Chapter 6

Shawn couldn’t find any good hiding places that could conceal two people. He looked around, frustrated at his lack of options until he thought back to the rescue the previous night. He started scanning the rock walls around them. Thirty feet back from the ridge there was a small plateau that could fit the two of them as long as they got cozy, but it was out of sight from the trail beneath.

Their plan was simple, once the sun began to set Denza would begin her scouting. The mouse couldn’t climb down from the plateau, so Shawn carried it down to the ground once Denza had connected herself to and assumed manual control of the construct. Once the mouse was in the clear, it scampered away and out of sight. Shawn climbed back up and settled himself in to wait. Denza had warned him that once her mind was in the mouse, she wouldn’t be able to see, hear, or feel anything from her body.

He estimated that it would take Denza the better part of an hour to guide her mouse unseen into the compound, so he tried to find ways to occupy himself while he waited. Shawn closed his eyes and brought the menu to the forefront of his mind. He checked on the map section and found it had kept detailed records of his explored surroundings. He felt like he didn’t actually need to use the chalk to navigate his way back to their camp, but having to stop every so often to close his eyes and consult his map would looked strange ... unless...

Keeping his mind on the menu, he slowly opened his eyes. It took a moment to adjust, but he could see Denza resting against the rocks, the trail below him, and the purple twinkling sky above him. While his eyes were open the menu seemed project out in front of him like a hologram. Since he was currently in the map menu, he was looking at a normal map sized projection hovering in the air in front of him.

Shawn grinned, backed out of the map tab and back into the main menu. The hologram map disappeared and was replaced by a small one foot replica of himself, the information tables usually on the sides were now stacked upon one another in a cascade. The window on the very top displayed his personal affiliations, his only current status was his bond with Denza. When his mind brushed over the words as an afterthought, a new status menu appeared. Inside the box was a detailed diagram on Denza’s emotional status represented by a different colored waves that read like an EEG readout.

There was a second tab inside the window that was simply labeled, “link”. He selected the menu and immediately felt a draw from his energy reserves. The screen enlarged to two foot rectangle and he saw images slowly fade onto the screen until he was looking at world from a perspective very low to the ground. He quickly came to the conclusion he was seeing what Denza saw.

Shawn smiled to himself. The bond seemed to have more uses than just emotional manipulation and control. He wondered if it was common for powerful Elf males to bond with multiple females. He filed that thought away to investigate later as it might shed light on the secrecy surrounding the bond and how screwed up Elf society actually was.

It took time for Shawn to get used to the perspective change as everything looked differently when viewed from only a few inches off the ground. Denza had managed to guide the mouse through the outer defences of the compound. She had to take shelter in a patch of tall dry grass when a curious hyena started sniffing around a little too close comfort.

Once the patrol has passed, Denza stuck to the wall and scampered around to the far side of the valley, stopping every twenty or thirty feet to clamber onto a pole or cart for a vantage point to take in her surroundings. At the far side of the valley the ground sloped gently down until it dropped off sharply, Denza had the mouse peek its head over the ledge and Shawn got an dizzying sight of the raging river and jagged rocks far below.

The mouse scrambled back up the slope and headed back onto her route. Hidden behind the hobbled mass of buildings was a large flat area that looked to be a training ground much like the one they had seen in the cavern. kobolds were filling out of barracks and congregated in small groups. Denza found a hiding place amongst piles of scraps outside of a shack to watch the training.

A large gnoll, a raider, loped onto the field and began barking at the kobolds in its weird language. The smaller lizard creatures broke into sparring matches while the gnoll looked on. Once the sparing matches finished they moved into formations, and even went as far as to bring smaller gnolls onto the field to test each group. Shawn found himself drawn in by their struggle, as each gnoll was easily twice the size of any one kobold. Each formation had to work together to defend against the much larger threat.

A ragtag group of kobolds engaged in combat with a particularly large gnoll, only slightly smaller than the raider in charge, and the group was soundly crushed. All action on the field came to an abrupt halt as the raider stomped over to the defeated cluster of lizards. There seemed to be an exchange between the squad leader and the raider before a small blue kobold was pushed out of the group. The gnoll they had been fighting cackled evilly and snatched up the small creature in its clawed hands and sank its jaws into the tiny lizard’s body.

