The mages of the Association had succeeded in overpowering the Upyr, but in the process had lost track of the creature that had triggered the alarm. At that point, the local ruler had alerted the Royals, who in turn had called their best hunter.
Lith.
"Wow. Better than a mind link." Friya knew every detail of the reports and the map of the area like the back of her hand.
"Thanks." Solus said as she Warped the tower to the nearest known mana geyser.
"What about the paper trail?" Nalrond asked. "How will you explain how we got here so quickly without using the Warp Gate?"
"We are not here to stay." Solus replied. "This is just to take a full scan of the area with the Watchtower and the Eyes without burning our brains. We'll go back to Lutia and use the official channels once we're done- Shit!"
"Yeah, you can say that." Lith turned in the direction of the known energy signature. "Whatever this is, it's big. ln wouldn't send a cursed object for a grocery run."
Everyone in Jorl's group wore a cloaking item and had never t Lith. Everyone but Uragar. From that distance, the Eyes of nadion would have failed to detect his energy signature due to his exceptional cloaking device.
With the Watchtower and the Ears boosting its abilities, however, the artifact managed to pinpoint Uragar's position and even get a glimpse on his associates.
"Who are those other guys?" Solus asked.
Without anything to lock onto, she couldn't tell either the race or the power of the other mbers of Uragar's group.
"I have no clue." Lith replied. "Ripha?"
"I'm not sure, but if I had to take a guess, based on the early readings, I'd say we are watching at two Divine Beasts, a few Fae and plant folk, and one more cursed item." nadion said.
"You can tell that much already, Mom?" Solus was flabbergasted.
"I'm just guessing, Sweetie." nadion replied. "I've used the Eyes of nadion a lot back in the day, and I've analyzed so many people that I can recognize their race even from partial data, yet it's not a science.
"Also, and I'm telling you this only because we know of that Jorl guy, and one of the two Divine Beasts should be a Griffon. The other one belongs to a type I've never studied before."
"Could it be this?" Lith gave Ripha the Eyes' data about Theseus. "The other Divine Beast sighted fighting at ln's side was a Bastet."
"I'm sorry, I can't tell." nadion shook her head. "The energy signature is too contaminated by the Eldritch side. It could be anyone. Let's wait- What's happening?"
The tower shook violently, cracks appearing along its walls, and its lights flickered like during a power outage. The Eyes of nadion lost the signal, while the Watchtower beca nothing but a decoration.
"For so reason, the mana geyser below us has lost half of its power and keeps getting weaker." Solus replied. "I don't know the how or why, but we don't have the ti to waste. The tower is about to collapse!"
Luckily, Starforge had already accumulated the energy for the Tower Warp, and Solus used it to go back to Lutia. There, the tower received a steady flow of world energy that allowed it to repair the damage and restore its full functionality.
"Has sothing like this ever happened before?" Tista asked.
"Never." Lith and Solus answered in unison.
"I have a bad feeling." Protector said. "Let's go et our allies. We don't know why Narchat sent his goons to Nestrar, but whatever their goal is, we can't afford them to achieve it."
***
Nestrar Region, in the middle of nowhere, at the sa ti.
"Mogar almighty!" Back when Solus had spotted and tracked the Upyrs, Jorl and his unit were flying toward the eting point with the Black Throne.
They were still far from their destination when a colossal building suddenly appeared before them.
It was a majestic tower comprised of white marble of the finest quality, with gold inlays across its surface and decorating every one of its hundreds of crystal windows.
The building was at least one kiloter (3300') high and 200 ters (656') across, standing like a lone pillar amid an otherwise barren flatland. The tower radiated a majestic aura of power that made the Upyrs' blood run cold, and the aura beca stronger with each second Jorl and the others wasted trying to size up the building.
"What is this thing? Where did it co from, and how could we or anyone else, for that matter, miss it?" Jorl asked.
"You are the Light Master, you tell us." Salanoth replied. "What I can tell you is that this isn't dinsional magic. The place hasn't been stretched or deford. What you see is the actual size. Uragar?"
"Not any illusion spell I know either." The host of the Book of Knowledge shook his head. "And believe , I know a lot of them."
"It could have been an invisibility field, but the level of Light Mastery it requires is beyond ." The Storm Griffon flew backwards, followed by his allies. "Not to ntion how it could see us if we couldn't see it, or-"
"Gods, are you going to spend the entire day yapping, or are you going to get in?" A rumbling voice said.
It was filled with power, but it seed comprised of the creaks of old bones and wood. It was akin to the voice of a god, but a very old god buried beneath the sands of ti and crushed under reality itself.
"Are you the Black Throne?" Jorl asked.
"No, I'm the fairy godmother." The voice replied with a dry cackle that sounded like the snapping of twigs. "Of course, I'm the Black Throne! Who else am I supposed to be?"
"What are you doing here?" The Storm Griffon recovered his composure and spoke to the legendary artifact like an equal.
"You wanted to et , and I didn't trust you." The Black Throne replied with a hint of respect in its voice. "So I put myself in a spot you were bound to cross, but away from our convened eting point to avoid nasty surprises.
"You wouldn't be the first one to attempt sothing funny on , and you can be certain you won't be the last."
"I thought that sothing of your caliber-"
"Sothing?" The Black Throne roared, producing a shockwave that sent the Upyrs flying like leaves in the wind. "Maybe you are sothing, Uragar. I'm not a thing. I'm a real living being, and you'll address with the respect I deserve!"
"Fine." The Book of Knowledge's Davross body was still vibrating from the impact. "I thought that soone like you needed a proper energy source. Like a mana geyser."
"I do need a mana geyser, and I'm standing above one." The voice sounded smug.
"What?" Salanoth looked down, noticing that the Black Throne was telling the truth. A massive flow of world energy ca from below the tower, yet there was supposed to be none. "This makes no sense!
"The closest mana geysers are this and that way." The Ring of Space pointed south-west, and in the direction Solus' tower had been until a few seconds ago.
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