“We have a possible sighting off the Siran coast,” Maksohm reported. “Vee, find our troublemakers. I’m going to request an emergency stop. We need to get off before we go any further in the wrong direction.”
I likely wouldn’t get a proper report from him until we were on a different train heading the right direction. As much as I would appreciate having an answer now, I knew better than to push, as he was right. We didn’t want to go much further. It would be too much of a strain otherwise to portal this many people and this much luggage.
They both left the compartment, leaving me sitting with the luggage, and I took the time to put everyone’s belongings back in the suitcases. By the time I finished that, I could feel the train stopping. People quickly arrived, claimed their baggage, and I followed as we hopped off and gathered away from the tracks. Out here, there was little more than fields of snow and rails.
Vee’s eyes flickered over us, fingers tapping out as she did rough calculations. “Maksohm, I’ll portal Bannen and Rena over first, then the suitcases. You can get the rest of us.”
He nodded, agreeable to this division of labor.
Portals were just so limited in power. We didn’t want to exhaust these two by demanding that they portal us long distances. We never knew what situation we were walking into, and how much magical power they needed to bring to the table. It was better for them to do short hops and have other agents portal us the longer distances.
Vee created a portal for us first, ending at the field where the boys had found so much trouble, as that was the clearest spot to portal into. I stepped through as quickly as possible to avoid taxing her, Bannen on my heels. Then we moved a foot away, waiting for the luggage, Bannen helping to lug it through and set it aside. Maksohm carried the last leg.
It took more than an hour to arrange for an agent to meet us. We sat outside of the train station to wait, as it had seating for all of us and the best location to rendezvous. Because of the noise level of the train station, not to mention the confidentiality of the situation, Maksohm wouldn’t even try to brief us.
As we waited, I leaned into Maksohm’s side and asked in a quiet tone, “How did the report go over? About what happened in Alyadar. I haven’t had a chance to ask.”
“They’re not happy,” Maksohm admitted, face falling into grim lines. “But it was more the situation they’re not pleased with. They trust our general judgement, and they didn’t want infected familiars on the loose. Our approach was the lesser of two evils. I can’t say that I blame them for the reaction. I feel the same way.”
Yes, I felt the same. I could tell that those deaths weighed on him, and I put an arm around his waist, hugging him to me. In moments like these, I wasn’t sure what to say, what could magically make it all better. Did those words exist? How did people learn them?
Before I could attempt something, he lifted a hand to the TMC fitted over his ear and listened attentively. I could just hear the buzz of words from this proximity, making out one word in five. I might have been able to hear better if the train station wasn’t so noisy.
Whatever he was told made him happy, as he responded, “Yes, sir. Yes, absolutely, I think this shouldn’t be rushed. We’ll collect them in Kapanka and then go down. Yes, sir.” Ending the call, he looked up and hailed, “Vee! Change of plans. We’ll portal down to Kapanka. Nora and a young friend of Bannen and Rena’s will rendezvous with us there.”
A young friend of mine? I cocked my head, completely drawing a blank of who he could possibly mean. “My friend?”
“A mage named Emily Garner.” Maksohm paused a beat, a mischievous glint in his eye. “I believe you know each other.”
Delight zinged up my spine. I couldn’t have been more pleased if he’d handed me a year’s supply of chocolate. Bouncing to my feet, I caught Bannen’s eye and cupped a hand around my mouth to yell, “Emily’s coming to help us!”
Bannen’s face lit up in a relieved smile. “Thank all saints, deities, spirits, and pink hippos.” He stopped lingering around the vendor selling coffee and bounded toward me, demanding as he came, “When?”
“She’ll rendezvous with us in Kapanka,” Maksohm repeated patiently. “She’s apparently just signed on with the MISD as a healer. It was suggested to me that this is something of a trial basis. The higher-ups want us to have a healer in the team. If we feel that she fits in with us, then we can request her.”
I knew very well that Emily worked great with me and Bannen. I suspected she’d fit in just fine with the rest of the group as well, but I didn’t want to irresponsibly say things like that.
