Chapter 22

Commander Rol looked up from the map, incensed. He waved his hand over the large parchment, where the lands on the Imperial side of the line of battle were dotted with small red X's. "I want to know where in hellfire these saboteurs are coming from."

"They're not seriously hampering our efforts, Commander," said one of Rol's adjuncts. "We are still on course to break through the pass no later than the day after tomorrow."

"Only because I have been adjusting our battle plans almost candlemark-to-candlemark to counter it. I have had to reanchor the western flank of the assault three times now."

"It is playing some havoc with supply," said the second adjunct, giving a telling gaze to the first. "Damaged roads and burning fields are not conducive to moving goods."

"I am aware of this," said the first. "But I had assumed that it was under control."

"It is. Barely."

"If we achieve the breakthrough as I believe we will, it will be a moot point."

"Nevertheless, I am exhausted trying to match wits with an unseen assailant," Rol said. He gestured to the map. "There must be something that these maps are not showing us. Perhaps a second, smaller side pass, or some other hidden road over the mountains where they're coming from."

"I have already sent my assistant to gather more information for you," the first adjunct said. "He recalled seeing some historical documents among the..."

There was a sudden shouted challenge by one of the soldiers outside the tent.

"Now what?" Rol said.

"It sounds like someone approaching the entrance of the base camp," said the second adjunct.

"Merchants sometimes approach wishing to trade," the first clarified. As he finished his statement, running feet were heard approaching the tent. "I believe my assistant is back."

A young man barely out of his teens rushed into the tent. He bowed his head respectfully to the Commander, then thrust the scrolls he held to the adjunct. "Jus' as ya ordered, mi'lord."

"Very good, thank you." He dismissed his assistant and brought the scrolls to the table. Outside, another guard shouted, this time more menacingly. Rol glanced up for a moment, but he was then distracted by the contents of the scroll after it was unrolled over the map. "That does look like Talrad Pass, though a rougher map," said the adjunct.

"Likely an old survey map," said Rol. "Nothing on this one leaps out at me. Let's try the next one." He let the first snap back into place and flattened the next before him. Rol frowned and pointed. "What are all those lines drawn through the pass? Hang on, they look like they're under the pass."

The adjunct examined the text in the corner of the parchment. "Mine shafts, it would appear."

"And those shafts are still around?"

"Yes, it's likely."

Rol sighed. "Oh, hellfire. I want a team of men to go out and find any entrances to these shafts on this side of the pass and seal them."

The adjunct looked up in surprise. "But Commander, that's close to the battle line, they'll be exposed."

"I'll take that chance. I want those shafts sealed! That is likely how these saboteurs are infiltrating into..."

There was another shout outside, joined by several others. Metal slid against leather sheaths.

"What in blazing... ?" Rol muttered. He came out from around the table and barreled out of the tent. The adjuncts followed quickly behind.

Soldiers ran past on either side of the tent. A burly man stood between the two streams, shouting. "Secure the perimeter! Watch the ramparts!" He grabbed a soldier as he went by, stopping him. "You! Get some archers to the observation tower!"

The soldier nodded once and ran off.

"What's going on out here?" Commander Rol demanded,

The man turned. "Altercation at the entrance, Commander," he said respectfully. "Just some peasant rabble deciding to pick a fight with the guards. Likely no more than drunken sots, but I thought it wise not to take chances."

"Crossbower in the tree!" a soldier bellowed suddenly.

The burly man leapt at the Commander. He intended to knock Rol down, and use himself as a shield. He had barely executed it when something made a quavering sound right by his ear. By the time Rol was on the ground and the guard atop him, the shots from several archers had converged on the assailant. A robed and hooded man lurched and fell with a dull thud to the ground.

"Oh dear gods..." one of the adjuncts croaked.

The guard rose. Beneath him lay Rol, an arrow pierced through his neck, his lifeblood a bright crimson pool on the ground.

The Cohort hung his head low, his hood covering his face. "It is with great sadness that I bring you this news, Wanderer. We have lost one of our own."

Jollis lifted his head. His jaw clenched. He let out a slow breath and clamped down hard on any overtly emotional response. This was not the time for it. "How did he die?"

The Cohort knew that Jollis was asking for something other than the physical method of death. "With great honor. He fulfilled his task, as distasteful as it was."

Jollis nodded once. "So the Commander of the Imperial legions is dead?"

"Yes. An adjunct will likely be named as his successor immediately. But it will cause some disarray among the Imperial forces for a day or two. Some time has been bought."

"With blood, apparently."

"Unfortunate, but true."

