Chapter 3595: Misdirection (part 2) |
"How can you tell?" Solus asked.
"Once they opened the Steps, I looked on the other side and recognized the direction from its dimensional coordinates." She replied. "It's not that hard since the two points in space overlap.
"You just have to draw an imaginary line connecting the starting point with the destination."
"It's very hard, kid." Menadion furrowed her brows. "Why do you think I made the Eyes? Your parents have every reason to be proud to have a talented dimensional mage in the family."
"Thank you, Master Menadion." Friya replied with a dazzling smile.
"And thank you, Lith, for the spa day." Menadion said. "It was a pleasant experience."
"You're welcome." Lith grunted, his wallet still aching. "For once, being known as a cheapskate paid off. Those two Awakened tailing us left the moment they learned I paid for two days in advance."
"They can't picture you spending money as part of a set up." Protector chuckled. "To be honest, I still can't believe it myself."
"And you're right to do so." Solus chucked as well. "You have no idea how long it took me to convince him. Do we leave now as well?"
***
As Lith predicted, Shala and Taren found no trace of the Rezar and returned to Khidem at lunch hour. After tipping a valet and learning that the group had never left the establishment and was dining on the chef's specialties, the two Awakened Warped away again.
"Wow. She was so angry I could feel it in the Warp Steps." Friya said while munching on her crab. "Can we leave now?"
Everyone glared at her, especially Menadion.
She wasn't used to fancy meals, let alone to be pampered with relaxing massages. Sharing the experience with Solus and spending quality time together made it a thousand times better.
"I mean after lunch! I'm not going to waste one of the rare occasions Lith offers to pay." Friya rushed to add.
"I'm paying for them. Not for you." Lith pointed at Solus, Ryman, and Menadion. "You are filthy rich."
"Come on, Lith!" Friya fluttered her eyes in mock flirting. "Consider it part of our cover and your wedding gift. This is our first trip together in years!"
"It makes sense." He nodded. "The more I spend, the more the Awakened- What do you mean, part of my wedding gift?"
"You're filthy rich too." She giggled. "Not Ernas rich but still rich. Two days here don't come even close to a proper wedding gift, especially since I won't even enjoy them."
"Fine." Lith reluctantly agreed. "Nalrond, we leave after lunch. We'll stay just long enough to finish our meal and ask the concierge for interesting local tourist spots to explain our absence."
"Excellent idea." The Agni nodded. "I don't know where Salman is, but I can tell you what I would have done in his shoes. I would have gone to the nearest mana geyser and laid low until the dust settled.
"I would have moved on to the second nearest geyser only if someone had gotten too close for comfort."
"Why a mana geyser and not the Fringe?" Solus asked. "It's much safer and not that long a trip if you know its location."
"That only if you have a tower like yours, Solus." Nalrond shook his head. "I roughly remember the position of the geysers. I need to look around for them and would have to do most of the trip by flight.
"I didn't remember the dimensional coordinates of the various mana geysers back when I chased after Acala, let alone years later. Salman is probably in my same situation after living in Gabash for so long.
"The closest mana geyser is his best bet. He couldn't expect such a big hunt from a rumor, especially with the villagers covering for him. Salman must have thought he had to wait a couple of days and then he could go back home.
"On top of that, we know that my old Fringe is far from safe. Even with M'Rael dead, the elves and the Dewans still live there. If they capture him, we won't see him alive ever again."
***
Once they finished dining, Lith asked the concierge for the best tourist spots in a wide range from Khidem. This way, if the Awakened returned again and didn't find him, he would have a good cover story.
Locating him would require them to check every spot mentioned by the concierge and with only one tracking device, the Awakened would waste a lot of time to visit them all while always wondering if they hadn't just missed him.
"I'm a mage." Lith said to the concierge. "Just mark on my map all the interesting spots. No matter the distance or how difficult they are to reach."
"Then I must suggest the Rainbow Falls of Trauria and the Gem Forest of Riqua." The man circled a tall mountain and a wide wooden area, making Lith smirk.
'Each one of these places stretches across such a wide area that it would take me a long while to find someone with the Eyes, let alone a lesser tracking device.' He thought. 'The Awakened will never understand it was all a ruse, and even if they do, by then it will be too late to stop me.'
They left Khidem, using Warp Steps to move fast and relaxing the space behind them to ensure no one could follow them. Once they reached the area near the closest mana geyser to Gabash, they switched to flying.
Nalrond had to come down to the ground often, looking for familiar landmarks and the secret signals the Rezar had left over the centuries to point at their safe hideouts.
"This one has been restored recently." Nalrond pointed at a straight scratch on a stone.
"Define recently." Protector sniffed it, smelling nothing but musk and animal scents.
"A few years." Nalrond replied. "The cut isn't supposed to be so deep and clear after hundreds of years of exposure to rain, wind, and ice."
"The scratch is symmetrical and points in two directions." Solus said. "Which is the right one? East or west?"
"North." Nalrond tapped on the tapered end of the rock. "The scratch marks the stone and the stone points at the underground safe house my ancestors built deep inside the mana geyser."
"Devious." Friya said.
"Smart." Lith nodded in approval. "A road sign for the Rezars and a misdirection for everyone else."
They found more stones as they got closer to the geyser. Some stood tall, others lay on the ground, and a few were askew. They all had one thin extremity aimed at the mana geyser's position.
The rocks were not aligned with each other and placed at irregular distances. The Rezars had thinned the extremities of many stones in the area, but only a few bore the scratch mark.
Nalrond had to examine many of them before finding the right one, and he succeeded only because he knew what to look for.
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