“You’ll love her,” Bannen assured the other three, rocking back and forth on his feet in a happy bop. “She’s great to work with.”
Fortunately, I had Bannen for the irresponsible things. “Let’s get down there quickly, I don’t want to keep them waiting.”
“They actually won’t come in until later this evening, and Nora will be the one to portal us to Foxboro.” Maksohm shrugged in resignation. “We’re wearing people out by hopping back and forth like this. We’ll have to take the trip down to Sira in stages and gather people as we go.”
The agent found us a minute later, introduced herself, and urged us toward a quieter place to portal from. We all gathered up bags and trooped off the station platform to an out-of-the-way area to the side of the tracks. It took an hour to portal down to Kapanka, find the right hotel, and check in. The MISD fortunately had a string of hotels they had an agreement with, so it took little time to get a set of rooms. As hotels went, this one wasn’t as fancy as the one in Heaberlin; the rooms were designed for just a single stay. A single bed, en-suite bathroom, and a complimentary bar filled with snacks and a pitcher of water were the only things in the room.
After throwing our bags into our room, we went across the hall and into Maksohm’s, taking various seats on the bed and in the two chairs in the room. We left the best spot for Vee so that she could sit without having to fold herself uncomfortably into a chair. Once we were all settled, we looked to Maksohm for an update, as he still hadn’t told us anything about Toh’sellor.
An edge of excitement warred with grim resolve on Maksohm’s face. We were all happy to have some sign of where to go, but at the same time, none of us looked forward to actually facing Toh’sellor again.
With a deep breath, Maksohm began, his voice carefully controlled and neutral. “We’ve had a report that something strange has happened on the very southern tip of Sira. A passing Coast Guard ship saw a perimeter barrier set up near a series of sea caves.”
Perimeter barrier? In-ter-es-ting.
Bannen lifted a hand. “Can you explain for the dummy in the class?”
I got a strange look from Maksohm and shrugged. “He only knows what magic he’s seen us do. And we’ve never placed a perimeter barrier before; there’s been either no need for it, or it wasn’t sufficient to the task.”
Tilting his head, Maksohm grunted acknowledgement before explaining, “A perimeter barrier is like a magical sentry. Its sole task is to alert anyone who crosses it.”
“Wait,” Bannen held up his hand again, this time in a staying motion, his brows screwing up in confusion. “It’s just an alarm? It doesn’t prevent someone from entering, or giving a warning to the intruders, or anything like that?”
“Just a warning,” Maksohm confirmed. “A loud warning, I grant you, but just a warning. And it’s not terribly effective at even that, as it has to be renewed once every twenty-four hours and can only be set a certain distance out. Too far, it loses its magical integrity and fails.”
Bannen’s face spoke volumes about his opinion. “Yup, I can see why we never bothered to use it before this. Alright, so, there’s a perimeter barrier. Is that all?”
“No, it’s more than that. The Coast Guard tried to approach, as they’re duty-bound to investigate any strange activity, only to have a flurry of people in black clothes come out and rebuff them. It nearly
capsized their ship. They retreated and called for us.” He paused, dark eyes glancing at each of us, gauging how we’d take his next words. “The reason why this case is being given to us, and not an MISD agent nearby, is because the report mentioned that when they approached, they heard a variety of animal sounds. Specifically, the sound of a wolf howling, a monkey chittering, a large predator cat snarling, and something else that they couldn’t quite identify. Some sort of exotic bird, or so one man claims, as it wasn’t anything native to the area.”
“Yeah,” Chi crossed his legs to sit tailor style, his casual posture at odds with the serious contemplation on his face. “That has to be the cave that everyone got a glimpse of in Njorage.”
“Our bosses agree, hence our orders to go straight there. Toh’sellor of course is our number one priority but remember, they want us to recover at least the stolen familiars, if that’s at all possible.”
It seemed something of a stretch to me, but I had to admit, we’d save the familiars if we could. “And the nasty people that stole Tohsie in the first place?”
