Fortress Al-Mir

Master Inquisitor Darius Vrox stared around the throne room, grimacing at every body his eyes crossed. As an inquisitor, he walked alongside death more than most. That didn’t mean he was a cold and heartless being, not even toward those he didn’t particularly enjoy the company of. Which, unfortunately, included most people the illustrious Duke held in confidence.

Still, few deserved to be ripped apart by the force of a violent explosion. Several of those closest to the blast weren’t recognizable. They ceased being people and instead became piles of mulched meat and bone. The Abbey of the Light had sent out their healers. They were taking care of those who had survived.

It was a wonder he had survived. The Duke as well. The trapped chandelier had fallen just in front of the throne, not ten steps away from where he had been standing. Darius eyed the raised platform where the Duke’s throne had sat before being shattered against the wall. It was a stone dais that only went up a few steps. It was not flush with the back wall, however. There was a small gap. Throwing the Duke in before taking cover himself had saved them.

It had been a close thing. Closer for him than for the Duke. The blast, or the flying bits of brass and glowstone carried through the air, had shredded his back. One had gotten deep into his leg. A cane slammed down onto the tiles, taking pressure off that leg as he turned around. Tap, step, light-step. Tap, step, light-step.

He found it somewhat amusing that he had come away with more grievous injuries incidentally from being in the periphery of an attack on the Duke compared with a direct assault on Arkk. Yet, as much as he would prefer to investigate just how the assassins had infiltrated so deeply into the Duke’s midst, he had his duty to perform.

Darius wasn’t quite sure what to think of Arkk at the moment. They fought. He abducted Purifier Agnete. Then he shows up in the city like nothing happened, brazenly walking around as if he knew that the inquisitors wouldn’t lay a hand on him while there were so many potential hostages around, not to mention Greesom’s continuing convalescence. Darius didn’t think he would take hostages—he felt he knew Arkk better than that—yet orders were orders. He had maintained a distance, observing only. The party provided a few moments where he felt he could interact without disobeying orders. He had planned on needling Arkk a bit, perhaps discovering what the man had done with Agnete.

Then this.

Darius stepped outside the throne room and looked to the nearest guard. One who had been too frightened to follow him inside. “He isn’t here.”

“What? But… I… That’s impossible,” the man stuttered, tripping over his words as he dared to peer into the throne room. “The only ones in or out have been White Company. They carried the wounded out. I think we would have noticed that thing slipping by,” he said with a visible shudder.

Did the guard not understand where the creature had come from in the first place? It could disguise itself or everyone at the party would have known about it well in advance of it making an appearance. Darius didn’t bother entertaining the guard any further, tapping his cane on the ground with every other step as he made his way through the entrance hall of the Duke’s manor.

He had already run through a quick check of all the injured. Arkk wasn’t among them. Neither were any of Company Al-Mir.

A few mercenaries wearing the black chevron of White Company stood about, mostly helping the healers where they could. Darius chose not to waste more time with them. They might have known something. It was just as likely they did not. He hadn’t waited around to be healed fully before leaving specifically because he expected that this might happen. There was limited time and he only had one real lead on where Company Al-Mir might be.

Darius limped out of the entrance hall, leaving the building. Guards were in place to try to stop most people from going anywhere, leaving the guards within to try to find any further evidence of hidden assassins. As with the members of White Company, they might know something or they might not. He stalked right past them. They didn’t bother to stop him.

Unfortunately, walking across Cliff wasn’t possible at the moment. Not with his fresh injuries. His own coach wasn’t present. It was likely that Douglas or some other church authority had already started using it for other purposes. Perhaps ferrying healers around or moving the less wounded to somewhere they would be out of the way. There were several horses and coaches outside the manor, ripe for the taking. So long as he wore the regalia of the Inquisition, no one would stop him from commandeering one.

Darius snapped the reins, sitting on one of the coaches. Given the darkness of the night, the horse was understandably wary of moving too fast through the streets. Especially while pulling one of the smaller carriages. Darius would have preferred leaving the coach behind and taking the horse alone. With his injuries, such a prospect did not seem all that viable.

Nevertheless, he made good time through the city.

