(eng) Michael G. Manning - Dawning Dragons 03 by Demonhome

Author:Demonhome [Demonhome]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 27

A full week passed before he felt fully recovered, though he decided the term was relative. Magically, he was fine, but living in the rough for a week while trying not to use his abilities had been sheer hell. The area was dry but hot, and as a result he was coated in a fine layer of dust that clung to him. Even after he could use his aythar without pain, he didn’t. The military hadn’t found their location, but he didn’t want to risk creating any ‘anomaly’ that might tip them off to Karen’s position.

So his days had been hot, his nights cold. Gary had explained the can opener to him, and the canned food Karen had packed was decent but unsatisfying. He was tired of living outdoors, and he missed the convenience of Roberta’s bathroom.

“Do you want to stay here?” he asked Gary as he packed to leave.

“I do, but I shouldn’t,” said the AGI.

“Why not?”

“I’ve got the GPS coordinates for this spot. You’ll need me to find your way back.”

Matthew chuckled, “Hah! I grew up in a world without your fancy technology. My pathfinding and direction sense are better than you know.”

“Not to be insulting,” said Gary, “but you don’t really strike me as the outdoorsy type.”

He wasn’t, but he knew the basics. Not that he would need them; he had a better strategy in mind. “I promise I can find it again. Do you want to stay or go? There’s nothing you can do here.”

“She’ll be safe?”

“As long as a boulder doesn’t land on her. It would take something significant to be able to disturb the enchantment.”

“What about an animal?”

Matt shrugged. “A grown man with a sledge, if he aimed at the quartz cubes, might damage them and break the enchantment. I doubt a bear or wolf would try something like that.”

Gary still looked worried. “If someone shows up while we’re gone…”

“You would be helpless to stop them,” Matt finished for him.

In the end, Gary decided to come with him.

Before he left the area, Matthew walked to the edge of the canyon and hunted around until he found a relatively sheltered spot. Then he used the barest minimum of his power to etch a circle on top of a flat stone.

“What’s that?” asked the machine.

“A teleportation circle,” he replied. “So I can come back without having to worry about your GPS.”

“What if they detect it?”

“They didn’t detect the stasis enchantment. The circle has almost no aythar in it anyway. Just a tiny amount to label this particular space so I can use a similar circle to teleport back. When it isn’t in use, it might as well be mundane artwork,” he explained.

“You aren’t going to use it to leave?”

“No,” he replied. “That might produce enough magic to alert them. I won’t be teleporting to go home, anyway. I’ll be translating through dimensions, and I can do that from anywhere. So I figure the best bet is to walk as far away from here as I can before I do, since I already know that they can detect it when I do that.

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