Shawn flinched at the high pitched squeal emanating from the dying creature, and he felt a surge of pity for it. The small lizard disappeared into the gullet of the beastman. It made no move to wipe the gore from its furred muzzle or off its broad chest. Nessa had said they were brutal savages, and they made good on their reputation. Having seen enough of the training ground, Denza guided her mouse into the shanty town.

Darting from building to building, Denza checked each house she stopped by and found the occupants were mainly gnoll females that were tending to their offspring. Some gnolls kept kobolds as servants that went about their masters bidding. In the twilight hours the streets and alleys were packed with kobolds of every color and pattern, their gnoll overseers were posted at intersections to watch the tide of kobolds and other gnolls.

A detail Shawn picked up on was that the kobolds vastly outnumbered the gnolls, at least from what he could make out. There seemed to be twenty kobolds per gnoll, which made Shawn wonder why such a large population of kobolds would be subservient to the gnolls, especially when they were being trained to fight as organized units.

The answer to his question soon presented itself as the mouse’s vision shook violently. Shawn’s felt a surge of panic from Denza, but then realized that the mouse hadn’t been discovered. Loud lumbering footsteps made the ground shake as something extremely large walked nearby. Denza steered her construct onto a pile of scrap wood, then shimmied through a rudimentary drain pipe onto the roof of a rotting and moldy hut.

Two streets over Shawn could see the top of a large head poking over the top of the dwellings. He didn’t have a solid reference point, but he worked out that the head belonged to a creature easily twice as large as a gnoll. Denza crept closer and was able to catch a glimpse of it before it disappeared around a corner heading deeper into the town.

From what he saw, the mystery creature was a massive humanoid figure that moved slowly as to not crush the small lizards underneath its feets. It’s skin was scarred and ashen where it wasn’t covered in armored plates held together by full lengths of chain. Shawn let out a low whistle when he realized it was some kind of giant.

Denza pressed on in earnest and followed the lumbering creature towards the center of town where a colossal circus tent like structure was erected. From the ridge, the tent had looked like gold and red tower of some kind, which stood out amongst the dilapidated town around it. To avoid the crowd Denza was forced to jump her mouse from rooftop to rooftop, and she arrived in time to see the armored giant stop and have an exchange with two slightly smaller, less armored versions of itself guarding the entrance to the tent tower.

After a a few moments of conversation, one of the giant guards pulled back the flap to let its larger counterpart through. In the brief moment the flap was opened, what Shawn saw made his jaw drop. Down the bond he felt Denza’s dread, and he know they both saw the same thing. The guards at the front of tent were not giants. Inside the tent was a throne made of bones that made the large armored creature look like a child. Sitting on the throne, one colossal leg draped over the arm, was an actual giant.

Shawn sat in silence while Denza hurriedly retreated from the stronghold. He waited for an hour while Denza extriciated herself as safely as possible before severing her connection with the mechanical mouse and Shawn climbed down to retrieve it. Denza clambered down after him and expediently led him back through the maze of passages to where Cassidy and Nessa were waiting for them.

The pair didn’t speak the entire way journey back and when they walked into camp, Nessa immediately went wide eyed when she read Denza’s expression. Cassidy quickly stood and guided Denza to sit down by the fire.

“What happened? I didn’t think you would be gone for so long! I was worried,” Nessa fretted.

“Well, there is bad news and even worse news,” Shawn sat down next to Denza and pulled the shell shocked elf into his side.

“Just hit me with it,” Cassidy said, sitting opposite them with a serious expression. “What are we dealing with?”

“kobolds, gnolls, ogres,” Denza said blankly, staring unblinkingly into the fire.

“Well, that doesn’t sound too bad,” Cassidy tried to sound cheery.

“And giants,” Denza shivered when the word left her lips.

“You’re joking?” Nessa asked, a hint of hysteria edging her voice.

Shawn shook his head, still trying to come to grips with the threat they were facing, “No joke. When we found out the gnolls were working with the kobolds, I started wondering why they were working together instead of fighting each other off. The kobolds out number the gnolls twenty to one.”

