I reappeared back in our camp in the gorge. I felt the flood of relief among those gathered through our bonds and I smiled and waved to everyone before settling down with my inner circle, which now included the six Nanook’s. In their human forms of course. “Well guys, I got to speak to our old friend Egard. I hope you don’t mind, but I took the liberty of demanding that they let us use the tunnels into the fort and I’d let the matter drop with them. I know it’s risky trusting them , but I figure there's enough of us to protect ourselves and I’m not opposed to filling a tunnel with Ethereal energy if needs be. So honestly, I’m not too concerned.”

“And he said yes to that?” Danivra asked. Her surprise was clear.

“Ah well, not yet. But I think he will. He’s gotta go and speak to either Darkness or his King. I expect to hear from him soon.

“So will fighting on two fronts from within and without not help?” Sania asked.

“I’m confident in our forces. I think we could make a hell of a dent in Justice's troops. But casualties would be huge and the amount of help from within the fort would be minimal. Seriously, those guys are weak and wasting away to nothing. Most of the people in there are just sitting around waiting for death. The last bloody thing I want to do is go back in their tunnels, but I’ll swallow my pride to save those people. It's not good in there. We need to look at trying to take food in there, too.”

Grigor shook his head. “The entire area has been stripped from Justice’s army. We would have to hunt much further afield.”

“Fucking pricks,” I muttered. “It’s a damn shame I can't bring food back from Far Reach. That would solve a few of our problems.”

“I've been thinking about that,” Sania said.

“You have?” I asked in surprise and intrigued. Not that Sania didn’t think, but it was rare she deviated from whatever we were in the middle of.

“Yes. When you returned the first time, you didn't turn up naked, did you?”

“I didn't.”

“So could it be that whatever you transport with returns with you.”

“While that makes sense, it still wouldn't help with the food situation because he could only return with food he takes. And we still don’t have any spare,” Grigor said

I suspected I knew what she was driving at though I let her spell it out for everyone.

“That’s not quite what I mean, Grigor. If I’m right and this was going to work, it would mean Clive would have to stay at Far Reach until his Protectorate power resets. As much as I don’t want you to stay there for a full day without me, if it meant you could transport here with food, then it would be a worthwhile endeavor.”

“To be fair, it’s a fucking awesome idea, Sania. “I’ll take some stuff with me on my next jump there, and if I appear in Far Reach with it all, I’ll know. If not, then I’ll just come back again. Pretty certain it’ll work though, because I rocked up with my cleaver each time I’ve used the power, too.”

“The Cleaver is bound to you,” Danivra said. “That may make a difference, so it will still be worth testing your ability to carry items. You should also contact your two clerics there to let them know what you need.”

I snapped my fingers together, “great idea, Dani. I love it.

Rella cleared her throat, normally so quiet at least around me. I was intrigued by what she had to say.

“If you’re able to speak with my father, he may be able to produce bow staves from the Far Reach Hearth Tree for Zalen and his people. It will help our overall abilities dramatically and will also provide them with a link to their new home, which will enrich them beyond the acquisition of weapons.”

I nodded my agreement. “Damn right that would help. What about arrows?”

“You can get some if it’s possible, but with a Hearth Tree bow, they will have the link and the energy to create the arrows they need from wood we find.

“Honestly, I could do with some proper swords for the goblins as well,” I said.

“Speak with Hek,” Danivra said. “We may have spare weapons, as I’m sure my people will have begun creating again if there has been time. At least half of the Goblins are unarmed now after the last two battles. While some weapons were retrieved from the fallen forces of Justice, it was not nearly enough.”

“You’d give the goblins Dokalfar weapons?” Galota asked with a troubled expression.

“Of course, Danivra. They are Far Reach now and they fight just as bravely as anyone here even if they are the weakest among us. Consider also, that one day, these six hundred goblins may be six hundred Bugbears like Freeler.”

“He is the first Bugbear I have met,” Galota replied. “He is capable,”

I held back a smirk. I didn’t know Galota well yet, but I knew capable to him meant that Freeler was a fucking legend in battle, which to be fair, he absolutely was.

“Okay, I’ll speak with Sazor and Johan now, and they can pass on the messages. I can't travel again for another 24 hours, so it should give them a bit of time to sort something out at least.”

As the darkness of the evening deepened and we settled down to rest. Wind of the Wild finally returned. Morphing into Ewan as he came and sat by our fire.

“Good to see you, Clive. Quite the feat returning from Delosha unharmed,” he said.

“Well, unharmed is a bloody stretch mate. “Fuckers managed to chop a hand and both legs off at the knees. I suppose you could say unarmed at one point. Luckily, I’m getting used to that sort of shite these days.”

“I imagine the severity of such incidents is somewhat lessened by your remarkable regeneration abilities. I sense something different about you, too,” he said, eyeing my right arm. “Something to do with that arm if I’m not mistaken.”

Rather than answer verbally, I changed the arm into its natural state now. Gleaming crystal.

His eyes widened as he looked over it. “Amazing. How?”

“Rebuilding my hand with the addition of Ethereal Neuma. It’s indestructible and if I have Ethereal energy available, that’s what it fires automatically.”

“Can you do this for your entire body?”

“I can. Though it has to be over time. There’s a thirty-day reset on each part and there are six parts to do.”

