get across the plains with your scowl intact."
Moon harumphed and stared into the distance. For the moment the horizon was clear but, having seen the speed of the k'nid with his own eyes, he knew that situation could change at any second.
"Horse could have had us to the mountains in three jumps," he said.
"Maybe, if Horse were up to par," Kali patted her mount as he plodded alongside, still weak but recovering from his injuries. Green eyes rolled. "Besides, whether Andon has the best defences in the region or not, I'm a little dubious about the logic of corralling all these people in one place. I want to make sure they're all right."
Merrit Moon sighed and shook his head, but Kali could tell she'd been forgiven. "You want to make sure they're all right. An admirable sentiment, but I don't really see what you can do to help and, I repeat, this is madness. Do you honestly think we can avoid the k'nid for the three or four days it will take us to reach Andon?"
"I don't think it's going to take three or four days. Look ahead."
Maybe a tenth of a league further on, a dust storm was beginning to brew on the plain, vast spirals of flotsam thickening moment by moment. "Oh, wonderful. We'll be blinded too."
"I don't mean the storm. I mean what's causing it. The people at the front. Look ."
It was then that Moon noticed the gestures being made by a group of six individuals leading the march. Garbed in thick, plain cloaks but with hints of far more colourful robes beneath, they appeared hardly to move under their covering - except for a subtle but complex flexing of their hands.
"Are they what I think they are?"
"Yep. League of Prestidigitation and Prestige. Saw them with the soldiers at the gate. And they're weaving . In fact, they're brewing up the storm."
"But why on Twilight would they do that?"
"Perhaps to disguise what's inside it." She nodded forward, into the storm itself. There was a distinct glow visible inside, a swirl of energy that Moon recognised instantly.
"My Gods, they're creating a warp portal. They're going to teleport these people to Andon."
"Without them even realising it," Kali said with a twinkle in her eye. "It wouldn't do to let the general public know just how much magic was around them, now, would it?"
"These people aren't stupid, they'll realise."
"They're scared, tired, hungry and facing the unknown. When they arrive in Andon, they won't even care enough to ask."
"You knew what you were doing all along, didn't you?"
"Oh, aye."
Kali, Moon and Horse continued forward and soon entered the storm. Cloaks or hands raised against their faces to protect themselves from the swirling dust, no one other than Kali and her companions realised what was happening. Even when the teleportation magic took hold of their bodies, causing a slight tingle of the flesh, a barely noticeable buzzing in the bones, as they suddenly left one place to arrive in another. Or at least they thought no one else had noticed. Because as the marching refugees emerged from the other side of the dust storm, finding themselves amidst the skeletons and ruined machines of war that littered the outskirts of Andon it was, ironically, Harmon Ding who noticed something amiss.
Towards the front of the line, the small twitchy man sniffed the air and bobbed his head from side to side, his brow furrowing in confusion and consternation and his fingers rising as if to question the soldiers and the mages at the forefront of the march. Thankfully, they ignored him for the most part, but then Ding's continuing and questioning gaze looked back down the line, spotted Kali, Moon and Horse in its ranks, and his face whitened. He grabbed one of the soldiers and pointed in their direction.
"This we can do without," Kali sighed. "Excuse me."
She began to work her way down the line, and the closer she came to Harmon Ding the clearer his entreaties to the soldier became.
"Don't let them into your city! They're not normal . This crazy woman has, well,
Moon harumphed and stared into the distance. For the moment the horizon was clear but, having seen the speed of the k'nid with his own eyes, he knew that situation could change at any second.
"Horse could have had us to the mountains in three jumps," he said.
"Maybe, if Horse were up to par," Kali patted her mount as he plodded alongside, still weak but recovering from his injuries. Green eyes rolled. "Besides, whether Andon has the best defences in the region or not, I'm a little dubious about the logic of corralling all these people in one place. I want to make sure they're all right."
Merrit Moon sighed and shook his head, but Kali could tell she'd been forgiven. "You want to make sure they're all right. An admirable sentiment, but I don't really see what you can do to help and, I repeat, this is madness. Do you honestly think we can avoid the k'nid for the three or four days it will take us to reach Andon?"
"I don't think it's going to take three or four days. Look ahead."
Maybe a tenth of a league further on, a dust storm was beginning to brew on the plain, vast spirals of flotsam thickening moment by moment. "Oh, wonderful. We'll be blinded too."
"I don't mean the storm. I mean what's causing it. The people at the front. Look ."
It was then that Moon noticed the gestures being made by a group of six individuals leading the march. Garbed in thick, plain cloaks but with hints of far more colourful robes beneath, they appeared hardly to move under their covering - except for a subtle but complex flexing of their hands.
"Are they what I think they are?"
"Yep. League of Prestidigitation and Prestige. Saw them with the soldiers at the gate. And they're weaving . In fact, they're brewing up the storm."
"But why on Twilight would they do that?"
"Perhaps to disguise what's inside it." She nodded forward, into the storm itself. There was a distinct glow visible inside, a swirl of energy that Moon recognised instantly.
"My Gods, they're creating a warp portal. They're going to teleport these people to Andon."
"Without them even realising it," Kali said with a twinkle in her eye. "It wouldn't do to let the general public know just how much magic was around them, now, would it?"
"These people aren't stupid, they'll realise."
"They're scared, tired, hungry and facing the unknown. When they arrive in Andon, they won't even care enough to ask."
"You knew what you were doing all along, didn't you?"
"Oh, aye."
Kali, Moon and Horse continued forward and soon entered the storm. Cloaks or hands raised against their faces to protect themselves from the swirling dust, no one other than Kali and her companions realised what was happening. Even when the teleportation magic took hold of their bodies, causing a slight tingle of the flesh, a barely noticeable buzzing in the bones, as they suddenly left one place to arrive in another. Or at least they thought no one else had noticed. Because as the marching refugees emerged from the other side of the dust storm, finding themselves amidst the skeletons and ruined machines of war that littered the outskirts of Andon it was, ironically, Harmon Ding who noticed something amiss.
Towards the front of the line, the small twitchy man sniffed the air and bobbed his head from side to side, his brow furrowing in confusion and consternation and his fingers rising as if to question the soldiers and the mages at the forefront of the march. Thankfully, they ignored him for the most part, but then Ding's continuing and questioning gaze looked back down the line, spotted Kali, Moon and Horse in its ranks, and his face whitened. He grabbed one of the soldiers and pointed in their direction.
"This we can do without," Kali sighed. "Excuse me."
She began to work her way down the line, and the closer she came to Harmon Ding the clearer his entreaties to the soldier became.
"Don't let them into your city! They're not normal . This crazy woman has, well,
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