Skulduggery 10: Building a Criminal Empire

by Logan Jacobs

  “Well, I--” Golierian started.

  “No, I mean it,” I cut him off. “Not only did you help us with information on the wilderness forts and the standard battle formations, but now you’ve found the location of the elves’ secret fortress, so we can strike before they even know that there’s been a revolution.”

  “It was my pleasure,” Golierian said. “I’m just glad none of Tevian’s papers were destroyed in the equinox festival attack.”

  “That’s just one more reason that I made sure no one looted or destroyed any property during the uprising,” I said. “You never know what kind of valuable information you might lose during the process.”

  “So what do we do now?” Ava asked. “Do we attack or watch and wait? It’s mid-afternoon now, so--”

  “Nah,” I interrupted. “That’s not what time it is.”

  “What do you mean?” the blonde assassin asked. “What time is it?”

  “It’s time to hunt,” I said with a grin.

  Chapter 14

  We were going to be in for a long night.

  The secret wilderness fort loomed up ahead at the base of the mountains, but I could only see it thanks to the torches that stood all along the wooden walls. Otherwise, the fort would have blended into the shadows of the mountains behind it, and we might have sailed right past it. Instead, we all lowered ourselves even more into the low boats on the river, and I directed all my attention on the walls of the fort up ahead.

  I couldn’t see any guards from our position on the water, but I let my magic settle over the edge of the fort to freeze anyone who might suddenly decide to look in our direction. I might have a solid battle plan, but a decent portion of its success depended on whether or not we were able to keep the element of surprise on our side until the last minute.

  I glanced at the two women in the boat with me, but their gazes were all fixed on the fort up ahead as if they could somehow stare it into submission. Ava looked like a wildcat ready to pounce on its prey, but Clodia looked as satisfied as a cat who had already eaten its victim.

  Leif was in the next boat over, along with a squadron of the Elite, and in the boat on my other side, Skam had followed us down from the city with several units of human guards. Between the human guards and the bulk of the Elite force with me, I thought we stood a decent chance against the secret fort, and we sure as shit stood a better chance now rather than later, when we could still take them by surprise.

  After I gathered the Elite together in the Capital, I took Ava and moved through the portal straight into the Blood City. If we were about to take on a secret magical force of elven soldiers, then I needed Clodia to back up my own magic, and I also needed Leif and the bulk of the soldiers from the Blood City. There was no sign that the elves were anywhere close to an attack on the Blood City, and since its walls were damn near impenetrable, I decided that it was worth the risk to bring Leif and most of my fighters with me to this secret fort.

  As much as Penny wanted to come with me, I left her in charge of the Blood City instead, since I wanted someone that I knew and trusted so well to keep an eye on things in my absence. Then once we checked on the Blood City temple one more time to make sure that the priests and priestesses were still trapped inside, I took Leif, Clodia, Ava, the Elite, and the human guards from the Blood City with me through the portal and out into the city where Skam was stationed.

  Skam was eager to test out the new archers in his city, and the human guards there were ready for another challenge, so I told them to load up into boats and get ready to head downriver to the secret fort. It took a little longer than I wanted to coordinate, so it was dark by the time we started to sail downriver, but I didn’t think it would prevent our victory.

  After all, if the secret stronghold had known about the revolution, they would have already assembled and marched out to retake the closest city. So even if they saw boats on the river, they might not necessarily think anything was strange… just as long as they didn’t see quite how many boats there were.

  But before we got too close to the fort, I signaled everyone to pull our boats up onto the shore, so we could all get into position for the first phase of our attack. The plan was for Clodia, Ava, and me to go with Skam and his troops. We would head across land on foot, so they could enter the mountains and take up positions in the narrow pass behind the fort.

  Other than the river, the narrow mountain pass was the only real way in or out of the elven fort, so if we could funnel the elves into the pass, then we could cut them down a few at a time, until all of the elven soldiers were dead or decided to surrender. So really, we just needed to make sure that the elves left the fort and that they didn’t try to escape on their boats downriver, but those were both easy enough issues to fix.

  Clodia and I would use our magic to set the whole goddamn fort on fire, and as long as we kept the flames hot and high, the elves would have no choice but to retreat. If they tried to go to the river, Leif would be there with his detachment of troops to stop them. They would set fire to the elves’ boats at the same time we set the fort on fire, so the elves wouldn’t be able to escape over the water.

  Then they would hit them with so much firepower that the elves would flee back toward the mountain pass, and that was exactly where the rest of us would meet them. Based on the geography on the map, the pass was so narrow that it would only allow about two dozen soldiers through at a time, so we should be able to cut them down before they overwhelmed our own numbers, especially once we posted archers all along the high ground.

  It would be a hard fight, but I believed that we could do it, and I knew that it was our only real option. Otherwise, they would be able to assemble themselves into battle positions and march on Skam’s city, or worse, march and join up with Tevian’s forces to come against us all together. And at least thanks to Tevian’s notes that Golierian had deciphered, this secret stronghold didn’t have any cavalry, so we would only be up against ground troops and a shit-ton of magic casters.

