EPISODE 292; THE MIGRATION TO OLYMPUS PART I; ZANFAR'S SCHEME! KEIRAN AND CONCORDIA OVERLAP THE AERIAL MAP TO THE SUBTERRANEAN MAP
THE COASTLANDS OF THE WINDY ROCK DESERT…
The Weaver Of Calamity's Army was spread out over the entire Coastland cutting off any Potential Approach. The Weaver Of Calamity's Army stayed a reasonable distance from the Sea since Phoenix Tears flowed within it. They had attempted toxifying a few of the Rivers that flowed downstream towards the Sea however their efforts were futile as the Water was instantly purified by the Phoenix Tears that flowed through the underground Reservoirs and Springs as well as the Sea.
Suddenly, a dark hooded figure materialized before them. Its face was hooded and its body cloaked in dark mist but the Omega Symbol on its forehead and the marks of Bloody Tears flowing down its eyes were unmistakeable. The entire Army bowed before this mysterious figure.
"Lord Zanfar" they called.
"Could it be that after all this time you've failed to find me a Dreamweaver?" Zanfar asked.
"Forgive us lord Zanfar but there has been no sign of the Dreamweavers or Guardians in this Region. Are you quite sure they are here?" the Giga Wraith General in charge of leading the Desert Raiding Nightmares asked.
"Am I quite certain? How foolishly you speak. You would be more prudent to ask whether you are certain of your merit as leader of my Nightmares within this Region. I have been tracking the movement of the Guardians for more than Eight Hundred Years according to the Timeline of this absurd realm they have created. This realm according to them is designed to simulate the best way to diminish my influence for good but alas for them my evil runs deeper than they can imagine. They cannot defy the Cycle Of Human Animosity" Zanfar said.
"Eight Hundred Years my lord?" the Giga Wraith leader seemed surprised.
"Why speaketh ye like a Newborn? In the realm outside of this narrow space we hath been stripping many humans of their dreams for aeons" Zanfar said.
"You call this a narrow realm but the Guardians are quite adept at concealing their presences even here" the Giga Wraith leader said.
"I shalt pardon thee for that complaint. It may be a narrow realm by our standards yet it is still a much vaster realm than the ordinary Human Senses can perceive. I give the Dream Knights some credit but you should not be finding it so difficult to locate them. You ensured the Wraith Troops spread only Tales Of Terror about this Coastland Region did you not?" Zanfar asked.
"Some of the Wraith Troops were able to possess a few fearful Humans that had strayed too far into this place. The traumatic sight of the Wraiths will not be so easily forgotten. Many Tales Of The Wraiths' Terror persist inland. I am quite certain I have fetched you quite a delicious helping of fear my lord" the Giga Wraith Leader boasted.
"Compared to my actual strength that was but a paltry meal but you should know the Guardians strengthen the Clans they encounter. This advantage you believe you have won me could be lost if their actions inspire the Populace of this Region" Zanfar said.
"I see" the Giga-Wraith leader realized.
"Regardless, the Guardians intend to migrate their Clans into Olympus. Any Clan foolhardy enough to venture here…must be eliminated but I will caution you…the Dream Knights of Today are not as easily manipulated as those in the era of the first Dreamweaver were. I have ascertained of their Four Groups, three have Dreamweavers, the Fourth is a party composed solely of Dream Knights. We will need to deal with them as well for thy could prove to be a Future Threat worthy of our attention however, they are as of now…not our Primary Target" Zanfar said.
"May I enquire of something my lord?" the Giga Wraith leader asked.
"Speak!" Zanfar ordered.
"The Dream Knights defeated your Tails. Are the True Generals really out of commission?" the Giga-Wraith leader asked.
"My Tails…ah yes…about that…the evil circulating the modern World was quite paltry to sustain the True Forms of the Tails so they manifested as Basilisks with only limited faculties…the Dream Knights after conquering their so called Tribal Operations intend to move on to the Organizational Level…then they intend to progress to the National Level. I believe then…will be a fitting time to debut the Reborn Tails Of The Weaver Of Calamity. For now you can consider the Tails as in larvae form" Zanfar said.
"I see…quite the magnificent plan my lord" the Giga-Wraith leader seemed satisfied with what Zanfar said.
"I leave things in your hand for now. Do not fail me" Zanfar said and disappeared.
"Lord Zanfar has transitioned from Wraith form to his humanoid form. It appears the injuries inflicted on him by the Dreamweavers on Olympus are almost fully healed…what impressive regeneration. I wonder how long it will be before we witness Lord Zanbongfar's magnificent form again" the Giga Wraith leader said.
Little did he know that Keiran was monitoring this transaction via the Migratory Birds that circled the Coast. Keiran didn't really look surprised. Concordia approached.
"Hi Keiran" she greeted.
"Are you done tutoring the Archers?" Keiran asked.
"I am done" Concordia admitted.
"I have bad news Concordia" Keiran said.
"What is it? Concordia asked.
"I have been monitoring the Nightmares at the Coast via the Migratory Birds. Apparently, the Wraiths that form the Propaganda Machine Of The Weaver Of Calamity's Forces have already corrupted many of the Tribes inland. Our Tribe is literally a Sheep amongst ravenous Wolves. I suggest we avoid Human Settlements on our journey and that's not all…the Weaver Of Calamity has transitioned from a Wraith Form to a Human Form. That means he's back…Zanfar is back and has regained most of his former faculties of reason so we should expect the Weaver Of Calamity's Army to be more organized than before. He seemed aware of the Purpose behind XCalibur AOP 2 and had some knowledge of our Groupings and the Clans we were aiding. Apparently, our Foes have been learning as well" Keiran informed Concordia.