“Because of this giant?” Cassidy looked puzzled. “Do these races usually congregate with each other?”

Nessa’s face had turned ghostly pale, “kobolds are natives to mountainous areas, gnolls live in the plains, hills, and deserts. ogres try to avoid civilization and live in small groups up north in the hinterlands. giants are exceedingly rare, and not much is known about them except from legend. Most say that eons ago they retreated into the elemental or outer planes.”

“So that begs the question of why it’s here,” Shawn rubbed Denza’s arm abscently. “I’m honestly surprised no one has noticed anything sooner.”

“If they are this organized, whoever is running the operation is smart enough to stay hidden,” Cassidy speculated thoughtfully.

“The compound is the size of a small town. Given their numbers and how cobbled together everything looks, I would say they’ve been there at least a few months if the kobolds are as industrious as you said.” Shawn turned his attention to Nessa, “Where do we go from here?”

Nessa fidgeting nervously, “We need to report this to the guilds. We don’t have the manpower to take on a contract of this magnitude. We are firmly in military response territory, but since we are on the border it would mean weeks of negotiations between nations just to come to an agreement on how to act.”

“So it’s easier to just contract the work out instead of dealing with the politics,” Shawn concluded.

Nessa got up and went to rummage around in her saddle bags, returning with a small gilded birdcage made of woven strands silver and gold that sat in the palm of her hand. Along with the small cage, she had retrieved a sheet of pressed paper and a pen. She filled the page with her flowing script and paused to ask Denza, “Do you have an approximation of their numbers?”

Denza took a shuddering breath and answered in a flat tone, “I can visually attest to one giant, three ogres, fourteen gnolls, and more than two hundred kobolds.” Nessa scribbled down the numbers and was about to put her pen away when Denza continued in a more subdued tone, “The numbers change dramatically if you apply the rudimentary command structure we witnessed.”

Nessa pondered Denza’s words then put her pen back to the paper, “Give me those numbers too. The adjuster will decide for themselves, so we might as well be thorough.”

Denza pulled her knees into her chest, looking forlorn as any hope of quickly finding her sisters slipped away with every scratch of Nessa’s pen, “We have assume the giant is the one in charge. We saw a pair of guards, and the third that reported in looked to be the leader. We assume three eight hour shifts for guards, that means seven armored ogres.

“gnolls typically live in communities of between sixty to eighty split into a hierarchy. We saw packs of hyena riders patrolling the wall and a handful of raiders, so we can assume there are at least two bands of gnolls. If we remove those members that aren’t combatants, we can assume maybe eighty gnolls total.

“We saw a huge number of kobolds, with a single raider controlling groups of thirty. Discounting noncombatants, we are possibly looking at around four hundred kobolds. These numbers fit within the size of the compound they built.”

“Wow, nice work,” Cassidy complimented the elf. She grinned at Shawn and said what he hoped she wouldn’t, “Sounds like we got our work cut out for us!”

Nessa ignored Cassidy and rolled up her report and stuck it in the birdcage. The air filled with light chirping noises and the rolled up paper vanished in a puff of ethereal feathers.

“What is that?” Shawn looked quizzically at the cage in Nessa hand.

“This is called a messenger coop,” Nessa held up the object for closer inspection. “It allows instantaneous letter delivery to other coops you have connected it to. I sent my report directly to the merchants guild head branch in Oculsa, so I should receive a response by morning.

As it turned out, they didn’t have to wait until morning for a response from the guild. Two hours after Nessa sent in her report her birdcage chirped happily. A rolled up scroll of paper had appeared inside. Shawn had been quietly telling Cassidy about his exploration of the menu and how it worked differently with their eyes open when the message had arrived. They tabled their newest revelation and hurried over to hear the reply.

Nessa pulled the paper from the cage, unfurled it, and quickly scanned the contents. She looked up from the response and informed them, “Our contract has been put under emergency review and an adjuster is coming to verify our claim.”

“How long do we have to wait?” Cassidy sat up excitedly.

“They didn’t say. There are adjusters all over the continent, so maybe there is one nearby?” Nessa sounded unsure.

