The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 388: Let It Rain

The gunslinger woke Dominic early in the morning for his watch, and Dominic woke Amie, who was curled up by the stove.

Most of the members had taken spots in the main room, where they could respond quickly to threats. The pair on watch sent one to the upper floor to look out the window toward the monster army, while the other patrolled the upper floor to ensure nothing was coming from another direction.

"All has been quiet so far, but it’s still raining. Not as hard as it was before, but I doubt that anyone will be desperate to leave." He whispered.

Dominic nodded. "The sofa is comfortable. Get some sleep. I will make sure you’re up just in time to eat."

They had three more hours until most of the team would be waking up, and the biscuits would only take twenty minutes to bake, so Dominic went to rouse Amie, who went to the upper floor to watch for enemies.

While she did that, Dominic crept into the basement to find the control panel for the house.

It was in too good of shape not to have had a self repair spell active when it was abandoned, and the whole building was set up with magitech lightbulbs.

On the back wall of the basement, next to a small freezer room, Dominic found the controls and brought everything back online, while making sure that all the fireplaces and lights were inactive.

It was better not to set anyone on fire, or to flash their eyes with a lightbulb in the small hours of the morning.

Worse, if the upstairs lights suddenly came on, then every monster for a kilometre or more would be able to see that the house was occupied. That might work as a great beacon for the army, once they arrived, but it would not go over well with the adventurers.

With the power back on, Dominic made his way to the second floor, and found that Amie had moved a chair in the bedroom to sit by the now active fireplace while she stared into the night.

She had hung a cloth over the mantle, blocking the light, so as not to ruin her night vision, but the heat still filled the room, driving away the chill of a rainy night.

"You really don’t like the cold, do you?" Dominic whispered.

"The desert gets close to freezing at night, and it’s the bane of my existence. Now that I’m indoors, I am taking full advantage of magitech heat while I can." She agreed.

"Anything to report?" He added.

"There is another storm front moving in. It looks like the rainy season is here in full force, and it’s not about to let up." Amie replied cheerfully.

It might delay the military action, but most likely not.

Arriving under cover of a major storm would let them get in place with a much lower chance of being detected, even if they had to give up the airborne scouting abilities of the airships to deploy in a storm like that.

Dominic made a loop of the second floor, checking out all the windows. They had all been polished clean so that the scouts could look out, but there was nothing to spot. No monsters moved in the distance, no wildlife either.

Everything had taken cover to get out of the driving rain, and the wind was beginning to pick up, howling through the slightly opened windows.

For the sake of ventilation, few homes in Stansia Province ever fully closed the windows, they always let a bit of fresh air in. But on a day like this, it made the house give what sounded like a mournful wail, with the shifting winds echoing in the rooms.

Dominic closed the shutters which the team had opened for visibility, and returned to the bedroom where Amie was watching the army in the distance.

"How is your night sight? Can you see more than just when the lightning flashes?" He whispered.

The little mage smiled. "I have a night vision spell. I can see all the way to the tree line. How are your eyes, dragonkin?"

Dominic chuckled. "As good as the average alley cat. I can see just fine in the dark."

While the adventurers were comfortable in the Barony House, the armies outside of Wistover were not nearly as pleased about the current weather.

"Set more lines. They’re calling for winds over ninety kilometres an hour. That’s six anchored lines per airship, and set them all to the same pivot point." The ground crew Commander was directing.

On the other side of town, the calls were nearly the same.

"Extra securement on the tents, gentlemen. We’re in for a major blow. Get everything up off the ground. I don’t want to see a single crate, cot or supply sack that isn’t on a pallet or elevated.

The forecast calls for multiple days of torrential rain, so mind your feet. Change socks often, and use the waterproofing on your boots and gloves." The supply Sergeant was ordering.

All the soldiers were in large common tents, with whole rows of cots inside. But most of them had been set with a ground tarp, and the cots on top of that.

However, with this much rain in the forecast, even the ground tarp would want to be elevated, so it didn’t become an ankle deep swimming pool. It was utter chaos, and the soldiers were quickly realizing that they simply didn’t have enough equipment to elevate everything.

So, it was supplies first, and then folding the edges of the ground tarps up inside the tent, hoping to keep the floors relatively dry as the ground underneath became saturated.

At least they weren’t in combat, or stationed in a trench.

"Does this mean that the stand ready for deployment order is withdrawn?" One of the Lieutenants asked.

The veteran Sergeant just shrugged at him. "Not my problem. Once everyone’s gear is safe from the rain, they can worry about where they’ll be going."