“I will say nothing.”
“Now come on. We mean you no harm. We are simply trying to find out what happened. Look at me – harmless, see?” Nateldorth’s eyes gained an eerie orange glow.
“Harmle—No! No! You are trying to gain into my head!” the man shouted. He closed his eyes and covered his ears.
Nateldorth sighed inwardly. Not quite weak enough for persuasion, then.
“Now, now. At least tell us your name.”
“A-t-eris…” the man whimpered.
“Ateris?”
“Yes.”
Jal interrupted them. “Well, well Goldilocks. It seems there is a man behind the mask,” he said with a chuckle.
“My master will kill you all!” Ateris said, suddenly angry.
“And who is your master?”
“Master is not concerned with the likes of us,” Ateris stated.
“If you tell us who he is, we could let you out. We hardly care for a mere footsoldier. Don’t you have friends? Family?” Nateldorth implored.
“Well, they told me I could see Darcey… no! You won’t do anything. Only the master can save me now.” The man refused: stubborn bastard.
“Very well. We shall leave you to think,” Nateldorth stated, and made everyone exit the cell.
“Do you think he knows anything?” Elrias asked him.
“Probably not. But we have to check,” Nateldorth replied, frustration lining his face.
“What are you guys talking about?” Laura asked.
Jal sighed and gave her a look.
“Sorry! I’m a thief, not a bloody magician!”
Nateldorth shook his head. “It’s okay – most people don’t know. It’s not like we’re proud of it.
“What we are planning on doing is breaking his mental defences and going through his mind.”
Laura paused, shocked.
Nateldorth gave her a sad look. “It’s not a… pleasant, procedure. But it doesn’t harm them, not if we don’t want to,” he placated her.
“Come on, Nateldorth,” Elrias urged.
Nateldorth steadied himself, then went back in.
***
Ateris looked up in surprise.
“I thought you were gone. Come here to gloat?”
“No, I have more practical things in mind.”
“What—”
He didn’t get a chance to finish.
In an instant, Nateldorth’s telepathic powers smashed into him. He reeled, and Nateldorth felt the boundaries of his mind tighten in an effort to drive him out.
The world went blurry around the edges; Nateldorth felt his mental barrier: a brick wall, barring his way.
Nateldorth made the mental equivalent of a hammer in his mind. He blasted the wall, but not with thoughts of rage or malice; no, he was much too subtle for that. Rather, he used feelings of friendship, and trust, and all things good.
Let me in, Ateris. You trust me, don’t you?
But, you’re ev—
No! No! I mean you no harm.
Nateldorth felt the stirrings of doubt within Ateris’ mind. He took advantage of it, and suddenly, he was in.
Ateris’ mind was a mess. There were feelings of anger, hatred, and most of all: jealousy. An image flashed into existence – a woman, light blonde hair, and soft blue eyes. She was small, petite even. Then the image changed to show her kissing another man, both of their clothes rumpled, sitting next to an unmade bed.
So that’s how they got him, Nateldorth thought.
Images continued to flash past – Ateris enraged, him being thrown out, and then him doing what appeared to be an initiation ceremony.
His mind became contaminated with the urge to hurt. Nateldorth knew that these were only the beginning stages of dark magic: soon, Ateris would become increasingly unstable, and strange, dark urges would start to plague him. Eventually, he would either die, or – if he survived – become a being of pure darkness, determined to destroy everything around it.
Nateldorth didn’t know if he could be saved. That wasn’t his primary concern right now.
The people who are helping you – show me them, he urged Ateris.
Ateris complied, and a moment later, Nateldorth received flashbacks of his life. One face stood out from the others – Geris, Nateldorth was informed. Their supervisor.
Supervisor?
The New Order has a number of divisions. Each division is managed by a supervisor, who reports to the master.
Do you know who the master is?
The master is not so easily revealed, Ateris said simply.
Nateldorth hid his frustration.
Very well then. What about the others?
They, like me, were told about how the master will reward us with great powers, but we had to recruit more people to our cause, to defeat the Peacekeepers.
Nateldorth felt a chill. Many had wanted the Order shattered; but none had ever desired to replace it. He recalled only one person – and he had died many years ago. Or so he believed.
Hang on a sec, you said “recruit”. They joined you willingly?
Yes. Look.
Nateldorth “saw” images of various teenagers going through the initial recruitment ceremony; one that required the slaughter of a chicken.
He saw the teenager that he had been investigating take a curved dagger and bloody a clucking red chicken. He became red with blood, but all the while, he was smiling.
Nateldorth shivered. All this time, and he had never been comfortable seeing dark magic practices.
He decided he had enough.
Good bye, Ateris.
With that, the world regained focus. Ateris was looking at him.
“What did you do to me?”
Nateldorth pivoted, and left him. He had enough of the weakling dark mage.
***
“Did you find anything?” Elrias asked him as he came into the corridor.
“Not what we wanted, but it wasn’t completely fruitless.”
“Explain.”
