Fortress Al-Mir

“You received some letters. Came in by Swiftwing Harpies.”

Arkk barely stepped out of the newly fashioned teleportation circle inside the Moonshine camp before being practically assaulted by Ilya waving a set of neatly folded letters in front of his face. One letter had an obvious seal stamped into wax while the other only had a glob keeping it closed. Taking them, he frowned down at both for just a moment before tucking them into his inner jacket pocket.

“That’s good. It means people know we’re here.”

He didn’t have time to examine them. Arkk had to step out of the teleportation circle and further into the large tent set up outside Moonshine Burg. The ritual circle pulsed and Agnete appeared within its confines. The temperature of the tent immediately shifted from a chill winter’s morning to a hot summer afternoon, making Arkk, Dakka, and several of the other gathered orcs break out in sweat.

Rekk’ar, already present having come through the teleportation circle before Arkk, just crossed his arms. He was finally out of that sling. It was thanks to him that Ilya and the others had gathered.

While at Fortress Al-Mir, Arkk made a sudden realization. Rekk’ar had left the fortress only once since first being hired. That one time had been a temporary departure when Arkk called for reinforcements at Darkwood, defending the town from the other Keeper. There was always some problem going on but Rekk’ar spent his time at the fortress, making sure to keep everything in line. It was high time that he got out to fight and war and just get a breath of fresh air. Maybe it would make him less cranky. With Vezta staying back at the fortress with the two warlocks and their research—and the fortress being nearly empty—Arkk was hoping this little excursion would help alleviate some of Rekk’ar’s concerns in addition to getting him out and moving about.

Agnete, on the other hand, was here solely because she wanted to be here. Arkk hadn’t offered. She had asked. She wanted to see how Arkk ran things, what kind of person he was outside their limited prior interactions, and how the others in his employ acted. Arkk didn’t have much of a reason to keep her in the fortress. With her abilities, it would only make their upcoming task all the easier to accomplish.

“Come along,” Arkk said, moving from the large tent across their small camp on the open plains and to a smaller tent with several cots set inside.

Arkk looked around the new tent, locking eyes with Edvin and the gremlin at his side. Lexa. The only non-employee in the area.

Gremlins stood shorter than most other races. Half the height of an average human left the gremlin utterly dwarfed by all the orcs filing inside, though her spiked mass of bright red hair helped to make her look a little less short than she actually was. That probably wasn’t the only reason she looked distinctly uncomfortable. Being the only fully-fledged bandit among a group of mercenaries had her clearly on guard. Not that there was much she would be able to do if Arkk did suddenly decide to throw her to the local garrison.

Looking away from the two, Arkk found Ilya’s silver eyes. “Report,” he said. “Did you find the slavers?”

Ilya shot a glance in Lexa’s direction as well, nodding at the same time. “We managed to track them down two days ago. They are about two days out from here, making their home in an abandoned outpost from the last war as Lexa indicated.”

“Would it be too much to ask for the Duchy to hold onto its territory?” Arkk asked with a sigh. “I suppose this isn’t the first time we’re cleaning up the Duchy’s mess. Were you able to scry on this outpost?”

Grimacing, Ilya nodded her head. “It… It isn’t pretty. The outpost has an entire dungeon set up. Probably for holding onto prisoners from the war but… now… it’s holding onto slaves. They have these massive carts drawn by massive horned creatures. Each cart has stacks upon stacks of large metal cages. I think they take them around to the places they raid, fill them up then drag them back here. Some of the slaves are treated better than others—probably the ones they want to sell for looks rather than labor—but it is a mess all around.”

“How many slavers?”

“There are about two-hundred cots in their barracks.”

“Two hundred?” Arkk repeated with a frown. That… was a fair amount. They only had eighteen orcs now that Rekk’ar and a few of the others who had been at the fortress were with them. Plus himself, Ilya, four gorgon, and Agnete. And Edvin, he supposed, though he wasn’t going to expect much from the highwayman.

He had fought off about that many goblins when he first met Vezta. That had been an entirely different situation, with them all rushing toward him—meaning only a limited number could engage with him at any given time—and him not having to worry much about innocents getting in the way. Here, they had slaves who would turn into hostages the moment things took a dive for the slavers.

For a few moments, he considered returning to the fortress to retrieve Vezta, Zullie, and Savren. Maybe the other gorgon as well. Looking to his side, where Agnete had taken up a position a little too close for comfort, he shook his head. Himself, Ilya, four gorgon, and Agnete were probably enough to take on eighty entrenched slavers on their own. Sure, most of that might have been Agnete, but still…

“Dakka,” Arkk said, looking at the orc. She stiffened under his gaze, back straightening. “You’ve been informed of the situation?”

