Sometime later…

The cart bumped and shook as it went over the uneven road outside of the city. Zoe had been with the caravan for over two weeks now. The day after finishing the inscriptions she was sent off to join the cargo in its entirety on the next leg of the journey where the golem would be assembled.

The caravan kept a steady pace and only stopped for seven hours in the evening. After the evening break, everyone ate a large breakfast before returning to their assigned cart.

In Zaria, the Ruby Staff Merchant Group contracted the guards needed and picked up the researchers like her who would help complete the golem. She supposed that the people needed not from Zaria could have come to them, but Zaria wasn’t a good place for ‘Testing weapons of mass destruction. So, it was decided that everyone would be moved around for each step.

Zoe had taken some time to get to know a few of the guards who were now contracted to protect them and the golem for what would be a half year at least. It was up to the gnome workers when the project could be considered complete. Their mechanics had initially proposed this project and had gotten the ball rolling on the designs and the collection of resources needed.

Currently, so far in the journey, the caravan had passed through a smaller elven city. They were now into the second leg of the trip that would last them four weeks to enter the gnome outpost. Despite the length of their trip, they had no trouble thanks to the guards. Only on two occasions did they have to deal with wild animals that had smelled the food from their campfires. The roads between the cities were also well kept so the chance of bandits was minimal.

The late afternoon led into the night and soon calls were made from the front to lead the carts off the road. The caravan circled, and workers began starting campfires in the center. Guards also stepped out and began their watch of the circle of caravans.

Due to the stop in the city, they were able to grab some more options for food, but it still wasn’t much. Zoe missed the food from Mrs. Day as she slowly ate the dry bread she was given by the workers handing out food.

As Zoe ate she looked around at the other researchers in hopes of finding one to talk with. She had gotten to know the names of most of them. Not all of them easily shared their stories, but the ones who did enlighten her. Some scientists were just like that. Eccentric, mysterious, loners, or just in their heads all the time.

Two of them she had met worked on understanding the interaction of different elements of magic while another tested how changes to spells altered their functions. It was fascinating to her but today they had all separated into different groups.

As she finished the bread someone walked over to her and stood over her. Zoe looked up to see one of the guards she had not seen before. She could tell she was a guard based on her clothes and the tools on her belt. She had one green and one blue eye and was a grey elf which Zoe had not seen many of back in Zaria.

“Hello, I’m Kendra. It is nice to meet you,” said Kendra holding out her hand.

“Hello. I’m Zoe,” said Zoe. She met the other woman’s hand and shook it.

“I’ve been meaning to chat with you eventually.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I just joined the caravan in the city, so I didn’t get to meet many people yet. I’ve got so many questions to ask you. Me and my sister have been up in the front of the caravan and saw your work in the head and chest of the golem. It is really awesome. I was hoping I could ask some questions about their design?”

“Yeah most of them are okay to ask. Everyone is under the same contract so you can’t share the info with others. I was formally in charge of implementing the runes into the golem, but now I will be focused on repair or personal work while at the outpost.”

“Great. I have some knowledge of runes due to repairing my own equipment for a while now and I noticed that there is not a power source or power control runes in either piece.”

“Oh. That is because the gnomes have the power source at the outpost and will be installing it during the assembly. I assume that they already have the device ready there with their own rune crafter. Though if they don’t we might be waiting while I carve the runes they give me myself.”

“I suppose that makes sense, but it should still have energy output controls on the other components.”

“Those runes weren’t needed by the gnomes as far as I know so I was able to add other attachments that will make this golem the best ever built. You seem to be much more knowledgeable about the golem project than the other guards have cared to be. Are you a part of the training squad?”

“That’s right. The official title is Magic Combat Tactics Trainer. Me, my sister Aria and a few others will be training the golem in our fighting styles and how best to fight in a bunch of different scenarios. We will also be joining the golem on some hunts in these forests against magical beasts. Me and Aria have focused on improving our mixed elemental magics. The golem will have a bunch of magic available to it so it will need to use them simultaneously to fight effectively. In addition, having it use all of its affinities can give me great ideas of attacks to use with Aria.”

“I hope the training goes well. I’ve never had a chance to work on or see a golem before so it will be eye-opening. From the runes, I have learned and worked on so far for it has been amazing.”

“I am excited as well. I hope it doesn’t blow up spectacularly. That wouldn’t be good. I will chat later. I should get going now. Bye.” She waved quickly before spinning around and towards the guard’s area.

“Bye.”

Zoe returned to the rest of her food and finished it off quickly. The days of travel continued on. The day after Zoe’s meeting with Kendra she met her twin Aria. Aria was less talkative than Kendra but was a mirror image to her.

As the caravan continued into the wilds they encountered three groups of beasts on separated days that slowed their pace significantly. Each pack was a bit harder and took longer to dispatch than the last. The guards worked quickly to deal with the threats and show off their skills. Zoe was able to watch the pair work together to quickly kill the beasts and stop them from reaching the carts.

When they fought Aria sent out a foggy mist from her hands that funneled the beasts toward her sister. The magical fumes also held hints of illusory magic in them and confused the simple-minded creatures into falling for their trap. The beasts were now confused and disorientated as they charged towards their own and away from the caravan. With Kendra in position, she created a wall of flame and pushed it into the beasts charging towards her. Once the beasts were burned and confused the other guards could easily finish off the beasts regardless of whether or not they had magical abilities or not. The guards dealt with the beasts quickly and kept everything under control for the merchants watching from behind.

Illusion magic was a rare profession within magic and Zoe held Aria in her mind with fascination. Within the elemental magics, there are specialties of magic ranging from attack, defense, to support and utility. Most mages focus on one type with some practice in another type. Being able to use support and utility magic and the like so well usually indicates that the user has a strong understanding of the element that they use.

The trees in this area were much denser and the path was rockier which slowed their journey. The trees did shade their path from much of the heat and they were able to send a daily scouting party to retrieve edible fruits and grasses to supplement their meals. At this point in their trip, they were within the disputed territorial areas of the wood elves and gnomes. Many of the weaker magical beasts stayed in this area which made it a prime hunting spot along with the plentiful amount of edible vegetation nearby.

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Finally, after four weeks of travel, the caravan group escaped the trees and entered a clearing with grassy plains. A signpost near the start read ‘Gnome Outpost 17’. It was early evening when they arrived. Some of the travelers and night shift guards had already gone to bed. The two moons illuminated their path as they carried on.

Waiting for them in the clearing was a gnomish man who smiled and waved at them. He only stood three feet tall and looked well dressed for a man in the middle of a forest.

“Welcome to our outpost. The guards will help lead you to the unloading point. Hurry in not many in the town know you will have arrived tonight,” said the man. As if on cue part of the clearing and forest around him shimmered and transformed into a simple walled village.