All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 295: Hot Pursuit

Chapter 295: Hot Pursuit

After Daedalus finished telling his story, and everyone had recovered slightly we looked around. We werent entirely sure why the Lieutenants had picked this place to meet. Was it just for an ambush, or was there some other reason?

Aside from the entrance tunnel, there were a few more ruins that we found in the area. In the center of the massive stone dome, there was a summoning circle made similarly to the one wed found in the mansion back in the capital. Beatrice and Archibald both spent some time copying down its appearance and discussing the symbols.

I also scanned and compared them myself. An analysis revealed that there were certainly variations between the two, but at least enough commonalities to determine that they used the same language.

As we studied the magic circle and Beatrice continued healing Archibald, Daedalus got to work on his own task -- getting back out of here. After his harrowing tale, we both knew there was no way he'd get in the dustbin again. Not for a fraction of a second. And that meant getting out of the tunnel the hard way.

Luckily, the hole I'd left in the top of the mountain provided a good starting spot. It wasn't nearly large enough for him to squeeze through, but it was better than nothing. He got to work blasting the opening with flame as I kept the interior of the mountain cool with Air Manipulation.

It took longer than I'd wanted, but we eventually made it out. All that was left was to find the trail of the two Lieutenants.

I had figured that a trail of shadow and death wouldn't have been too hard to follow, as neither of those elements were abundant in the areas around us. However, the shadows seemed to have some hidden properties, making it difficult for us to tell what was going on. We were able to tell the general direction of the two of them headed, but that was it.

We started heading off in that vector, but it just led us further and further away from the capital. And after a couple of hours, Beatrice was starting to get worried about what was happening back home.

Archibald and Daedalus wanted to continue on themselves, but they were not confident in fighting two lieutenants together, especially not the extremely defensive Death Knight Lieutenant and the Shadow Lieutenant that had given Archibald so much trouble. Their most recent levels had made them slightly stronger, and Daedalus certainly seemed even more powerful, but he still hadn't been able to finish off the Lieutenant completely. Without the ability to completely remove one of them from the fight, everything was going to be a lot more difficult. So, after some debate, we decided to continud following the trail.

That night, we made camp on the other side of the mountain ranges in a flat, expansive grassland stretching out to the horizon. Occasionally, we were able to determine some trace of the Lieutenants, but nothing enough to actually tell where they were going or how long they'd been gone. We could only pursue their general direction. Already we were outside of the kingdom's borders and passing into a no man's land.

Beatrice explained that it was unclaimed territory for a while, as this grassland was not sufficiently nutrient-dense to support human habitation. The great sea of grass was only inhabited by tribes of wandering nomads, as they followed the roving bands of monsters through which they hunted for both levels and meat. On the other side of the sea, there was a country that actually did share a border with the kingdom but wrapped all the way around the plains.

It appears that the demons were headed there. That is, if they had actually come this way at all. It was possible we were just falling for a misleading trail.

If they were going to that country, why? What was their purpose? They could just be trying to get as far away as possible. But it felt like they have a destination in mind. Did they have contacts there? People that they could trust? Or was that country too taken over by a Lieutenant? I wasn't sure which of the remaining ones would have the ability to take over the kingdom like this one did. The illusion Lieutenant was unique. Still, we had to see.

The next morning we pressed onward, with Beatrice riding on her carpet and Daedalus carrying Archibald. They both managed to keep up with me at a reasonable pace, aided by my Air Manipulation to help the winds carry them along. It was later that day when we started to finally see signs of habitation, border villages in the sparse trees that started to appear occasionally.

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As we made to leave the great sea of grass, I scanned the area. Small farms stood outside the villages that were clearly no centers of trade, but just small agricultural communities. They didnt even have roads connected to them.

As Beatrices carpet hovered to a halt, she frowned. "It's clear where they're going. They're headed right for the capital of Barleona. I think we need to decide what we want to do next before we follow."

