With our sleep rudely interrupted by the fighting, we ended up sleeping late, the next morning. That was fine, however, since we had no reason to go into the forest. We weren’t hunting the wolves to extinction, after all. We just needed the head of the ‘perfect wolf’ to try and talk our way into the inner parts of the capital.

We decided that it would be best for all involved (but mostly us) if we avoided Utina on our way back to the capital. They might or might not have named a new high inquisitor, but if his ability to see through illusions was a class ability, then maybe there were others who had that same ability. No sense in tempting fate like that.

Of course, since we were no longer worried about our presence being marked by Sidriel and his wolves, and them setting upon us unawares, we could just fly back to the city. That would cut the travel time dramatically. There was just the question of where to land.

Obviously, we couldn’t fly directly into the city. That would get FAR too much of the wrong attention. Possibly even Torm’s direct attention, depending on how actively he was watching his city. That was a nonstarter, obviously.

So, we’d need to set down outside the city. Preferably, before entering line of sight to the walls. The road from Utina to Geburatiel would be the natural first choice, but the geography of the land meant that we would have to thread a needle to make it to the road without being marked by the forces of the two cities, or those on the bridge. That would cause questions none of us truly wished to answer.

Since the road leading to the city’s eastern gate was too troublesome, that left us looking at the way to the western gate. To get there on land, we would have to cross through the entirety of the Timeless Wood to reach the road leading to the northern mountains, and then turn south to cross the bridge over the Order’s Rule Canyon, and follow the road to the city. However, crossing the entirety of the Timeless Wood would be a long, and drawn-out affair, and there was no guarantee that there weren’t worse things than Blackmane Wolves remaining in that forest.

We decided to fly to the south and west, avoiding the Wood, and crossing over the Canyon by air. We could rejoin the road then, and have an easy time of it getting back to the city. That was the plan, at least. Fate, however, had its own plans for us, and laughed at ours.

As we tried to fly over the canyon, we ran into a pressure, trying to force us back. The closer we got to the canyon, the more it pushed, until it was like trying to shoulder our way through a brick wall, just to move a foot forward. The moment we turned to the side, however, the pressure stopped.

I made a sign to the others, and we landed at the top of a small rise overlooking the canyon. Once we were all on the ground, Siora said, “There must be a barrier of some kind in place, preventing people from crossing. But I’ve never heard of a barrier that acted like this, or that was so large in scope.”

Vestele shook her head. “We are in the domain of a god, sister. Within their home domain, gods can control the very fabric of reality with a thought. The more powerful the god, the greater range they can extend that active control. So, we could say that this… restriction is the will of Torm himself.”

I nodded slowly. “Despite all our activities here, we haven’t crossed any boundaries, except in ways that were already existent, save once. The portal we came through already existed. The back door to the Repository already existed. The teleport circle already existed. The one time we tried to force our way through a boundary without using a means already in existence was when we returned to this plane, from the plane of shadow. And I felt active resistance to the spellwork when I used the dagger’s power.”

Fartooth frowned. “We thought that was from the powers reaching out to claim the Repository. Are you saying that wasn’t so?”

I shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. I just know that there was resistance to that movement. It could have been those dark powers, or it could be that the fabric of the plane we were going to resisted being cut.”

Vestele nodded. “Or, it was both. The dark power in that corner of the plane of shadow definitely was loathe to let us go, that much I could feel clearly. But Torm is a lawful god, who believes in Order. If he ordered his plane so that passing boundaries was more difficult, save at carefully ordered crossings? That would explain much.”

“Like how people do not seem to move around much, despite having access to magics, here,” Siora sighed. “A lack of mobility is understandable, in the material realm, where those who have the magic to teleport or arrange other mystic means of transportation are few and far between. But such abilities are far more common amongst the denizens of the planes. There should not be a need for guards upon the road, because merchants should be able to move from settlement to settlement easily with engraved teleport circles. Unless, of course, the god of this realm does not wish that to be.”

“And not only that,” I groaned, realizing the full extent of what was happening. “It is a further means of control, and keeping people from organizing in revolt against his rule. If you can only move between areas at proscribed points, then it is easy to cut off the movement of supplies, and isolate troublemakers, so that they cannot form a general uprising. And even if there were to be such an uprising, then the metaphorical gates come down, separating them into smaller forces that can be destroyed in detail, rather than having to put down the entire mob as one.”

We all looked glumly at each other, for a moment, before Fartooth chirped, “Fine.” We all turned to look at the kobold, and he said, “Since we can’t cross the canyon, at least, not without expending far more effort than it is worth, we should continue on, towards the bridge. We can still stay out of the Wood, but it seems that we only have the two options: going through Utina again, or continuing on, to the road, and taking that path across the canyon, and to the western gate.”

