King Titanium sat on his throne and sighed as he finished reviewing everything on the development of an important project for his people and himself. He finished the hundred of pages and groaned as he put the document on the small desk by the side of the throne.
"I am not paid to read so many words when they could say that the progress was small," he cleaned his face. He sighed, "I really need to pay Peyton and his parents a visit more often. Really want to have fun with them instead of all this," alas, he knew he couldn't. His duty was more important than anything else.
One of the servants came. He held a crystal in his hand and quickly came to deliver this to him, "The scout has many reports to give you, my king."
He cursed himself. He was stuck to hear reports instead of reading them now. His ass started to urge him to get out with short wave of pain. He sat on his throne for far too long, "Very well. I will hear them."
"I have to add that those reports are important. There is an increased activity from the four tribes. The mipedians as especially more active and we have no idea what they are planning."
Titanium frowned, "This is indeed extremely important," he wondered what made those lizard people suddenly active. He stood up. He didn't to sat and his behind will thank him.
Chapter 73: Increase Activity
The king grabbed the crystal. He activated it and one of the metalist face showed up on it. He gave a quick glance and noticed that he was in a field. It wasn't the desert. His first report wouldn't be from the mipedians territory. He guessed it would take time to safely communicate with him. With the capture of one of his scouts, he wouldn't want them to risk anything. He saw the tortures inflicted on him. He pushed that thought aside. He focused on the now, "Give me your report right now."
"Yes, my king. Report from the overworld. There has been an increase of activity lately. They have been in contact with mipedians for a while and the soldiers are on the move. I have no idea where they are going. The location was quite open and I couldn't take the risk to follow them. I already escaped them once last week."
"They are actively hunting us now. They know what we did and they are in contact with the humans. They know what we want to do and are surely working together to stop us. It doesn't matter what they try anyway, they won't be able to stop us," he smirked a bit.
"I also noticed that this isn't the only strange activity going on. Maxxor seemed to search for something else, while helping the mipedians. I have no idea what he is searching and the rumors are very obscure in the matter. The soldiers are very careful with what they say, probably because they know we are around, or just the mistrust among the tribes is quite bigger than before."
"With the m'arrillian offering their support in some ways, it might cause some tension with the tribes who still heavily mistrust them," he put his fingers together and frowned a bit, "I'm still worried what the m'arrillians are doing. We cannot spy on them in their territory."
"That is all from me," the scout concluded.
"Very well," he waited for the scout to deactivate his crystal.
The next one showed up, he was in front of Mount Pillar, "Request permission to give my report," the scout asked.
"Request accepted. Anything standing out in Mount Pillar?"
"There is nothing big going on in Mount Pillar. There is an increase in security, but nothing else to report."
"Finally, a short report," Titanium grumbled to himself. He was tired of wasting time with hours of listening to reports that could be resumed in a few sentences. The worse one could give an hour speech that meant that everything was normal. He put his hands together and knew he had to take the risk to have a long report, "Is there nothing else to report?"
"None. The security is tighter as if they are ready for war. Nothing else to report," the metalist replied.
"Good."
"I'll continue to scout around and check if there is a reason to increase security like that," the scout said before he ended communication.
The other one began communication, "Sup my king! Ready to annoy you!"
The king squinted his eyes for a few seconds, before he sighed with a fake amused smile, "I'm ready for the report. Make it short. You know what annoys me, also annoys you."
"Sure, sure, my king. I watched what is going on in the Underworld and there are quite busy with something."
"This Chaor is always busy with something… And ways I do not want to hear about. I'm quite certain of it," Titanium warned him.
"You are only trying to put this into my mind because I want to annoy you."
"Nope."
"…Yeah. Right. Anyway, Chaor is still hunting for Van Bloot. He knows he is somewhere and is trying to contact Kaz again. That is one of the things he is doing, but there seem to be something else."
"Another thing?" the king curiously asked.
"Yes. I have noticed that Chaor is preparing his troop for battle. It isn't just against Van Bloot. I managed to collect and hear a few things. Chaor can be quite loud when he isn't expecting me that close around them," he smirked a bit.
The king moved his left hand and motioned him to continue with the report.
"It seems that Chaor is muttering a few things about Kaz. He knows the human is busy searching for the boy named Tom. The guide of the overworld. I have no idea where the guide is, but it is important if Chaor is growing frustrated in the matter. Chaor shouldn't care about the human missing, but he mentioned a few things about Khybon, who is watching the real Kaz."
"Do you know what Chaor mentioned?"
"No. I have been discovered and I teleported out before I heard what he said. He will be much more discreet now, knowing how close I was in his castle," the metalist replied.
"I am curious about this Tom now. It might be why Maxxor is more active lately. If Tom is missing, he would surely search for his friend," the king concluded.
