The tunnel leading up the mountain was still in the dark of the night. Nothing moved around the entrance and after sneaking in cloaked in my shadows, I found it completely empty. For the first few turns, that was. After less than a minute of walking, the first defensive structures came into view. Without my night vision, I would have no chance of spotting it. Even then, I mostly found the place had been changed through my shadows being hindered from proceeding further. I decided this was far enough up any light would not leak outside and pulled out a vis crystal to inspect the trap.

The goblins had built a very simple construction on the stone ground and covered it up in gravel. Without any knowledge of how the place looked before, one might think it simply the structure of this particular spot of tunnel. My magical senses spotted nothing either. Only after a minute of looking at it in detail, I finally noticed some spikes jutting out between the gravel. They were made of the white wood the goblins liked to use and most likely coated in poison. Someone stepping on the small rocks was likely to push them around and if their soles were too thin they would get poked in their foot.

I looked like an effective first hindrance not quite betraying the presence of sapients but still capable of slowing down the first attackers. I simply flew above. My wings nearly touched one of the walls but the trap was not very long and I quickly got past it. I hid most of my crystal’s glow in the cover of liquid darkness and proceeded further.

The next trap was much more obvious and less of a trap than a pure hindrance. Wooden stakes had been pushed into the walls, ceiling and floor, creating a deadly wall of poisoned spikes. I could see the rotten paste smeared onto the tips. That made me wonder how the goblins could dig these into the stone. Did they have some way to cleanly push them in, or what?

I could not find a spot to squeeze through the obstacle and reluctantly spent some vis to shift past. There was another, similar trap two turns later, this one with fewer spikes. Instead, a few gaps were left and I spotted a wooden barrier behind with two goblins manning it. I recognized Luk with his bow in hand, probably having heard my approach. An arrow was nocked by him and the other guard but they had not pulled the strings back, yet. When I stepped into the light of their post, coming from directly behind the goblins, Luk gave a soft sigh and relaxed his stance. I hooted quietly in greeting and connected to his mind.

“I’m back!”, I sent.

The goblin nodded.

“Welcome back, Fio. What’s the situation like outside?”

This time I could squeeze past the wood just barely. While being careful not to break any of the spikes on my metal body, I informed Luk of the orks’ movements and my most recent actions.

“You might get some trouble, soon”, I finished.

“That’s fine. Go on. The sooner you’re done, the better.”

I nodded in agreement. The other goblin stood there, slightly confused. He still kept his eyes trained on the tunnel, which I found respectable. They had some discipline. Troubled times make for good watchmen, it seemed. As I continued up the tunnel, I heard Luk relay my information to his fellow guardsgoblin.

A few more barriers blocked my way. These were equipped with even fewer spikes and a more sturdy barrier. There was a door in goblin size in everyone and a single archer, as well as one goblin with a spear, stood behind, looking down the tunnel through small gaps. They let me through easily with a single metallic hoot and an exchanged nod.

After a much slower ascent to the goblin village than normal, I found myself before the final door. This one had six goblins standing behind with spears in hand. They were all ready to drench their weapons in poison or acid or whatever Roguk had come up with this time. The alchemist had just come by to bring them their lunch and I greeted him with a hoot. He gave me a weak smile and, after distributing the bowls he was carrying, beckoned me to follow.

We arrived at the village square with about half the goblins currently eating. Chef had was just sitting scooping the last two bowls for Roguk and himself. They sat down together right next to Ira, the old weaver. I formed a connection and sent a greeting to everyone before leaving them to their food.

I looked around as the goblins ate. There was a palpable tension in the faces and bodies. Muscles tensed, half-smiles that failed to reach the goblins’ eyes and hushed voices. Even the food was devoured quickly, some of them soon leaving to whatever they were doing. The leadership trio was last to finish and once they were finally done, we came together for another small discussion.

I relayed the information on the ork movements and what I had done just before coming here. When I told them about stealing mana from the fire node, Chef scowled.

“Anyone see ya?”, he asked.

“No. They would likely guess it was me but from the guards’ behaviour, that won’t happen before the next shift comes. Even then, they would have to understand how the golems function, which I believe to be unlikely.”

“Unlikely?”, Ira asked, “You’re betting on an unlikely?”

“Thaumaturges don’t share knowledge with the uninitiated. Even then, they tightly guard the finer details. That unlikely might as well be an impossible.”

She scoffed.

“It is not unlikely, however, for the thaumaturge to check on his node regularly. I assume we have until morning before that. Even then, they don’t seem to have found the tunnel. There’s always the chance the orks will stumble upon it before anything else comes into play.”

Roguk nodded.

“We’ll move on with the plan. You can move the node, Fio?”

“Yes. Most likely. I had to improvise a little with the glass but there’s no reason for my solution not to work.”