Shawn felt a strange itching sensation crawl across his skin and his ears popped painfully as if he had changed altitudes too quickly. The air thrummed with a sourceless pulsing and began to distort into a haze in front of them. Shawn jumped to his feet and put himself in front of Cassidy and Denza who had each pulled out their weapons, ready for a sudden ambush. Strangely it was Nessa who wasn’t perturbed by the new development, she just looked on with her lips parted in wonder at the display of magic.

In front of Shawn the air swirled lazily like water flowing down a drain. A speck of darkness appeared and grew rapidly until he was staring into a gaping void. From deep in the empty space shone a light that grew bright until Shawn was forced to look away from the intensity.

The pulsing vibrations and the itching sensation vanished. He heard a silky smooth male voice address them, “I do apologize for any discomfort, I was told this matter required immediate attention so they insisted on using a Gate spell.”

Shawn removed his hand from in front of his eyes to see an olive skinned man wearing a long sleeved immaculate white shirt cut with a plunging neckline that showed off his chiseled chest. His black hair was oiled and shone in the firelight along with his dark eyes that gave Shawn the impression of an italian casanova, especially while sitting astride his white horse.

“Bishop?!” Nessa gaped, surging to her feet with a hand placed over her heart.

The man, Bishop, smiled broadly, “Nessa! My darling! You look as beautiful as ever!” He dismounted his horse in a single fluid motion and swept Nessa into his arms.

Nessa looked uncomfortably at her audience and struggled to push Bishop away, her cheeks burning, “Stop that.”

“But it’s been too long since I’ve been graced by your heart stopping beauty!” Bishop protested, crushing the struggling witch to his chest. “I can still remember those long passion filled nights on the beaches of the Queendom’s coast. I can still smell the salt on the air and your intoxicating perfume that clung to your skin like an aromatic bouquet of roses.”

Denza made a gagging motion behind Bishop’s back while Cassidy wolf whistled at her mentor. Shawn took pity on the mortified witch and said, “Down boy. You can stroll down memory lane another time, we have a bit of a situation here.”

Bishop let Nessa pull away slightly, but kept his hands firmly planted on her hips. He glanced over his shoulder and quickly assessed Shawn, Denza, and Cassidy. His eyes lingered longer than necessary on Cassidy before returning to Shawn’s face, “No situation is too dire to express one’s love and affection to the one who stole their heart.”

“I think giants are a pretty big problem, dont’cha think?” Cassidy cocked her hip and dug in her heels. “We don’t have time to waste making kissy faces.”

Bishop released a relieved looking Nessa and turned to face the three of them, “Such a sharp tongue doesn’t suit such a pretty face.”

Cassidy snorted, “If you are a fraction as smart as you are pretty then you might actually be of use.”

Nessa covered her mouth to stifle her laughter at the shocked look Bishop’s face. Shawn struggled to keep his face impassive but Denza double over in a fit of wheezing laughter. Cassidy didn’t break eye contact with him, content as she was to stare him down.

Bishop recovered and shook his head ruefully, “You wound me so. To think such thorns would be found under such beautiful petals.”

“Does he always talk like that?” Shawn asked in a hushed whisper.

“Only when he is around pretty girls,” Nessa sighed.

Bishop heard their whispered exchange and returned his attention to Nessa, “And no woman is as beautiful as you are, my dear. Such radiance behind those eyes that would illuminate even the darkest of nights.”

Cassidy and Denza groaned collectively. Nessa gently rubbed her hands along Bishop’s chest and said in an innocently sweet voice, “Bishop, dear, if you don’t stop playing the fool I will paralyze you and cut off your testicles. Are you able to do that for me?”

Bishop went rigid and Shawn heard him swallow hard, “Yes, my sunflower.”

“Good boy,” Nessa patted his chest gently and extricated herself from his arms.

Bishop coughed. His countenance changed as he got straight to business, “We received your report and I was sent personally to investigate. If your report turns out to be accurate, it is quite a serious threat.”

“It’s accurate,” Denza said stiffly, a flair of indignation echoing down the bond.

Bishop held his up hands to ward off the elfs ire, “I don’t doubt your reports accuracy. But I have to see the situation for myself to satisfy the brass.”

“It’s dark, so there will be an increased amount of kobold activity,” Denza warned him.

