I see it!
A speck hovered in the distance, just beyond the jagged peaks of the eastern mountains folks were starting to call the Teeth. It flashed once, twice, before splitting into two specks. Felix focused, his Perception tightening upon their shapes until they took up most of his vision. It was a feature of high Perception that he rarely utilized, but what amounted to telescopic vision was handy as hell. Now, it allowed him to see that the two specks were, in fact, two Manaships.
A woman stood on deck, her long sea-green hair tied back in a series of braids. She raised her hand in greeting, the midday sun glinting off a smile that put sharks to shame.
"Zara," Felix whispered. Then, more fiercely, "They're here!"
What followed was a mad scramble to clear space among the houses and impromptu market that had sprung up in the past weeks. They had kept the football field-sized area clear where Felix had fought the Giants, at first simply because they had the housing they needed and then because it made for a good place to trade the various resources found within the Foglands.
When Felix and the Henaari had set about creating more residences within the walls, they had intentionally set aside a number of open spaces. This was due to the Henaari's understanding of civic engineering more than any decision on Felix's part; he simply chose to listen to the more experienced voices among them, devising the start of roads among all the stone and wooden homes. The Frost Giants, meanwhile, had remained staunch isolationists beyond their frozen wall, venturing out only to hunt, train, and trade within the market.
Relations between the Henaari and Frost Giants, while tense, were not overtly hostile. Yet when Felix had landed among them, shouting for the area to be cleared, they had both responded the same way.
They scattered in fear.
Felix wasn't exactly happy that people feared him, but it had proven useful on more than one occasion. He'd take the advantage while he could. Drawing from his memory of airship docks back in the Void, Felix hastily constructed a sort of dry dock out of the stone beneath them. It was barely more than a deep 'V' supported by rocky framework, but based on what he'd seen of the ship's general shape, it'd do the trick.
The Manaships soon cleared the distance between the Teeth and his Stronghold, and by that time everyone had noticed them. Crowds gathered, the Henaari pointing in excitement and curiosity while Giants fingered the hilts of weapons and cast nervous looks into the skies, as if more were coming. His team trickled down from the Temple too, gathering behind Felix as he stood near the makeshift dry docks, waiting with him as the ships slowly landed. Jets of powerful air Mana shot off from beneath them, massive downward drafts that normally swirled about their hulls in a complex whirl of power. Unlike the ships in the Void, these Manaships seemed to operate on entirely different premises, weaving dizzying strains of power within and without their hull to harness the winds.
"Blind gods, those're big!" Evie shouted over the roaring wind. "How'd they get them?"
"Stole them from a Governor, I'm told," Felix said.
Evie laughed and nudged Vess in the ribs. "Your minder finally lose that stick up his ass?"
Vess smiled primly. "Doubtful."
Evie snorted even harder.
The Manaships settled into the docks with a groaning of stone, and Felix quickly shaped a few more supports for the structure. The whole thing was eyeballed, so that it worked at all was enough for him, and when the swirling Mana finally cut off he made sure to cast his Perception and Affinity across the whole structure. He grunted in approval. It'd hold.
The gangplanks on the first ship dropped to the earth with a crash, and the first off the boat was a hulking figure in freshly pressed robes of green and yellow and gleaming silver armor. A sword the size of a small tree was on his back, the man more than large enough to wield it, and even beneath his impressive armor Felix could see his muscles bunch and flex during his stolid descent.
"He's lookin' healthy," Evie said, admiration clear in her tone. Atar gave her a sideways look. "What? He might be a dick, but I can appreciate a good Body when I see it."
Alister barely stifled his laughter as members of the Haarguard filed off the ship behind the Hand. Felix hadn't expected that, especially not thirty of them; the Haarguard seemed intent on staying in Haarwatch, which had been fine with Felix. Anyone was welcome, so long as they were willing to listen to him. The ones who had traveled with him for so long had been indoctrinated into the team at that point, but thirty more, and all of them looking like they were following the Hand?
"The Blade Overcomes!"
An Apprentice Tier shout shook the air as first one then dozens more men and women of various Races marched off the Manaship. All of them carried a sword of some sort, whether slung over their back or at their hips, and their dark blue uniforms were accented with bronze-colored armor across their chest and leading arms. Their long coats extended in flaps that hung to their knees, where greaves and boots of the same bronze color stomped the ground in a rhythmic march. The lead was a bald Human named Fenwick Cole, nearly as burly as the Hand if still only an Apprentice Tier. He marched to the fore and saluted to Felix, hand to heart. "We serve."
Suppressing a grimace, Felix only nodded.
"The Fist Prevails!"
"The Bone Remains!"
"The Arc Ascends!"
One after another, the...Legionnaires stepped off the Manaships, the first and then the second. Damn near fifteen hundred men and women marched out in surprisingly solid formation, divided neatly by their orders or divisions or whatever they called it. Blade, Fist, Bone, and Arc. The last one is new. He'd spotted each of their insignias, one of which was the same glyph for fire, lightning, and eye. The other depended on their affiliation, and they looked increasingly professional. All of them wore jackets and pants with armor laid atop them, save for the Arc, who were kitted out in much the same as any Guild mage might have been. He was so preoccupied by the ranks saluting him, Felix almost missed the black and gold robes of his mentor until she was right in front of him.
"Zara," Felix said, repressing the urge to step back from her; she was standing entirely too close. Then he looked again, noticing her surprisingly gaunt face. "You're tired. What happened?"
"What happened is that I burned most of my Mana fueling these ships," the Naiad said. She begrudgingly tilted her head toward the Legion behind her. "The mages of your little army here did provide some aid. It is why we were able to reach you so fast."
"About half a week before schedule," Vess stated. She seemed distracted by the presence of the Hand, still some yards away, and for good reason. They hadn't left on the best of terms. "I am impressed."
Zara inclined her head. "Thank you, your Grace." Her eyes danced across the faces of the Henaari and Frost Giants. He hadn't told her of them before, but if she were shocked none of it showed upon her face or Spirit. "It has been a long week. If the grandstanding portion is over with, I'd greatly appreciate a bed."
"Of course. We prepared for your arrival, though we're all living a little rough out here, so I can't promise all the amenities you'd find in a city," Felix said. He motioned to his team and they split up as they had discussed, each of them going to address a different portion of the group. "We'll lead you to your rooms now, and later...Later we can talk."
Zara met his eyes, her ice blues meeting his own darker set, and neither of them so much as blinked. She inclined her head, in much the same way she had for Vess. "As you wish, Autarch."
"Felix Nevarre."
Sound and activity stopped among the crowd, the words not so much as bellowed as they were spoken with such utter authority. Adept Tier lungs shook the air as a Body of a small giant strode toward Felixthe Hand approached.
"You have given question to my honor and my duty. By endangering my ward you have endangered the House she represents, and the Territory for which I am a representative. By Oath and Blood I challenge you, Fiend of the Fog. Autarch."