//------------------------------// // 28: The Black Towers / The Earthen Hermits // Story: Diary of the Dead // by AppleTank //------------------------------// Five days passed as the Dead marched across the northern forests and into the northern tundra. They marched through day and night, mana smoke trailing their path. As the temperature dropped, their pace held, a shell of crackling ice around pairs of glowing lighthouses piercing the frosty fog. At the end of their march, they were greeted by a massive ring of towers, surrounding the glittering jewel that was the Crystal Empire. Quartave flicked the edge of her hood up, the only one of the group still needing a proper body temperature. “Alright, Evens, Dimi, you're the infiltration team. Get set up to break into the towers. The combat team, Gladas, Wallace, Barnabee, Antibodies: get into position near the back side of the Empire. Blackbird, set up an overwatch. Keep an eye on anomalous movement. "As for you, Cycle, you’re with me.  “We have visitors." The tower team set into a relaxed lope away from Quartave. There was still a bit of time before the operation truly started. As they crested a snowdrift, they spotted glittering golden light marching closer. Dimi slowed, squinting at the army. She could see the silhouette of Quartave and Cycle below them, walking towards the army. Figuring that she had everything under control, she turned to catch up to Evens, who had could no longer hide his excitement and started vibrating in anticipation. “You’re pretty dang excited about this.” Dimi noted, keeping pace by his side. “I always wanted to fly,” Evens said, “And I always admired the beauty of birds. Their graceful arcs, their lustrous wing-feathers—” “I’m going to stop you there before I get too weirded out,” Dimi interrupted, a sour expression crossing her beak. “Yeah, yeah,” Evens ignored her discomfort with casual ease. “Anyways, this will be the first true field test of this arm. I would be able to figure out the forces it must endure, any control issues that may pop up, its responsiveness. Once Gladas figures out how to revise it, we can start working on even more attachments.” “I see.” As Dimi glanced at his legs’ cadence, she noticed that it was just the slightest bit off, its steady beat rougher, more uneven than it should be. She wasn’t sure if it were an issue of acclimation, uneven weight, or a fault. Something to bring up with Gladas and Evens when they got back, she figured. They soon reached their targeted destination, one of several towers guarding the Dark King’s realm. They squinted from behind a snow pile. There were a row of guards standing around its base. Hrmm. She slipped a mirror out of her bag, then carefully estimating the position of the sun, wiggles the light towards the sky. A few moments later, a blast of air precedes Blackbird backwinging before them, flickering shadows around his wings fading away as he folds them. “Blackbird,” Dimi asked. “Can you check the other towers and compare the amount of guards each have?” The crow nodded, and took off with a blast of air, golden sparks trailing his wings. By now, the army had met the two forms of Quartave and Cycle. Evens’s nervous energy settled slightly at the sight. “I hope they’re doing fine.” “If there were any physical danger, the Seer would have called this entire operation off and run for the hills.” “But psychological dangers?” Dimi frowned, unsure and unable to bring any assurances. Blackbird came sweeping back, sliding to a slippery landing behind them. “The front most, least guards. The rear, the most. Dimi and Evens looked at each other. “We’re going to the back,” they said simultaneously. Dimi squinted in suspicion. “I figured that the King would want to protect his most valued secrets with increased security. Why are you so eager?” Evens pawed at the ground, chuckling nervously. “I wanted to claw more things.” Dimi rolled her eyes. "Just keep it under control, will you?" She turned to scan the landscape around her. "Let's go that way. It'll keep us out of their sight." "Wait," Evens asked, "wouldn't they have already seen Blackbird?" In response, the crow's feathers flicker, a glittering sheath of prismatic ice flowing around his wings. "Or he can do that. Sure." Said bird takes off once more, the half of its body facing the enthralled guards during smokey white. The pair dash off into the snow, zig zagging to keep their profiles as low to the ground as possible. In short order, the Iniltration pair end up waiting a distance away from another tower. As Blackbird said, there were indeed more bodies surrounding this one. Worryingly, however, were the number of guards facing inwards. Snow accumulated on their backs as they waited. Dimi had sat down, eyes closed, breaths steady. Evens fidgeted slightly, his new claws kneading the snow. Then, finally, an Indigo firework shot into the sky, sparks twirling away behind its path. Dimi raised her head, her eyes sparkling with surging magic. "Showtime." Half an hour earlier Wally gently bumped Gladas’s shoulder as they ran. Gladas’s eyes were blank, unfocused, as she soul drifted with her pet watching from high above. “The Equestrian group is moving in. It seems that Sombra is preparing his own delegation to meet them,” she reported. “It will allow us to prepare an overwhelming first strike.” Barnabee nodded. “Would we be going in as a group to break one line, or cause as much chaos through directional strikes?” Gladas hummed. "We will need to occupy attention, paralyze their decision making. I would go with multiple directions." "Understood." Wally hummed in thought. "Gladas and I will control the air. Barnabee, you help the Antibodies prepare the ground against them. Give them nothing to stand safely on." The Dog grunted in agreement. Stuart-5 squeaked in understanding from his perch on Barnabee's shoulder, his legs too short for the speed and distance they needed to cover. Several minutes later, they approached the shimmering border of the Empire. "Blend into the shadows," Wally reminded as they began to slow down. "Suppress yourself until there's nothing left. Sombra must not realize our intrusion. And remember your training. No fatalities." With that, Wally snapped his wings open and leapt into the air, Gladas following shortly after. Barnabee nodded and, flexing his claws, started plowing through the snow and frozen dirt. The Antibodies hopped down and followed behind him. Wally and Gladas crept over rooftops, under rafters, through shadowed alleyways. There was little hoof traffic; it seemed the King had called a city-wide congregation order. Perhaps as a show of force or demonstration of strength to the Equestrian Crown. Wally frowned, tapping the side of his mask in thought. This would make it causing distractions aplenty easy, though also taking away his ability to control the situation. Well, nothing to it, then. He wiped a bit of blood off the side of his beak and leapt for the next balcony. As predicted, much of the populace were crowding the main center street leading out of the Empire, arranged in rows to allow a clear path down the middle. Near the entrance of the castle, he spotted an ornate carriage slowly rolling towards him. There you are, he thought. Glancing around, he saw the barest hint of a bump hanging down the side of a building. Fetching a pocket mirror from one of his pouches, he flickered reflected sunlight towards her. North. Keep watch. A few moments later, the shadow replied with her own light. Acknowledged. After that, it was waiting. The carriage moved up the street. The golden armor of the Equestrian delegation moved towards the border. The sun moved towards its apex. The delegations met. The neutral, almost desperately hopeful faces on the Princesses turned into a scowl. An indigo flare burned through the sky. Wally let a blood flecked breath escape his beak as his wings slowly unfolded. A high pitched hoot bounced through the alleyways as he entered the wind on silent feathers. The hunt begins.