Jollis would now feel more pressure to devise a solution to his dilemma. Now that it was stained with the blood of his own kind, he was bound by ancient codes of honor to make that death count for something, or equal of his own blood must be spilled in compensation.

In actuality, such a ritual was rarely practiced. The blood-relations of the lost Cohort would invariably release Jollis from the duty regardless of the outcome, if they believed that he acted honorably. Yet if Jollis failed, it would be so monumental that he could not accept such forgiveness. "What other news do you have for me?"

"A report from your Cohorts that spy upon the D'yros Manor. It appears that the Overlord was assisted in her quest to change the Draught by her Healer, but it is believed she was an unwilling participant and may yet be a prisoner of the Overlord."

Jollis looked thoughtful. "Explain."

"She is kept in a near state of undress, as if she were barely a step above a slave. A continuous trickle of Farview magic is detected from her quarters. It is believed that Overlord Freya is monitoring her."

Jollis let out a very small sigh of exasperation. His duty would have been easier to bear had the Healer been a willing participant. It still did not completely excuse her conduct, but he would have trouble carrying out his mission to still her memories.

He was not sure why he was having such difficulty. He felt no such hesitation when he had applied the potion to Vanlo to still his Portal sense. He did feel regret that it was necessary, but once he had chosen his course, he followed it without hesitation. "And what of her use of the Draught?"

"It continues to be used on Narlassi peasantry."

Jollis let himself feel anger. It helped lessen some of his reluctance. "I will need a means to infiltrate the Manor undetected."

"They will assist. It is relatively easy, as Manors tend not to have fences or other physical borders. The guards man only the obvious approaches by foot or wheel. But, Master, is there time for you to reach the Manor before the breakthrough at Talrad Pass?"

"I will risk a Portal. The Emperor cannot be provoked any more than he already is."

The Cohort nodded. "Agreed. When will you attempt it?"

"Tonight. I with to get this over with as quickly as possible."

"I will inform them at once."

Jollis nodded. "Is there anything else?"

"Nothing, Wanderer."

"You may go."

The Cohort bowed and left.

Jollis puzzled over how to accomplish his new task. It was yet another distraction. All his meditation had failed to produce a state of mind where enlightenment would come. He still saw himself doing nothing but returning to Inonnus in failure before the marching soldiers of the Imperial legions.

If he chose to return at all.

The door flew open and crashed against the wall with a rending echo down the long corridor. Lord General Rithas burst into the hall, his face red. "Blazing hellfire, Foron! I thought the purpose of a guard was to actually guard!"

His lead adjunct Foron Ve'jonna hurried alongside him, caught between needing to keep in step and wanting distance from the Lord General's fury. "A successor has already been named, my Lord. He has already taken command and the battle continues."

"A whole lot of good that will do me later!" His boots beat heavily against the stones. "Gods damn it. Of all the times to be recalled back to the Imperial Palace!"

"Everything is well under control at Talrad Pass."

"That is not what I meant," Rithas growled through clenched teeth.

Foron glanced around and tried to lean towards Rithas, difficult to do without bumping heads at the pace they were going. "That is still well within the works, my Lord. They are ready whenever you give the order."

"I know. But once the breakthrough was achieved at the pass, I wished him transfered to my command. Now I have no one as experienced as he was. This is going from one disaster to another. I cannot have those legions..."

"My Lord, please!" the adjunct hissed, alarmed. "Not in the Palace!"

Rithas stopped dead in the hall. Foron walked past him a few steps before stopping as well. The Lord General sighed and wiped his face with his hand. "The Emperor is waiting in the situation room, isn't he?"

"Yes, my Lord. He is there with his Mage Q'holan."

Rithas frowned. "His Mage? Why?"

"I imagine Q'holan will be giving the Emperor more dire news concerning the Portals."

"Have there been more of them detected?"

"Yes, quite a few compared to the relative quiet we were seeing until now, and I suspect the Emperor will be demanding to know what you will do about them."

The Lord General snorted. "I'm doing exactly what he wanted me to do."

"Yes, but that is never enough for him."

"Oh, I intend to give him more."

Foron sighed. "But that is not exactly sanctioned, is it?" he asked in a near whisper.

"It will get the job done. That is all that will matter to the Emperor in the end."

Rithas continued along his way, though not as fast nor as angry. He took a few last calming breaths as he reached the door. The guards heaved it open to allow him to pass.

Emperor Z'haas glared from the great table in the center of the room. "About time you showed up."

"Apologies, my Emperor, but the war keeps me busy," said Rithas in a tired voice. "I hope to return to my command soon so I may better conduct it there."