“It’s quite the power up, is it not? If you've managed to do your entire body before Natom returns, he is not going to be able to stand against you, especially with your Ethereal attacks.”

“Damn fucking right he won’t,” I growled at the thought of our future meeting. “I still want to get a hell of a lot more powerful before he returns, though.”

“Right now, though, we’re working on helping this fort. And on that note… What the fuck Ewan? You told us there were four thousand soldiers here. There’s closer to seven!”

He smiled sheepishly. “Indeed, but those additional forces have only just arrived. While it is of little consolation, I’m sure, you should know those troops were pulled from the Palathi Peaks. This leaves us in a slightly safer position than we were. It seems they want to take this force more urgently.”

“Probably because they knew I was coming,” I replied. “They told me as much.”

“That’s a reasonable assumption. They have split themselves thinly in their quest to rampage over Kalabri, and this fort and the Palathi Peaks have certainly proven to be stumbling blocks for them. While they have reduced numbers surrounding my home, we will attempt to whittle them down further.”

“It will all help,” I replied, mulling over the options. “Certainly make you all free, but I don’t know how long this will take us.”

“Do you have a plan?” Ewan asked.

“We do though you’re probably not gonna like this. I'm currently waiting for the dwarves to get back to me on whether they will allow us passage into Cragside. There’s already a tunnel into the basement of the castle, though the Dwarves will absolutely not let those currently in the fort access it.”

Ewan’s face was a picture of concern. “That is a dangerous proposition. Do you really trust them so much?”

“No. Not at all. But I do trust Darkness and Grimstrom up to a point. If I could think of a better solution I would take it, but those in the fort are starving and can barely fight any longer, and I don’t think this gorge is going to be safe for very long. We’ll end up just being chased around the area picking them off over time, which…”

“We don’t have the time for,” Ewan finished for me.”

“Exactly. So, against my better judgment, we have to make the best of what opportunities there are.”

“Perhaps, but what do you intend to do from within? Are you not just trapping yourselves?”

“You think anyone can trap Six Nanooks,” I said nodding to Galota, Natta and the others. If push comes to shove we go full Braveheart on the bastards. Charge out of the front gates. But it won’t come to that and none of it even matters until we know we can get in. Come back tomorrow and we might have some better plans to wow you with.”

Ewan smirked. “I have faith in you all. I’ll leave now, but good luck and I will return tomorrow.”

An unexpectedly peaceful night begged the question. Were Justice scared of us? Were they just lazy? Or, did they fear us? Questions I couldn’t answer but was curious, nonetheless. As the sun petered through the trees above, beyond eating leftovers from our evening meal and sending out scouts and foragers, we were in an awkward position in regard to what we would do next.

I never thought I would be itching so much to see Egard, so for good or ill we could move on with our lives. Though no one expected him to just appear in the center of our camp in a cloud of pure black. Covered in a cloak that seemed to absorb the surrounding light, in away Sania and my own clothes of Darkness never did.

We all jumped up defensively and I saw him smirk under his low hanging hood. Of course, I knew it was him because of his identifier.

“Settle down you lot,” he said. “We don't want to draw attention to the fact that I’m here.”

“So get to the point then, Egard. What’s the crack?”

“The crack is that you can go through our tunnels to get into the fort as an apology for the hardships of your journey north, and only for that reason. This is to both show good will and as you said, put the incident behind us. That said. You will not be allowed back into the Nideland from the fort entrance again. It will be locked, and it will remain locked. If you need to leave, then you need to leave across land. This is a big enough risk to our plans.”

“That doesn't make any , surely?”

“That's what darkness wants and if you want this help, then that’s what Darkness will get. He has his reasons, which I have no intention of questioning.”

“Fair enough. So you're going to lead us to an entrance?”

He shook his hooded head. “No. You need to head west. There’s some old ruins there.” He looked to Danivra. “Toukal.”

I raised an eyebrow at the oddness of his actions. “What’s that mean?”

“Ancient ruins. I know where they are. I can lead us there.”

“That’s good, right? Why do you look unconvinced?”

“It’s a strange and ancient place. No one has ever tried to resettle the city. There is a strange force there.”

“It’s fine,” Egard said. “There is a strange power in the air, but it doesn’t cause any harm. There’s just a lot of superstitious folk about. Anyway, that’s where the entrance you can use is. It’s about fifteen miles west.

“There are no forces of Justice around there?” Danivra asked.

“Why the hell would I send you somewhere Justice was?” he snapped at her angrily

“Simmer down Egard she's just asking a perfectly fucking reasonable question.”

“And I just replied with a perfectly reasonable fucking answer,” the irritated dwarf replied. “Unless I’m trying to double cross you, which I’m not, then you’ll have to take my word for it that there is no force of Justice on your route or at the ruins. You can even travel along the gorge for close to half the distance and remain in relative cover. Now I’ve told you everything I have to say. Go or do not go. I can’t stay here any longer.”

“See you later then,” I said offering him a sarcastic wave. I just couldn’t help myself.

“Just one more thing. You need to hurry up with whatever you’re doing on your way south. The final battle for the surface is coming and you do not want to be in Kalabri when that begins.” With those words, he disappeared back through a portal.

“Well, that wasn't ominous as hell.” I said to the others as they watched the dissipating black cloud.

.