesser packs. You may call me Lupin. Let us depart.”

“Where, wolf?” Tala asked immediately.

The massive eyes regard her for a moment. “Where, what, human sireling?”

“Where are we going?”