Sons of Ironstorm: Book 5 - Griffon's War

Scrying out the Situation

<<Ah.>> Banik smiled. <<Not complaining about the company, brother, but, just so you know, my fire isn't any kind of sanctuary. If they come looking, I'm not hiding you.>>

<<Traitor,>> Shawn growled with a half smile before taking a bite of travel bread.

In truth Shawn didn't want Banik to run interference for him. That'd put his friend into an awkwardly untenable position, which Shawn wouldn't do.

Regardless, his old friend was still very good company. Especially if he wanted to bounce martial ideas off him. The Covenant were allowed to do what they desired; he had certainly not hesitated to tell them they all had that right. And if that was to seek him out, he would do nothing to stop them, or hide from their efforts to find him.

That being said, Faith was right when she said he had overextended yesterday to compensate for his absence. Today would be a much needed recuperation day, with food and meditation to help his body and mind recover.

The young human focused on finishing his food, the second such plate he had had this morning. It wasn't fancy food, but was hot and filling, returning resources to a body starving for them. And he needed to finish it quickly. Timing was of the essence. Assuming some of his Covenant wives would come looking for him, and he'd be foolish to think they wouldn't since he had consummated with all of them and they now knew how approachable he was, he needed to get as much done as possible on the war effort. Before they claimed him for a task unrelated to the campaign.

But first ... He set aside the empty plate while still chewing his last mouthful and reached a hand towards the fire.

<<Borrowing your fire for a moment,>> the young Wielder said after swallowing even as he extended his will into the shifting, chaotic energy making up the fire.

As Banik looked up in curiosity, Shawn triggered a sweep through the leyline network, with each node a trigger point for the scry. Operationally the scry spell, as it skimmed through the network, would generate a pulse of energy each time it rolled over a node.

That energy pulse would then wash over the surrounding landscape, tuned to find Abyss energy signatures and areas in dispute between Light and Shadow. For what it was, it was one of the more complex scrys he had done, nearly as complicated as a Wielder scry.

Yet this spell was pulled straight from the Kata na'Sylvinar, further testament to the power and skill of the ancient Elves.

Casting the spell using the fire's energy as a starting point, Shawn could feel it radiating away from him, pulsing as it struck nodes on its way by. Half following it with his Second Sight, which had remained with him through the divestiture of his Wielder powers, he began gathering the results into a viewing orb sight unseen as they came quickly back to him.

A handful of moments and it was done, a quick sweep of the planet's full leyline network. A shift in how his life force was being focused through the spell and a small, golden ball of light started to coalesce in his right hand.

Holding out that hand, Shawn and Banik both watched as the ball grew from pea-sized to something the size a big man's closed fist.

<<And that is?>> Banik asked, staring at the ball.

<<The results from a leyline network scry, using each node as a pulse point to detect Abyss energies and areas in dispute,>> Shawn replied, looking at the ball as well, his eyes narrowed slightly and his expression thoughtful.

<<And that's a battle spell out of the Kata??>>

Nodding, Shawn pulled a piece of fabric tucked into his belt free. On it was a long line of tlyphs written in charcoal. He then handed it to the wondering Banik, who quickly looked down at the strip of fabric. And almost immediately let out a low whistle.