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Caravan: Resurrection

Zay pointed to Daelin with his thumb, yawned, and returned to his resting pose.

Caravan: Resurrection

Noru backed away from Flin and sighed while gently touching his forehead with two fingers. Zay ignored the banter about Colossal class creatures. He knew Flin's type. They were headstrong and stubborn. Even if he assured everyone of his ability to follow orders, the right circumstances would likely end up overpowering his better judgement. Zay didn't want anyone to die, but when people join up with the knights expecting the wilds to be anything like their training drills, they end up dead sooner rather than later.

"Don't worry yourself about that too much. Lok'Sha bandits, barbarians - whatever you want to call them - aren't prowling around as often as the officials like to think. If we come across one it's better for us to keep our distance. We have a newbie on board," Zay stopped and pointed at Marilyn. She flinched and looked at everyone nervously. "She doesn't look too eager to die. If it comes down to it though, I can easily restrain a Lok'Sha with my magic of we can immobilize it first. We'll chuck his body in the back with the barrels if we manage to capture one. Prisoners are as good as cargo, dont'chya know?" Zay eyed Marilyn expecting her to get to her station. When she didn't respond, he motioned towards the front door that lead towards their Venbu and widened his eyes. She realized what he wanted and scrambled out of her seat.

"Sorry, sorry!" She mewled, "I'll get them ready." She might have been nervous and timid, but Marilyn was on top of her duties. She disappeared into the pilot's seat not a moment later, and started going through her personal checklist.

"But do keep in mind, if we are put into a position where apprehending a violent Lok'Sha becomes too dangerous, it won't be a problem if we kill it. Don't hesitate if it seems like your life is on the line. I intend on bringing everyone back alive." Zay fell back into his bunk and rested his hands behind his head. "I know this goes without saying, but I'd just like to remind you that I'm your Captain. If I give you an order, follow it." Noru looked away from the Captain and slowly backed away, making himself comfortable on his bunk. If he was going to sleep there for the next week, it'd be a good idea to work it in.

"This bunk is mine," Noru groaned.

"Left wall, top right!" Marilyn called out from the outside, claiming her bunk. Zay pointed to his bunk with his foot and closed his eyes. Claiming bunks was kind of an unspoken tradition among knights. It was supposed to be good luck. Some of them liked it, while others didn't care much. Considering Noru's disposition, it was surprising that he bought into the superstition.

"We'll settle duties when we leave Arcadia's borders," Zay said quietly, shifting around on his bunk until he was completely comfortable, or as close to it as he could manage.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

"Inconceivable. But..." Yzeira's eyes widened as the beam reach his barrier. But on contact, the wall surrounding him glowed even more brilliantly than usual. The blue wall surrounding his gravity orb above them began to crack, shrink and crumple. The barrier around one of his bodies deflected the length of Jenso's beam towards the barrier that he'd created around Yzeira's orb with a new hue, piercing through it and freeing the energy contained within. Yzeira's eyes looked to where the Laser made contact with his barrier. There was a minuscule crack, too small for normal eyes to see, but he repaired it immediately. Jenso's transformation had granted him a leg to stand on, but did little to contend with his opponent's superior control over energy.

"...Perfectly manageable." The clones took a more active stance and began to circle around the tower's roof, along both edges towards where Jenso stood. The gravity well above him on the other hand had grown to twice its original size. With a flick of one of his wrists, it began to careen towards the golden hero relatively fast, while both of Yzeira's bodies fired incredibly fast beams towards him in a sweeping motion from the center of the battlefield. It looked like they cut through each other in the process, but received no damage as a result. When the beams touched, a bright flash erupted from the point of contact, brighter than the flash bangs that Jenso's friend had used in the past. With both lasers heading for his midsection, and the orb of gravity falling from above, Jenso looked to be cornered.

"I'll take this seriously..."
"...Just in case"

A Hero Tale {Complete}

~ Chapter 209 ~

_{Inferno Overdrive}

Yzeira stood unevenly, slightly hunched over with his eyes fixated on Jenso. Several strands of his hair continued to go dark with blood-red hues one after another chaotically before changing back without any delay. He didn't expect this at all. Not for a second.

"Where does it all keep coming from?" Yzeira's eyes went brighter until his chaotic energy was lashing outwards. His entire body followed. "This is unprecedented. Unreal. Remarkable."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Zelraka looked at him and smiled as the energy around Zios was slowly chipped away by the slashing attacks.

"Hohoh?"

---

~ End Of Chapter 208 ~

Caravan: Resurrection

"Colossal threats are no joke," Noru said with a stern grasp of Flin's shoulder, "Making a decision like that is likely to get your entire Caravan killed. It's important that you keep everyone in mind before letting your eagerness get the better of you. Otherwise you're no better than a child." Zay nodded quietly. "Captain Copp knows it better than the rest of it, though I hate to admit it. You can't be too careful in the wilds. The mana of creatures is hard to detect, and completely unpredictable."

