On the other side of the portal, Shawn was met by the Redeemed commander of the rangers he had chosen for his pathfinding mission. A small company, with a handful of humans, and dark elves complimenting the primarily Redeemed unit, it was tasked with carrying the Lord Wielder of the Star Sword into the heart of the vast northern forest that covered nearly 70% of elven lands north of the Yatual.
"My lord," The commander, a capable Sylvasin that had been a member of the Redeemed gathered at Jair Kalial after Shawn's awakening, greeted the young human with a nod as she handed him a tanned leather map of the region. She spoke in Taren for the benefit of the humans in the company.
Shawn returned the greeting with a nod of his own as he accepted the map, the portal closing behind him to leave them standing alone in the forest. Giving it a quick perusal, he then looked up at the heavy foliage surrounding them. The dense trees that filled his vision lay in the southern quarter of the northern kingdom of Querilon, a Lithosin kingdom belonging to the Owl clan.
The Ka'thesck had overrun Querilon, along with a number of Owl and Raven clan kingdoms early on in the war against the Aeshin'laur, the abandoned lands becoming a base of sorts for Gerumenum's Tjor'riin from which they struck both at kingdoms in the Shield and across the Yatual into the Sovun'chul. In the war against the Shadow, it was a logical first place to beginning his hunt.
He returned his attention to the map with a grimace as the ranger commander and her company, wrapped in shadow cloaks and camouflage waited for the signal to advance. He traced the line of the Yatual that stretched along the southern portion of the map with a gloved finger until he ran across the blue line that marked the Ven Sethadon River. It was one of the larger rivers flowing through the Evanor'ef Sylva'Beledin, the great forest north of the Yatual. He then traced upward to a series of 'x' marks inked onto the map's soft leather surface, which marked locations where the Redeemed had last encountered Ka'thesck troops. He tapped the northern most one, which marked their present location.
"Time to begin our hunt, commander," he declared, rolling up the map and tucking it into his belt even as he accepted a shadow cloak from her. She nodded in acknowledgement as Shawn put the cloak on and immediately faded into the background, turning to signal to the ranger nearest her, her hand gesture indicating they should carefully begin to move north, keeping their eyes sharp. The ranger swiftly replied with a gesture of his own communicating understanding and compliance before he turned and relayed the orders to the others. The cluster of cloaked elves began to carefully move forward, every sense alert.
Thankfully an overcast sky kept the sun from thwarting the magic of their cloaks and the rangers moved virtually unseen through the dense conifers of the Shield. Unfortunately it also kept their enemy from their eyes, hence the need for caution.
- Feel anything, Star? - Shawn silently asked the Weapon of Power strapped to his back beneath his shadow cloak. Though the sa'anish device could more effectively hide the big Wielder, he wasn't sure her energy signature would also be as easily hidden to the Kaal Eran that he suspected now guided the Tjor'riin's activities. So he used the low key elven cloaking magic instead, comfortable in its shadowy embrace from long turns spent training with it.
- Not yet, my Wielder, - the Star's voice promptly replied into his mind. - But remember the Tjor'riin could be using cloaking magic as well, especially if they do have contact with the Kaal Eran. It isn't beyond the demons' abilities. -
Shawn grunted noncommittally at that. It would be just their luck to find out that the dark soldiers had obtained such magical ability on the eve of the Final Conflict. It introduced a factor of uncertainty that made things interesting, to say the least. Pondering silently on that, he and his small company continued forward.
A soft splash announced a ranger boot had found a puddle some two Watches later. The sound was unexpected enough to draw Shawn's attention to it and he watched, fascinated, as the water curved around the invisible boot before it was pulled free. The sight stirred his intelligence.
If water curved around an invisible boot, displaced by the physical object pushed into its midst, then could air be similarly displaced by a cloaked form passing through it? If so, then perhaps the Star's power could be used to look for displacement instead of cloaked individuals, a passive, yet effective way of determining whether the Tjor'riin had, in fact, found a way to hide themselves.
- I have an idea, Star. I think I might've found a way to discover whether the Tjor'riin are utilizing cloaking magic. Can you modify my vision with a Sa'anish spell to allow me to see displacement? -
- Displacement? I'm not sure I understand, Shawn. -
- Displacement occurs when a solid object passes through a fluid material, like water or, . . . -
- Or air! - the Star Sword finished brightly. - I see what you're trying to do. But I'm not sure it's possible. I might have to utilize several different runes at once in order to make it happen, which could result in a heavy drain on your strength. -
Shawn smiled tightly.
