I frowned in confusion as I glanced around myself to try and find the source of the noise. It sounded distant and strange, like the sound of a machine, something which I didn't expect to hear in a fantasy world, then again it wasn't like I really knew the full extent of the technology here and with magic and kor there could very well be magic technology not to mention that artificers weren't out of the picture either.
Asara and her lieutenants were also frowning, their eyes narrowed like that of a birds while their ears twitched in an inhuman like manner. It seemed as though they were trying to find the source of the noise.
"It's coming from the north," Dasha said, her ears no longer twitching and her eyes unnarrowed. The others slowly nodded in agreement.
"Your right, Dasha," Asara said. "It is coming from the north, and it seems far off, but if we can hear it from here then what is it?"
A dozen ideas popped into my head and the sudden feeling that something wasn't right washed over me. I could have just been worrying over nothing, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, and it was better to be safe than sorry.
I turned to Asara. "Asara open up the roof and get one of your riders to tell Richard to prepare all defenses."
I wasn't going to be taking any chances because for all I knew that sound was some kind of warning, though it was unlikely since Richard or Susana would have told me of such a thing. Or would they have? Something to ask later, I thought, turning my attention back to Asara.
"Are you sure, your majesty?" Asara asked.
"I am," I said, firmly. "Now get it done, and get a squad of riders mobilized. You and your lieutenants will be coming as well."
She nodded and a few moments later, all but a dozen riders had cleared the area around me and were getting ready to fly. I spotted one heading for the exit and felt a pleased smile on my face. Asara had gotten everything done in just a few words, which had sounded like some sort of code. They really are the elites, I thought.
While Asara and her riders were getting ready I sent Rath to storage then summoned him right next to me. He had a confused look in his eyes but when he saw the seriousness on my face he lowered his head and body, and I quickly climbed on. I motioned Lilah to follow but she shook her head, and I frowned in confusion. Now that I thought about it, Lilah had always refused to fly if she didn't have to. The only time she had flown was when at the fort when she'd needed to and I had a feeling she would have had me summon her in the middle of the air if she could have spoken to me.
"Lilah do you have a fear of heights?"
Her head slowly moved up to meet mine and after a long moment, she shook her head.
"You just don't like it?"
She nodded then raised a hand and moved it from side to side. I raised an eyebrow and cursed at the fact that I couldn't speak to her. Could she write? I thought, my ability to understand this world's languages affects my summons as well as they are able to speak the language and understand it, so can they read and write it as well?
"Ok, we'll figure this out later, I'll send you to storage for now, though I'll summon you if needed," I said, pushing the idle question to the back of my mind for now.
She nodded and a moment later was gone, sent to storage. I thought about summoning Leone or someone else but decided against it until I saw what I was up against, or if there was even a problem, to begin with. It could just be something wrong with the city and I could be overreacting, though the feeling of something being wrong and my instincts led me to believe it wasn't that.
"We're ready your majesty," Asara shouted, and I glanced around to see that Asara and her riders were on their mounts and ready. I nodded and looked up just in time to see the roof open to reveal the sky.
I sent an order for Rath to take off, and with a huge flap of his wings, he rose into the air, followed by a dozen riders lead by Asara and her lieutenants who were beside her.
We rose out of the birdcage quickly and I sent a command to Rath to just circle around the city for now so I could look around. Everything seemed normal at first. There was fighting or sign that anything had happened though it did seem as though people were confused as to what the sound was as I spotted a few looking around. I even saw a few guards outside the palace looking around themselves. After looking around the city and I turned my attention to outside its wall and at first, I also didn't spot anything unusual there, at least not until I looked north.
I couldn't tell what it was at first since all I could see was a long, rectangular expanse of blue in the distance. The whirling sound was louder and I opened my mouth to speak but stopped as another sound reached me just as I saw shapes leaving what I now recognized as a blue portal.
The figures were distant and without my altered body I probably wouldn't have been able to see them, but with it, I could see the shapes of marching men, and siege engines, and to my surprise a few shapes flying above the approaching army.
It was an extremely large army, but to my relief, it was a distance away, and wouldn't reach the city walls for another half an hour, giving me plenty of time to stop them. The riders also eventually spotted them and as Rath flew closer I spotted flags waving in the wind.
I didn't bother looking at the insignia closely as I didn't need to, to know who they belonged to.
"Biroth," I muttered.