Meeting concludes

The roads that led to Laguge were not on any map.

They wound through forests untouched by axe, crossed bridges formed by nature rather than stone, and passed through valleys so deep that the morning mist refused to rise. Few traveled this way—not because they could not, but because they dared not.

But Jared traveled it anyway.

Two carriages moved steadily through the rugged trail, their wheels reinforced and enchanted, courtesy of Sikone's newly acquired forge. At the front rode Lucy, reins in hand, her sharp eyes scanning every bend of the path. Jared sat beside her, arms crossed, face blank, his mind calculating.

Behind them, the second carriage rumbled forward, pulled by heavy-breathing horses. Inside were supplies, weapons, and two lizard men dressed in partial armor—green-scaled, tall, silent. Riding beside the wagon, keeping a perimeter, were the mechas—golemic titans of steel, powered by energy stones recovered from Jared's world.