Limits

We managed to arrive at Boltier without any further enemy encounters. When the guards saw the small army approaching, they actually panicked for a bit. Until they realised it was Atols, and not the enemy. A guard I was familiar with, was there as well. I shouted "Hey, Rais!". Rais had a dumbfounded expression. He looked at our small army arriving, and didn't know what to do really.

I asked "Are the supplies ready?". This time, another soldier replied "Are you the one called Dark Traveller? Someone would like to meet you, follow me". 'Does she wants to meet with me again?' I asked myself. I replied "Wait a minute. The Atol Warriors will come in as well. Let them rest a bit inside. If they need something, do provide them with it. I will pay for that". The soldier was taken aback, but nodded his head, and ordered his men to let the Atols in as well.

While we walked, I asked "Is it that General Litral of yours, who wishes to see me again?". The soldier replied "You will know, when we get there. Just follow me". 'Why so secretive' I asked myself, but followed nevertheless. I became surprised when the soldier didn't take me to Litral, instead we headed toward Vatras Auction Hall. 'Hmm, so he is the one who wants to meet with me' I thought.

I could guess who I was about to meet, because I knew no one else concerned with Vatras Auction Hall. Shak, who was the owner of the Vatras Auction Hall, sat inside his office. The Soldier communicated his message, then left. "Come in friend. You've changed a lot". I replied "Shak. I'm surprised you wanted to see me. Can you share the reason perhaps?". He laughed, and said "No need to probe. That General you spoke with is useless, fortunately I found out about it. Before anything else, we managed to destroy the camp belonging to Vanauts. You were right, they were digging towards us".

This was not such a good news. I replied, "This is good, but bad news as well. Of course it's good that you managed to rid yourself of that problem. The issue is, Sedon has that problem as well. Now I don't know how Vanauts will react". He smiled, and said "Perhaps, but that is one of the reasons I wanted to meet you. You asked for a way to collapse a tunnel. I have one such way". I went straight to the point, "How much?".

He shook his head, and took out a crystal ball of some sort. It was deep blue in colour, and looked like glass. He threw it at me, and said "Nothing, don't spoil our friendship. You came here to warn us, and you'd expect I would take money from you? You should know, I'm not that kind of guy". I replied with a smile "Great to hear. So, how do I use this?".

His face changed a bit, "About that… It's difficult. I'm ashamed to say this, but we had to sacrifice someone, in order to collapse that tunnel. If you just place it above and activate it, the energy will travel in all directions…". That was a problem indeed. Not only would we need to sacrifice someone, that someone would need to be strong too. 'They also attacked the camp, before they could collapse the tunnel. Sedon might not have such a luxury. If Royal Army was there, then perhaps…' I thought.

With that in mind, I said "Don't worry, I will think of something. I appreciate your help. Certainly one person's life, for the lives worth a whole city, is not such a bad exchange. But, I will leave sacrifices for when we have no choice". Shak nodded, then said "With this, you at least have a way out. What choices you make, will be up to you". I nodded and asked, "How are you faring though? From what I know, Vanauts are you main enemies".

He nodded while replying, "Actually, thanks to collapsing that tunnel, we are doing very well. There were loads of Vanauts inside, therefore their loses are not small. We should have some peace and quiet for a while… But, with Eterians everywhere, I doubt we will". That was true, at least one Voltar had his head where it was supposed to be. I said, "Alright, thanks for the… Whatever it is. I still have to collect the supplies from that Litral, then we are off to Sedon".

Shak stopped me, and said "Don't bother, she is useless and will lose that position soon. As for the supplies? I'm the one who does that. Most of those fat and lazy Voltars have no idea about logistics. They pushed it onto me, but they pay for it from their own private money. I already prepared a few carts of supplies. You didn't come alone, which is surprising. I have no clue how you managed to convince Atols, but you did".

I replied, "That's great. In that case, I will need to return to Sedon as soon as possible. Although most of the Royal Army left, the Atols should fill that gap by a bit… Can I ask you something?". Shak was surprised by my sudden seriousness, but nodded his head. I asked, "What do you think about Golems?". He leaned back in his chair, then replied "Not that well to be honest. Those that don't take sides, can usually affect such war greatly. Golems are strategically positioned behind our defensive lines. If they chose to support Eterians... ".

'So he has similar thoughts to mine' I thought. Shak continued "Don't get me wrong. Golems were usually rather indifferent, so they may simply stay out of it. The question is, can we afford that variable?". I nodded my head, and replied "That is what I thought. I will visit Golems, and try to probe something out of them. If I deem them enemies… I will destroy them".

Shak closed his eyes. He thought for a while, then said "The Voltic Orb I gave you, is really rare and hard to produce. Besides, it will not work on Golems that much". I smiled while replying, "There is no need for another, I have my own methods". He smiled as well, "It seems you do. After all, Avaians could attest to that, if they existed... The supplies will be waiting for you at the gate soon. Take a rest first. If you need something personally, let me know. We can work something out".

I thought about it, and there was something I needed. With that in mind, I replied "There is something. I need shields". He thought about it, and asked "Shields? How many do you need?". I replied "Around 60, if I could get a shield for each and every Atol, that would be the best outcome". Shak thought about it, then said "That's quite a lot". I took out a few of my better medicines, and threw them at him. "How many of them do you want for those shields?".

He smiled, and check the medicine out. "This one is not bad, I think they even better than before. I will provide all the shields for your Atols, in exchange I want 40 of such bottles". I replied "Deal", and threw him 40 more bottles. He laughed, "I thought you were going to barter a bit". I shook my head while saying, "I don't need to. Besides, this medicine will help you as well". Although I gave him pretty much all that I had, Sedon's crops would be able to refill that. 'I'm also in possession of the methods to grow those rarer herbs. With their help, I will have access to stronger medicine as well as poison' I thought.

Shak added, "The shields will be waiting together with your supplies. Hopefully, we can meet again. Until then my friend". I bid him farewell as well, and left. The Atols were resting just outside the gate, which was a weird sight. Voltars were nice enough to provide them with food and other necessities. The five strongest Atols came over, and expressed their thanks. I replied with a smile, "Wait until you get your new shields". They looked at me confused, while one of them asked "New shields?".

I nodded, "Yes. I paid quite a bit for that, but all of you will have shields. Back at Sedon, you will learn how to fight with their use. Arrows shouldn't pose more problems for you guys, but the weapons you use are not the best. We will need to upgrade them as well. That's for later though". They thanked me, and left to convey my message to others. They had to be well equipped, just like the soldiers from the Royal Army. Otherwise, their unit would be useless. I planned to make them stronger, a lot stronger.

For that, I had a secret weapon. The Blood Yarn. 'With its use, I can increase the overall strength of our army. If I train the remaining Lizards and Atols well, I will have two Elite Units at my disposal. Shades need to be trained too, but I will mostly train Crow's people. With that, he will have more strength after the war' I thought. My plans were slowly getting into motion, and if everything went well, we would win that war.