"If Zanfar is in touch with the Wraiths at the Coast, then he must be closely monitoring our actions. If we get into a scuffle with the Wraiths, we run the risk of starting a battle with Zanfar himself. It appears a Stealthy approach is of utmost import" Concordia realized.
"I was thinking the same thing" Keiran admitted.
"As I was training the Archers, I spent my free time training my abilities as well. I focused mostly on my Earth and Water Affinities since those would be the most necessary for our journey. You've completed the Aerial Map Of our Route haven't you?" Concordia asked.
"I have" Keiran confirmed.
"We need a Subterranean Map as well. Zanfar's Nightmares may also be scouting this Region so we need routes that go along paths they would never dare to tread" Concordia said.
"Like for instance, River Networks filled with Phoenix Tears? However there aren't many Rivers in Desert Region" Keiran said.
"There aren't many surface Waterbodies but there are many underground Reservoirs containing vast quantities of Water" Concordia said.
"And how exactly do we find them?" Keiran asked.
"I intend to find them utilizing a logic similar to that of a Seismometer which is a tool utilized to study Vibrations within the Earth and plays a huge role in predicting Earthquakes. I can do this by syncing to the Resonant Frequency Of The Earth, in other words, by syncing to the Vibrations Of The Earth" Concordia said.
"How?" Keiran asked.
"The Earth is composed of many minerals each with their own Mass and Atomic Structure. Depending on their Mass, these elements allow Vibrations to flow through them with either great ease or great difficulty. I intend to use the Mass Of The Elements as a reference. Water has a less dense mass than Earth so if I find any element that allows Vibrations through it with greater ease than the Elements around it while possessing a vast surface area of the Region, it will most likely be a Water Source" Concordia explained.
"Resonance Frequency huh? I see…that is possible but how vast is your range?" Keiran asked.
"As vast as my Perception" Concordia stated plainly.
"So you intend to create a Map Of The Water Table in this Region so that we can journey along paths the Wraiths won't dare to tread" Keiran realized.
"If we correlate the Aerial Map with the Geological Map Of The Elements beneath the Earth as well as the Water Table Of The Underground Reservoirs in this Region, we should be able to find not only the shortest route to our destination but also the safest route" Concordia explained.
"Fine then…let's see what you can do" Keiran said.
Concordia nodded and placed her hands on the Desert Sand syncing to the Resonance Frequency Of The Sand. Her Tactile Senses merged with her Auditory Senses allowing her to sense the vibrations moving through the Sand. Her Range gradually expanded. As it expanded, she gradually became aware of scurrying movements within the Sand.
"I can see the Lifeforms that live under the Desert Sand" she said.
Keiran remained silent and paid attention.
"Most of these creatures are scurrying along areas where the Sand is cooler" Concordia said.
"How can you tell the variations in the Sand's Temperature if your Tactile Senses are limited to the immediate environment" Keiran asked.
"I'm utilizing my Perception Of Sound. The hotter Sand is finer in texture. The cooler Sand has mostly solidified into fragmented glass after having been exposed to the Sun for a long period of time, then buried by the Wind and having been cooled. The point is, there are variations between the Masses of the Hotter and Cooled Sands thus leading to Variations in the Vibrations both types are giving off. Furthermore, the Sand most of the Living Creatures under the Earth are scurrying in is more moist than that on the surface implying that there are probably underground reservoirs of Water in the Desert Regions that have Living Creatures scurrying through the Sands. Instead of simply extending my range wider, I'm going to dive deeper as well" Concordia said as she synced to the resonant frequency of the deeper Sand.
As her senses dived deeper into the Sand, she noticed the Elements under the Earth begin to get more and more solid in nature. Beginning from the Oasis and spreading for quite a distance, she suddenly noticed a hollow cavity in the Earth where there was a sudden sharp shift to the Variations in Vibration Of The Elements beneath the Earth. She then expanded her senses towards the closest Oasis she had seen in Keiran's Aerial Map. Beneath that Oasis was a similarly large hollow cavity. Concordia reasoned that these Cavities were underground Reservoirs Of Water. Next, she tried to discover whether there was a link between the Cavities beneath both Oases. She found a narrow link. She then proceeded to explain what she had seen to Keiran.
"Create a Map Of The Cavities you saw mapping the flow between both Oases. We can map a route along those underground Reservoirs" Keiran explained.
Concordia proceeded to do so.
Keiran created a new Map that overlapped the Aerial View with the Subterranean View allowing them to see from an Eagle Eye Perspective how the Cavities linked both Oases. Keiran drew a path between both Oases along the Cavities while avoiding the Desert Mountain Obstacles in their Path. The Path appeared more complicated than they had initially anticipated.
"This could be troublesome" Keiran realized.
"It's a more treacherous path than Camels can tread. The Paths especially those outside the Desert Sand is packed full of alternating highlands and treacherous Mountain Passes" Concordia realized.
"How did I not see that before?" Keiran wondered.
"You were looking through the eyes of a bird remember so I bet you didn't take the time to map the finer details like you did when you eavesdropped on Zanfar's scheme" Concordia explained.
"That was quite careless of me. Fortunately, we double checked the Map but what are we going to do about our people's livestock and the children and elderly. They probably can't make it along the treacherous Paths" Keiran said.
"I suppose we'll have to resort to my Kraken Andromeda's Seraphim Mode once more but on a vaster scale" Concordia realized.
"It's a good thing we delegated some of our abilities to the Archers and Alchemists" Keiran said.
"Yeah, I suppose so" Concordia replied.