She realized that that was her error. A century ago—before the Madness—the people here had come up with a solution for survival uniquely suited to who they were. Only the recent errant decades had tainted their original solution.
Astrid now had the opportunity to set things right again, but she couldn’t do it by denying the very thing that let the Protectorates exist in the first place. She needed to be the protector—not just in her thoughts and deeds, but also in name.
“Eldon, I can’t tell you how sorry I am we lost these people today,” she said. “I can tell you that, with your help, I’m going to do everything in my power to stem losses like this. We will stop them.”
“The Protectorates have been bleeding for a long while now, ma’am,” Eldon replied. “Sometimes, the wound needs to bleed a lot more before the bandage goes on. It’s the only way some cuts can heal.”
She looked at him in his mismatched clothes—a strange combination of Civil Guard uniform, city-bought articles, and woods-people leathers. She couldn’t tell whether he was from the forest or the fortress wards, but it didn’t matter. He was part of a directed force now. He’d given a large part of himself to the cause.
Astrid stood with Eldon and the dead until the rest of the expedition rolled in. Since it was late in the day, they decided it would be best to spend the night at the keep.
When he returned from his salvage job, Vinnie ordered that the full wagons be placed in front of the gates as barricades. They didn’t pull from the untouched food stores until they had worked out three shifts of patrols to provide as much security as they could.
Given the nature of the new weapons that had nearly cut them all down in minutes, Astrid was not confident their security level was high enough. She didn’t have to tell anyone that; they weren’t stupid. Everybody already knew it.
When Vinnie didn’t show up for the evening meal, Astrid’s sense of unease heightened. When she finally saw him, the smile on his face told her that there was finally some good news to be had.
“I understand this weapon,” the scientist-mage declared. He unloaded the dismantled weapon on the table in front of Astrid and the three soldiers who happened to be sitting beside her.
“Hey!” somebody exclaimed as her bowl of soup jumped and half its contents spilled.
“Are you going to eat that?” Vinnie asked, pointing at a steaming shortbread biscuit on Astrid’s plate.
He didn’t wait for an answer and the biscuit was gone in two bites as Vinnie searched through the pile of rifle parts. “It’s a device that focuses and channels magical energy from this!” He grasped a rectangular piece and pressed a lever on its side, and a glowing blue gem dropped out onto the table. Crumbs flew from his mouth as he delivered a highly technical description rapid-fire.
Everyone shared confused looks, shook their heads, and shrugged.
“And don’t you see?” Vinnie railed. “That this proves my theory that what we call ‘magic’ is nothing more than a physical phenomenon, much like lighting or the rain. It can be collected, harnessed, and used just like a horse!”
Astrid stood and cleared her throat. “I’m sorry, Vinnie. I’m sure I’ll understand what you are saying with time, but unfortunately that sort of time seems to be in short supply. I have only one question for you.”
“Yes!” Vinnie exclaimed, dropping the part back on the table. This time, the hungry soldier was wise enough to get her bowl of soup out of the way. The big man clamped his meaty hands on Astrid's shoulders and grinned like an excited child. “I can make more of these, only better! And that’s not all! I know how the war machine moved on its own. My only regret is that these designs and methods never occurred to me. But now that I know,” Vinnie exclaimed, “the sky’s the limit!”
Astrid laughed. “Vinnie, you only just discovered these magic rocks, what…less than two months ago?”
“Too long, in the face of this danger,” Vinnie replied in dramatic fashion.
They abandoned their plates where they sat, realizing there was no reason to clean up. The keep was dead. Rest and patrolling was much more important.
They also needed to learn how to operate the magic weapons that they had recovered from the dead enemy. There were two rifles for every soldier—and the fact that the weapons were so plentiful was disturbing. The quantity suggested these weapons were being churned out fast.
Nobody slept easy that night. Astrid meditated all night on the walkway that ran along the keep wall.