- If it helps us find where the Tjor'riin have gone to, it'll be worth it, Star. Make it happen! -
His answer was the now familiar build up of energy filling his limbs with tingling power as the Star Sword drew energy from the fabric of the universe. Shawn braced himself for the dizzying journey into the interface chamber where he expected to find the blizzard of runes waiting for him to conquer. But the pull into the chamber never came as the Star empowered the runes herself and, with a second surge of tingling energy, activated the spell.
Almost immediately Shawn's vision blurred as the Sa'anish runes spun into effect, darkening and twisting almost sickeningly in turn with each rune's activation. Then it cleared, leaving him staring at a strangely altered world where physical objects were featureless shadows and the air itself was alive with subtle shifting and torpid swirling, each highlighted with dancing sparkles of light.
The young Wielder was forced to swallow hurriedly before he was revisited by his most recent meal as his stomach uneasily flipped over at the new view he had on the world. Then he glanced over at the nearest ranger, to test the extent of his new vision. Cloaked in his shadow magic, the ranger now was visible as a shifting blue aura around a dark shadow, the aura blurred wherever movement was taking place. The other rangers were also thusly revealed when Shawn looked beyond the first at the rest as they carefully moved between the trees.
Satisfied that whichever runes the Star had activated, they were sufficient to reveal cloaked individuals, Shawn turned to look at the path they sought through the trees. Almost immediately he staggered to a halt when he found himself looking at literally hundreds of shifting forms, each surrounded by a red aura as they silently wove through the trees ahead.
Ice poured into his veins at the unexpected and potentially dangerous discovery. Could they have discovered the whereabouts of the missing Tjor'riin? Shawn instantly signaled the rangers to hold their positions. Just in time to halt one of them from stepping directly into one of the red-rimmed shapes standing at attention, looking suspiciously like a sentry.
As the rangers hunkered down, minimizing their breathing and keeping as low a profile as possible, the powerful Wielder eased forward, eyes sharp. Each shape with its telltale red aura came under the most careful scrutiny as it came close, the moving shapes leaving swirls and eddies in the air behind them which danced with sparkles of light in Shawn's oddly enhanced sight.
And then he was directly beside one of the unmoving shapes he had guessed were sentries. Staying at least an arm's reach away, he examined the form at great detail, measuring and mentally calculating as his eyes took in what information they could. After a moment's examination he came to a decision and backed away.
They were tjor'riin all right, hidden behind some sort of cloaking magic he hadn't ever seen before. It was subtle, even more so than the magic the elves used in their shadow cloaks. But as subtle as it was, the magic was powerful, almost impossible to penetrate. Even with the Star's modifications to his vision, Shawn couldn't make out any detail other than the general displacement the Tjor'riin were making with their bodies as they passed through the air. It was enough, however to make out the telltale grace of the enemy's most effective dark soldier.
Once he had returned to where the rangers waited, he signaled a full withdrawal. Puzzled by the command, since they couldn't see anything in front of them, the rangers nevertheless were without hesitation as they eased back from an invisible line the Wielder had drawn. Shawn kept them moving, heading in the direction of the Ven Sethadon, a good two leagues behind them.
Only when they stepped through the last line of brush and stood on the banks of the deep and fast flowing river, a true waterway of the north, did Shawn call a halt after taking a last look around to insure they hadn't been followed.
"Sir?" the ranger commander asked with a questioning look as Shawn decloaked, a move quickly followed by the rest of the company.
"I couldn't explain at the time, commander," Shawn replied, focusing on the commander's voice to make sure he was talking to the right elf. "But I triggered Sa'anish magic that allowed me to not only see beyond the physical world, but to also sense when an invisible object was close by. That magic allowed me to see hundreds of enemy soldiers surrounding our position, hidden beneath some sort of cloaking magic we hadn't before experienced. I ordered the withdrawal to prevent the company from inadvertently running across enemy positions and revealing themselves."
"Frost me!" the commander hissed in dismay, eyes wide. "We could've been wiped out!"
"Instead we now know where the enemy went to, and within a fairly short period of time," Shawn pointed out with a thoughtful nod. "A much more satisfactory result."
"Can you extend your ability to see cloaked individuals to us, my lord?" the commander wanted to know. Shawn frowned.
