Chapter 12

They approached Wangaratta and noted the sentries on the tall gums with approval. There was no need to deviate from their line and chat with the sentries. Mary had told them that Wangaratta had a similar setup to her town. The lookout would call ahead and they would be met at the gate.

His fourth feather segment finished and he started the final one, genuinely excited about what the benefits were going to be once he finished the last part. After all, he had paid a lot for it.

They had left the Hume and were walking in a straight line towards the town centre. First, they went through a cavern park. Things in this part of the city had not gone smoothly during the transition. Something large had gone through the place. There were small cabins along with the caravans and remnants of tents. Some cabins looked like something big had stepped on them. Others like an elephant had used them as a scratching post, and the cheap construction had crumbled. Beyond the park, there was a more traditional neighbourhood of houses and the destruction continued for half a block. Fifteen of them, all showed signs of structural damage. Adrian imagined two titans fighting anime style with no regard for collateral devastation.

Adrian did not panic. Mary had been clear that Wangaratta had got through the transition intact. Beyond this wrecked section, he expected to find a thriving city centre.

Ahead was another makeshift wall. Superhuman strength and useless cars made the major building blocks. Abruptly, a large group filed out of the abandoned houses on either side of the street thirty metres from the wall and eighty metres from Adrian and his companions. There were almost forty of them.

Adrian kept walking, waiting to see how the tense situation was going to play out.

“That’s far enough.” A blond bearded man called out. There were still about sixty metres separating them. The town was playing cautiously even with their significant number advantage. They looked competent, with the majority holding bows with the casual confidence of people who knew how to use them.

“We are friends,” Mike their nominated spokesperson for the encounter shouted back.

“We are the Alpha Warriors,” Andrew said quietly with a couple of giggles.

“Why are you here?”

“We want to get to Melbourne?”

More than a few of the Wangaratta group laughed.

From this distance, his thief hearing only caught a couple of words. ‘Closed,’ ‘Echidna,’ ‘Crazy.’ The leader glared at those who had spoken out of turn in anger. The blond leader appeared to have anger problems.

“What are your intentions?”

“We were thinking about helping you out with anything you needed and then hopefully leave in the morning.” There was more laughter from the other group.

“It might be best if you go around.”

“Mary at Springhurst said you were welcoming.”

“The Springhurst delegation didn’t come in enough force to wipe the town off the map.”

“We can’t help our levels,” Mike shouted back. “What do you expect us to do?”

“Go around and camp elsewhere.”

Mike was looking visibly frustrated. “This is bullshit!” Charlotte placed a hand on his back and he instantly calmed.

“We cleared the meerkats,” Jules yelled suddenly. “And before that the shintopurs.” Silence greeted those pronouncements. “We are going to Melbourne, but we will help towns we go through.”

“Go Alpha Warriors,” Andrew quipped, but soft enough so that the other group could not hear.

“We don’t need any help,” the spokesman snapped. “On your way.” All forty of their bows were suddenly knocked and pointed at them. Adrian wondered if they realised how pointless that massed firepower actually was. He could be amongst them in just moments. Numbers these days were rarely a deciding factor.

His identification finished scanning, and their opponents lacked both networked, ranged and magic defences. Hell, a single one of Jules’s lightning storms would tear them to bits.

“Enough,” a woman’s voice said. It wasn’t a yell, but it reached everyone’s ears. “They are welcome.”

“Kiyoko, what are you doing here?”

“Fixing your mistake,” Kiyoko said quietly, using her magic meant that he could hear her clearly. “Put your weapons away. These are our guests.”

The woman, Kiyoko, walked forward and the massed groups parted and Adrian caught sight of her. She was an ancient, tiny Japanese woman.

“You don’t have the authority.” The spokesman bluntly claimed.

Kiyoko continued walking with the guards parted around her presence. “Of course I do, Geoff,” she said, going on tiptoes to pat the large blond man on the cheek. “I know you are still angry over axeman, but not all strangers are like that.”

The old lady finally got within range of his identification.

Level 12 Oracle

This class gains insights into the bigger picture threats. While not able to divine the future, they can create a solid map of the present to forecast future events with a high level of probabilities.

It was basically a version of his badge champion of humanity with fewer restrictions. The higher the level, the more complicated forecast models they could build.

“You do not have the power to make this call.” The leader of the group that had greeted them continued gamely.

“Of course I do, dear.”

The bearded man grimaced uncomfortably. “Kiyoko. The council has put me in charge of defence. You can’t…”

Kiyoko stopped and stilled his tongue with a simple glare. “Geoff, the council will back me, and you know it.” Her gaze held till he nodded an acknowledgment. With a small smile, she turned away and kept walking toward Adrian and his group. “Are you coming?” she asked Adrian directly. Her voice cut through the air and delivered itself straight to his ears.

Adrian looked at his friends, and it was clear they had heard as well. In fact, he suspected magic had brought the entire exchange to their ears. Kiyoko, or one of her allies had wanted them to hear everything. After all, he had not engaged his thief skills, and he still overheard Kiyoko and Geoff’s private conversation. Without magic, that wasn’t possible. With helpless shrugs, they started walking forward.

Geoff, with his blond beard, furs and axes looked like a Viking. All he lacked was the horns out of his helmets. His attitude matched that picture, with his nostrils flaring and his eyes glaring at them continuously. The rest of Geoff’s team had relaxed and shifted out of their agonistic posture. Kiyoko obviously had a lot of power.

Once they were close to the other group. Mike sped up to take the lead, striding straight up to the oracle. “Thank you for the intervention.”

Kiyoko ignored Mike and Adrian discovered she was looking straight at him.

“Geoff, escort the others into town and give them full hospitality. In the meantime, I would like to talk to Adrian privately.”

Shit, she knew his name.

“This way guys,” Geoff said. His eyes were hard, but that blazing anger had at least been suppressed. “I’ll get you quarters, food and drink.”

Everyone started moving, excluding Jules. Who stubbornly held her ground. Adrian wished Jaracol was still available to communicate with him to give him a clue.

Kiyoko raised a single eyebrow at the berserker.

“I will be right,” Adrian said finally.

After all, despite her presence, she was only a level twelve.

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