The Cliff’s Edge stayover stood tall and bright with glowstone light leaking from its many glass windows. Darius spotted no movement in any of them but that didn’t necessarily mean that nobody saw him approach. The Abbey’s oracles already believed that Arkk possessed a means of scrying. Likely a genuine crystal ball. Not common but not altogether rare either. The inquisition had taken up precautions to avoid scrying but he wasn’t in any position to maintain the spell at the moment.

It didn’t matter if he was seen one way or another. It might cause Arkk to flee but Darius doubted it. Arkk… might not be the most intelligent of people. What could one expect from someone raised in some no-name village? That said, he had enough of a head on his shoulders—not to mention working eyes—to see that Darius wasn’t here to fight. He was in no shape to.

Limping through an utterly deserted lobby, Darius took the stairs one step at a time, grimacing the entire way. It didn’t feel good to be out of breath by the time he reached the floor above. Most of his body didn’t feel good but this was a psychological pain. He really shouldn’t be walking around at all right now. If he injured himself further or even delayed proper healing for too long, it might wind up that the healers wouldn’t be able to do much for him. A permanent limp would have him behind a desk for the remainder of his days. Not at all what he wanted.

Darius stopped at the door he knew to be Arkk’s. He thought about throwing it open. He knew enough combat magic to force a flimsy door and his poor physical condition wouldn’t change that. In the interest of not starting a fight, he instead knocked. Heavy, firm, yet polite enough.

The door swung open far sooner than he expected.

Darius felt his heart skip a beat as his breath caught in his throat. He stared into a pair of burning eyes. Not the burning eyes he had come to discuss but a different, far more familiar set. The faintly glowing scars on Purifier Agnete’s face didn’t twist in rage or surprise. Her messy black hair hung loose around her ears as she quietly regarded him. A dozen spells sprung to Darius’ mind. None made it to his lips. Purifiers were magical abominations that didn’t need lengthy incantations to wield their power. She would incinerate him before he could start.

Licking his lips, Darius put on his best smile. He had been told that his smiles weren’t at all reassuring. It was better than nothing.

“Purifier Agnete,” he said slowly, making sure she knew that he wasn’t casting any spells. “I see you are still alive.”

“Should I not be?” she said, head tilting to one side. Her eyes flicked up and down the hall with the motion, checking for other inquisitors, perhaps.

“I feared that Arkk, in his ignorance, would overuse the Binding Agent. To a catastrophic point.”

Agnete drew in a deep breath and let out a faint sigh of heated air. Having backed up against the wall opposite from the door, there was an entire hallway between them and Darius still felt like he was traipsing through a desert on a particularly dry day. “Your concern is noted but unwarranted. Arkk has not had cause to use it.”

That was an interesting tidbit of information. Agnete could not control herself around fire. Even a little campfire would require monitoring and readying to keep her contained. There were no flames around now but had that been the case for the last several weeks? Or did Arkk’s method of controlling that creature extend to Agnete as well?

He pressed his lips into a thin smile, deciding to bring that issue up with his superiors later on. Although they had suspected, knowing for a fact that he had Purifier Agnete working for him alongside the creature from beyond the stars and his cadre of more mundane beings would only make any action against him all the more dangerous. He had quickly grown to be a problem that a single inquisitorial cell couldn’t handle.

Things were going to get… unpleasant very quickly.

Unless Darius could do something about it. He honestly didn’t know what. He had come here more out of desperation than because he had a good plan. There was little incentive for Arkk to hand over his secrets or his companions. Threats could only go so far before they had to be enforced—Darius had been the one to screw up that enforcement with the debacle in the Cursed Forest. Nonetheless, he had to try.

“Is Arkk here at present? There are matters of which we must speak. Especially now that his creature has been seen by many.”

“Seen by many?”

“Ah. You haven’t heard. That means he isn’t here,” Darius said with a frown. “Am I right in assuming that he will be here to retrieve you before he leaves the city?”

“I hadn’t heard anything to the contrary,” Agnete said slowly. “Though I am not sure how much information I should be giving away. Familiarity may have caused me to give away too much already despite me being unable to say that I particularly enjoyed working with you.”