The Lord General advanced towards the table, but Z'haas stepped directly in his path and stopped him.

"You will return when I am convinced you are doing everything possible to achieve victory, and not a moment before. The situation grows more grave by the moment, and I do not see any conclusive action being taken."

Rithas lifted his eyes and shot a withering look towards Mage Q'holan, who was standing off to the side. The Mage fidgeted a moment and was still. The Lord General looked back towards the Emperor. "I will admit to a few minor setbacks," said Rithas, feeling a twinge of guilt over classifying Rol's death as such. "But we are gaining ground and expect to break through in three days."

"Why must I wait that long? The enemy may be consolidating his power at the D'yoran Manor as we speak. My Mage informs me that Portals are opening up every day. Do you realize how many chances that is for the enemy to further his infiltration into Oceanus?"

"Nevertheless, my Emperor," said Rithas with forced calm. "Men and materials can be moved only so fast. We have advantage in numbers, but the enemy has advantage in terrain at the moment. We will win, but it will take three days."

The Emperor narrowed his eyes, his jaw clenched. Finally he whirled on his heel and marched to the table. He gestured wildly at the map. "Why do you leave this other legion sitting ready for battle but idle? Why did he not join in the attack?"

Foron shot his Lord General a concerned look. Rithas caught it and raised a hand to settle him. "I had thought to use three, as that was what you had allotted me. But Talrad Pass is narrow. It is a tight squeeze for even two legions to operate effectively. A third would be a logistics nightmare."

Foron held his breath. Rithas was outright lying. To take a pass, the legions would not fight side by side regardless of how many there were. They would be forced to approach in a line, but with components arranged to take advantage of their position. But he was counting on Z'haas having too small a grasp on military matters to know the difference.

Indeed, the Emperor turned back to the map, his eyes flicking from the pass to the map scale legend, as if trying to do some sort of calculation in his head as to the correctness of the Lord General's assertion but coming up short.

Rithas walked up to the map, moving as confidently as he could. "Once I discovered I could not use the legion there, I left it in reserve to cover the the northern border, in case the enemy attempted a counterattack there to outflank us."

The Emperor stared at the map hard for a few long moments before finally nodding slowly. The adjunct looked visibly relieved. "Will the two be sufficient once you are past Talrad Pass?" the Emperor asked, his eyes never leaving the map.

"Certainly, my Emperor," said the Lord General. "There is no defensible terrain whatsoever between the pass and the Manor."

The Emperor again nodded. His gaze narrowed once more. His eyes shifted southward and focused on a fourth legion, the one sitting right behind the one he had just questioned.

Rithas saw where the Emperor's attention now lay and remained silent. He went over in his head the precautions he had taken to insure that the Emperor would not discover that he had mobilized that additional legion for war.

Finally, Z'haas turned from the map. "Very well, Lord General. I will trust your judgment."

Rithas heard the reluctance in the Emperor's voice. He bowed his head. "Thank you, my Emperor. I hope to continue to show myself worthy of that trust."

The Emperor seemed to scrutinize Rithas for a moment, then looked to his Mage. Q'holan stepped forward, and the two of them left the room.

Foron looked towards the door, and waited for it to close before he spoke. "My Lord, now that the Emperor is gone, I wish to express grave concerns about this plan. Latest intelligence reports that Duric's forces have advanced as far as Selemas. It will not be long before they are within striking distance of the Imperial territories. If they advance when you have both legions engaged in..."

"Our remaining legions will be sufficient," said Rithas flatly.

"Begging my Lord's pardon, but I'm not sure that assessment is correct. Duric's army is more than twice the size it was when it last attempted an attack on the Palace."

"And we still outnumber them."

"But our supplies are limited. It will take time for the new treaty with the Uris to show any returns. If we run out of arrows, or parts for the catapults, or the like, we will be reduced to foot-soldiers only. That will greatly reduce our strength."

"I think you put too much expectation in the performance of Duric's troops. They have not seen serious warfare. And the Emperor assures me that we will have new supplies soon."

Foron sighed. "I hope you're right, Lord General."

Rithas smiled and clasped him on the shoulder. "Do not worry so much. Now, I need to return to my men. We should plan on departing shortly."

"Yes, my Lord, at once."

Rithas watched Foron go. He turned back to the map, placing his hands on the edge of the table.

He was becoming an accomplished liar, not only to the Emperor but to his own colleagues and subordinates. The truth was that the supply situation was dire. The assault on Talrad Pass has used more than originally planned, and he had already secretly hoarded some supplies for that fourth legion. The war would be won by whoever had the best supply line. For that reason, Rithas' special legion had to be self-sufficient for as long as it took to win.