Ira glared. Roguk and Chef did not look perfectly happy either. Maybe I should have been less honest, there?

“I’ll just get to it. The digging will be the biggest issue. If I overcharge on flux, the plan is ruined. I need to make a sizeable hole directly around the node. I have some wood scraps to throw on top that will hopefully slow down the formation of more stone.”

The alchemist steeled his mien. He nodded to me.

“You’re in here with us. If this plan doesn’t work out, you’ll be just as trapped. That’s why I trust you.”

“Unless they come charging up while I’m overcharged, I’m not really trapped. Still, thank you. If things look like they won’t work out, I’ll retreat and recover before starting to pick off the orks in the valley. That’s my plan at least.”

The mood was not much more positive but at least it was not devastated, either. I asked if there was anything else to talk about and, after a set of declining head-shakes, disconnected the supersensory matrix. It would not help to create even more flux. I double-checked my storage space. There was my oversized jar, my wand and a few pieces of scrap from making the lid. Everything I needed and nothing extra. My storage would be able to take about a quarter of the jar’s volume. With the ratio of energy to destroy half the dug material, I would not have any problem sustaining the beam. That meant the same amount again had to be devoured unless my trick with the wood worked for blocking the growing stone and I could deliver a pile of material outside. I hoped I could withstand that much flux.

I walked up the tunnel, Roguk on my tufts. He would keep an eye on me and if I collapsed from overcharge, try to bring me back down to the village. Or at least inform everyone.

When I reached the clean curved wall formed by the node, I found it not much further down the tunnel than before. It looked like the nearly three weeks since the last time was just enough to fill the hole I dug. I levelled my gaze and pulled the excavation focus into my eye. The vision on my right gained a green tint as I carefully aimed at where I expected the centre of the sphere. I started digging without any further ceremony and slowly started to feel the stone fill up my storage. I had to dig a little more to create a space for me to stand inside. The node also constantly rebuilt some material, counteracting my efforts. It was not much but it might matter in the end.

It took about fifteen minutes before I had found it once more. The node showed up in the hole I was digging with its green shine of earth mana. I pushed a tendril of shadows through the hole and drained a tiny bit of mana directly. That would hopefully stop the forming of stone just long enough for me to dig what I needed without compromising its effectiveness after repositioning.

I got lost in the process after I had enough space for me to stand close to the node. Bit by bit, I dug through the stone, making sure to keep the node in the centre of my little hole. The wood scraps were soon placed around it. I had cut them to be able to form a hollow cube when put together. Holding that up with my shadows turned out to be quite easy.

After what felt like hours and probably had been, I finally took a short break to assess the situation. My storage was full and my flux level rising. It was not too bad, considering how much stone I had devoured, but I could only go for another hour or two at most. The room I stood in was just a little wider than the jar, with the floor even to give it a clear place to stand. I needed to take some more material from the ceiling and dig myself a compartment from where I could place the jar and lid. It should be doable.

A look inside the wooden box showed it had been successful. Stone had grown just around the node and in two spots even touched the wood. I decided to keep it there for the time being and continued my work.

When my flux levels got close to full, I was finally done. Carefully, I placed the jar in the small stone chamber. It stood nearly touching the walls in many spots around the price. The wooden lid somehow was pulled out of my storage to perfectly fit on top of the clear glass. Then, I took out my silverwood wand.

Now was the moment of truth. Not hesitating to make sure the node could not grow any more stone, I tapped the wand to the jar. Reality cracked with a sound I had heard before. The same shrill ringing had rung out when I activated the infusion altar. I was tired but still tried to observe the process. My magical senses soon gave up due to the overload of flux. I only saw how the primal vis shot into the glass and swirled around in mesmerizing patterns for a moment. I gave up on understanding for the moment. The next Nod in a Jar would be made with me able to fully focus. This was for saving the goblins, not research.

That did not stop me from observing the mundane sights. The glass turned slightly opaque, not milky white, more like a foggy grey. The wood on top fused together as if it was taken from a single log. Then, reality complained with a hissing noise as the world seemed to shrink in around the node. Within less than a second, the cracking sound returned and the distortion disappeared, leaving behind a floating jar just like the ones I used for essentia. Inside, a green star glowed and pulsated. I sunk down on the ground and let my shadows carefully poke it. The key to the goblins’ safety dropped and for a moment I could almost feel a panicked heartbeat in my metal body. Then, the glass hit the ground with a thunk and… just stood there. It did not shatter, not even bounce. Tired, I let out a quiet hoot to answer Roguk’s worried questions. He was concerned about me. How nice.

It took me almost an hour to get the energy to stand up. I gingerly held the Node in a Jar in my shadows and showed it to Roguk through the tiny hole looking in on my room. Now, I only had to clog the lower tunnel by releasing the node there.

Wait… How long would that take?