The past month had seen relatively little activity on Adykon's farm, but much preparation. He had kept in touch with the dracon armies massing to attack Traeton, and the news was quite good. Some of Rughoi's men had deserted him and the human reinforcements for the city were not nearly enough to change the course of the upcoming battle. Traeton itself was still being fortified, but there was no way that many decades of neglect could be made good in a matter of weeks or months. Nevertheless, the battle ahead would be daunting and there would be heavy losses on all sides.
For his part, Adykon had to train in both sword and spell while working on his farm. His sons helped him out alongside his hired hands, but he found that his days had turned into a routine of work and training from sunrise to sunset, followed by spell practice by lamplight in his house. Kara too had to practice alongside Smith. While not of much use in a direct confrontation, her healing magic would be invaluable in the highly likely event of a serious injury. Ophion had to split his time between the farm and his own business, along with some training he had for Fasuto, although it was unclear whether or not the fox would be able to help in the upcoming fight. At this point, it seemed like he and Ennave would be sitting this one out. It was about a month later that Ophion realized that something was seriously wrong. The archmage had been scanning Traeton and kept an eye on various locales which could pose a risk to the safety of the dracon lands. One of these was the lost city.
"I... Aerta, something's wrong. It's Dememoras' old capital. Something's happened there. I can't see what's going on anymore."
She dashed over, alarmed at the prospect. Dememoras himself was still under lock and key in a vault far away from his city, but the ruins themselves were still incredibly dangerous. "Why not? Can you see anything at all?"
Ophion closed his eyes and muttered another scrying spell. "I see a shadow and some figures, dracon-like, perhaps lizardfolk. I can't tell what they're doing. One of them seems to have mutated into... I don't know what."
"Hang on, let me try something." Aerta went downstairs to her scrying circle, still freshly chalked into the floor from earlier in the morning. Hovering over the center of the circle in the lotus position, she shut her eyes and opened her mind, letting her spirit out into the astral plane. Quickly moving over the lost city, she examined what could be discerned from it. As with the archmage wizard, the archmage sorceress couldn't make out much, save for some shady figures wear what seemed to be a hole or a well. Beyond this, she had no idea what was happening, apart from it not being good. Straining her magic for any extra scrap of information, she briefly saw some of the figures closest to the edge of the city, each one fading to shadow as they entered through its gates. Kobolds.
Acting swiftly, Aerta snapped back into her conscious mind and ran out to tell her husband, finding him working in the fields.
"Ady! Adykon!"
"Wha-? What's wrong? Has the attack begun?"
"No, but there's something up with the Lost City! Some kobolds down there are doing something, but I have no idea what. Rughoi might be trying to use the power there!"
"I don't see how. Anyone going to that city would have to be very well prepared or suicidal, and I doubt it's the former. Did you scry on Traeton? Is he still in the city?"
"Unless he left in the last day, I'm sure he's still there. No, this is... this is something different. Maybe it's a force he sent down there, detached from his main army. I don't know any more, just that something is happening. It's too late to stop it, whatever it is. We'll have to face whatever comes out of that city when it comes. We can't retake Traeton and rush out to the Lost City at the same time."
"Right. I'll have to report this development... whatever it is. In the meantime, is your plan with Krakas still on?"
Aerta nodded. "Yes. She and Kali want to help. I admit it's not a conventional plan, but we have to try. I know you wish we'd just teleport in and assassinate him-"
"- now that's not quite what I said."
Aerta gave Adykon a look. "True, but you probably wouldn't mind it at this point. We're not gonna do that. At least, I won't do that, nor will Kali and certainly not Krakas. Still, I suppose that is we're going to get through to Rughoi, we'd best to do it now. If you need me, I'll be speaking with her." Aerta teleported back to the house, just outside of the room where Krakas was staying. She knocked on the door.