They began their march back to the fortress wards just as the sun began to rise.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Back Home-Away-From-Home
Scouts ranged ahead of and behind the column as they left Keep 49. One carried a message to Gormer to let him know what had happened. They made it back to the fortress wards without any more contact with the enemy.
Gormer waited for them at the southern gate with a group of heavily-armed Dregs. He had ordered more sentries to man the entry point. The former con man looked worried as he trotted out to meet them. Astrid waved the rest of the caravan through as she and Vinnie stopped to confer with Gormer.
“What’s the story?” Astrid asked.
“We lost contact with another keep. They cut the road north of Keep 28. It looks like they control half the Protectorate now. We can’t get word in or out.”
“That’s what we were afraid of,” Vinnie said, gritting his teeth.
The wagon carrying Vinnie’s young armorers pulled to the side of the road and stopped. Jakub hopped down, followed by Elise. When Cole came around from the back, Gormer stumbled backward.
“Wow!” he exclaimed, clutching his head with both hands. He stood with wide eyes fixed on the short chubby freckled boy in the misshapen yet extremely tough armor. “Fuck me running, that’s one angry kid!” He shook his head rapidly and steadied himself by placing a hand on Astrid’s shoulder.
Astrid placed her hand on his and gave it a squeeze. “You OK there?”
“Am now,” Gormer replied.
“Who the fuck is this guy?” Cole demanded, putting both hands on his hips.
Gormer fixed Cole with his trademark smartass smile and stuck out his hand. “My fucking name is Gormer. Pleased to fucking meet you, motherfucker.”
“Is this shit-rag making fun of me?” Cole glared.
“On the contrary, young man,” Gormer replied. Cole stuck out his hand, and Gormer pumped it enthusiastically, like a traveling salesman. “I’m more than impressed by your presence.”
“He’s a mental mage,” Astrid added helpfully.
Cole pulled his hand back as if he had touched a hot stove. “Stay the hell out of my head,” he growled.
“Buddy,” Gormer replied, “I don’t have to get in your head. The contents are spilling out all on their own.”
Cole’s face flushed and he began to pant with rage. To Astrid’s shock, Gormer snarled. His eyes glowed white.
It was Cole’s turn to gasp and stagger and the blood drained from his face. “What are you showing me?”
“That you’re not the only one,” Gormer growled as his eyes turned back to their normal icy gray. “I was only three, so I’m here to tell you that you’re not alone. We’ve both been through some horrible shit. We need to talk later, so piss off for now—but don’t go too far.”
To her relief Cole stuck out his hand again, and the two shook more amicably this time. “We’ll see,” Cole said.
“Well,” Vinnie said. “Now that you’ve met Cole, allow me to introduce you to my other powerful budding young armorer-mages, Elise and Jakub.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Gormer said with an easy smile, shifting to his new self again. Astrid had been a bit concerned to see the old Gormer come back in a flash.
With the introductions over, Jakub took the hint that they should go back to the wagon and wait.
“Tarkon and Moxy should really hear this,” Gormer said. He waved Hanif and Mika over to join the impromptu conference.
/> “They will,” Astrid replied. “I sent them on to manage the wounded and rally our forces in the fortress. We have a big fight brewing fast.”
“Let’s ride the rest of the way with my students,” Vinnie suggested. “They have some ideas that I think you’ll want to hear.”
“I generally don’t discuss strategy with children,” Mika snapped.
Hanif rapped his knuckles on his new armor and replied, “You might want to rethink that. I suspect they have a few more happy surprises to offer.”
Mika only shrugged in response, and after some jostling and the handing over of horses they found themselves riding together. Cole sat on the bench and glared at Hanif, who glared back until he placed his right hand on his armor above his heart and smiled. Cole’s face softened despite himself, then he looked at something on the canvas ceiling.
Astrid gave an amused sigh at the exchange, then opened the floor. “We have a lot to discuss.” She directed her next statement to Jakub, who seemed to be the leader of Vinnie’s students. “I understand you have some ideas for us.”