“We pummel, I hope?” Bannen asked. When Maksohm gave him a nod, he grinned ferally. “Oh good.”
“Just pummel?” I didn’t believe that for a moment.
“Well, we’ll try asking questions first,” Maksohm assured me deadpan. “But pummeling is going to happen either way. No one’s going to smack our hands for it.”
Right. That sounded more realistic.
Vee settled Seton to rest against one shoulder, her hand idly stroking the staff up and down. “I’m all for pummeling. I’d love to return those familiars to their kids. Even if Toh’sellor isn’t there, I’d be very happy to do that.”
Everyone agreed completely with that sentiment and nodded.
“We don’t have any more intel than that?” Chi asked, getting a shake of the head from Maksohm, and frowning. “Makes it hard to work out a battle plan. And fighting in caves is one of my least favorite things to do, right above monkeys.”
Bannen gave a heartfelt groan. “Every time I’ve gone underground, it’s not worked out well for me, so I feel you. Let’s try to work out some sort of plan, though, something that we can adapt so we’re not flying by the seat of our pants.”
“A more formal copy of the report is supposed to meet us on the way there,” Maksohm promised, “but for now, that’s an excellent suggestion. And no, Chi, you may not start by saying, ‘Shoot it until it stops twitching, then shoot it again.’”
“You take all the joy out,” Chi accused him, wagging a finger. “All of it. You just suck it right out of life.”
“It’s my one mission,” Maksohm drawled. “Now. Bannen, since you have such strong opinions about fighting underground, why don’t you start?”
I had to bide my time and wait for when Chi naturally got up and left the room, supposedly to stretch his legs, before I could catch him alone. I didn’t want to put Vee on the spot, and I wasn’t sure if Chi had even mentioned it to her. Before our rough and ready planning sessions went much further, I had to know.
He went to the dining room ahead of me, and I lost him briefly, but spotted him again just as he was exiting. Catching his arm, I towed him into the first open door I saw that was unoccupied. Which happened to be a linen closet. Oh well, it was fine, we both fit well enough for a short conversation.
Chi glanced around the linen closet. “Look, Bannen, it’s not that you’re not an attractive man, really, you are, but we’re just too similar for this relationship to amount to anything, and I’m sarding sick of one-night stands and fumbling trysts in closets,” Chi said with a straight face. “Also, I do not want to be known as the guy who made the Void Mage cry in public. Or have her out for my blood. I’m absolutely positive she can turn me into a living mummy.”
It took me a second before I got it and I rolled my eyes. “Really? Be serious.”
“That sounds like a lot of work, so I’m going to go with a ‘no’ on this one.”
Chi was in one of those moods where he’d play off his nerves or die trying. “Look, before we go back to the others, I just wanted to check if Vee’s willing to use some of her giant’s magic to maybe boost you and Rena up, give you better vantage points.”
He gave me a perfectly blank stare. “Who told you that Vee has giant’s magic?”
Uh-oh. I had a bad feeling about this. “Uh…you did?”
“And who suggested she use it to boost me and Rena onto higher ground?”
“Uh, that would also be you.”
Blinking, Chi looked unaccountably pleased. “Wow. I’m impressive. That’s a grand idea.”
“You know what would have been even more impressive? If you’d retained it.” I rolled my eyes again as he pouted at me. “Now, will you please ask your wife if she’d be willing to at least attempt this in practice before we get down there to face who-knows-what?”
Rubbing a hand at the back of his neck, he admitted, “I’m not sure—”
The door abruptly opened. I had an apology all ready for the staff member who likely wondered what two strange men were doing in the linen closet, but it wasn’t a hotel employee. Maksohm stared at us, eyebrow cocked in that minute degree that said, I don’t like it when you’re plotting things, and I especially don’t like it when you’re plotting things in a linen closet. He had a very expressive eyebrow. “What are you two doing?”