“If it makes you feel better, you’ve hardly given anything away that I didn’t already expect or assume. Or realize upon seeing you alive,” Darius added after a moment of thought. “Might I wait for Arkk—”

It turned out there was little need to wait. Several sets of footsteps started climbing the stairs, echoing up the stairwell. A few of the footfalls were heavier than others. An orc, Darius guessed just as the short orc crested the top of the steps. Although far filthier than she had been at the height of the party, Darius recognized her as the orc that had accompanied Arkk. She froze upon spotting him and immediately dropped into a combat stance despite her lack of weaponry.

“What’s—Oh.” Arkk was the next up, quickly followed by the other members of his entourage. And Hawkwood. Darius had encountered the mercenary leader in the past but hadn’t interacted to the point where he would claim to know the man.

Both Arkk and Hawkwood didn’t look like they were in the best shape. Hawkwood kept one arm reaching around his side while Arkk sported linen bandages wrapped around his head.

“Hello, Arkk,” Darius said, eyes shifting over the young man’s shoulder.

The being from beyond the stars stood just a step behind him, hands clasped on Arkk’s arm, supporting him with a demure expression on her face. She was the only one not to look surprised at his presence. He doubted she knew he would be here in advance—nothing the oracles mentioned indicated abilities of prescience—she simply didn’t care. The creature’s eyes, burning yellow suns in a black starfield, flicked over him with an utter apathy that even a depressed fairy would fail to match.

“Are we still pretending to be friends?” Arkk asked, far more tense than the monster at his back. “Or are we going to ruin the polished floors with a fight?”

“Please,” Darius said, holding up his hands. His cane dangled limp from one. “I can barely stand. I would very much prefer it if we avoided unnecessary violence. At least tonight.”

Arkk visibly relaxed. Darius had to wonder if he would have believed that from anyone else. Although he was genuine, any other enemy of Arkk’s could easily get the man to let his guard down simply by saying what he had. Then again, Darius allowed his eyes to drift over the others in the hall. Tension didn’t bleed out from the orc, Zullie, or even Agnete. Hawkwood, behind his scowl, looked mildly confused but wary of the situation. Even Arkk, on a second glance, didn’t look fully at ease. Darius wasn’t sure that he had ever seen Arkk let his guard down.

And the monster… Darius had seen her handily deal with the assassin that had been targeting the elf. She could emulate a demure expression as much as she wished, her inhuman thoughts and physiology meant that anyone letting their guard down around her would be the king of fools.

“We must speak, Arkk. With your creature having revealed herself—”

“This again?” Arkk said with a sigh. “All that happened tonight and you’re still worried about Vezta? You saw with your own eyes that she harmed nobody but the assassins. I would think that they would be a far more pressing issue.”

“I’m sure they are the topic of every conversation going on in the manor this evening,” Darius admitted. “The Duke’s spymaster, especially, will be investigating every one of the staff and checking just how far they might have infiltrated. We all have our duties. Mine lies in containing or controlling esoteric magics before they wreak havoc on the world.”

Darius could feel Agnete stiffening at his side. The rise in temperature wasn’t exactly subtle. He wasn’t even talking about her at the moment. Sweat beaded down the back of Darius’ neck, not all because of the heat. Did Arkk have the Binding Agent on him or had he foolishly left it behind?

“The Inquisition of the Light is the Abbey’s dagger,” Darius said, trying to move the conversation along. “A precision instrument for dealing with issues that arise. It is not the only tool in the Abbey’s arsenal. Carrying on as you are, flaunting your monsters in public, and showing blatant disregard for any concealment is going to bring down a force far greater than myself. One you are not going to be able to fend off with a few orcs and a few tricks.”

Arkk closed his eyes and sighed deeply. When he opened them, there was a slight glint that someone less attentive than Darius might have dismissed as a trick of the light. Darius, however, narrowed his eyes, wondering why Arkk had glowing eyes as well.

“One thing after another,” Arkk mumbled. “Thanks for the warning. I appreciate it.”