"Yep. There are specialized Caravans for hunting dangers like that. Colossal threats are way above our pay-grade." Zay shrugged lightly and shoved his hands into both pockets. "Sorry to say, but if you make the reckless decision to jump head-long into battle against a colossal, a titan, a Leviathan- Anything bigger than the Caravan, I'm going to leave you behind."

Caravan: Resurrection

With everyone seated, or at least in the common area, Zay cleared his throat and pulled another piece of paper from his right pocket. This one was just as crumpled as the Centaurus manifest, but the Captain could still read it just fine. "I would have liked to have a little more time for us to get acquainted, but there will be plenty of time for that on the road. Open your ears and listen carefully. I'm only going to read this once." He straightened the paper with a hard flap and looked it over. "Yvette's handwriting is god awful..."

_{'Caravan Centaurus Mission rep-'}

"Oh, I don't need to read that p- Hmm..." Zay zoomed down the paper until he reached the body of Centaurus' mission report. For a Captain, he was awfully absent minded. "Ah, here we go..."

_{'Make contact with the mayor of Marrenfall's western farming operation, Leslie Stevens. Confirm the time frames of our next order of Melbourne Wheat and assure that production is coming along as planned. You will be taking the southern trading route towards Lake Hyu, and meeting on Marrenfall's soil. Travel time is estimated 3 days. Make rest whenever necessary, but do not fall behind schedule by any means. You are expect to return to Arcadia within 7 days of your departure. Leslie should be expecting you, but if there are any complications, present this diplomatic document for clarification-'}

Zay paused and looked at the paper he was holding. It was completely crumpled, and the foil-seal bearing Arcadia's royal crest was cracked and torn. He continued shortly after, hoping quietly to himself that it wouldn't pose any issue.

_{'Secondary objectives are as follows; Scout the southern trading route and report any dangers; Apprehend any Lok'Sha within 20 kilometers of Arcadia's borders.'}

Zay cringed. He was surprised that a Caravan with any new recruits at all would be included in the universal manhunt for stray Lok'Sha Barbarians. They weren't common at all. But what if they came across a veteran, or a Berserker? He shrugged off the thought, and skimmed several details until he reached everyone's favorite part of Arcadia's mission reports. The Threat and caution summary.

_{'As per usual, upon coming into contact with any Colossal-class threats or higher, abort your mission and retreat to Arcadia immediately with your report. If you are too far from home, you may seek haven in neighboring nations. Be warned that the southern trading route cuts through swampland. Crossing after evening hours is strictly prohibited. Officials have discerned that several Caravans have gone missing due to the softening of the swamp surface, please do not risk sinking yourself to remain on schedule. Marrenfall has reported a Colossal sighting within Lake Hyu, but these reports have not yet been confirmed. Please stay cautious by the water's edge when approaching Marrenfall.'}

Zay read the rest of the document quickly before stuffing it right back into his pocket.

"Boring and easy, right?" Zay assured them, tilting his head sarcastically to one side.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Atomic ordinance continued to spiral faster and faster, circling out of control quicker than even Zelraka could have predicted. The tower beneath them was being torn apart as a result. The middle of what remained began to trail behind at the tower rose even further, into the outer atmosphere of the planet. Zelraka, meanwhile, was waiting for Zios' attack to connect. The clash between them let out of flash of darkened green energy, creating a shock wave that blew Bruce's earth away and pushed Zelraka back slightly. But rather than impaling him like Zios had planned, Zelraka had caught the dark blade in his free hand, coated in lime green energy.

"You're pretty strong. But unfortunately it's not enough, son." Zelraka squeezed the black blade, sending cracks down its length towards the base. He smiled and softened his eyebrows. "No hard feelings. I'm sure you gave it your all.." The cracks ran even further down Zios' blade until they reached his arm and began to worm their way towards his body. Zelraka was trying to inject Zios directly with his energy, right through his blade. "But hey, if it makes you feel any better, it's not like there was ever any point to this fight..." Zelraka backed up slightly and raised his other hand behind his body, charging a sphere of energy in the center of his palm. "...You never stood a chance."

In one swift motion, Zios' blade shattered to pieces and Zelraka swung his other hand around, planting the sphere of energy that he'd conjured smack dab in the center of Zios' chest. "This is what a real star looks like!" Zios was pushed back for quite a ways by the energy pushed into his chest, unable to react to the intense weight pushing him down. He collided with several of the black stone platforms, crashing through them as he made his way lower and lower down the splintering debris. But before he could get too far away, Zelraka snapped his fingers and chuckled.

