"Indeed."
"Even with secrets, he cannot make a ripple in The Lands Between. No need to waste our strength." Finlay nodded. "Your Highness, I wonder what Caria schemes."
Thorne wore Caria's skin. Everything he did, others saw Caria. Yet, Caria wanted no part of the fight for power. Powerhouses like the Haligtree Army wouldn't bother.
Malenia didn't answer.
Her cold face shifted. She sensed something. Frowned, puzzled, looking far away. "Your Highness?"
"Hmm. I felt Ranni. Why didn't she come?" Malenia murmured.
"Did Her Highness Ranni go to find those two?" Finlay looked east, her face hardening.
"Could Caria be making a big move?"
"A soul projection, likely. To deliver a message to Thorne Wright." The Valkyrie waved a hand. Her words, sharp as a sword. "Ignore her."
"The army must prepare faster. I don't want to deal with Caria, but if they stand in our way—"
"We raze them together!"
"It seems the Haligtree Army didn't notice?"
The warhorses slowed at Stormhill. Sellen looked back. Loosened her grip on her staff, wiped sweat. Stirring up trouble under someone's nose, escaping under their noses—thrilling.
Thorne pulled the reins. The warhorse reared.
He looked at the city in the morning light. The Haligtree Army's armor still gleamed. On the tower, the red-haired Valkyrie stood. Her gaze met his. No explanation needed. He understood.
"No, Malenia sensed the commotion."
"Then why didn't she capture us, interrogate us?" Sellen was puzzled. This was a lord of the Erdtree.
"Perhaps she has no interest," Thorne said calmly. His gaze swept the hill. Bloodstains on the brown soil. That night, he fought beside the Haligtree Army to stop Godrick.
"Perhaps Malenia doesn't want to be my enemy."
"Then we are friends."
"I'm not yet qualified to be her friend, but we have some acquaintance, enough not to fall out completely." Thorne smiled, waved at the city. Cracked his whip. Galloped towards Limgrave in the morning light. The autumn wind was crisp. His heart, like the morning sun. My enemies are everywhere. My friends are all over the world!
Under the cloak of night, inside the carriage, silence. The two of them, lost in their own thoughts.
Thorne felt a flicker of apology toward Sellen. She had, for reasons that seemed absurd, abandoned her research, trailed after him, and faced danger. Apologizing, though, would create distance. Sellen, done with a plate of goat meat, patted her swollen belly with satisfaction. A yawn escaped. "Sleepy again. I'll get up in the middle of the night to research that topic."
"Which one?" Thorne asked, cleaning the plates.
"The embedded spellcasting medium, of course. And multi-position mana frequency modulation, so one can use two spells simultaneously—offensive and defensive, complementing each other." Sellen's eyes brightened. "Running away with you has its rewards. Inspiration from Godrick the Grafted." The sorcerers' world was too closed off. They scorned, lacked the chance to experience the strange skills of The Lands Between.
Except those wild imaginations, like Thops. Even Sellen could only study within the existing framework. But this journey had opened her horizons. Godrick the Grafted? Thorne considered it, a touch of interest stirring. Grafting's core was to make each limb act independently. Ultimate ambidexterity, in a way. If all those hands held staves, even the weakest Glintstone Pebble, and enough mana, they could pulverize any Tarnished.
Ultimate suffering, extreme enjoyment. Thorne couldn't research that. Just coordinating different mana frequencies would drive any sorcery professor bald. Wild imagination needed to be grounded in research. Otherwise, just a dream. "Sounds interesting. What's an embedded spellcasting medium?"
"You stupid apprentice, it means what it says." Sellen glanced at him, exasperated. "Glintstone is the medium, the staff the amplifier."
But your combat style doesn't look like a sorcerer's at all.... Don't you think it's a bit awkward? Thorne thought it over. Awkward, yes. Long-range was fine. Close combat, though, mana was just an extension of the sword. The star-frost only slashed for a moment, and even the fused 'Secret Sword' was just firing mana as sword energy.