  Once we had all pulled our boats up onto the narrow riverbank, I glanced up to make sure that no one from the fort could see our position down here. It looked like we were in the clear, so I turned to my friends for final instructions.

  “Alright, Leif,” I said, “you and your men will have to stay right here until we give you the signal to move.”

  “And the signal is just, uh, when you set the fort on fire, right?” the big gladiator asked.

  “Exactly,” I replied. “You’ll see an arc of fire sail up over the fort, and as soon as you do, I want you to launch fire arrows at the elves’ boats. Can you see them from here?”

  Leif looked over my shoulder at the harbor directly in front of the fort and then nodded.

  “We can take them out,” he said.

  “Then you’ll leave half your troops here to cut down any elves who try to escape this way,” I said, “and you’ll take the other half downriver until you hit the bank on the other side of the fort. Then you’ll cut down any elves who try to flee that way, too, and that should be enough to funnel them all back into the mountains.”

  “And if it’s not?” Leif swallowed.

  “Then you send one fire-tipped arrow straight up into the air,” I said, “and we’ll come to the rescue.”

  “Got it,” the big gladiator replied.

  “And remember,” I said, “shields are your best defense against magic, so raise them high and fight shoulder to shoulder, so you can keep them locked together.”

  “We will, my king,” Leif said.

  “Good,” I said and took a deep breath. “Then Skam, get your men ready to move out into the mountains.”

  “We’re ready on yer signal,” the tattooed dwarf replied.

  “Then let’s move,” I said.

  I led the way up the riverbank, through the tall grass, and toward the mountains that stood behind the fort. We would have to take a side path into the mountains in order to reach the pass, so it wouldn’t be an immediate att
ack, but if we hustled, we should be able to make it to the pass in about an hour, as long as we didn’t run into any difficulties along the way. We had enough food and water with us for sustenance before battle, so the only thing that stood between us and our goal were our own legs.

  It was so dark that it was hard to see the way forward, but I couldn’t risk the use of the Opalstone amulet to light our way. I didn’t want anything to alert the elves that there were enemies all around them, and since the grass was high enough to hide most of our movements, I wasn’t about to shine blue light all around us, but I did make sure that my troops all stayed in tight clusters as I led them forward, so we didn’t lose track of anyone on our way to the mountain path.

  One of the dwarves from Skam’s city had come with us to help lead the way into the mountains. He had worked in the mines there in his youth, so he knew the routes into and out of the mountains well, even though he said that he’d always been told that the fort at the edge of the mountains was abandoned, and he’d never seen any evidence otherwise.

  Of course, it wasn’t like the elves would actually admit the existence of a secret stronghold to someone like a lowly dwarven miner.

  After we reached the edge of the mountains, the dwarf led us through a thick grove of trees, and on the other side of them, a road into the mountains finally appeared. As we started to head into the mountains, we moved past a small creek that fed into the river we had just left behind, through an even denser wood, and then across several open fields of wildflowers, before the terrain finally started to grow a little more difficult.

  As the mountain path slowly began to wind upward, there started to be less and less trees, and the wildflowers were replaced by sharp, uneven rocks that slowed our progress forward. The longer we hiked, the more I continued to glance up at the mountains on every side of us, and I realized that my eyes had actually adjusted to the darkness better than I thought.

  It might have been safe to use the Opalstone amulet at this point, but since I really didn’t want to take any risks, I just encouraged everyone to take their time as they moved forward. It would be better to arrive an hour later than expected, if the only alternative was to possibly alert the elves that there was an enemy at their backs.

  By the time we reached the narrow mountain pass, I estimated that a little over an hour and a half had passed, and we had only taken one rest break. We had made good time, so now we just needed to get into position before we could start the next phase of my plan, and that meant we needed to get the archers to the high ground.

  “What do you think?” Ava murmured as we surveyed the narrow pass in front of us together.

  The pass was as narrow as the map showed, and beyond it, we could just see the faint light of all the torches along the fort walls. There were a few smaller trails that led from where we were up onto the mountains on either side of us, but they were so small that I guessed they were mostly used by animals.

  Until now, anyway.

  Our archers would just have to be careful when they moved up the uneven paths, but we absolutely needed them to have that high ground if we wanted to slaughter all the elves as they streamed into the mountain pass to escape their burning fort.

  The archers would hit the elves from above, while the rest of our forces would spread out on this side of the pass. We would rotate in an attack-fall back formation, so once the lead unit started to wear out, they would fall back, just as the next unit moved in to replace them. There would be a backup unit at the very end of the pass, just in case any elves managed to make it past the rest of our forces, but otherwise, the rest of the troops would all take turns at the head of the pass, one unit at a time.

  “Ava, before we break off and all get in a position,” I said as I turned toward the blonde assassin, “I want to give you the option of where you’d like to fight today.”

  “Really?” Ava arched an eyebrow.

  “Yes, really,” I said with a smile. “You’re equally deadly from a distance or from up close, so I can use you on the high ground or down here with me, but this is gonna be one hell of a fight, so the choice is up to you.”

