Half an hour later, Wolfe had all the Representatives gathered on the helicopter, along with four witches to serve drinks and help with the miscellaneous tasks needed when they were busy in the middle of a brainstorming session.
Once she realized how much chaos this outing was going to be, Cassie had dropped off the food and volunteered the other four to take her place. The Representatives had left their assistants behind in town, so they didn't get in the way when they were working, and to keep the helicopter from getting cluttered.
There was more than enough space, but once they started to work, everyone would forget about the hapless assistants, and there was a good chance that they would get themselves hurt if they were wandering around outside the helicopter when the group started to rearrange the terrain.
"Well, I must say, the hospitality here is incredible. How did you manage to find four white witches on such short notice?" One of the Fae asked.
Wolfe hadn't noticed that they were, he couldn't tell the difference. But these four were all young witches, awakened in Forest Grove, so they wouldn't have had a reason to be anything else. Witches with combat training were becoming increasingly rare within the city, at least among the youngest generation.
Instead, the beastkin were taking up the mantle of guards with their newly awakening magical abilities, which left the witches to take care of nature.
"Cassie is superb at finding what we need before we ask for it. It's a talent of hers. We're all aware of how the Fae feel about white witches." Wolfe replied.
He motioned for the pilot to take off, and the aircraft tilted slightly, but not enough to knock the snacks off the trays. That was probably due to magical assistance, but the atmosphere of a boardroom eting in a cargo hold remained undisturbed, and the representatives quietly discussed what they would like to add to the environnt to keep the ferals and the visitors occupied.
The mountains in the autumn were a beautiful sight, full of brightly coloured trees and falling leaves, mixed with stands of coniferous trees that remained green all year round. The helicopter passed over a few ridgelines, following the low ground to their destination, and moving into an increasingly remote region of the mountain range.
There was no good reason to co here, and the terrain was incredibly rugged, with only scattered signs of monsters.
But when they crossed the last ridge and arrived over the bowl of the valley that they had picked for the target, they realized that they weren't the first to cast a spell on the area.
There was a stack of Rage Curses sitting in the valley, next to the lake. The One World Army must not have realized that the monsters couldn't get out, and they had marked this as one of their targets for monster enhancent.
That might explain the ongoing monster tide in the Free Covens, which were almost straight west of here. Nobody had thought that they would drop the curses so far from civilization, where the monsters might not find a target that mattered for years, if at all.
But the proof was in front of them, and the monsters that were in the valley were all Rank Three and Four now, with only a few Rank One and Rank Two cubs.
One of the Fae cast a cleansing spell to shatter the curses on general principle, and the group began to survey the situation.
"There was sothing here. It's destroyed now, but I think it was a lake house. I don't see any traces of magic, but there is sothing unnatural there." One of the Demons noted.
Wolfe checked the spot he was pointing toward and sighed.
"You're right, it was a lake house, or possibly a mountain villa, if the lake didn't exist before the continent was rearranged during the war. What you are sensing are Null Stone munitions that were used against the building's defences when they ca to kill the Magi.
I will fly down and see if there is anything salvageable there. An inactive mory crystal, a few books, anything would be valuable to from a historical perspective. The true records from before the war have almost all been destroyed, and the more that I can piece back together, the better." Wolfe explained.
"We will help you, but are you certain that this place is still suitable, if there is a war morial here?" One of the Demons asked.
"As long as there aren't any precious items left, we can record the state of the houses and leave them here. If the spell works as intended, the repeated ti resets will actually help preserve the ruins." Wolfe replied.
"Oh, that is a good point. Subjectively, they will be nearly frozen in ti, but objectively, to the rest of the world, the years will continue to pass. That's actually a brilliant exploit." A young-
looking Elven woman agreed.
She was Rank Eight, so she was definitely not as young as she looked compared to human aging, but she was certainly younger than the other Elf in the group, who looked old enough to be her grandfather.
Actually, they might be related sohow, but Wolfe had never asked.
"Pilot, land in the clearing, and we will head over to inspect the ruins. If we find any treasures, we will have you safeguard them while we work. I will also gather the null stone so that it isn't collected by the invaders." Wolfe instructed.
The elderly Elven Prince smirked. "Or you could leave a few bits of it around as prizes. That stuff is toxic, and it will slowly kill the one who has it. They'll never realize that their Antimagic trophy is sucking the life out of them until the healing spells stop working."
"That's positively evil. I like it. We can leave so that is embedded into walls and such. They will know to look there, and it will give them a clue as to the fact it is a deadly weapon, but no idea how to use it properly." Wolfe chuckled.
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