Stepping Stones, a little bump in the road to victory

[TigStripe]

"I know a way," Lee replied as he and Newsgold appeared aboveground beside the Majin spy. "There is a Retsuo transport just south of here, hidden halfway between Veiniste and Veinarle in a grove of trees. That doesn't sound like much help, but it is - there's almost nothing in the way of trees between here and there. The transport works off of telepathic connections with the driver, so you should be able to use it pretty easily. It is a more advanced craft that uses Retsuo hover technology. I know from experience - it works over water as well as land. Take it to Plefterre."

Lee paused, registering what Varlet had told him. "Crystal tower? Near Xyloclover? What are you prattling on about, woman?"

[Zeke]

Varlet glared at Newsgold but grinned in her usual way. She shrugged childishly and waved off her comment. "I don't need to explain myself. You can take my word for it or not. It's not in my hands any more." With those final words to Newsgold she turned to Lee with a grateful nod. "It seems i'm finding myself with feelings of gr gratitude. I better leave before it gets worse."

With a wave meant to say "Thank you" she shouldered her sword and slowly walked in the direction she was pointed to.

[TigStripe]

The monster was contained. A young soldier whose name was undisclosed to Newsgold had been the one to thwart his raging assault on the capital. The remainder of the Majin were dealt with by Algod and his squad of Knights. Rumor had it that several had been beheaded by a scythe, an exotic weapon of which no Knights were trained to use. The main issue in mopping up the Majin presence in Veiniste had been an encounter between a strange Majin with control over bugs versus Algod himself. The struggle between them had evidently taken out the side of a building near the capital. It had been an apartment complex of some sort.

Newsgold shuffled the papers in front of her together and tapped them on the desk to keep their edges straight. Placing them back in front of her, she sighed. She'd seen some very strange things in the past twenty hours. Not all of the Majin were truly loyal to Sekhmet, even to the point of murdering other Majin to protect Merxenne. But was it truly to protect Merxenne, or was it to protect themselves? Newsgold couldn't be sure.

The other aspect of all this that irked Newsgold was Lee Mirax and his involvement in the whole ordeal. He had known beforehand that the Majin would be appearing in Veiniste, and had warned the Minister beforehand. By normal means...the man deserved a promotion. Seeing as he was under Algod's command, such praise would probably not be found by his normal commanding officer. Perhaps, then, it fell on those more able to convey emotion than that cold-hearted general to show that his efforts would not go unappreciated. After all, Newsgold would expect no less than praise for such an action if she were to act on information as he had done.

"The boy won't see it coming," Newsgold said with a smirk on her face, "considering who he works for."