Hawk wasn't joking about the number of Frost Giants in the area. Karl could see three other groups from where they were standing, and if the Giants had better eyesight, they would be able to clearly spot his group across the open fields, even with their white cloaks.

It was a shame that he couldn't fire an arrow that far, but from Hawk's point of view, it looked like the Frost Giant front line had spread out into a search pattern, and they were combing the area looking for their lost relic.

"That thing must be significant to them, even though it's not their primary Goddess." Lotus decided, as they headed for another group of Hunters.

"Perhaps it's because she's a Shaman God, and they needed the Shamanistic magic to activate the stone that was letting them clone the warriors?" Karl suggested.

Lotus frowned. "That could be, but it might be something else as well. The Goddess is called the Allmother, and she is a god of Shamanistic magic, so it might be that only a holy relic of that one specific Goddess would enable them to use the spell they need. If that's the case, there are likely more of these statues all over the front lines, hidden in places too dangerous for most of our teams to scout.

The Frost Giants know that we don't have any Royal Rank fighters here, so they haven't deployed any of theirs, they're just wearing us out before making their big move."

Remi perked up at that suggestion. [Is she saying we have to collect them all? Like Totems for my swamp? A whole collection of magical statues to build an array with?]

"Remi wants to know if we should try to collect them all and see what happens. She seems to think that they're supposed to work together." Karl relayed.

Tessa and Lotus shared an enlightened look, both remembering something from their training.

"I think that the summoning effect really might be a set of statues. Totem Magic is a thing, but it's far beyond most of us.

If there are a whole set of Divine Totems working together, representing a pantheon, or a concept, then the totems might be creating all of the strange phenomenons that we are seeing, with the expanding borders and the appearance of new Frost Giants, as the Totem Magic tries to align the world to favour them." Tessa explained.

"And if we steal enough of them, the effect would stop, and the borders would begin to return to normal, ending their invasion. That is brilliant. We just need to find the others." Dana exclaimed.

[And I would get my own expanding Swamp.] Remi added helpfully.

How that would work was a mystery to Karl, as the swamp was a mental space, and the maximum size seemed to be tied to her Rank, but perhaps the statues would help her grow up faster.

"I think that we need to go to the base, and see if there are other places like the one that we attacked. If we tell them what we suspect, they might make a mess of attacking it, and then the totems will be moved again.

But if we can get a few more before the Frost Giants realize that they're being targeted, I think that it might be enough that we can send the army after the others." Karl decided.

"So, you're saying, get the intel, attack another hidden spot and see if there is a totem statue there, and only then should we tell the army about the threat?" Tessa asked seriously.

"Yes, I think that is the best strategic decision for us to be able to not only test the theory, but to end the war if we are right."

Ophelia looked deep in thought as she made little piles of snow with her foot. "I think Karl is right. The Totems won't do anyone any good if they're spread out. The damage would be done, and the border would just stop advancing. But if we can get enough of them together, the effect should begin to fade as the Totems align to favour us.

That's how my totems are. The more that I have active, the stronger the effect is. I don't have the strongest Totems yet, only Bear Strength, but once I have four of them out, my strength has doubled from its base level."

Remi nodded along in understanding. Totems were Shaman magic, and although she didn't know any of them yet, she was getting a much better idea of how they worked after watching them appear all around the Werebear when she was in combat.

Karl led them back toward the front lines to talk to the General, and Remi studied her statue, while trying to remember everything that she could about the totems that Ophelia made. She was close to a revelation, she just needed a bit more time to understand what she was missing.

The scouts were waiting for them as they got close to the camp, despite the fact that Karl hadn't sent any radio messages yet.

"Commander, the General would like to see you in his Command tent." The scout greeted them.

"I would have been more startled if he didn't want to see me." Karl joked.

"Lead the way, I don't want to walk in on anything unfortunate, my poor clerics have seen too much already this mission."

The scout looked confused, but Lotus giggled at the memory of the startled Artillery Battalion Commander when he was quite literally caught with his pants down.

They heard the General's laughter when the scout stuck his head in to see if he was free, and then followed him inside.

"General, good to see you again. I trust that you got a relayed version of the events from the other scouts?" Karl asked.

"Yes, all sorts of confused and conflicting reports. Now, firsthand, what happened out there? You did go to scout the location, did you not?" The General asked.

"We did, and here is how it went." Karl went through the details of the engagement, including the snowstorm that made it look like there was no valley there at all until you were in it, to the clear area at the bottom, the identical Giants, and the destruction, but omitting the bits about the totem Remi borrowed.

"I understand now. It makes sense that the Frost Giants are out hunting. They might be looking for the culprit, but also for any leftover magical items that survived the blast, shards of the Frost Stone, and other valuables. If there are still shards of that exploded stone, they will be valuable not only to the Frost Giants, but to other water and Ice Magic users." The General explained.

Dana and Tori smiled. They shouldn't have too many problems finding a piece or two of the shattered stone to help with their magic.

"One other thing. Ascended Mage Tori, you have been reassigned. There is a new group here in need of a mage, and we unfortunately don't have the resources to keep an overstrength scouting group active in the wilderness."

"But I just got here." She complained.

Karl's group was the best she had ever seen. They were competent, worked in unison without arguments or questions, and even better, they actually wanted to be there. Plus, there were three Commander Rank beasts already in the team, more than doubling their combat strength. What more could you ask for?

The group in question came in just after the General mentioned them, most likely because they had been waiting for the signal.

Two familiar Elites entered leading two others with similar faces, suggesting that they might come from the same hometown or be relatives to each other. Their entrance was silent, but accompanied by the faint smell of giggleweed and leather oil.

The Mackenzie brothers were here with two other warriors, and they had been assigned the first free mage, as far as Karl could tell.

"Bob, Brother Doug, good to see you again." Karl greeted them with friendly hugs.

"Commander Karl. I didn't expect to see you here, did you bring us our extra mage?" Bob asked with a slight smirk on his face as he took in Karl's group.

"I suppose that we did. We were further down the line when the fallback signal was given, and we ended up behind enemy lines, so we've been poking their supply lines and attacking a couple of suspicious points." Karl agreed.

"With the help of a certain Spider and Hawk, who can spot and sneak up on Giants with ease? It looks like you've got a reliable bunch, but I don't know these two." Doug asked.

"Dana and Ophelia, meet High Priest Doug Mackenzie, of the Nature God, and his brother Commander Bob Mackenzie. Bob, Doug, meet Dana the Golem Mage and Ophelia the Bear Totem Berserker."

Doug gave Ophelia an appraising look. "I bet she's comfortable in bear form. She's just big enough to be furry and warm."

Ophelia looked vaguely offended, but Lotus was quite familiar with Brother Doug, and the other Nature Priests.

"She gets like twice that size. No worries about being cold with her around, though she's been cuddling Tori at night, so we're going to have to fix our sleeping arrangements." The tiny Priestess agreed.

Doug smiled, and lit a herbal cigarette. "Sister Lotus, you're living too good. Why don't you lend us the Berserker as well?"

Bob and Karl shared a smile while the two Nature Clerics joked with each other, ignoring the fact that they were supposed to be in the middle of a meeting, or that the people they were referring to were literally standing right beside them.