“Warning?” Darius said, a smile slipping from his face. “Arkk, I don’t think you understand the gravity of the situation. I believe you to be a reasonable man. That is the only reason I am here attempting to reason with you rather than standing back and watching the sword fall on your neck.”

“And I appreciate that. You wanted me to hand over Vezta and some object that doesn’t even exist that allows me to control her. That will never happen. If you know me half as well as you think you do, you would already know that.”

Darius sighed. “I do,” he said slowly.

“I imagine you would want Agnete back as well?”

“It wasn’t confirmed that you kept her alive.” Darius glanced to his side. “Confirmation will only increase the severity of the situation.”

“Then don’t confirm it. You’re the only one who knows, right?”

“You can’t ask that of me.”

“I am.”

“Even if I did, the oracles would discover the truth eventually.”

“As long as it buys us time. I know we aren’t friends or allies… or even like each other, but you said you trusted me. Right now, I think I need to use some of that trust.”

“You’re stretching my words far beyond what I intended, Arkk.”

“You know I’m not some maniacal villain bent on destroying the universe—or whatever you think Vezta represents. So I’m asking you to buy me time. Tell your superiors that I’m coming around to what you’re saying or that you think I’ll join them. Whatever it takes to get them off my back for just a little longer.”

“Why would I ever agree to that?” Darius asked, tone flat.

“Because war approaches.” It wasn’t Arkk who answered, but Hawkwood. The mercenary leader stepped forward, shoulders broad and back straight despite a grimace on his face. “Master Inquisitor, you might not know me but I am the head of White Company.”

“I’m aware.”

“After the events of the evening, White Company might be the only large free company with its leadership still intact. This war isn’t a far-off thing. It is happening now.”

Arkk held out a hand. A crystal ball appeared in his grip, the image within shifting and changing. Curious despite himself, Darius approached enough to see within. It took him a moment to realize what he was seeing. Rows upon rows of soldiers marched past a high plateau, trudging through the darkness with only a handful of torches to light their way.

“They’re already at our borders,” Arkk said. “I have an employee there who contacted me in the middle of all the chaos this evening.”

“Are they mad?” Darius couldn’t help but ask. “It’s the start of winter!”

“They must think they can weather it,” Hawkwood said. “Or perhaps they don’t care about their soldiers. Whatever the case, they are half a day out from Moonshine Burg. I’ve dispatched Swiftwings to rally White Company. It will be up to us to buy time while the rest of the nation puts itself back together.”

“Company Al-Mir isn’t exactly at a size where we can fight in a war but we do have specialists and… esoteric magics. We can help, but not if I’ve got to fight off the Abbey of the Light and their misconceptions about my employees and companions.”

“Readying White Company won’t be possible before they arrive,” Hawkwood said. “Moonshine Burg has strong walls and should have full storehouses of food. They can last a seige… If tonight’s incident was any indication, this has been in the planning for some time. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that Moonshine Burg’s leadership has been taken out already and the gate guards replaced with agents who will keep the gates open for the invaders.” He took a deep breath. “No matter what we do, they will have a stronghold inside our borders by this time tomorrow. I don’t know if they plan to stop there for the winter or march through it.” He paused and glanced at Arkk. “With the Duchy in disarray, we need all the help we can get.”

“Did the Duke survive?” Arkk asked.

“He did.”

Arkk schooled his features but not before letting a flicker of disappointment through. He nodded his head. “I see.”

“He’ll need to be made aware of this,” Hawkwood said, giving Darius a pointed expression. “I would myself but I’ve got a war to run. Arkk promised transportation to White Company’s nearest stronghold.”

Arkk nodded. “Vezta, get everything ready. Send Zullie through first. Zullie,” he said, turning. “I want a progress report by morning. And I want to hear good news.”

The witch rolled her eyes. “Lovely. Staying awake all night after what we went through?”

“You stay awake every night anyway, don’t you?”

“Doesn’t mean I wanted to stay up tonight,” she grumbled.

“Master, is me leaving your side the wisest action given current circumstances?”

Darius shifted uncomfortably. Agnete represented a very real threat of a fiery death. She was still human, however. This creature barely looked at him. When she did, her eyes disregarded him so thoroughly that he felt utterly irrelevant in her presence. It was a wonder anyone else here could stand being under that gaze for long.