Bishop opened his arms wide and bowed with a flourish, “Ah, I have many tricks up my sleeves, my long-eared willful maiden.” He winked at Denza and vanished from sight.

“Be careful, Bishop!” Nessa called out. “I’m not going to be held responsible if you do something stupid like last time!”

The group resumed their seats by the fire to wait for Bishop’s return. Denza curled up quietly into a ball and continued her staring contest with the crackling flames. Shawn rubbed her back and tried to send positive thoughts down the bond but his efforts did little to lift Denza’s melancholy.

Cassidy sat close to Nessa and bumped her shoulder playfully, “So what happened between you and Mr. Suave.”

Nessa groaned and buried her head in her hands, “We met when I was traveling through Oculsa on an errand. I stayed at the guild while in town and I admit I was taken in by his honeyed words. He convinced me to join him on an expedition in the Queendom of the Sunrise Coast and things got ... heated.”

Cassidy waggled her eyebrows, “He made it sound like things got a little more than heated. Tell me, how is sex on the beach? I always heard it was overrated.”

Nessa shifted uncomfortably, “That is a highly inappropriate thing to ask, Cassidy.”

Cassidy brushed off her protest, “C’mon Nessa! You’re a stone cold fox. Bishop is hot, who would blame you for wanting a piece of hunky pie?”

Nessa blushed furiously and avoided Cassidy’s gaze, “It was a youthful indiscretion after a long night of drinking and dancing. When the morning came, I woke up in bed next to him and knew I made a mistake.”

“What, you don’t like him?” Cassidy probed.

“He’s a slimy womanizer,” Denza grumbled. “His words are all dazzle as to charm a woman out of her virtue.”

“He does seem like a player,” Shawn added.

“I admit, he is a tad flirty, but he seems sweet on Nessa. He actually looked at my face and not just my chest unlike nearly every other man we’ve met baring Ruth and Edwin,” Cassidy shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t actually feel uncomfortable around him. He seems fun.”

“He is a sweet man,” Nessa said defensively. “He has a way with women, yes, but he doesn’t go out of his way to break hearts.”

“So why don’t you go out with him and see where things go? You said it yourself, it’s been ten years!” Cassidy shook Nessa’s shoulders excitedly. “It’s a sign that he showed up to oversee our contract adjustment!”

Nessa shook her head, “Bishop isn’t the type to be settle down and becoming a wife isn’t my focus. I am fulfilled in my calling and in adhering to the tenants of the Wise Witch.”

“Cass, I don’t think casual relationships are a part of this culture,” Shawn explained.

“It’s literally just sex! What’s the big deal?” Cassidy exclaimed, throwing her hands up. “Nessa, seriously what is stopping you from just having fun? You can have a meaningful relationship without having it ordained by a church.”

“Can we please stop talking about this?” Nessa pleaded. “I really don’t feel comfortable discussing this with my student.”

“Look, I’m just saying--” Cassidy stopped mid-sentence when Bishop appeared out of the air, looking sweaty and disheveled, his face grim. Shawn was secretly impressed that he hadn’t sensed Bishop’s presence.

“You are all free to terminate your contract for this expedition on grounds of unforseen escalation,” Bishop said as he caught his breath. “Your ranger’s approximation was spot on.”

Nessa chewed lip, “What is the guild going to do?”

Bishop went to his horse and pulled out a small briefcase from his bags, “We are most likely going to draw up a seek-and-destroy contract and send messengers to all available masters. This is a problem that cannot be ignored by Velain or the Imperium. The merchant’s guild will fund the expedition on good faith and force the governments to pay the bill once everything has been handled.”

“How will they force the governments to pay?” Shawn was shocked the guilds held so much power that they could bully a nation.

Bishop sat next to Nessa and began writing his report. He answered Shawn between lines, “The economy is heavily reliant on the guilds. The expeditionary guild feeds industry while the merchant’s guild keep everything running smoothly. The governments affiliated with the guilds enjoy the benefits of the taxes and tariffs on goods while the guilds collect a hefty profit from procurement fees, deposits and interest.”

Shawn didn’t like sound of how much power and influence the guilds had over the governmental bodies that ruled two of the biggest nations he was aware of, but it sounded very much like the close knit relationship of America’s corporations and government.