"We go after them, of course," Archibald said. "You want to come all this way to turn back?"

Beatrice shook her head. "No. But we have to consider if we want to cause an international incident about this, or if we want to go secretly. Or should we be concerned that they're laying a trap and we've left the capital vulnerable?"

I did some quick math, trying to figure out the odds, and realized we may have made a blunder. With all of us here, both the castle and the capital back in the kingdom were vulnerable. I didn't believe they were going after the castle, but if they were? The Warden and Arthur, while quite formidable, were not up to the task of taking on one Lieutenant, let alone two.

"The real question is, could we make it back in time if this was a trap?" I asked. I was pretty confident we weren't falling for some trick, but Beatrice was right. Following our enemies into another kingdoms capital seemed too risky. But at the same time, we had already come this far. If we had fallen into another trap, then it might already be too late. I didn't want to believe it, but it was true.

I explained my thought process, and Beatrice seemed to agree, though worry etched her face. Archibald and Daedalus both seemed somber as well. We had to believe that the trail was real.

As we continued onto the trail, occasionally finding hints of the death and shadows wrapped together.

It was a day and a half later when we finally reached the foreign capital. The trail had led us directly here, but in the city, I sensed no trace of the demons. Of course, we were far enough away that my sensors might not be sensitive enough, but I feared that they may have lost us.

Archibald and Daedalus stayed out of range, while Beatrice and I dipped down to the ground to enter the city discreetly. We walked through the gates with no problem as I warped the light around me. I wasn't able to understand the language for the first several minutes as my processor worked to decode it, but luckily it wasn't an issue. Beatrice seemed thoroughly confused, but she just nodded along whenever they tried to speak to her and walked past them. No one stopped her for more than a moment or two.

I scoured the city as we walked through the streets, looking for any sort of sign that the demons were here, but finding nothing. The streets were acceptably clean, but not so clean that there should have been no trail to follow at all. It seemed that they had found some way to hide their trail and mask their presence. Or perhaps they weren't here anymore, and they had just left no trail on their way out.

I was examining people with my sole sight too, as we walked through the streets, finding none of the implanted demons I had found in the kingdom's capital. That was good, at least. Everyone had smudges, but they were not any worse than the average person I had met in the kingdom. And I didn't have any reason to believe that they were harboring demons. Beatrice agreed with my assessment, and we made our way to the central palace to check the leadership. If anyone had been corrupted or subverted in any way, it would be there.

As we made our way to the palace, guards blocked anyone from entering. Beatrice kept walking down a side street, but I slipped away and zipped up and over the wall, beginning to scan people inside. To my relief, I didn't find anything major. I was happy that people were not living under demonic rule, but at the same time, I couldn't find any trace of where the Lieutenants had been. The trail had clearly led here, but I was starting to lose hope that we'd actually find them.

My subroutines picked up a few interesting conversations throughout the area, though. One in particular involved two seemingly important military officials, walking down the hall together, deep in conversation. I didn't get the full context, but the conversation was easy enough to decode.

"You're up for rotation next on the site," the senior officer said to his junior.

The junior officer cringed. "Why? What have I done?"

"It's not a punishment detail. And you're only going to be there for two days instead of the standard week."

The other man sighed. "I suppose that's okay. But what happened to it?"

"Well," the senior officer said, "it's been such an effective motivator that we haven't had anyone to punish for a while. So we're shortening the shift down to only two days and trying to rotate out people quickly enough.

Yeah, those creatures just give me the heebie-jeebies," the junior officer said as they went into a locked room. They were far enough away that I didn't take advantage of slipping in behind them. That conversation alone told me more than enough to know that something was wrong.

I headed out of the palace to find Beatrice, and together we started to head out of the city. Once we were outside, I relayed the information to Daedalus and Archibald.

"Well, I guess your country wasn't the only one consorting with demons," Daedalus snorted. "The question is, how influential are they here?"