“I was watching them scry it, Sir.”

“Good. Take Rekk’ar and Agnete, get them fully up to speed on what is going on and start coming up with strategies. Vezta and our warlocks are available if we feel it is necessary. I’ll join you shortly.”

Dakka’s eyes shifted over to Rekk’ar. There was a certain pride to her gaze as her lips curled into a smile. “Yes, Sir,” she said.

“The rest of you, get everything ready to move. Jorr’or, check our food and medical supplies. Make sure we have some extra of both, enough to help anyone we rescue. You have full authority to take as much gold into town as is required to procure the necessary supplies.”

The orc who had acted as quartermaster on this excursion nodded his head before turning to the flaps of the tent. Everyone else filed out in short order, leaving just Arkk and Ilya behind in the large barracks-like tent. It wasn’t the best home base, but they didn’t have anywhere else unless they wanted to take another hop to the stayover. Although more effective than walking, moving people one at a time through the teleportation circle wasn’t a very effective means of travel or he might have suggested they return to Fortress Al-Mir every night. It was just easier to rent out the entire stayover and use this camp.

“Vezta didn’t come back with you?” Ilya asked as they took a seat on one of the nearby cots.

“There were some problems with Zullie and Savren. Wanted to make sure they didn’t end up killing each other, so she’s mediating.”

“Problems?”

“Disagreements over changes to the ritual circle. As interested as I am, I didn’t ask. Too much other stuff going on. After setting Vezta to loom over their shoulders, they actually started cooperating instead of just arguing about it. I sat in on a few of their sessions but…” Arkk hung his head. “It’s complicated. I wish I had more time to fully learn everything but I’ve got to run around plotting assaults on slavers.”

Lips pressed together, Ilya reached out, resting a hand on Arkk’s knee. “This is important too. Just think of all the people we’re helping. And all the people who won’t have to worry about being raided in the future because these slime will be dead.”

“I know,” Arkk said. “I’m not saying it isn’t important or we’ll leave those people.” Shaking his head, Arkk focused. “With the inquisitors lurking in places we can’t scry, I just was hoping we could find some spellcasters out here. Sadly, I doubt many, if any, of the slaves will be casters.”

“What about—”

“I can cast spells.”

Arkk blinked and looked over Ilya’s shoulder. Lexa leaned up against the central pole holding up the tent. The short gremlin hadn’t left with the others and Arkk hadn’t even noticed. He was so used to looking up that he had entirely forgotten to look down, despite having singled her out earlier. It didn’t help that she had half-hidden behind the large pole, barely visible from his position.

Discussing sensitive things without fully securing the area…

“You can cast spells?” Arkk asked, trying to maintain a neutral tone of voice.

“Nothing flashy,” the gremlin said, grinning with sharp teeth. “A few tricks here or there. Distract a mark or make me harder to notice. It worked on you. Useful, right?”

Arkk narrowed his eyes. Maybe he hadn’t simply overlooked the gremlin. “And you’re offering your services.”

“Consider this my demonstration of ability.” Shoving off the pole, Lexa walked around it and stopped in front of Arkk. “I’m a thief. Best in the business. At least around these parts. I can slip through cracks most others wouldn’t even notice, I can hide in plain sight, and I can nick valuables right out from under people’s noses.” Pulling a hand from behind her back, she waved two familiar letters back and forth.

Arkk stiffened, reaching into his jacket even as Ilya’s arm shot out. She snatched all the letters from the gremlin’s small hand. Not that the gremlin even tried to withhold them. Lexa just flashed her sharp teeth again.

“When did you—”

“Magic,” Lexa said, wiggling her fingers. “Not going to say more than that unless you hire me.”

“Bad first impression,” Ilya snapped. “What else have you stolen?”

“Nothing, nothing at all. I did snoop around,” she admitted. “Peeked into a few bags here or there. Spotted some interesting magic circles in the guarded tent… Left everything right where I found it.”

Arkk stiffened at the mention of the teleportation circle. That was one of his biggest advantages and not something he wanted to give up. Especially not to bandits.

“Sure you did.” Ilya’s disbelief came through as clear in her tone as it was written on her face, patting herself down to check that she wasn’t missing anything else.