I nodded once, and said, “Our little friend is right. There’s no choice for it, so we continue on. Since we don’t know when we’ll come into sight of the bridge, we’ll keep low, instead of flying high. That way, we can set down quickly enough if we spot any guards, and hopefully keep from revealing our full abilities. The less our abilities are known, the better the chance we’ll be able to turn the tables on anyone who thinks they know our measure.”

“That’s all well and good,” Vestele said, “but we’ll be more at risk to attack near the ground, than up in the sky. Not just from guards, but whatever magical beasts may live in this area. Oriel was sparse with information about this land, because she had never been outside the city, so we don’t know what creatures might be lurking between us and the bridge.”

“So, same as normal, when venturing into the wilds,” Ebonheart said. “At least we can be sure that there won’t be any undead. The holy types would never stand for that, so close to the city. The only reason the wolf wasn’t causing more problems is because he hadn’t started spreading his influence enough to get the attention of the major powers.”

With nothing more to say, we continued on our way, flying a mere few feet off the ground. For the most part, creatures had the sense to stay away from us, whether they were wary of our numbers, or they could sense our strength. Mostly prey animals, though there were a few small predators we saw scurrying away.

The sole exception was when we startled a flight of cockatrices. Over a dozen of the territorial beasts took to the air to try and intercept us as we came too close to their nests. Unfortunately for them, it only took a single spell from Siora to take them all down, as shadows turned into a fireball, cooking the reptilian chicken creatures. We did, however, manage to find the nest, and collect several eggs, which would always be worth something on the market.

When night fell, we had covered a sizeable distance, but were still not past the Timeless Wood, or in sight of the bridge. Thankfully, we had no worries about supplies, due to our gear. Conjured rations coupled with water that is also conjured may not be the most enjoyable meal, but it was still food and drink, and enough that we would not suffer from hunger or thirst. I knew first-hand, from my days on the tundra, how important those things were to keeping our fighting strength high.

So, we set up our tower once again, a bastion of defense in the wilderness, and set about the evening meal. None of us believed that the wolves would attack us again. We had taken their leader, and were proceeding around their territory, rather than venturing into the woods. They were smart enough to not lose more of their pack like that.

Still, we set watches, as we always did. Sidriel was not the only enemy we had on this plane, and there was always the chance that one of those enemies might find us. Even if they did not mean to be enemies, that did not mean that anyone who found us here would be friends, or could be trusted. We were invaders in enemy territory, and, until we got to the city, where we could lose ourselves in a crowd, we had to keep that in mind.

With that in mind, I was once again standing watch atop the tower, looking out into the darkness. It was dull. It was always dull. But it needed to be done, as last night proved. Even when you had a magic tower just pop up out of nowhere, there would always be creatures that thought you made a tempting target.

However, my watch passed quietly enough. There were the sounds of nature on the air, which, while not like those I knew from the material plane, were still a comfort. The little creatures would stop making noise if there was some true danger or predator nearby. That they were still croaking, chirping, and all the other sounds meant they had not detected any threats.

Vestele joined me on the rooftop, at the end of my shift. Smiling at her, I said, “Guess my time is up. So far, things have been relatively quiet.”

The priestess nodded. “Yes, but I doubt that it will remain that way, tomorrow. Given what we found about the barrier, I used my crystal ball to scry ahead, and see what might be waiting for us. At the very least, it would let us prepare spells better, even if we couldn’t avoid danger altogether.”

“What did you see?”

“That’s the thing. I didn’t see anything. The spell worked; I could tell that much. We should be able to make it to the bridge by sometime the day after tomorrow. Before midday, if I read the distances correctly. But there was a haze over what I could see.”

“Some kind of illusion keeping the spell from seeing what was really there?”

“Yes, that is what I thought, as well. Which means that there is definitely something there, and, for some reason, someone doesn’t want anyone to see what it is. Unfortunately, that means we won’t be able to know what is coming until we step in it.”

I sighed, and nodded. “All right, then. We’ll be careful. I would say that we should fly higher, but someone hiding from scrying might decide we looked suspicious, and try to shoot the wagon down. We might be capable of defending ourselves, but your horses? Not so much.”

Vestele nodded. “I think, when we get to the city, it is time to sell the wagon, and find some new means of travel. Or, at least, find some way to make it less cumbersome. I doubt we’ll be able to just ride the wagon all the way to the portal.”

“And we still haven’t even figured out how we’re going to shut the portal, yet.”

The priestess smirked, and playfully shoved me towards the stairs. “Well, I’m sure we’ll figure it out. Now, to bed with you, miss Twice-Born. We’ll have a long enough day tomorrow without you being all sleepy.”

I laughed, but went down the stairs all the same. She was right, after all. Tomorrow’s troubles would come, no matter what, so there was no reason to go seeking them out tonight.