“We may not know who’s in charge, but we have some useful titbits of information. First of all, Ateris had a ‘supervisor’, by the name of Geris. Secondly, the missing teenagers went of their own volition.”
“Their own volition?”
“Yes, that much was clear. Some of the things they are doing… let us not speak of it. There is another thing: from what I gleaned from his mind, the so-called ‘New Order’ wants to replace the Peacekeepers.”
“They went to replace us? But who would want this?”
“That is what I thought, Elrias. That is what I thought…”
“What do you plan on doing next?”
“We must report to the Queen. She must know what is going on, and of the danger that is in the very walls of Dresh. They may even target her.”
“She has mages guarding her, as well as the Royal Guard.”
The royal guard was a special division of soldiers, hand-picked from the army, who served only the monarch. They were loyal to the core, and all wore black. Their weapons were concealed, for Ashviere believed in the danger of the unseen threat.
“As good as the Royal Guard may be, they will be no much for dark mages. Certainly, the small amount of mages set to guard her isn’t enough. But enough about her, we have two children on our hands,” Nateldorth said, motioning towards the two thieves as they joked with another.
“Still unwilling to admit your infatuation with her?” Elrias asked him.
They had discussed this before.
“Elrias. Leave it.”
But Elrias gave him one final smile, before going with the two thieves.
Nateldorth was left standing alone, darkness weighing heavy on his mind.
He had much to do…
NINETEEN
Nateldorth was grim as he looked out on the street.
The world outside was obscured by fog so thick it was almost impossible to see anything. More than that though: Nateldorth could feel something deeply unnatural about this fog, a
lmost as if it didn’t originate from nature, but from something… malicious.
“It’s freezing too I’m told,” Elrias said.
Nateldorth smiled wanly.
“At least the cold is one aspect we won’t have to deal with.”
“Magic has its benefits, definitely,” Elrias agreed.
With that, the two of them left the window and walked outside. Like Elrias had said, the cold was something to behold: a dagger in your heart, pulling you down to its icy, deadly depths.
Nateldorth was ready for it. With the flick of a practised mind, he pulled a vacuum wall around them. Inside, he sped up the little particles until it was a comfortable temperature.
“Better?”
“Much.”
With that, they began walking towards the direction of the palace. They still had to be careful not to bump into things, but at least there weren’t many people about. The city had gone quiet.
“Are you going to tell her about your plans?” Elrias asked.
“No. It’s too dangerous inside the palace – there could be spies listening in on everything we say. It’s also not like she has any magic to communicate telepathically.”
“Hmm, good call. I feel uncomfortable not telling the Queen what’s happening though.”
“Don’t be such a fool: sometimes, leaders aren’t prepared to deal with these things.”
The palace had now come into view. Despite the fog, its finery was unmistakable. The entire structure was made from marble: marble flooring; marble steps; marble pillars, which supported an immense marble roof. Above it lay three towers.
They too, were made from marble, except their roofs, which were slate. The building wouldn’t even be able to exist if not for magic – for such weight could not be supported by normal mechanical means – yet the building housing the mages had no such extremist design.
Ashviere herself had personally requested that the new palace be constructed like this after the old one burned down, killing the old queen with it.
“You ready for this?” Elrias asked him, concerned.
“Ready as I’ll ever be, old friend.” With that, he strolled into the palace.
It was as fine from the inside as it was from the outside: great pillars dominated the main hall, and the floor underneath him was a mosaic of fabulous colours, all blending into an overwhelming mass of debauchery. Above, the ceiling displayed the most fantastical scenes of Arachadian mythology – centaurs and minotaurs and fantastical creatures of every sort.
“Good day, sir,” the receptionist said.
He was a small man, and wore white; his cloudy blue eyes made pleasant harmony.
“Good day, Darah. Is the queen waiting for me?” Nateldorth asked.
The man stammered uncharacteristically.
“Y-e-s, sir. She is expecting you.”
“Good. Tell her I’m coming.”
The man rang the bell that signified a visitor.
“Oh and Darah? Calm down. I don’t bite,” he said with a smile.
The man smiled back, still nervous.
God, what does she do to them?
He walked away from the Great Hall and into the corridor that led to the audition chambers. The audition chambers were reserved for the queen to deal with private matters and important personnel (like Nateldorth).
Another oak door, stood guard over the chambers. There was a small, golden lion on the door; it smiled with its teeth.
“Come in, Nateldorth.”
The voice from the other end was saccharine, and dangerous.
Nateldorth opened the door. Inside, the chamber was the typical ostentatious room of someone trying to frighten visitors: the ceiling, curved and elegant over the room; the walls, brilliantly white, shining from the light of the various magi-lamps hanging on top. These too, were also in the form of golden chandeliers.
In the centre, a mahogany table lay. At the head of it, there was Ashviere herself.
She was very petite for such a powerful woman – her arms were no thicker than twigs. Her hair was long and straight, and appeared honey brown under the light. Her eyes were a startling purple; they were framed by elegant paper-thin eyebrows.
“Have you anything to report?” Her voice, like a knife cutting through flesh.
