Interlude Thoughts of a Statue and Distant Worries

Erin watched the little Bovi as they went around expanding their camp and number. Right now she could see some of the new members joining the old in constructing a temple. It was rather important to them that she have a proper temple, honestly, she did not need it. Yet she couldn’t say she didn’t enjoy the free faith mana she was getting from them. It certainly helped with speeding up her decrystallization. A process that was going to take awhile, perhaps if she had actually awoken when she was supposed to instead of staying asleep it would have been easier.

Of course there was no point moping about decisions made so long ago. At the time she didn’t think there was much reason to be awake, but it seems she was wrong. Some of her people survived the treachery of the younger races. These Bovi were an example of that, but the ship in orbit was a sign the empire had lasted far longer. She had much to catch up on and perhaps there were others like herself that would need finding.

Her gaze turned to the barracks, one of several in the camp, where she could see some young girls gathered around a board. They were enjoying a game, while their parents were nowhere to be seen. Of course that was because they were busy building her new temple. In fact they were choosing to build the temple to the exclusion of many tasks that maybe they should be doing. Like building additional shelters and expanding the farms.

Of course, Bovi had a tendency to choose hardship to meet goals faster. They were diligent and hardworking like that. This camp wasn’t really built to support their numbers, yet they were breeding all the same. Others had taken to learning, trying to learn more about their hosts so that they could improve them. Give it a few years and this place might be a prosperous paradise, but right now it was just a struggling village with more people than it could support. That tiny farm barely produced the food they needed and water was tight as well.

If she could sigh she would, as her mind reached out to the farm. At least she was here to help them out. As she started channeling her magic. One of the nice things about being a statue was that it was easier to cast her magic than ever, but she’d been gathering magic so long that she had grown stronger in her sleep. So that was also a factor. It took only moments for her magical energy to reach the Bovi farms, where she began to etch out a magical pattern.

Mystic symbols formed quickly and then chained together as her work expanded. Tiny patterns etched within larger ones in an ever-expanding web of magical work. Minutes passed onto hours as she worked her enchantments, expanding from just the field where they grew the food and into the Solune fields. By the time she was finished the sun was setting, not that she had paid much attention to the time. What point was there? A day made no difference to her, nor did a year. They were all the blink of an eye to one as old as her.

Now she wanted to stretch a bit but her muscles were still rather stiff. Maybe another day or month at this rate. So instead she surveyed her work with a smile. That would help the Bovi out a lot, not today, but within a few weeks they will find their fields to be blessed with great fertility. Plants would grow to be larger and more nutrient-dense in a fraction of the time.

A task done, she turned her mind to other things. Now what else could she do? Standing around as a statue was rather boring. Sleeping seemed good, but she couldn’t sleep, not yet. She needed to stay awake and channel energies into her body. Otherwise she would never return to a more normal state. Her mental eye turned to the local shield, maybe she could improve it?

The man shifted in his seat, his mind not really on his work. He hoped Qeina was doing alright, but it was hard to stay in contact given the mission. Sadly she was the only one he would trust with a mission so vital and honestly he was hoping she was right about about him being wrong. Not that they could afford to risk him being right and not making sure. Something was off about the return of the Yuras and he had to be sure.

Sending them to gather intel had been in part a propaganda move. Anything to improve public relations was important. Especially given how powerful a foe this menace was. They had lost numerous worlds to them in a matter of weeks. The fleet was in tatters and there was a serious shortage of trained officers. Many ships had gone down with their crews and the disasters at Telna, Mirak, and Seridis did not help matters at all. Entire fleets shattered against the unbreakable might of the alien spears. Figurative spears, but no less deadly in action.

Standing he glanced at the warboard on his left, every red dot representing a lost world. That didn’t even cover the fallen, a list so long he could have wrapped a planet in it many times over. Thoughts and worries that weighed on his mind.

His breath left him for a moment before he left his office. He locked the door behind him and headed down the corridor. As he walked, his mobile began to beep. Reaching for his belt, he pulled it off and then flipped open the terminal, tapping the accept key to activate his earpiece and accept the incoming call.

“Hey Aleki dear?”

“Yes?”

“I hope now is a good time, I have something important to tell you?”

A smile graced his lips as he always enjoyed listening to the woman speaking, “Oh? Good news I hope? I think you mentioned the clinic?”

“I’m there right now and just finished. It’s good news too. Why don’t you meet me at the cafe? You know the one.”

A grin on his lips, “Kirna’s old shop right? Sure, I can be there soon. I needed a break anyway.”

Happily she signed off, clearly eager to join him and he wasn’t lying about needing a break. In fact he was just starting a walk, but a meeting with his wife would be a bright spot on his day. Something to enjoy all the more given what was going on. He couldn’t help but worry about the lull in the war. It felt sinister to him, he just hoped he was wrong about that too.