The caravan took the rest of the day to travel about ten leagues southwards. The woman who commanded the company, Captain Nuria Mendez, directed them towards a campsite, one that looked well used by the Bresian Army.
Yuriko looked over the waystation with a critical eye. The spot was just around the bend, was protected on three sides by trees, or small hills, and had a well near the back. There was a small structure, just enough for four people to sleep inside, near the road, and the back was piled high with firewood.
There were more than a hundred members of the caravan, including the cavalry company, and they certainly wouldn't fit inside the campsite. Instead, the soldiers took positions near the road, while their designated cooks used the fire pits to make their evening stew. The caravan cooks did the same, with Ryoko taking charge of the first carriage's occupants. Juliette's mum, Ester Abad often helped with this duty, and Yuriko noted that the woman grew increasingly more proficient in campfire cooking over the past weeks.
The first night after the battle, the refugees spent the evening drinking their limited supply of ale or wine. Tensions eased as they grew inebriated, and as the night deepened, a few began to sing. A wordless song filled with melancholy for their lost homes…
Well, not quite lost yet, Yuriko thought. If the rebellion was put down quickly, and if the invasion was repelled just as easily… then they could reclaim their former lives.
'Hmmm, I guess not,' she thought ruefully. The rebels aside, an invasion force of several thousand soldiers would not be easy to push back, not in so short a time. If she, and others of her strength or higher, sought to intervene directly, Yuriko had no illusions that similarly powerful foes were embedded in the army. In essence, stronger Magi were matched against each other and were nullified from the equation. The role of powerful beings in that scale of conflict was to act as deterrence.
Memories unfolded of the numerous stratagems Damien used and experienced. Of an opposing army that seemingly had fewer elites than his, only to be revealed later that they had been hidden carefully and were used to strike down the already tired elites who had rampaged across the enemy rank and file. They sacrificed half of their army in the process but managed to kill most of the elites on Damien's side, which resulted in a vicious, vengeful assault that killed more men and women than before and resulted in the Ancient tactically retreating.
In matters of Conquest, Damien was not too proud to learn from his mistakes, and that had been the only incident when he allowed his forces to be drawn out and exhausted.
So even if Yuriko wanted to make a difference on an army's scale, she could not do so wantonly. Should she decide to strike out on her own, she would get countered, outnumbered, and possibly defeated. She could not imagine her own defeat against foes of her own level, but she was not the strongest fighter in this region, and she'd rather not test the efficacy of her Mien should she get captured.
She briefly recalled Miya's stories of how she'd been kidnapped by an amorous suitor a few years past. And while that suitor was now practically Miya's toy, Yuriko had no desire to go through what her cousin did. And she had an inkling that if she got herself captured in war, that would be the least she could expect.
…yet why does that thought fill her with excitement…? Stupid head and stupid Mien!
Shivering on her perch, Yuriko banished those unwelcome thoughts and relaxed her mind. They had another ten or so leagues south to go before they would turn to the west and enter the Greyith Strip. The strip itself should be roughly a hundred leagues across, but only if she drew a straight line on a map. From what she recalled, the strip followed jagged curves where the Kerromere Mountain range abruptly cut off and the Great Erithmus Lake started. From what she could see of the mountains through the Vitrovin Forest, the Kerromere exhibited no changes. With ten leagues to go, she wondered if the heights would devolve into foothills or if the reason it was called the Greyith Strip was because of steep cliffs. She honestly suspected the latter…
And it turned out she was correct. The next day finally brought them beyond the Vitrovin Forest and the road curved westward into the Strip. The mountains remained tall and imposing, and as they moved into the new region, they turned into cliffs. At the foot were jagged boulders scattered across the gravelly ground, and Yuriko thought she saw a deep and narrow ravine some distance away.
The Strip here at the eastern mouth was roughly five leagues wide, and after a while, maybe a couple of longstrides into it, the trees covering the south of the road dwindled until the view of the Great Lake was revealed. Yuriko stared at the body of water so large that it might as well be an ocean. She couldn't see the other side at all, but that was to be expected. She heard that the lake was even wider than the Republic's territory and that this was merely the northernmost tip.
The Strip had a higher elevation than the surroundings, roughly fifty or so paces from the water. The view of the eastern coastline was breathtaking too, and she noticed long beaches covered most of the northern coast.
The winds were filled with the sound of crashing waves, as well as a strange scent that rose from the waters. By the end of the day, they were fifteen leagues into the strip and were camping at an army outpost.
"You can see the fortress if you climb the tower." Captain Mendez said that evening. She gestured towards a dark line in the distance, one that Yuriko assumed had been part of the mountains.
"You mean…?"
"Yes. Those are the walls." The woman smiled with clear amusement. "It restricts travel between the two halves of the country, and had once protected the west from the ravagers of the east."