Then again, she didn’t look at Arkk like he was irrelevant. Perhaps ascribing emotions to such an inhuman being was wrong but he felt like there was an undercurrent of fanatical obsession hidden in those fields of stars.

Arkk didn’t notice or had grown used to it. “You’re the fastest at crafting ritual circles and we’ll need a lot before the night is over. Don’t worry. I can handle a crippled inquisitor on my own,” he said with an easy smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Not that I think Vrox intends any harm toward me.”

Darius frowned at the implied question. “I already said that I am not here to fight.”

“And calling the church down on me?”

“You’re playing a dangerous game here. Nothing can be hidden from the oracles for long. It is just a matter of them finding the right question to ask.”

“As long as it buys some time. Enough for other, more qualified mercenary companies and the Duke’s Grand Guard to get back on their feet.”

Darius remained silent for a long moment, thinking. This… He knew what Arkk was like. Everything he had learned about the man pointed toward this being an utterly and quite pathetically genuine attempt to help the nation at large. He wanted a stay of execution, not to escape but to help as best he could. It…

It was enough to make Darius laugh. He didn’t. He had more self-control than that. Still… Drawing in a breath, Darius spoke slowly, “I will file my report. If the chaos of the evening means it gets lost for a short time, then I suppose that is simply bad luck.”

Arkk put on a smile, wide and genuine. For a moment, it almost looked like he wanted to clap a hand onto Darius’ shoulder. He managed to restrain himself.

“Vezta, after you get Zullie and Hawkwood situated, get Dakka to the plateau.” Arkk turned to the orc. “I don’t know why an army would be interested in a tiny flopkin community, but let them know that we can house them if they feel in danger. Then both of you and Agnete get to Katja’s encampment. Let her know what is going on, offer asylum as well. We need her mages. If she declines…” He looked from Vezta to Agnete and back. “Well, don’t take no for an answer.”

“And you, Master?”

Arkk drew in a deep breath. “I don’t want to leave Ilya…”

“She survived,” Darius offered. “The healers are tending to her at the behest of… her mother, I presume.”

“I know.” He grimaced before hefting the crystal ball. “Scrying is handy. Her mother is doing well, is she? She is at her side.”

Darius didn’t react. Scrying on the Duke’s manor shouldn’t have been possible. It was as protected—if not more—as a temple. With its wards raised because of the attack, there shouldn’t have been any way to get magical information past its walls. Arkk had said that he received a cry for help in the middle of the attack as well, hadn’t he? Had that been before the alarm went up or after?

Darius nodded his head, filing the dangerous information away for later. They already knew of Arkk’s dive into esoteric magic. It was good to know capabilities but the fact itself wasn’t surprising.

“If I am headed back to alert the Duke to this invasion, would you like me to pass on a message?”

Arkk grimaced again, likely not favoring the idea of relying on someone that he wasn’t all that enthused with. “Tell her not to worry. I won’t leave her there. Let her know what is going on as well, if you would.”

“Very well.” Darius drew in a deep breath.

“Thank you. Vezta.”

“Understood, Master.”

Darius shifted away as the creature walked right past him without a second glance. Or… maybe it was staring at him the entire time. With her back to him, he had to take his eyes off her face and promptly found an oddity running down her spine, dark fields spreading the white of her outfit apart with glowing yellow eyes staring out.

Shuddering, Darius moved past Arkk only to pause. “Arkk.”

“Yes?”

“You went after that assassin.”

“Naturally.”

“Is it? I doubt many men would put themselves in danger like that. They would rather leave it to the guards to handle.”

Arkk simply shrugged.

“You didn’t succeed in stopping him.”

The casual shrug shifted as his shoulders slackened. “Can’t win them all.”

“Well, for what it is worth, I hope you and Hawkwood win this one. Don’t betray my trust.”

Arkk’s smile turned a little more brittle than Darius would have liked. With all the vague threats, Darius couldn’t exactly call that unexpected. Still, he kept it in mind as he descended the Cliff’s Edge stairwell one step at a time.