Yoshi wanted to examine the fortifications more, but Hisako overruled him. Richter gave her a quick tutorial on how to zoom in and out and how to move the map. Despite it being a Knowledge Table and not a fully interactive Cartographer’s Table, the detail was still astounding. It was limited only by the acuity of Alma’s vision, which turned out to be as sharp as an eagle’s. Zooming in far enough, individual insects could be seen hovering in the air. The Hearth Mother zoomed in on the red sphere and sucked her teeth.
“I cannot guarantee this is true, but I believe the stone is half full,” she said.
Richter had been standing by the table summoning mist lights. It had become a habit to use his mana pool to summon mist lights and workers for others to use. The lights were an especially good use of his time, as each light lasted for a full year. They did not emit a strong light, but they could be hung in midair. The village was already much more well-lit at night.
He finished summoning a mist worker and ordered it to corral the lights to the feast area where his villagers could distribute them. Once it had moved out of the way, he leaned in to look closer at the Bloodstone. At first, he had no idea what she had seen, but then he saw it too. At first, he had thought the red sphere was a uniform dark red. Now, though, he could see that the bottom half was an even darker red. It looked like a hollow red globe that had been half filled with red wine. In his heart, he knew what it was filled with, though.
“What does that mean?” Richter asked the Hearth Mother. “How can it only be half full? There are more than a hundred people in the pit. There are children in there! There is a baby in there!”
She looked him firmly in the eye, “Now you see the voracious appetite of the Bloodstone. You ask what this means? It means that we attack tomorrow.”
Liddle cheered slightly, but Richter was surprised, “Tomorrow? Is that enough time to plan? I feel strange being the one saying this, but isn’t there an argument for caution here? I just lost three of my people, and I’m not eager to send more against a fortified compound without a firm plan.”
Hisako listened to him without interrupting, but shook her head, “I am glad to see that you are learning caution and that you value the lives of your people. This, however, cannot wait. You may have looked upon the walls and thought that we would still have days or weeks before they finished their defenses. You are looking at the wrong thing. That wall is nothing. The Bloodstone is the real threat. According to Liddle, they have only been sacrificing one person per day. That tells us something vital. There is no Blood mage in the encampment. If there were, the stone could absorb magic from as many as were sacrificed. All at once.”
“From your tone, I get that that would be bad,” Richter said. His tone was lightly mocking to hide his concern, “What is the Bloodstone, though? Why does it matter?”
The Hearth Mother sighed, “I am not an expert. I will also admit that I have never seen one. Most of my information comes from old tomes and stories, but my mother told me of a great battle that occurred before I was born. A trio of sanguimancers wielded Bloodstones and laid waste to entire armies. The Kingdom of Yves was almost brought to its knees. Several duchies were destroyed utterly. I do not know exactly what the capabilities of this Bloodstone are. Some say the powers vary for each stone. Most agree that they come from a time before the banished gods. What is known, and not disputed, is that at full strength they are a tool of horribly destructive power. Only Blood magi may use the stones to their full potential, but any mage can use the power within to augment their casting abilities. We must strike before the Bloodstone is charged any further, or, Nature forbid, a Blood mage arrives and utilizes the artifact to its full potential. Even disregarding that horrible possibility, we cannot allow such a powerful enemy encampment to establish itself on your doorstep. The time to move is now!”
The silence was pregnant around the table. After a few moments, Richter asked, “Well how do we do it then?”
“We have the rest of the night to figure it out,” Hisako responded. “On the morrow, we go to war.”
CHAPTER 14 – Day 140 – Kuborn 30, 15,386 EBG
They debated different strategies. Richter had first proposed poisoning the goblins. He remembered how just he and Sion had been able to kill more than fifty goblins after first weakening them with poison. It wouldn’t work, though. There were multiple cooking pots around the camp, and there was no way they could reach them all. Terrod asked if more reinforcements could be brought from the Hearth Tree, but it would take several days for them to arrive. Hisako wasn’t willing to wait that long.
“Our best course of action will be to insert a small strike force into the valley,” Yoshi finally said. “We will have to approach the guard contingent stationed in the valley pass in stealth.”
Richter looked at the rocky pass again, noticing the lack of trees. The sprites were masters of concealment, but that was based on their racial ability, Forest Concealment. In other terrains, he questioned the wood sprites’ ability to pull off what Yoshi was proposing. He said as much.
Yoshi wasn’t offended. He simply nodded, “That is why we will be using my own personal war party.”
“You have the War Leader skill?” Richter asked in surprise.
Yoshi gave him a look like he was a bug, “I am a journeyman war leader, little initiate.”
“How did you know my rank? And who are you calling little? And if you have the War Leader skill, why didn’t you make one when we were fighting the crypt mistress?”
The sword adept shrugged, “That was your quest. Not mine.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you sprites?” Richter growled in irritation. “That’s the same shit Sion said to me, right before I was eaten by wolves!” His Companion didn’t make eye contact, finding the ceiling extremely interesting at the moment.
Based on the change in the sword adept’s glare, he had now decided that Richter was a creepy, hairy bug, “As I was saying, my elite fighters are well trained in the art of stealth. We will kill every goblin manning the guard station.”
“You mean we will,” Richter said firmly.
“You have never trained with us,” Yoshi said shaking his head. “You will only be in the way.”
“I am not the weak fighter you began to train months ago,” Richter retorted. “If we are to attack this encampment together as allies, then I will be part of the attack. Besides, as you already know, I am a war leader as well. I may only be an initiate, but I have badges and promotions that can help. Now, how many men were you going to bring?” Richter asked.
Yoshi didn’t look convinced, but he responded, “Ideally twenty for a job like this. We don’t have that many elite fighters with us, though. I only have ten, and half of them have undergone the meitu’meidon.”
“Well, that shouldn’t be a problem. You have been here for a week,” Sion said. “The pixie bonding typically lasts seven days, more or less. All fifty or so sprites that are undergoing the meitu’meidon should be done with the bonding sometime tomorrow.”