  “Then let me fight alongside you,” the blonde assassin said immediately. “If it gets too dangerous, I’ll fall back and find the high ground, but I will not leave your back unprotected.”

  “I can’t say that she’s wrong about that,” Skam said. “I’d fight beside you if I could, but I’ve got mah own unit to take charge of.”

  “That’s true,” I said. “Alright, that’s fine, but don’t hesitate to fall back if the fighting gets too heavy.”

  “I will,” Ava promised.

  “In that case,” Clodia said, “I think I ought to take the high ground, don’t you? Wade can use his magic from here on the ground, and I’ll use mine from up top.”

  “That’s a good idea,” I said, “especially since you’ll be the one to actually light the fort on fire and to make sure those flames stay hot.”

  “Oh, don’t worry,” the night elf said. “I’ll make sure that no one who touches them can survive.”

  “And when you first send your fire into the fort,” I said. “Remember to drop it straight down, so the elves can’t tell that it came from back here.”

  “I’ll take care of it,” Clodia said. “Plus, when they see that their boats are on fire thanks to Leif, they’ll assume that the attack came from the river.”

  “That’s the plan,” I said, “and then if all goes well, they should run straight toward us.”

  “We will be victorious,” Ava said as her blue eyes seemed to glitter in the darkness. “And then there will just be one less obstacle between us and peace.”

  “I like your confidence,” I said with a smirk. “Then if everyone’s ready, let’s get into position. Clodia, when we’re all set down here, I’ll have the gemstone on my necklace start to glow blue so you’ll know that we’re ready for you to set that shit on fire.”

  “I look forward to it,” the night elf said with a grin.

  The archers all started to hike up to their positions along the narrow trails on the side of the mountains, and Clodia led the way to a rocky outcrop up high and to the right of the narrow pass. While Clodia and the archers all moved up, Skam’s unit moved forward to take the first wave of elves that fled into the pass, and Ava and I led the way in front of his unit.

  I planned to stay at the front of the fighting the whole time not only because we needed my magic if we planned to win the battle, but also because as king, that was exactly where I should be. Ava would fight beside for as long as she could, but I instructed two of the Elite to help escort her back to safety if she needed to retreat.

  When we were all in position, I glanced back at the force of humans behind me, along with a few dwarves and halflings who had also joined our ranks. They all looked nervous but prepared, and so did the archers up top. I took one final look at the fort’s faint lights far in front of us, and then I finally pulled out the Opalstone amulet from where it hung against my chest.

  “Let’s fucking do it,” I growled, and then I let the gemstone begin to glow bright blue.

  The moment Clodia saw the blue light, she hurled a ball of blue fire up high into the air, and I instantly flung my hand out to send the fireball even further forward. When it was directly over the fort, I forced the flames to grow even bigger before I finally let it drop straight down into the middle of the fort.

  Instantly, the air filled with screams of alarm.

  Clodia didn’t hesitate for a second. As the gemstone on my amulet stopped glowing again, so no one would be able to see the light from the fort, Clodia hurled one fireball after another toward the fort, and each one was aimed at a precise target.

  The wooden walls of the fort began to catch fire quickly, especially since I used my own magic on every other one of Clodia’s fireballs to make them even bigger and brighter, so more of the fort began to burn with every blast of energy that the night elf directed toward the fort.


  Even as the fort’s walls started to crack and split from the heat of the blue fire, I saw an orange glow from somewhere behind the fort itself, and I knew that meant Leif had set fire to all the elves’ boats in their harbor. We were one step closer to driving them toward us, but when I saw a hail of fire-tipped arrows shoot over the walls of the fort from the direction of the river, I knew that we were even closer than I thought.

  Sure, half of the elven forces within the fort might be able to use magic, but at the moment, they were all just trying to figure out who had attacked them, where their enemies were located, and how the fuck to avoid the steady rain of magical fire, along with just some good old-fashioned flaming arrows.

  Their magic wouldn’t do them any good until they could get eyes on their enemies, and even though they had likely spotted Leif’s forces by now, they would also have spotted the burned boats, so they would have to know that the river wasn’t a possible escape route.

  Clodia and I continued to work together to fire blast after blast of blue flames into the fort, until the flames burned so high that we could turn our attention to targets inside the fort itself. From my position on the ground, I couldn’t see what was inside the fort, but I thought that Clodia might, so I let her take charge while I braced myself for the elven charge that was about to come.

  As her blue fire continued to hiss and spit its way down inside the fort, more screams erupted through the still night air. Leif’s forces continued to rain down fire from the other side of the fort, and based on the panic that we could hear all the way back inside this mountain passage, I guessed that quite a few arrows found their targets, even over the walls.

  The elves’ screams quickly shifted into shouts, and the panicked shrieks turned into the steady drum of footsteps against the earth. They must all be assembling just inside the fort as they prepared to move out, and even though I worried for a moment when the blue flames started to flicker out along the walls, Clodia quickly renewed their strength, so they leaped up even higher than before.