NOVEL WEB 295. The Deadlands
They ran through the plains through the sun-dappled day and the moon-silvered night. An entire week passed before the grasses grew lower and gave way to first, slender trees, then full forests.
As they entered the forest, Wisp leaned toward Ike. "Don't look now, but I think we're being followed."
Ike gave her a deadpan stare. "No, really?"
Both of them turned back.
In the near distance, one of the riders stood in the grass. The feather on her helmet drifted in the wind, and her horse stood nobly against the skyline. She stared at them, and they stared at her.
Since they'd met the riders, this one had followed them. She'd kept her distance, following them at a fixed length regardless of whether they sped up or slowed down. Once, Ike had instructed Mag to swoop her, only for her to calmly pull out a bow and arrow and take aim. Mag had taken the better part of valor and retreated, and she'd put her bow back away. She wasn't interested in attacking, just in following.
"Do you think she's gonna follow us in here?" Wisp asked.
Ike shrugged. "She's probably our nanny to make sure we don't slip past the riders on the way out. She might."
Wisp nodded at the girl. "Why do you think they were spared from puppetification?"
Turning back around, Ike shrugged, talking as he walked into the woods. "I dunno. Maybe they were too fast. Maybe they settled here after the puppetification. Maybe Brightbriar stopped at the boundary of the region, and this is technically beyond the boundary."
"It's odd how much he pays attention to regional boundaries," Wisp commented. She gestured. "If I were a powerful dude with a puppet army and the ability to turn anyone into puppets, I wouldn't just conquer one or two regions. I'd conquer one and spread outward, like a virus, mindless of any boundaries."
Ike twisted his lips, thinking. "I don't know. Maybe he was afraid of the other regions retaliating? He did have a pretty good infiltration technique. Better to target one region at a time, then move on to the next when he has the power to fully focus on that one."
"But wouldn't the other regions get scared and fight back? I know Scar explained it, but even so… seems pretty weird," Wisp commented. "He's got a tireless army that can replace the opposing army with almost no indicators. His puppets can easily infiltrate any city, and attack from within and without at the same time. It's honestly a terrifyingly overwhelming power. He should have swept this entire continent, let alone this region. He's clearly holding back for something. But what?"
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"Yeah, I don't know. I agree that it's suspicious, for sure. We still don't have enough of the picture when it comes to Brightbriar," Ike replied. Everything Wisp said was correct. In fact, they were things he, himself, had wondered about in the dark hours, when everything was quiet. What was Brightbriar's goal? Why hadn't he conquered this region already? The king was blithely unaware of the encroaching threat, and didn't seem interested in finding out, either. If what Brightbriar really wanted was to conquer the region, he could have done it already. Hell, he might even have… but somehow, Ike suspected he hadn't. Why not? Was it something he was afraid of, or something he wanted?
He lifted his head, gazing ahead of them. On top of the mental skill Wisp was going to show him, there was another benefit to charging ahead. If they saw what Brightbriar had done, maybe there would be a hint as to his ultimate goal.
Or maybe he's just a megalomaniacal guy, who wants to control the whole region, and he's just too lazy to roll through it at his peak potential speed. Even as he thought it, Ike dismissed it. That made no sense. The longer Brightbriar waited, the slower he went, the more he lost the element of surprise. The regions could share information about his puppets, and his sudden attack would be much less surprising, and easier to defend against. Sure, it still wouldn't be a sure thing that any given region would survive, let alone win, but the regions would be able to fight back better and slow Brightbriar's advance.
Hypothetically, anyways. His region sure didn't seem to care too much about Brightbriar's advance, so maybe he was the one who was thinking about this too much. Maybe this was normal. After all, he wasn't even two decades old. For all he knew, Brightbriar's advance counted as lightning speed to mages.
But there's one thing I can figure out right now. Ike turned back. He looked their tail in the eyes and gestured. "Come on. Let's chat."
The rider stared at him. After a long second, she pointed at herself.
"Yeah, you. Up here, come on. We don't have to be at a standoff like this. Let's have a little conversation," Ike invited her.
She hesitated, then turned her horse and trotted over to them. From horseback, she gazed down on Ike and Wisp.
"Hey there. Since you're going to travel with us, whether we like it or not, I figured we might as well get to know one another. I'm Ike, and this is Wisp. That's Mag, way up there. And you are?" Ike asked with a friendly smile.
"Shh, don't ask her name. It's easier to eat the ones without names," Wisp muttered.
Ike elbowed her, still wearing a friendly smile on his face. He nodded at the rider. "Your name?"
She hesitated for another moment. At last, in a brusque tone, she said, "Palio."
"Nice to meet you, Palio. Do you want to come down, or…" Your journey continues on My Virtual Library Empire
Her hands blurred. A spear appeared, its blade inches from Ike's face.
Ike put his hands up. "Okay, okay. Sorry."
Wisp crossed her arms and shook her head at Ike. "Don't be ridiculous. How's a centaur supposed to dismount?"
Palio and Ike both whipped around to face Wisp. Ike was the first to speak. "A centaur?"