Jakub cleared his throat. “Yes. We got the chance to see what happens with our armor in a battle. When we designed it we were thinking about swords and crossbows, not…whatever the hell those weapons were.”
“Magitech rifles,” Gormer informed them, then he noticed one sticking out from under the opposite bench. “Is that one of them? Hand it over.”
Jakub retrieved the rifle and Gormer took it with a smile. “This is crude compared to the rifles in Arcadia.”
“Crude, maybe, but those things still killed a dozen of us—and they seem to have a lot of them,” Hanif replied.
“Yeah,” Gormer responded. “But I’m guessing they’re limited.”
“We’ll test them thoroughly when we get back to the fortress,” Vinnie said.
Jakub cleared his throat again to get their attention. “We can’t make full armor fast enough. Even with standard sizes it will take too long. But we can make shields very easily.”
Elise took the baton from Jakub. “We can get two things done at once. The more experienced students can work on basic armor, while the others work on long shields.”
“It’s going to take a lot of raw material,” Vinnie explained. “But without snow and ice on the roads we can get minerals moving between the caves and Argan.”
“We’re talking about a lot of armor here. How many mages do you have who can do this?” Hanif asked.
Astrid had a ready answer since she had read all the reports. “I’m guessing we have about a hundred and fifty trained in Forge magic. Am I right, Vinnie?”
“That’s about right,” Vinnie replied. “Most of them are in the very early stages of training, but even the sacred steel made by beginners is strong enough to work.”
“And the more they practice,” Elise added, “the better they will get.”
“We just need a plan to stop the enemy in the meantime,” Astrid suggested.
Everyone sat silently with drawn faces—everyone except Gormer.
“What?” Vinnie asked. “Why are you smiling?”
Gormer leaned back and continued to grin. “I think this is a job for our friend Rupert Danut.”
Astrid was surprised. “Did he finally have a change of heart?”
“That implies the man has a heart,” Gormer replied. “No, he is as stubborn as ever. Hates you for taking his shiny things away from him. He thinks we’re all subhuman.”
Astrid shook her head, slightly exasperated. “Then how do you expect him to—“ She stopped in mid-sentence when she realized what Gormer was proposing. “Oh, no. It’s too dangerous. I’m not sending you in there alone.”
“I won’t be alone. Not for long, anyway,” Gormer replied. The wise-ass grin never left his face. “Soon after I show up at Wilfred’s estate and cause as much chaos as I possibly can, the Dregs will show up and I’ll be gone.”
“It’s time we get the band back together,” Vinnie said.
“I don’t know what that means,” Astrid said.
Vinnie sighed and shook his head. “I mean, we haven’t worked together in months. It will be like old times.”
Astrid did not take long to consider the proposal. She had to say yes, since it was the only play she had at hand. “We’re going to need at least a day to prepare.”
“I’ll send messengers to the caves,” Vinnie said. “And get things moving.”
“We can start making shields right away,” Jakub added. “We’ll use the rest of the materials we brought along.”
“Then I’m sending you back to Argan to teach the Forge there,” Vinnie said.
“We can help here,” Cole objected.
“You can stay here for the rest of today, but tomorrow we need you in Argan,” Vinnie replied firmly.
Hanif leaned across the aisle and placed his hand on Cole’s shoulder. “We can’t do this without you and your friends. I’m relying on you. We all are, and I will never forget the service you’ve done for us already.”
For once Cole didn’t have an angry response. His eyes blazed with determination and he gave a sharp nod. Hanif sat back with a smile.
“So we plan today, prepare tomorrow, and execute the day after,” Astrid said.
“But we need to move some troops in before then,” Mika added reluctantly. They all knew what that meant.
Jakub looked at his fellow students. “It’s up to us to make as many shields as we possibly can,” Jakub said. “We can’t let them face the enemy with nothing.”