"Vega Collapse"

The orb at Zios' center expanded rapidly, and then stopped as soon as it encompassed all of his body. The resulting orb began to eat away as his energy, and his body. He remained frozen in midair, absolutely contained by Zelraka's untamed Meta energy. Zelraka closed his eyes and shrugged, ignoring both Jeff and Bruce for a few seconds.

"If he wasn't your trump..." He started, revealing that he'd been able to listen in on what they were saying somehow, "I really have to wonder what you've got left."

Caravan: Resurrection

Zay nodded to himself quietly as he heard two of his teammates stirring up a conversation. Now if only the rest of them were comfortable with his little bonding exercises. Having a team that didn't know anything about one another was bound to lead them into disaster. It was a common misconception among new, and prideful knights. This was just a job for many. Most people in Thoris' biggest nations have never had to step out into the wilds. They didn't know what laid out there. Even worse, newbie knights were prone to turning themselves into drones and treating their partners like co-workers rather than teammates. If Zay was going to protect these kids, he had to get them to relax. Noru seemed pretty dead set on keeping to himself though. That guy was an enigma.

Marilyn returned to the cart's interior and closed the door behind her. "Ready to go on your word Captain!"

"Call me Zay."

"Um-"

"And we're not going anywhere yet. It's still 9:55 AM." Marilyn lowered his head with a single nod, and took a seat at the little table in the center of the room. Her sitting posture was totally shut off from the rest of the room. Zay wiped his face and sighed. This was going to take a while.

"Can everyone take a seat in here?" He called out to anyone that might've lagged behind a little bit, or stuck around in the storage room. It was time to debrief them.

* * *

~Around That Same Time~
???

Four people sat around a square table, chugging their ale back without restraint. One of them let out a hearty laugh that resounded through the entire bottom floor of the bar. Others glared in his direction for moments at a time as he shifted between laughter and putting away liters at a time. His features were rough and misshapen. A crooked nose, one half-swollen eye, and a jawline that looked like it was compressed into the bottom half of his skull underneath his thin grey beard. For a human, he was quite the large fellow. His 3 compatriots on the other hand were not. One was of a significantly smaller stature, and wore a hood that hid their features. The other two were Eldi twins that wore traditional garb from the Nation of Kel, a man and a woman. Their eyes were narrower than those of Kel Natives and their hair took on intricate styles with mystic wood carvings woven carefully between braids. Displays like theirs were common in other Eldi Nations that resided far to the southeast, but their attire was human-made. It was a peculiar group to say the least.

"Looks like it's about time!" The large man shouted while slamming his mug against the table. The cloaked figure tapped the table with their nails.

"Keep your voice down, moron," she hissed. the large man winced at the little woman's comment. "This isn't a game."

"Bollocks! It's been a bloody decade since-" The large man stopped himself and began to whisper, "-since we've tried something like this." The woman lowered her hood.

"Last time things didn't go well, precisely because of your rowdiness, Blake."

"It was that Venbu's fault."

"You kicked it."

"By accident!"

"Will you two please stop," one of the Eldi twins cut in, while clutching a glowing stone in her hand, "Blake's blunders were not the only factor to our failure in the past. But Sasha is right. You need to reign it in." Blake crossed his arms and leaned back, clearly offended. The ladies were ganging up on him! The Eldi brother huffed through his nose with a smirk.

"You got something to say Ryua?" Blake leaned back towards the table, but the male Eldi rose a hand and shook his head.

"Not a word" Blake rolled his eyes and grunted.

"Enough." The Eldi female eyed her little stone, and a light blue aura encompassed it for a moment before fading. "Our timing will be perfect this time. We have all the essential tools to make this look exactly how we want it."

"Should I pack up Ole' Crooked'Jaw?" Blake inquired.

"Yes. I'll contact our soldiers in west and north Marrenfall. Our other contacts will keep us perfectly up to date, I'm sure."

"I'll notify the sisterhood as well. If the paladins catch word of this, we won't have Lisa to fix things thing time, Lark rest her soul," Sasha added, "We have enough stones to deal with one holy knight per squad. Any more than that, and failure will have our people dragged off to that dreaded pillar. I refuse to allow that."

"Then you need to keep your wits about you. Blake, head out now. And keep your friends under control." Blake looked down at the female Eldi and nodded. Sasha lifted herself and drifted towards the bar's exit. Blake did the same, in a less elegant manner, knocking his chair over in the process. The Eldi woman turned to her brother and looked at him. He nodded and left the tavern as well.

"That lout will pay for his father's wrongdoings."

Caravan: Resurrection

Zay made an audible gagging noise as he looked over his paper a final time, before shoving it back into his pants pocket. "Very good, all present and accounted for. As I've already mentioned, I am Captain Zay Copp. A pleasure to meet you all." He gave Centaurus a little wave, and then directed them towards the giant Caravan them with the same hand.