“What kind of funding are we talking about?” Cassidy’s ears perked up.

Bishop finished his report and sent it away via birdcage. He thought about his answer before he said, “Well, depending on how many masters are willing to assist, the pay may very. Given the seriousness of the threat we will seek out those who have higher guild ranks and multiple masteries. Rank thirty would be the cut off, so Nessa would be asked to join.”

“How many masters are you projecting you’ll need to solve the problem?” Shawn felt an uneasy sensation in his stomach that always preceded one of Cassidy’s hair brained schemes.

“A party of six masters were taken out with five MIA and one severely injured,” Bishop glanced at Loren’s medically sedated form. “We will be looking into assembling a full raiding party of forty masters, with a contract level of M1200.”

Cassidy nodded to herself then asked, “How much would each participant make?”

Bishop arched his eyebrows at Nessa in an unspoken question. The witch waved at him to continue, having long since given up trying to rein in Cassidy, “Well, the pay would be dependant on ranking. The guild would provide whatever supplies are needed. A master of Nessa’s rank would probably make a thirty thousand gold return not including any personal spoils of war that might turn up.”

“So the merchant’s guild is willing to shell out 1.2 million gold to make this problem go away?” Shawn could see the manic gleam in Cassidy’s eye. He could already guess what Cassidy wanted to do. Being the idiot he was, he actually agreed if they could pull it off because it would solve their problems in one fell swoop.

“Something like that,” Bishop said noncommittally. “Are you wanting to join the raiding party?”

“In a sense,” Cassidy answered vaguely.

“Well, I’m sorry to dash your hopes, but unfortunately the guild would not allow any persons without the proper rank to take part. It would be too dangerous,” Bishop replied firmly.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but we are currently on this contract already, right?” Cassidy pointed out.

“Yes, and you can be excused without penalty,” Bishop repeated.

“But I don’t want to, and neither does Shawn,” Cassidy looked to Shawn for support. If he was in for penny, he as in for a pound. He nodded his agreement.

“No!” Nessa very nearly shouted. “As the senior ranking expeditionary on this mission I am dissolving our claim. You three are too reckless and inexperienced.”

Cassidy crossed her arms, “I read the rules, Nessa. You only have grounds to dissolve the group claim with a majority vote. The contract was approved with the four of us, so we are already approved to be here. The escalation clause allows us to back out if it is too dangerous, but we are not required to do so. If you want to leave, feel free. Denza has everything riding on this and Shawn and I promised we’d see it through.”

Bishop opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water. He rounded on Nessa, “This is absurd! Do your students have a death wish?”

Nessa looked close to tears, unsure of what to do. Cassidy cut in sharply, “This is our choice. You can’t force us out of the contract and we would probably still do something like this anyway. I am confident we can solve this problem.”

Nessa shook her head in dismay, “You don’t know what you are asking. The guild would never agree to this and if we should fail, as the master in charge I would be stripped of my rank and punished for knowingly letting my charges run head long to their deaths.”

Cassidy gave the witch an apologetic smile, “If your name isn’t on the contract that you can’t be held responsible. I’m sorry. but this is too good of an opportunity to pass up.” She turned to Bishop, “The contract still belongs to us, now we renegotiate the terms, right?”

Bishop chewed his teeth before he closed his eyes and resigned himself to doing his job, “If you are adamant about doing this than I can start by saying the first thing you will do is release the guilds from any liability, and Nessa too.”

“Done,” Cassidy readily agreed. “Denza is the only one with family to pay reparations to anyway, so it’s a moot point in Shawn’s and I’s case.”

“The second thing is that your contract is a double search-and-rescue expedition. From what I could tell the caravan personnel are still alive and being held captive in cages hidden by magic near the ravine, and you’ve already completed the second part by rescuing Loren. The others might still be alive, or if we can recover their corpses intact, we can attempt to resurrect them at a temple if it hasn’t already been too long.

“With the addition of the escalation, the seek-and-destroy contract will be considered the priority contract with the other two being secondary, so you won’t be penalized if they are not completed,” Bishop pulled out copies of their contracts and began consolidating them with the addition of the escalation.