"I am also curious about why he disappeared. It's not the same as when you kidnapped Peyton. We have nothing to do with it… I think," he looked at Titanium with a bit of suspicion.
The king frowned, "I have nothing to do with that. I got Peyton's parents since he missed them and it would make him feel better."
"I heard how his mother punch you hard in the stomach. Took a bit before you got over my king," the soldier chuckled.
"Enough about that," he still couldn't believe that human could sucker punch him that hard. It was a harsh reminder that metalists metal was more like skin than armor. Even he himself forgot that sometimes. He asked, "Anything else to report?"
"No. This is pretty much from it," he replied.
"I have a few other reports to go on," Titanium said before the other tried to give a small talk with him.
"No problem. I hope it's either helpful or annoys you!" the communication ended.
The ruler groaned a bit when he could. He really couldn't stand some of his scout who liked to tease him like that. He wanted a short and sweat report. Not a long one like the one he finished reading or someone who wanted to speak longer than necessary. He was the kind and he didn't have illimited time for that. He needed some personal time too. He barely saw Peyton and he wished he could have some fun with him. Steel was the lucky one in his plan. He crossed his fingers together. He thought back and concluded that he needed to progress his plan quickly. If the tribes were more active, they surely were ready to take action against them. He took a deep breath and activated communication with the next one, "I'm am awaiting your report scout."
"Yeah," the scout replied with little interest in the conversation.
Titanium wasn't sure if he liked the scout or not. The previous one who gave report was still recovering from torture and he wanted him to have all the time. He still wasn't certain if he would send him back in Al Mipedim, "Report please."
"Sure," the scout closed his eyes, before he opened them in a tired way, "There is a strange increase of activity in Al Mipedim. I watched them for a while. Far away and also making sure that none of them tried to ambush me. It makes it difficult to see what is going on. Still, I managed to get a lot of intel."
"Please tell me. I am wondering what the mipedians are doing. Their increase in activity could be troublesome."
"Indeed. The first thing I managed to find out is that the mipedians are preparing their dragons for something. I don't know what it is, but they are surely going all out on their enemies. I believe the enemies are us. The very fact that they might be preparing for that could be troublesome. Still, I don't really care. They surely don't know where we are."
"Theb-Saar might get impatient or is anticipating something. I do not like this. Continue please," he asked. He noticed his scout looking a bit annoyed that he interrupted him, "Go on," he repeated with a bit more authority.
"This is the first thing I've noticed. I also notice that they increased the patrol in Al Mipedim, but that might be because of my comrade capture. I do believe they might try to capture another one to find us and plan something to defeat us. Anyway, I also overheard a few things. W-"
"A few things?" he asked.
"My king. I was about to explain what it is," the scout sighed, "Getting interrupted is exhausting you know my king."
"Sorry," he decided to apologise and move on.
The scout resumed his report, "I managed to overhear a part of their conversation. Theb-Saar met with the codemasters recently. It was since then, it appears, that the mipedian troops are more active and planning something."
"Those things that wear armor, from what we know?" the king wondered.
"Yes," he replied to his ruler in annoyance, "I have no idea what the codemasters told their king, but it surely was something important to just made them all ready to fight someone. The little I know about them is that they would interfere with the creature's life on Perim as much as possible, with a few exceptions. I wonder if it is one of them, if so, about what."
"Do you believe it has something to do with us having Peyton. The very fact that Theb-Saar meet with them and caused all of this seems a bit worrisome."
"I do not believe that they could just come to our doors with those dragons and his army. They need to cross the ocean first. The mipedians aren't known for their navigation skills and the overworlders are a bit distracted it seems. Still, they could use a portal for that."
"The existing portal to our territory is closed off and under close supervision. Not only that, but the portals aren't the best to transport an army. Too many of them could destabilise them. It isn't as before when it was easy to transport an army."
Titanium still thought it might be best to increase security on the island. Not only for a possible invasion, but also to stop those rebels who wanted to kill Peyton and his parents.
He listened to the rest of the report. There wasn't anything that important that stood out. It was mostly about the mipedians preparing something, but not the certainty of the why.
"That is all for my report," he then bowed before he ended contact.
The king sighed quietly. He wondered how he could organise everything. He will be busy for a while.
The door opened. He raised his head and looked at his soldier who watched over Peyton and his parents, "Steel. What is it?" he stood up and raised his chest, "Tell me now."
"My king. Something strange happened today. There is something that somehow ended up in my possession, but it's something you have to know," he took out something and showed it to his king.
Titanium immediately recognised the fragment of a jewel. It wasn't any fragments. It was a fragment of the Jewel of the Cothica. He scratched his chin, "Something bigger is going on," he realised, to the confusion of Steel.
AC: This is the end of this chapter.
Next: The Seach For The Fragment.
Tom reached his destination and investigated for the fragment.