Or rather, for as long as it took to wrest the empire away from an incompetent madman.

A slender hand reached from the side of the corridor and snatched Uroddus' arm. He was pulled from the crowd of Apprentices and Journeymen and into a small, empty lecture chamber.

Uroddus clutched at his spectacles when they threatened to fall from his face, and it took him a moment to focus on his assailant. "Katla, what is it? I have to get to Master Q'yros now that I have finished my last morning..."

"Quiet," Katla hissed. She glanced towards the hall and waited until the crowd had thinned before turning back to Uroddus. "You set us on the task of finding out why Q'yros will not move against the Guildmaster"

"Ah, yes. Have they come up with anything?"

"Yes. In terms of pure statistical results, two scenarios are at the top with probabilities within the margin of error of one another, so thus equally likely from a purely analytical standpoint. First, he does not trust that he will receive the needed support from the rest of the Guild Hall and thus would be forced to do it alone. This can only mean a Mage Duel between he and Q'ixanna, and he is too wary of his chances of success to attempt it."

Uroddus nodded slowly. "Yes, I can see that. And the second?"

"Second, he is under an Oath that prevents him from moving against the Guildmaster, likely under the penalty of death."

Uroddus' eyebrows rose in surprise. "Does anyone seriously perform that sort of magic anymore?"

Katla looked disgusted. "Yes, I know what you mean. Oaths are so crude. They assume the world is black and white, when..."

"That is not what I mean. It is powerful Traditionalist magic, and ... hmm..."

Katla nodded. "Now you come to the same conclusion we did, that Q'yros would be one of the few Mages powerful enough to forge such a thing and make it binding. Q'ixanna has that ability as well, but he is strictly forbidden from doing such by the Guild Charter. It would have to be Q'yros that instigated it."

Uroddus frowned. "For what purpose?"

"To secure the Guildmaster's cooperation in researching the foreign Portals. Perhaps he would not have released the artifacts for study otherwise. We know that Q'ixanna is very paranoid of moves against him. And we know that Q'yros had left the Guild Hall in the past to avoid further friction with the Guildmaster."

"Now, I did not know that."

"So the Guildmaster would feel threatened by Q'yros' presence back at the Guild Hall. He would cooperate only if the threat of Q'yros usurping his influence was negated."

"I see," said Uroddus He slipped off his spectacles and tapped them against his hand. "And to move against the Guildmaster would be to break the Oath and possibly forfeit his life."

Katla made a face. "Nothing short of that would satisfy Q'ixanna."

"Thus I would contend that this seems the more obvious choice."

"No, the two are equal statistically speaking. It has equal chance of that or his fear of a Mage Duel."

"You do not have all the data points, Katla," said Uroddus gently. "You do not know Q'yros as I do. He would not hesitate to enter a Mage Duel for a cause he believes in."

Katla looked dubious. "That is hardly quantifiable."

"Then I will provide you something that resulted from direct observation: his behavior in the meeting with the Guildmaster, when the request to contact the Overlords was denied."

Katla listened as Uroddus explained what had transpired. "Yes, I see now. That would raise the probability significantly above the margin of error. But be that as it may, Uroddus, that does not leave us with much."

"On the contrary, the second choice leaves open the possibility for action by us. We can be the ones to foment trouble against Guildmaster Q'ixanna."

Katla stared. "You cannot be serious."

"What other recourse do we have? It is not as if our peers do not harbor resentments against the Guildmaster Our fellow Empiricists would be happy to help."

"You would never get the Traditionalists to join us. And if we do it alone, it will look like we are attempting to take over."

Uroddus considered. "There is that."

"Give up this idea, please," Katla implored, touching his arm lightly. "You can only get hurt if you pursue it."

Uroddus paused and smiled very slightly at her. "That is hardly a quantifiable argument."

"Maybe some things aren't so quantifiable after all."

Uroddus hesitated, then lay his hand atop hers. She smiled as well.

"I am sorry, but I must go now," said Katla He reluctantly let go of her hand and felt it drop away. "We will talk later."

"One more moment, please. I need to call upon the others once more." Uroddus reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue pearl. "I need this delivered into the hands of Overlord Roquan D'ronstaq."

Katla raised an eyebrow as she took the pearl. "A Farviewing pearl?"

"Yes."

"Uroddus, the Guildmaster controls all access to couriers..."

"Have them find a way around it."

"Hellfire, Uroddus, what did I just say about giving this up?"

"This is not an attempt to take over from the Guildmaster We are simply bypassing him."