"This is Caravan Centaurus. As you can see, it's a class-C Caravan. It is unarmed, but the interior is fitted with several cotton layered bunks, a storage unit, several lamps, and a lower power Mana shield for dissuading weaker creatures in the wild. You should know all of this, but I won't hold it against anyone who hasn't yet traveled outside of Arcadia. There were quite a few things to memorize on that quiz and most of it is pretty arbitrary." The giant construct of metal and wood towered over the team like little mobile fortress. The roof of the cart was shielded with plates of metal, and flattened so that people could easily stand on top of it without worrying about falling off. It even had a few metal bars wrapped around each side for support and safety, so that a bump in the road wouldn't send somebody flying off the edge. Getting up there from outside was no easy task, though. The right side of the Caravan that Zay and everyone else stood beside was built in such a way that made climbing difficult. The roof was at least 12 feet off the ground, and the walls were rounded with a single window peeking out of its center. The wall itself was roughly 40 feet across with three massive steel wheels that were about 5 feet in diameter lining its bottom, making the Caravan look more like a train than an actual cart. The wall on the opposite side shared the same properties, making a side-mounted attack all but impossible for smaller monsters.

"This thing weighs more than the Venbu that pull it. It's a hulking mass, so if you've never been inside of one before, don't worry. Anything jumping at us is going to be making a lot of noise before it even puts a scratch on the thing." He slowly made his way towards the back of the cart, expecting everyone to follow. Noru walked over slowly, while Marilyn skipped past most others to try and get in front. She'd never seen a Caravan up close. It was way better-built than she thought! At least it looked that way.

The back end of the cart was flat, unlike its sides. But it wasn't just a wall. A four inch thick metal gate reached nearly to the ceiling, leaving only a 2 inch gap at the top, where three sturdy latches kept it in place. Zay walked up to the back of the Caravan and pulled a big metal key from his pocket. "This is the Caravan Key. It's magically enchanted to resonate with every single lock on this vehicle." The key looked like it had several runes inscribed in it, but wasn't otherwise remarkable. Suddenly the slits in the key lit up with a bright white light, and the three latches on top of the caravan came undone. The massive steel door quickly began to swing open. Noru and Zay backed away, while Marilyn narrowly escaped being crushed by stumbling backwards. "Simply point, flood the key with your Mana, and the locks will come undone. There are locks keeping several things in place, including the back entrance to the interior, several compartments for maintenance, and the chains that keep our Venbu attached to the cart. I'll be keeping it most of the time. In cases of emergency though, anyone should be able to use it." When the rear gate fell, everyone could see the back room of the cart. It was a spacious 20x25 storage area, with shelves near the top of the room, an inactive mana lamp in the center of the ceiling, and a lot of barrels lining each side. The shelves contained boxes filled with various things, while the barrels were filled with compacted feed for the Venbu and clean drinking water. "Right on in. Don't mind the odd grassy smell. It's just Venbu feed." Zay didn't wait, taking the lead and walking right up the flat gate, which now served as a ramp. The storage room had a large door frame that separated it from the rest of the Caravan, and a thinner wood wall around it. If they headed deeper in, they'd get a view of the Caravan's only other room. It was the same size as the storage room, only far more spacious. Along either wall of the living quarters were 8 planks of wood with a simple hook&loop latch keeping them upright, positioned one on top of the other in sets of 4 on each side. They seemed large enough to hide something bigger than a human behind, but in reality, they were just fold-out beds. Zay unlatched one, and it swung open with a loud rattling. Two chains kept it from falling down, and a linen sheet padded with cotton covered its surface. But there were no pillows, it seemed. Not the most comfortable sleeping conditions, but while out int he deadly wilds with only your wits and your team to keep your alive, one couldn't really complain. In the center of the room, there was a rounded cylinder with several stools firmly attached to the ground around it symmetrically, 8 of them to be exact. The table itself had a few drawers where plates and cutlery were stored, along with playing cards, puzzles, and a few other entertaining little time wasters. On the roof, another mana lamp sat inactive. Zay reached for it and injected some of his mana into the contraption to keep it lit for at few minutes, before sitting down on the bunk that he opened.

"You might want to get used to the reigned, Marilyn!" Zay called out, motioning towards a door at the end of the Caravan's interior. It lead towards where the pilot would sit. Marilyn rushed past everyone excitedly and pulled on the door fiercely. As she pulled, Zay rolled his eyes and pointed the Caravan key towards the door, unlocking it without warning. Marilyn almost fell over as she went outside to investigate her new work station. Noru walked in quietly, unhooked a low bunk and sat down. Zay sighed. "Don't be shy, come on in!"