"A good question. Perhaps. However, it might be more useful if I develop some sort of visor, something you can put off and on at will, as needed." He reached into his mind. - Star, do you have a list of those runes you used to give me the new vision? And, while you're at it, how long does it last? I'm fighting to keep my lunch down here. -
- I have that list right here, my Wielder. The effect is temporary, of course, but since I had to experiment with a number of different rune combinations before I found one that works, I'm not exactly sure how long your enhanced vision will last. -
Shawn was about to speak when, with a flash and another sickening twist, his vision faded to normal. 'Hmmm, that was about a turn of the glass majora,' he mused, pulling out a scrap of parchment from a pouch along with a stick of charcoal. 'Useful for scouting, but not for prolonged battle against a cloaked enemy; definitely need to go the visor route.' He scribbled down the runes on the parchment as they passed in front of his mind's eye. Hopefully etching them into a piece of crystal would be sufficient to trigger their power.
Of course there was only one true way to find out.
"Ahkhanis," he said, focusing his will. And he watched a clear, flat crystal about the size of his hand solidify from thin air at the magic's command.
It was an ahkhant, a communication crystal used to focus one's thoughts and transmit them over vast distances. The elves had been using them for centuries, making them as needed and discarding them when done. They weren't the sturdiest of magical crystals, just the easiest to make. However it should have enough strength to serve as a test crystal for the type of visor he wanted to create.
As the Redeemed rangers looked on with interest, he slipped his dagger free from its sheath and, using the tip like a stylus, he carefully and slowly etched each rune into the crystal's surface, quickly filling one entire face with the intricate symbols. After the last was etched into place, he then scribed an activation rune beneath them and willed it to life.
Satisfaction again warmed him when the crystal darkened to a deep purple in response to the activation rune given life. This just might work, after all! Now, the final test: he lifted the crystal to his eyes as he commanded:
"One of you cloak."
Nodding, the commander herself pulled up the hood of her shadow cloak and immediately faded from sight. As soon as he was certain she was gone, Shawn swung his modified crystal up before his eyes and looked in her direction. A smile parted his lips when he found himself looking at a dark shadow surrounded by the same blue aura he had seen with his enhanced vision.
"Well, well," he said with a nod, letting the crystal drop from his eyes. "It would appear that they work."
With the magic in place, it was only a matter of creating stronger crystals to make sure the visors were a bit sturdier in the field. A sa'anish rune, pulled from the blizzard in the interface chamber, worked perfectly in creating several crystals of absolute clarity and strength for what he wanted. Working swiftly, he etched each with the runes needed to activate the displacement vision then used the Star Sword's edge to fashion the crystals into thin strips that could be fitted into a metal frame in order to place them in front of a user's eyes. As he worked, he had the ranger commander form the frame from a piece of metal he gave her, the dimensions and specifications jotted down on another scrap of parchment.
Together they had the first visor finished in little under ten turns of the small glass. After sliding the sliver of darkened crystal into its narrow bed in the u-shaped visor's front panel, Shawn sealed it in place with a flare of energy and held the whole visor up for inspection. It was a simple construct, with a flattened panel in the front and two flanges on the side to go on top of the ears. A groove had been carved in the bottom center of the front panel where it would rest against the bridge of the nose.
The crystal was visible through a long horizontal slit in the center of the front panel, affording vision along 180 degrees of range. Together, it was a rather loose fitting affair, designed to be easy to wear and remove as needed. Shawn nodded in satisfaction and tossed it over to the ranger commander.
"Think you could use this in battle, commander?" he asked.
The ranger slowly turned the visor over in her gloved hands, carefully studying the strange new device.
"I believe so, my lord. It's certainly light enough and looks easy to wear," she said after a moment's examination.
"Put it on, commander," Shawn indicated, motioning for one of the other rangers to cloak. "And we'll test the visor's ability to see cloaked individuals."
Nodding, the slender Sylvasin woman fitted the visor to her face and turned in the direction of the cloaked ranger.
"Do you see him?" Shawn asked.
"Aye." The commander smiled in satisfaction. "As a shadow surrounded by a halo of blue light, but I see him."
"Excellent." Shawn scooped up the rest of the crystal and the other frames the commander had made. "I'd say the magic has proven itself. Let's make a handful of visors and take a new look at the territory we've just covered!"