My visit by the Egyptian god Osiris has me thinking that maybe they know more about the Maetriks than it would at first seem. The planet where they hold the most influence is a strict low tech world so I'm left with my horse and a few guns. No ships are even allowed in orbit...unless of course you want to piss off an entire pantheon. I choose a landing point far outside of any populated area but near enough to what my ship's scanners tell me is the a vast library. A trek through the desert would kill most travelers after only a few days but not me. My armor keeps me cool, and there's internal food fascimilators so I'm good for supplies as long as the suit's power supply lasts. The power supply of course is something I'm not worried about considering the suit powers itself. My horse is cybernetic...robot body horse's brain...in actuality a Cyberbrain with a horse's essence transferred into it. No food or water it just keeps going the very act of moving charges it's power cells. An oasis is a nice pit stop anyway. A couple of hopeful vultures fly overhead hoping to find a quick meal but they move on after figuring out I'm not on the menu. As I stare at the sky's reflection I can't help but feel like I'm being watched. I don't ignore those kinds of feelings so I do a scan of the nearby area, I detect lots of insects and even a giant snake but otherwise nothing out of the ordinary...Yeah, I've seen that movie before though. Just because I can't scan it doesn't mean it's not there. I also don't rely what I can see . I'll have to keep my head on a swivel while I'm here. Traveling by mount is slow and a bit tedious. I could cover in minutes what is now going to take days. Don't get me wrong, my mount can run for days without getting tired but I can't. I get rest when I can and Onyx serves as a wonderful sentry along with a few forcewall spells. I'll reach the library in roughly 6 more days, and onse I'm there I'll need a few holographic disguises to keep things calm...I wonder how Onyx feels about being a Camel heh heh heh. I'd kill for a hovercycle...or a magic carpet.
The days pass quickly without event but I still can't shake the feeling I'm being watched. I finally give in and cast a couple of detection spells. I know it doesn't seem it but I'm loath to use magic. Somehow it feels like cheating. It's like a shortcut that I could easily get addicted to. It's so easy to become reliant on spells to get things done when things get too hard for technology or the mundane. I love my sword and it was made to my exacting specifications but still, I'm no mage and I don't want to get a reputation for using magic I really enjoy springing that one on the bad guys. I often mislead people into thinking I'm using technology instead of magic. The spells don't reveal anything magical or any kind of scrying. Still the Oni ninja masters believe that when you look at someone you connect your chi with that person. That's how you know when someone is staring at you inside their vehicle when you're at a traffic light. It seems superstitious but using the tactic of never staring at a person's head hasn't failed once. Right now, I feel like someone is staring at mine.
As night falls I do something I have never done in my life. I set up a decoy. A holographic remote with some magic thrown in for good measure. It'll reda as alive if checked for magically and the batteries on the drone will last a few days I program the thing to go through a daily routine of ride and rest. In the dark I find a nice deep shadow and create some magical darkness to conceal myself and Onyx. I activate the drone and Onyx and I go stealth. We cannot be seen nor heard. At sunrise the drone does exactly what it's supposed to and breaks camp climbing up on the drone mount and heads off to continue the journey. As Onyx and I watch I make note of three figures who discreetly follow only a few minutes later from the cliffs high above the ravine we've been travelling in. They're good too the stop when the drone stops and the remain motionless behind a magical cloaking field. I hop on Onyx's back and we take a new path. Now I'll tell you this: Onyx doesn't need to walk, he can fly but that's supposed to be a no no here so I have him fly very low to the ground, only he doesn't leave any tracks. I do this for several miles. Picking up our trail will be next to impossible. The next thing I do is haul it as fast as Onyx can go which is a whopping 300 kph. with our pursuers on foot and following the drones it'll be impossible at best for them to catch up.
Normally I like to find out who is following me and who they work for but not today. No, today I have an appointment at an ancient library.