by Kim Wedlock
His heart skipped a beat as his mind was assaulted by a sluggish lack of comprehension, and in that moment the unmistakable orange glow and crackle of fire burst into life from the corner of his eye.
The cries grew louder as the fire burned brighter, shocking his attention back to him, and as he spun towards it and passed an assessing glance over the rest of the glinting bodies, he noted that the magical chaos was very much focused within the force rather than anywhere outside it.
He gritted his teeth. The enemy mages had gotten in amongst them, and they'd surely brought soldiers with them, concealed beneath their magic for an internal strike - but how had they managed without the Order noticing?
He shook his questions away and gripped his sword readily, only then noticing the absence of clashing blades. The air was filled only with the sputter of arcane fire. And his comrades were fleeing; he caught snatches of terror on their faces as they scrambled over one another to escape an undiscernible threat.
More bawling rose suddenly from close behind him and he whirled around to seek them, but a doubt had begun to snake into his mind, echoes of recent rumours picked up from towns and cities, and he found that he didn't need to have turned to know what was happening. It was all falling dreadfully into place.
He was blinded immediately by powerful sparks and popping flashes, momentarily dazed by their brilliance, and as he wrestled back his bearings he found himself watching the dance of countless elements as they coiled and arced wildly around Sivaan Rosh, whose head was buried in his hands all the while, his knuckles bone-white, and his voice, he was sure, racked by sobs.
The soldier stared in turmoil even while fully understanding. He was only partially aware of the voice that barked orders close by, and the movements of several other war mages as they responded, promptly contorting their fingers in the mage-general's direction.
Then, time seemed to stand still. He heard the sobs of the respected old man and sivaan of twenty years twist into mad and tortured chuckles. He watched the fire flare like a fallen candle spreading over a drunk's old coat. He felt the charge of lightning as it ruptured, threatening to set the grass alight.
And he could think to do nothing at all.
Yells erupted around him, light flashed from behind, and as he stood dazed in his sheer, maddening confusion, Sivaan Rosh straightened, wept and laughed, and let the chaotic magic that had circled around him like a shield of elements draw in to sear him.
The soldier had only a moment to stare in horror.
The magic exploded and engulfed him in a heartbeat, and the last thing he knew was betrayal.
Salus was careful about keeping the disdain from his face, but his fury was so white-hot that he couldn't prevent it from injecting acid into his eyes. So instead he simply tried not to watch the inordinately superior envoy too closely, his teeth clenched tightly behind his lips, and he forced his fists to relax on the desk top.
Lord Malson didn't seem to notice any of this, however, and neither did he make any attempt to hide his own ire. "Are you trying to sabotage the country?!" The old man bellowed, his surprisingly powerful voice filling every corner of the room and giving him even greater dominance than his position usually granted him. But Salus didn't flinch, despite the choice of words clawing right through him. "Because this is the second time you've supplied incredibly false intel! Anyone would think you were working with Skilan!"
"The intel was not false," he replied so calmly he surprised himself.
The old man laughed bitterly, but his venomous smile quickly gave way to a spiteful stare. "Your report stated that they were moving southwards with the intention of luring us into the valleys and attacking from the slopes. Instead, General Moore had his forces move south to skirt the valleys and ambush them from behind while their numbers were still thinned by the effort to take that vantage point." He slammed his open palm on the surface of the desk. "But they were not there!"
Salus turned defensive eyes upon him.
"They'd moved as if they'd intended to lure us through the valleys, but instead they turned sharp-east, made for more favourable land and took a whole province!"
Salus's lip twitched into a snarl as he spoke through his teeth. "The intel was not false."
"Then they must have known you were spying and fed your people lies, but that still throws the Arana's capabilities into doubt!" He sighed roughly and shook his head, looking upon Salus now with desperation. "Please, tell me: what are we supposed to do if we have no reliable eyes in Skilan's force? Can we win this if we're blind?"
"It is only Skilan--"
"Yes, only Skilan, except they suddenly seem to have become quite adept! Unless your people simply compromised themselves!"