“Bannen asked for a date,” Chi lied blithely, all suave charm. “I’m just going to ask Vee’s permission, okay?”
And then the dastard left me in a vacuum of air and disappeared in a flat second up the stairs.
Maksohm’s other eyebrow joined the first one, and I didn’t even want to decipher what it meant. “I don’t want to date Chi,” I said morosely as Maksohm grabbed me by the arm and hauled me out of the closet. “He’s mean and he steals my stuff and sometimes he jumps off of buildings without telling me he’s going to do it, and then I have a heart attack, and you yell at me and Rena yells at me and Vee yells at me, and I can just imagine that dating Chi will only result in more people yelling at me.” I paused. “I don’t want to date Chi.”
“Bannen,” Maksohm said, voice low and gentle, blatantly amused but too good to laugh about it in front of me. “You’re not dating Chi. You’re married to Rena, remember?”
“Thank all deities,” I responded fervently, meaning every word of it.
“What was that really about?” he asked, still patient, still amused. This was why Maksohm was everyone’s favorite. He didn’t believe the nonsense and was patient about unraveling us to get to the bottom of things.
“Between you, me, and that very ugly light fixture? Vee has a touch of giant’s magic,” I confided.
Maksohm blinked, more startled by that than finding me and Chi in a closet together, and what that said about my life I didn’t want to think too deeply about. “She does?”
“She’s apparently not all that confident in it, but she can do the basics. I want her to try sending Chi and Rena up high, give them a better vantage point to fight from. Chi’s going to ask her to at least attempt a practice round with us.”
Accepting this with a nod, Maksohm asked, “And why the secrecy?”
“Well, I didn’t want to put her on the spot if she’s not comfortable doing it, and I’m not sure if Chi was really supposed to tell me in the first place.” I splayed my hands in an open shrug.
“I see.” Maksohm hauled me by the shoulder forward, already on his way back to the others.
That seemed a good option. I went along with it amiably before a really terrible thought occurred. “Hey, Maksohm? The verbal report you got said that whoever was down there making trouble was near the sea caves along the coast, right? And that the men in black just appeared. Does that mean they’re holed up in the sea caves?”
“I’ve entertained the same suspicion,” he admitted with an unhappy set to his mouth. “It would make the most sense. They need cover—it’s a
lready naturally camouflaged from outside eyes, it saves on the expense of building something there. It would also match the eyewitness reports we got in Njorage that the monkeys came out of a cave.”
“I don’t like this thought. I, in fact, hate this thought. That means we’ve got enemies holed up in caves that we don’t have a map to, they’ve had deities-know-how-long to prep it with booby traps, and no good sightlines for our two long-distance fighters to fight with. Plus, it’s basically a very long fatal funnel and they’re called fatal funnels for a reason. Because they’re fatal.”
“I know, I know,” he sighed. “Does it look like I’m jumping up and down with joy? But I have a thought on how to get around it. Possibly.”
Maksohm more often than not had good ideas. “I’m all ears.”
“You’re not going to have the answer.” Opening his bedroom door, he ignored me and focused on Rena, who had taken my absence and used it as a chance to stretch out over the entire bed. Vee and Chi were absent, no doubt so that Chi could ask her a certain question. “Rena.”
Looking up from her book, she met his eyes. “Hmm?”
He took a seat across from her as he explained, and since Rena didn’t show any interest in moving, I sat next to him. “We suspect the men in black have holed up in the nearby sea caves for cover.”
“That would certainly be my guess,” she agreed calmly.
“It means fighting through a very long fatal funnel with possible booby traps,” I translated for her, as my wife didn’t think along strategic lines. “Which we would really rather avoid.”
Grimacing, she puffed out a breath. “Didn’t think of that. Okay, I understand the problem.”
“Can you tunnel through the side of the caves like you did when we went to rescue Nora?” Maksohm asked earnestly.
She blinked at him, somewhat surprised by the question, although I wasn’t. I’d seen her do this twice now, and it was certainly a good option under the right circumstances.
“Well, er, that depends?”
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