Yuriko gestured towards the lake, "Could invaders not have travelled through there?"
"Well, yes." Nuria admitted, "But ferrying troops by boat inherently limited their numbers."
"Ah."
The next day, the 7th Brigade finally caught up to the caravan. Monica Coinoch led them with her kitty Steeld, and they were laden with heavy bags of what Yuriko assumed were weapons and ammunition.
"How did you make the journey from that fortress to the battlefield in less than an hour?" Yuriko asked idly. She had gotten off the carriage and was flying next to the older woman.
"We didn't," Monica laughed, "We were on a raiding mission when Corporal Ortiz saw signs of a deep raid. They were obfuscated, but there were enough flaws that he was able to track them. Then we headed towards the raiders, and were close enough to come to your aid when they attacked."
"I appreciate it," Yuriko said. She had not been sure if she could have defeated the army on her own. Probably not, in all honesty, though she could have escaped and avoided capture. She would have had to abandon the caravan though and she was loath to do that.
"I'm more amazed at how you were able to hold out so long," Monica said. "And that spell you used to empower my soldiers…how…no, those are your secrets to share…"
Yuriko nodded. "It is, but it's also because it requires a…special Element to use."
"Your Affinity? It is not Light, right?" Monica shook her head, "Light Affinity Magi are as rare as Shadow, and there's roughly one of them compared to a hundred of the others."
"That's still a lot compared to absolute numbers," Yuriko pointed out. "But my Affinity is not Light, and that isn't what I used."
Monica stared at Yuriko for a long moment, and she could see the curiosity warring with propriety, the battle writ large on her expressive face. Curiosity won and she asked apologetically, "It was a powerful boost, do you mind giving some details?"
"I don't, but I'm not sure if it will do you any good." Yuriko hesitated, choosing her words carefully. The Bresians were rather skittish about Chaos after all, and Animus was essentially, Chaos distilled and attuned to a person's Anima. "You know that I have two bound Chaos Elementals?"
Monica's eyes grew as large as saucers and her jaw dropped, "Ch-chaos?"
"In a manner of speaking." Yuriko smirked, "You saw how my Affinity protected me?"
"Oh," Monica sighed, "Then I guess there's really no way."
Yuriko chuckled, opting not to outright lie. She wasn't sure if Elemental Hearts could become Animus cores, but even if it were possible, it would likely cripple the Magus who attempted it. It was nearly impossible to distil Animus from ambient Chaos unless they lived in a Chaos Fount.
They chatted idly for the rest of the short journey. The Steeld carriage drivers pushed themselves hard enough that they reached the Fortress by evening. All the while, Yuriko admired how large, and imposing the Fortress was.
The Strip narrowed down to two leagues at the fortress' location, but even so, it looked more like a wall than an actual fort. It was built to cover the entirety of the gap and was dug into the cliffside. The top of that was nearly half a longstride high too. On the other end, the wall went straight into the lake for another hundred paces or so.
Perhaps ironically, or coincidentally, some parts of the cliff collapsed just as the caravan drew near. Chunks of rock larger than a house fell towards the Fortress Wall, and right before they could hit the wall, a translucent dome materialised just long enough to deflect, then slide the stones outside the fort. When the boulders slammed into the ground, it tossed up clouds of dirt that billowed down the road.
As the barrier faded away, it revealed, to Yuriko's Chaos Sight, that the entirety of the two-league-long wall was covered in runescript inscriptions. As they came closer, Yuriko managed to read them and laughed at how simple, yet complex they were. In essence, the inscriptions were simply Ward spells written millions of times across the wall, and linked to each other with a twisty bit of spellwork that she couldn't easily decipher. It also didn't reveal its power source, nor any bit of control mechanism.
"Amazing," Yuriko murmured, and she noticed Monica preening on her tiger mount.
The road led directly to the centre of the wall, onto gates that were wide enough to allow all dozen carriages to enter side-by-side. They were tall too, roughly five paces high at the lowest point, while the arch was at least seven paces high. The gates were opened inward, and she caught a glimpse of the tunnel behind it. The wall was far thicker than she expected and was probably a longstride wide.
And soon enough, when they entered the fortress, they were not directed to the other side, instead, they turned into one of the ramps that sloped slightly upwards, and led into a fairly large chamber. The ceiling panels reflected the evening skies, including the clouds and the setting of the Radiant Sun. Along the walls, orbs gave out a bit of light to banish the shadows.
The Brigade went through a different tunnel now that they were in the fortress, but Captain Nuria accompanied them. A few moments after they arrived in the chamber, the carriages were directed to park at marked intervals, then the occupants were asked to disembark and led to intake stalls.
Before Yuriko could be asked to follow a line, Captain Nuria called out to her. "Professor, Commander Coinoch asked to bring you to the Fort Commander's office."
Yuriko shrugged and said, "Lead on then."