Silence dropped, and it was as loud as a church bell.
Malson sighed and ran his hand through his thinning hair. "Fix this, Salus," he implored him, "please. We're all relying heavily on the Arana."
"I'm well aware of that," he replied, his bite softened by the desperation in the old man's voice. "But we are not blind, and we will succeed. There is no other option - I won't settle for anything else, and neither, I suspect, will the General, High Inquisitor, High Magister, King Thunan or any member of his council."
Malson nodded slowly, then breathed a brief, humourless laugh. "I wish I had your optimism." He straightened and reassumed his composure, which apparently included insolence, then cast a suitably disapproving look over Salus. "Do not let this happen again."
Salus merely stared at him as he turned to leave the office without another word. Of course he had no intention of letting it happen again - as if it had been his intention at all. But how it had happened to begin with required deep investigation, and that would be yet another drain on resources. He begrudged the fact that it had to be done at all, and those at fault would certainly know how he felt about it.
"Portian," the Crown's liaison nodded as he stepped out through the door, and Teagan inclined his head respectfully as he moved into view.
"My Lord."
Even in Salus's acrid mood, he noticed the slight look of foreboding creasing Teagan's face. He never seemed to wear anything but, these days. "You were supposed to rescue me," he reminded him as the door closed.
"I'm sorry, I was waylaid."
Salus waved it off. "It's all right, it wasn't that bad." He held out his hand for the report he'd brought with him. "What is it?"
Teagan didn't reply, and despite the heightened trace of hesitance in his bearing, he handed it over and waited patiently while the keliceran read.
He grunted mildly once he'd finished. "I thought as much." Truly, it hadn't told him anything new, only confirmed his suspicions - though he was more than a touch troubled by the fact that the woman who had aided Skilan's takeover of Rokhar hadn't been a new arrival in the city, but had actually lived there for six years after moving from Kalokh. That was, at least, what she'd claimed upon arrival, but a simple investigation had revealed she was in fact a Skee. And Salus suspected that the two additional settlements seized by the west that past night had fallen to the same tactics. "At least she's been apprehended." He discarded the report and leaned back in his seat, finally allowing himself to release a long, tense breath. "Now we just need to find these most recent two, those who helped Doana, and whoever is feeding us false information - to name just a few."
"We have people working on all details," Teagan assured him, "though Doana looks to be a more slippery matter. We're making slow progress with finding their collaborators, and while we have found and eradicated one of their small groups, the rest of their forces seem to have fallen off the map."
"Find them."
"It is underway."
Salus grumbled and shook his head. "It looks like splitting up Skilan's forces wasn't a good idea. They're too hard to keep track of - if anything, it's worked to their advantage..." He could feel Teagan's eyes drilling into him, and when he looked up from his distant, thoughtful stare, he found him, to his surprise, watching
him carefully. He was reading his thoughts, and he knew well that there was no point trying to hide them. "I'm not convinced."
"That they're working together?"
His doubts must have been well-founded. "Doana seemed more precise in their attack; they chose particular targets, took them quietly, then disappeared shortly afterwards, leaving us running around in a panic and trying to look both ways at once. But Skilan chose a pointless target which they're still trying to hold on to, and their campaign felt...louder, clumsier. And the two last night have the same feel to it."
"I have considered the same thing. But it could be a collaboration of tactics. If the desired goal was to simply confuse us and divide our forces, I would say that they have certainly succeeded."
He nodded slowly, chewing the inside of his cheek. "Mm. Well, whether they're working together or not, all of our settlements are under threat. They must be reinforced. We have no way of knowing where they might try to strike next - not if we can't use new arrivals as a hint."
"I doubt the Crown will be in favour of using more man power to fortify every single town and village."
"Oh, of course not," Salus drawled. "That would be too safe. They've already rejected trade route restrictions, curfews, lock-downs - even now they seem dead set against using the evacuation plans they drew up themselves! It's as if the king doesn't want to upset his people or inconvenience them in the slightest, even if it's for their own protection."