“OK,” Astrid announced, clapping her hands. “We all have jobs to do. I’ll be in the war room with Hanif and Mika. I’ll brief Tarkon and Moxy up there. Let’s check in at the end of the day.”
“I have a feeling it’s going to be a long night,” Vinnie said.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Nice to Meet You, Rupert
Gormer went straight to the fortress jail as soon as the procession stopped in the main courtyard. As he made his way past the wounded he had to work hard to tune them out. Seeing their pain and not allowing himself to empathize with them made him feel bad, but he needed to focus on the task at hand. He couldn’t afford distractions.
There was a time when he’d had no trouble ignoring the pain of other people. He would only open his mind to their thoughts and feelings when he wanted to take advantage of them. But since he met Astrid, his gifts and abilities had become a way to relate to and help others.
Like it or not, that was his true calling; he knew that now. In many ways, his other life was so much easier. Looking out for himself was a lot less complicated—or was it?
His memory churned up images of beatings, running from the law, and the empty feeling he’d had at the end of so many days.
The difference was not complexity, it was caring.
“Damn it,” he mumbled as he pushed open the heavy backdoor to the jail. “Caring about people kind of sucks.”
“It’s better than the alternative,” Darnell replied as he swept the landing at the top of the stairs.
“Damn it!” Gormer exclaimed. A flash of unexpected anger overtook him. “Why the fuck can’t I read you?”
Gormer had wondered about that since they met. Normally he would have sensed someone on the other side of the door, but with Darnell Gormer felt nothing. The man was strangely and powerfully guarded.
Darnell just gave a smile long on gums and short on teeth. “Don’t have much going on up here.” He tapped his temple with a gnarled index finger.
“Bullshit,” Gormer replied. “Nobody is as blank as you unless they’re hiding something.”
“It’s just something you learn when you’re a professional drinker,” Darnell declared, using his broom to stand up straight.
They had tried to keep Darnell away from alcohol, but he was physically dependent. To quit cold-turkey had nearly killed him the first week he was there. Benny decided on a strict maintenance program until they could find a full-time healer to manage
his withdrawal.
Gormer had seen many addicted people in his lifetime, because not too long ago he had been one. He could not recall meeting a heavier drinker than Darnell, though.
Gormer’s eyes turned white as he tried to force his way in. All he heard was laughter and the same phrase over and over.
“What does ‘tumble down, disappear’ mean,” Gormer asked.
Darnell just laughed—the same laugh Gormer had heard in his head. “It means that’s all you get,” the old man said.
“I don’t trust you, but Astrid does.”
Darnell shrugged his shoulder. “It’s all the same to me,” he said. “Now get off my stairs so I can finish sweeping.”
Gormer deflated a bit, then took the stairs to the lower levels.
He knew all the guards by name. He had spent more than a few hours down there reading the minds of prisoners. They had captured a few former Civil Guards who were plotting against the new government. Most were simply unhappy and came over to their side after exposure to the new way of doing things.
Gormer was never willing to take the risk of trusting these folks, even after he read them. He knew how easily minds could change.
Although Gormer could read minds, Astrid had a way of changing them. He smiled at the thought and wondered if he might one day learn to do the same.
Once people realized they could make a better living working for Astrid rather than against her they changed their tunes quickly. But that was most people. Then there were the holdouts.
No amount of persuading through reason or otherwise kept some people from hating change, especially people like Rupert Danut. Despite all evidence to the contrary, Rupert was convinced that Astrid wanted to destroy the protectorate and all its people.
Gormer stood in front of Rupert’s cell shaking his head. It took a while for the doughy and pale gentleman to notice him.
“Yet another jailer,” Rupert declared.
The man had never seen Gormer before, even though Gormer had been in his mind for many hours. There was a room nearby that was close enough to the cells for Gormer to read the prisoners. Rupert’s cell happened to be the closest.
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