“Indeed, my liege. I am reporting to you that we have captured one of the perpetrators we believe are responsible for these kidnappings.”
“And?”
“The man is part of a much larger organisation operating in this city. We believe he may be… an official, in the court.”
If Ashviere was surprised by this news, she did not show it.
“And why do you believe so?” she asked, amused.
“I have… sources, that inform me. Due to the sensitive nature of such a task, their identities must remain anonymous.”
“For their sake, or for yours?”
“For both. What’s more, I do not believe we may be safe here.”
“Relax, Great Mage. My guards are more than capable of dispatching any threat that comes by, and have you not your own trusted mages guarding me?”
“That is true, but they could be overwhelmed before we can reach you in time. I plan on increasing their numbers.”
Ashviere waved her hand.
“Very well, if you must. Now, do you have any more information pertaining to this case? Any plans, perhaps?”
“I’m afraid those cannot yet be revealed.”
“Ah yes, spies and all. Very well, you may go.”
Nateldorth turned to walk out, but before he did, he turned around for one last parting comment.
“Oh and Ashviere? Stay safe. These are dangerous times.”
She smiled, like a cat.
“Oh, don’t worry about me…”
Nateldorth left, resigned to her cock-headed stubbornness. Truthfully though, that was probably the reason for his “infatuation”, as Elrias had called it.
He escaped from the tediousness of the Royal Court, back into the fog.
***
“How did it go?”
Nateldorth sighed.
“I believe she was pleased by my findings, but she is… stubborn. Difficult.”
“She is queen.”
“Yes.”
They walked back to the mage building.
“Are you going to tell me of this ‘plan’ of yours?” he asked.
“All in due time, Elrias. Wait till we get there, and call up our friends Jal and Laura.”
“And Greg.”
“Yes, him too. Come now, this weather makes me uncomfortable.”
Elrias gained a thoughtful expression: it made his eyes shine brilliantly, and his face glow brightly.
“Are you sure there isn’t more to this weather? It seems like we’re… missing something.”
Nateldorth remembered his mental conversation with Terrin.
“Speaking of that Elrias, Terrin tells me his investigative party has not yet returned. Neither have they sent out any more messages. He is worried.”
“Maybe they got lost in the fog.”
“Maybe.” But he wasn’t convinced.
Leaving the strange situation in the North aside, the duo arrived back at the mage building. If the authorities had known they were not only talking to known thieves, but inviting them in the buildings, they probably would have fainted.
Amusement curled on Nateldorth’s lips at the thought of that.
Once they entered the building, Nateldorth dropped the warming spell; the fires burning inside the building provided plenty of heat.
As they stood beside on the fires, Jal, Laura and the guard arrived. They were dressed in formal-looking suits, as Elrias had instructed them.
The receptionist looked them over once, and waved them in. Nateldorth remarked how deceiving appearances could be.
Laura spotted them and carried her two unlikely companions along with her.
“Hey guys, where are we going?”
“Come with me �
� I have booked one of the meeting rooms.”
Nateldorth turned heel, and they walked with him. He went past a number of corridors, twisting and turning in that labyrinth way the building had been commissioned two hundred years ago; not like the clean, modernist plan of the palace.
Nateldorth thought it was charming, although the thieves clearly looked bewildered.
“I wish I had known the mages could be so easily fooled,” Jal commented.
“Planning on stealing something?” Elrias asked teasingly.
Nateldorth inserted: “Mages don’t bother with security, Jal – who would be stupid enough to attack such a large group of highly-trained mages head-on? They’d get burned to dust.”
He stopped further conversation when he stood outside a door. It was small and unassuming, doing nothing to show what was behind it. Nateldorth liked it that way – he thought the increasingly ostentatious designs that were being implemented in Dresh were an exercise in pettiness.
“This it?” Greg asked pointedly.
“Yes.”
Nateldorth took out a ring filled with keys. They were all small and unassuming: iron. Nateldorth did not want keys to shine in people’s faces. Lest one of them might decide it was worth stealing.
He fiddled with the lock until the door opened, soundlessly.
Inside, the room was modest, but not cramped. A simple wooden floor complemented the wooden furnishings. Two lights lit up with Nateldorth’s insistence.
The group, mage and thief alike, took their places on the table.
“So, what is it you want us to do, Nateldorth?” Jal asked.
“You’ve already helped us, Jal, and we appreciate that. Now we have a bigger request: help us infiltrate the New Order.”
Everyone whistled, except Jal.
“That’s a serious undertaking. You won’t do it, will you Jal?” Laura asked.
“I would,” Jal replied.
Laura gave him a look.
“You’re crazy.”
“Laura, these people… they must be stopped. They’re catching teenagers and turning them into power-obsessed fanatics. Imagine the horrors they could wreak if they were allowed out.”
“Yes, but—”
“If I may be of assistance, there is something I can do that may help Jal with this,” Elrias broke in.
Nateldorth watched, curious to see the thieves’ reaction.
“And what might that be, Elrias?”
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