"Other measures are in place--"
"And those measures clearly aren't enough!"
Teagan closed his mouth.
"And the Hall of the White Hammer still won't respond to my communiques - they won't even confirm that one of their own is out there alongside Karth and Koraaz, let alone what he's actually involved with!" He snarled as he shoved himself restlessly to his feet, then stormed towards the window to look absently out over the opulent, stately houses that surrounded the Arana's grounds - buildings in which the severest matter would only ever be the loss of personal wealth. "And we're all expected to work together. It's just another hurdle we have to overcome to do our own job. An elaborate joke." His eyes narrowed as his mind continued bitterly along ahead of him, tracking a nobleman who strode pompously down his garden path, making a spectacle of himself as he climbed into his ornate carriage. His needless entourage bowed and shuddered in his presence, playing their own part in the show.
His lip curled. 'Nobles'. By blood, not by action - the faux nobility he wore under their sight was more credible.
Then, a thought suddenly presented itself, and though it left a foul taste in his mouth, it equally offered him a glass of water with which to wash it away.
Perhaps, by asking permission from indecisive politicians, he was sabotaging the country - and perhaps both he and it would be better off if he just took the necessary steps himself. Teagan had already suggested such a thing and he thought he had taken it into consideration, but it seemed that he was still trying to play by the Crown's ill-conceived rules and getting nowhere absolutely with it...
'As long as the country is safe, I'll take whatever punishment my 'insubordination' is issued.'
His eyes trailed off deeper into his thoughts, then, a moment later, returned decisively to the room.
He turned away from the window and looked towards Teagan, who was staring patiently at the wall. "What about the tribes?"
"Most of them have taken to attacking one another now," he replied. "Their barbarism was restrained while they focused on trying to protect their boundaries, but now it seems that they've finally decided to go onto the offensive and outright slaughter one another instead. Remove the threat rather than try to hold it at bay."
"My, how clever of them," Salus replied drily. "Well, that's fine. They're more than welcome to kill each other off."
"But," Teagan continued, making him hesitate as he sank back into his seat, "the more distant, isolated tribes still haven't raised a hand against one another."
'If only the same could be said for more civilised matters.' "Never mind them for now. What about Drassa?"
Teagan thought for a moment. "'It depends on your idea of progress'."
Salus hung his head. "I suppose he also said that 'every failed contact gives the rest of the list more hope'?"
"He did."
A growl rumbled free as he shoved himself back out of his chair, anger flashing in his eyes. "Meanwhile Karth is going all over the place like a dog following a scent - and at this rate he's going to get to it first! What is it he knows?! And why hasn't Hower gotten me anything on them yet?!"
"He's only just caught up to them, Keliceran, and they've--"
"That's not good enough!" Teagan's gaze remained fixed to the wall as Salus turned his desperate, blazing eyes upon him. "We need to stop them before they can get the artefact! It can't fall into the Order's hands! I don't need to remind you that the mages have been acting out - there've been two more attacks in towns scattered across the country making the chaos of this damned war even worse, and if they get this old relic, who knows what they could do with it?!"
Teagan didn't react while he whirled away again, snapping back towards the window where he snarled at the sight of yet more pompous noblemen and women, walking about in clouds of their own misjudged self-importance. He dragged his gaze away from it. He had no patience for the thought that people like these numbered among those he was trying so very hard to protect.
He took a long, deep breath, though it served only to aggravate rather than soothe, and when he spoke again, the bite in his otherwise restrained tone had worsened. "Karth needs to be stopped, him and his entire bloody band of misfits. We have the means, the resources, to do it any way we must, whether an inquisitor is with them or not! The Hall is adept, but the Arana more so! We need to put an end to their work, an end to them - completely foil the Order's plan!"
"If we foil the Order's plan, they'll look immediately towards the Arana," Teagan reminded him calmly. "Would it not be better to stick to our original intentions? To let the Order think they've got the upper hand while we continue to work in the shadows?"