Arkk held up a hand. “And you’ve, what, tired of your thieving career? Want to turn over a new leaf?” If she wasn’t offering to work for him now… He wasn’t quite sure what he would have done. Secrecy was security and security was paramount.

“Never. My skills are handy no matter the situation. Handier than a bunch of ex-raiders, anyway. Now I hear you’re in the market for spellcasters too? That just makes me more valuable.” She laughed a sharp, high-pitched laugh. “Don’t get me wrong. I love what I do. Kat’s Bandits are a nice family—Kat is sexy and perfectly happy to share herself with anyone who pleases her—but after snooping around here and seeing how much coin you’ve got to throw around? Well, if I knew how well being a mercenary paid, I’d have joined a company years ago.”

Of all the topics he had discussed with Hawkwood during his visit to Cliff City, pay had not been among them. He honestly doubted that most other free companies could afford to give a gold coin to each employee every month. Fortress Al-Mir put him in a league of his own when it came to what he could offer his workers.

“You can’t just—”

Holding up a hand, Arkk stalled Ilya’s retort. “What assurances would I have that you aren’t going to take the coin and run back to your outlaw friends?”

“We’re not hiring another criminal, are we?” Ilya asked before Lexa could say anything.

Arkk shrugged. “We already knew we weren’t going to find any spellcasters in good standing. That pretty much leaves only criminals.”

“If I’m working for a free company, I’m not a criminal, now am I?” the gremlin grinned. “As for assurances… the only assurance out there is gold. As long as the gold keeps coming and nobody offers me a better deal, I’m yours. For whatever. You. Want.” Lexa hooked a finger over the front of her bodice and lightly pulled, showing off just enough skin to be enticing without showing off everything.

Arkk locked his eyes with her hazel slit pupils and frowned. “I’m not in the habit of abusing my employees like that.”

“It isn’t abuse if—”

“I also prefer women who are taller than me.”

Ilya, who had been glaring at Lexa, shifted her glare over to Arkk before moving back to the gremlin. She stared back and forth like she wasn’t sure who was more deserving of her ire. When Arkk flashed her a smile and winked, she rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“Ah,” Lexa said, looking between the two as she slumped her shoulders. “Kind of rude to put it like that but maybe I can change your mind later. I’m more after the gold anyway.”

Reaching into his pocket, Arkk withdrew a single gold coin. Holding it up, he watched as Lexa’s eyes went wide, following its motions like a cat ready to pounce on a rat.

“I’ll hire you,” Arkk said, moving the coin back and forth. “A gold coin a month, plus bonuses for combat or other situations that require your skills or presence. While employed, you don’t steal from regular people or anyone else under my employ.”

Although her eyes kept following the gold coin, her head turned slightly toward Arkk. “No one? What defines ‘regular people’? What about rich idiots begging to have some of their wealth redistributed? The tax collector, maybe? Does it count as stealing if they’re dead?”

“No murdering people either,” Arkk said, narrowing his eyes.

“I didn’t mean that. Just suppose I’m walking around, minding my own business, when I stumble across an old mausoleum filled with all kinds of shiny things…”

“Look. I just don’t want you acting like a thug. I’m still trying to build up Company Al-Mir’s reputation. If you do anything to tear that down, we’re going to have a problem. Clear?”

“Crystal.”

With a slight sigh, Arkk held out the coin. It vanished from his fingers in the blink of an eye and disappeared down the front of her shirt—she must have had a pocket sewn in there—not via magic, just the quick reflexes of the gremlin. While Lexa didn’t seem to notice, Arkk felt the minion bond form between them.

“Don’t worry,” Lexa said, eyes back on him while she showed off her sharp-toothed grin. “You won’t regret this.”

“I hope not. Now get prepared to head out with the others.”

“You can order me around however you want,” she said, turning on her heel.

Arkk watched her go, making sure she didn’t slip off to spy on them a second time. She must have known that he was watching because she started swinging her hips in what Arkk had to hope was an exaggerated manner. It couldn’t be comfortable to walk like that all the time.

“Lexa,” Arkk called out before she made it to the tent flaps, a thought occurring to him.

She paused and turned, raising a bright red eyebrow.

“Are there other spellcasters among Kat’s Bandits?”

“Oh yeah. Kat herself is one. Then there’s Roland, Hestia, Marg, and maybe a few others? Not sure how good they are. None of us have any professional training. Just the books we… liberated from our customers.”

“I see…”

“You want a full list? Every spell they know—or every spell I know they know, anyway.”

“Later, perhaps.”

“Sure thing.” With one last sashay, Lexa slipped out of the room.