"And just let them continue their search and hand everything over to the Order?!"
"Karth has the information we want," he proceeded sedately, "and Drassa doesn't. In my opinion, as it is my duty to give it, we should let Drassa continue his task but otherwise disregard him, and try to retrieve Karth's notes instead. Get what we need from him directly, but discreetly. The Order won't catch on quickly, especially if they think Drassa and this mage of ours have us fooled."
Salus opened his mouth to respond, and from the look in his eye it was going to be neither thoughtful nor quiet, but a knock at the door snatched his irritable attention and he snapped at that instead. Teagan didn't miss the fact that his abrupt fury just as suddenly evaporated when the phidipan woman, Taliel, walked in. Just as it always did.
The keliceran straightened and turned his eyes back onto the portian. They, too, had changed, their hysteria replaced instead by resignation. "Fine," he said flatly and with considerable self-control. "Working with someone outside of the Arana never sat right with me anyway. Get Karth's notes and sever ties with Drassa - let him continue his work to avoid questions, but leave him alone. And pull Vakh out. There's no point wasting any more resources." He then turned to the woman and his stern expression weakened a touch further. "Yes, Taliel?"
But she didn't speak. Instead she extended a report, which he read with the same sufferance he had the last Teagan had borne.
Again the portian watched him as his eyes trailed the words, then looked towards Taliel who seemed braced for an outburst. He returned to Salus with the same expectations. He could guess what the report had said.
But he simply folded it back over, handed it to Teagan, then crossed his arms over his chest and frowned, lost in deep, silent thought.
His brow crinkled as he took it, and Taliel braved a glance from the wall to the keliceran in her confusion. He would have mir
rored her concern a moment later if he could have, but he did take a second to wonder if it was the fact that she had been the one to deliver the report or just another manifestation of Salus's unpredictability that prevented him from reacting to this, of all news.
He set the parchment down on the desk beside them. "I'll get word to Hower," he promised. "We'll have Karth's notes as soon as possible."
Salus nodded and allowed Teagan to excuse himself, leaving him alone in the office with Taliel, but he said nothing to her as he continued to stare off for a thousand miles. She dared another brief but direct look, and though she noted the deeply troubled crease to his brow, there was little else to suggest how he was taking it. He seemed thoughtful. Or perhaps he was just tired and it hadn't sunk in yet.
Her eyes flicked away and she began to shift uncomfortably under the weighty silence.
"You're sure this is correct?" He asked eventually, his gaze remaining locked somewhere far beyond her, but his frown deepened a moment later as he answered his question himself. "Yes, of course you're sure..."
She watched him carefully while her eyes stayed fixed to the wall, a vague shadow of her concern edging in. "What can we do about this?"
Burying his face in his hands, he sighed deeply into his palms. He looked tired when he eventually dropped them, and she thought she spotted a taint of desperation or defeat in his eyes. If it had been there, it died very quickly. "The Order has made a direct assault on the military," he stated, certainly for nothing other than organising his thoughts, "the only force under the Crown's command that could reasonably oppose them. And the perpetrators weren't nameless, faceless individuals, they were officers..." he shook his head, his expression now openly perplexed. "Officers. Seventeen lives lost at the hands of our own...and for Sivaan Rosh to have led it..." He stared off into his disturbed thoughts again.
Taliel let him. She watched him with great calculation.
But he returned quite shortly this time and seemed to have suddenly collected himself. Perhaps he'd reached a silent decision, or re-evaluated the facts or simply set aside his alarm through necessity. "There is nothing we can do to keep it quiet. It's already public, the people just haven't heard about it yet, but I dare say they will very soon and alongside word of the Order's next attack. But whatever it is they expect to gain from a rebellion, we can expect to see violence on par with that over the borders: random and senseless attacks, destructive suicides. We can plan against it, to a degree...but with people from so high in the Order's ranks involved, none of them can be trusted. We have to watch them all..."