Arkk hummed to himself, mind churning as he considered possible future interactions with Katja and her crew. With these slavers being a thorn in Katja’s side, taking them out should engender some feelings of gratitude. He wasn’t sure that they would all be as willing to jump ship—especially not the leader—but if he could borrow a few spellcasters for however long the ritual would require…

“You aren’t seriously thinking about hiring them all, are you? I can’t believe how many criminals we have working with us.”

“If they’re working for us, they aren’t causing problems for villages and travelers.”

“That’s the same logic we used on the orcs and Savren and the gorgon and now these thieves. I’m not sure how much I like that argument.”

“It’s all gone well so far,” Arkk said with a shake of his head. “We’ll talk it over later. I doubt they’ll all even want to join up. For now, I’m curious about these.”

Holding up the letters Ilya had handed him, he broke the wax seal on the one without a signet stamped into it. It was the thickest of the two, containing a great many pages. Sketches and diagrams of buildings and murals. The front letter, after Arkk skimmed it, filled him in on what it was all about.

“Ah. That expedition we helped with. This is the historian getting back to me.”

“Back to you?”

“I waived half their pay in exchange for details on the ruins they were heading to. I thought it might have been another fortress like Al-Mir. Judging by this giant pit, I might have been right, though it fits with Vezta’s description of a dead fortress. Interesting but not all that exciting. I’ll look over his other notes later.”

The next letter, stamped with the upward chevron seal of White Company, was a letter from Hawkwood. This one wasn’t a particularly long letter but the content had Arkk sitting forward in his seat.

“It seems like we have made a splash among those who pay attention to mercenaries. Hawkwood is congratulating us for saving Silver City and ridding Savren’s magic from Hope. He’s mentioned us around and…” Arkk pressed his lips together. “Seems like he wants to invite us to a small dinner in Cliff, accompanied by several other mercenary company commanders.”

Ilya crossed her arms, closing her eyes. “Is that all?”

Arkk flipped the letter over, checking the backside, before shrugging. “Looks like it.”

“It’s a trap. The inquisitors got to him. Or the entire letter is forged.”

Arkk drummed his fingers on his knee. The thought had occurred to him but… “I don’t want to believe that.”

“What else could it be?”

“Just what it says. I’ve had several correspondences with Hawkwood since we met for the first time. He mentioned things like this before. All the company leaders are friends, though some consider other companies to be friendly rivals. It’s… not out of the ordinary to be invited along with them.” Arkk paused then looked Ilya in her silver eyes. “We have been making a name for ourselves.”

“Even if the inquisitors have nothing to do with it, they are still there. You can’t seriously be considering going. They won’t just ignore you.”

“They might,” Arkk said, knowing damn well they wouldn’t. “I asked John to visit Stone Hearth and Smilesville while I was back at the fortress. Neither place has any bounty, notice, or other declaration of interest regarding me, Company Al-Mir, or even the Cursed Forest.”

“Because they’re trying to draw you in with this letter!” Ilya snapped standing up. “Arkk. Ask any of the others. Rekk’ar. Olatt’an. Vezta. Zullie. Savren. Dakka. Edvin. They’ll all tell you this is a trap.”

Arkk closed his eyes, nodding his head. He did not doubt that. He wasn’t even disagreeing. He didn’t think… He hoped that Hawkwood hadn’t tried to trap him. That didn’t mean that the inquisitors wouldn’t hear about his arrival and try to do something then.

Still… This could well be the last chance they had to visit Cliff without being labeled as heretics or traitors. The last chance they would have to get Alya out of the Duke’s manor while still able to freely move about the city. If he brought up that point, Ilya might change her mind.

He wasn’t sure if he should or not. She might insist they go, which Arkk wasn’t sure he wanted. Or she might not, feeling she would have to abandon her mother. Arkk didn’t want that either. It wouldn’t be a good feeling.

“We’ll discuss it later,” Arkk said, folding the letter and sliding it back into his pocket. He would have to think it over. “It doesn’t matter now. We’ve got this counter-slaver operation to deal with.”

Ilya stared a moment before letting out a small breath, blowing a loose lock of her silver hair aside. “Twenty-five versus two-hundred, can we do it?”

“To be honest, unless these slavers have a secret inquisitor up their sleeve with an ice marble, I think Agnete could handle them entirely on her own.”

“Without incinerating the slaves?”

Arkk pressed his lips into a thin smile, lightly touching the round lump in his pocket just to make sure that hadn’t gone missing. “That’s why the rest of us are going.”