Mad Toffad's Keep

by Zack Finley

  Our first scout reported in with a teleport location for one of the 10. While he was sure he was at the correct address, the mage was not at home. Argon joined him to get the lay of the land and to tighten up our scout's mind shield and spells. She verified the assassin was not home and set up our scout in a nearby tavern to monitor for the assassin's return.

  By the time she had prepped this attack scene, another scout reported in with a live target. Argon verified this assassin was alone in his apartment and I 'ported to her location. We wanted no one to notice our takedown, hoping to take the rogue mage into custody and have Inoa peel him.

  Our easiest tactic was to do an oxygen swap and mage cuffs. Argon was leaning against the building masking us with her invisibility spell. I didn't want to risk any wards on the doors or window and levitated to the third floor. I banished a small eyehole to allow me to cast the air spell solely within the apartment. I waited about a minute to make sure the target was unconscious before entering. He was lying on the kitchen floor, and I cuffed him before giving him a bubble of oxygen to facilitate his recovery. I reintroduced oxygen into the apartment while I rebuilt the wall section I banished to get in. The assassin was still woozy when I teleported him to meet Inoa. Inoa stunned him when I arrived and suggested I stun any future ones before bringing them in.

  "I know the mage cuffs work well, but it is better if they wake up and have no idea what happened to them,” Inoa said.

  Inoa was glad to get a second Losan mage. She could now be more aggressive with her interrogation. She still thought our latest captive was more valuable alive than dead, but with him, she could get closer to the subjects guarded by the black geas without serious risk to the overall effort.

  I reminded Inoa our main priority was finding all the Losan assassins, but we also needed to know if there were any planned meetings or collaborations in the next 10 hours. I was worried something might tip our hand. Inoa promised to have something within the hour.

  I met Argon back at the Augun ballroom, and she had already updated the leadership on our takedown.

  Arla and her three fellow transport mages were a treasure trove of teleport sites. Argon streamlined and strengthened their mind shields and shared our mind-reading apps with them. They were on tap to go to the next suspected assassin den.

  Tobron and Erik returned to our downtown HQ, promising to gather the duchy guard and be ready to come when needed.

  Olive commed Argon that she was having her company eat and rest now so they would be ready after dark for action. She had recruited her bargemen buddies to provide transport, although they were busy moving batches of refugees to Klee.

  ◆◆◆

  Chapter 19

  I was resting and waiting when King Rufix approached me. He was still walking with a cane but seemed reasonably pain-free although he was relieved to sit in a nearby chair.

  "We haven't seen much of you lately," Rufix said.

  "Sorry, it has been a whirlwind," I said. "This whole duchy thing has been a serious complication. We are still getting the monsters out of Toffad’s Keep and can't move in yet. Besides, stopping this Losan coup is more important, or there will be no one left for Augun and Klee to trade with."

  "I know you've been plenty busy," said Rufix. "I wasn't complaining; I just want you to know I think of you as part of my family, now."

  "Have the mages come back?" I asked. "How has the civilian corps been working?"

  "Our mage community along the river has come back. I think your bargemen have been instrumental in making that happen. I'm now wondering whether those assassins wiped out entire mage families. The Augun Mage Guild is a ghost of itself. Some of the younger members have returned, enough, so we have some rudimentary mage appliance services going. It is still a big mystery," said Rufix.

  "Your basas express is working great," said Rufix. "I thought it was just a stop gap until our mages came back but I'm thinking of keeping it going. It has helped bring Augun back together. It has helped families reunite and contributed to getting people back to work. Villages and settlements are collecting mail and bringing it to key hubs, so it has expanded. They've also been posting job openings. We are now seeing people leave Augun to take jobs in the country."

  "My biggest problem is not enough people to lead different efforts. I took your advice about Commander Valso. He is still not comfortable, but he is delegating much better. We have turned the corner in recruiting for the guard. The collapse of textiles has helped steer a lot of good people that way. They are still not trained but are making progress," said Rufix.

  "The civilian corps has been a disappointment. I've not been able to find a leader for it that isn't too rigid. There is so much to do, and I hate to see people anxious to help sitting around because their leaders can't keep up with them."

  "Have you thought about Olive?" I asked. "She may not have the rank, but she certainly has the drive. Being a mage will help to get the effort moving across the nation."

  "It will be hard to tear her away from the guard, but I think she'd be a good leader," said Rufix.

  "She'll help integrate the two organizations, although it would be good if you gave her the rank in the guard before moving her. I suspect Gera can take her place in the guard at least until she gets back. If Augun didn't need her so badly, I'd recruit her for Toffad's Keep in a heartbeat."

  "Don't you dare," Rufix challenged.

  "I may ask her sometime in the future when the situation in Augun isn't so dire, but I recognize your current need is greater than mine. She is also very loyal to your kingdom so I might not be successful even then."

  Rufix laughed, acknowledging I spoke the truth. Olive was definitely a powerhouse, but she was Augun's warrior first.

  "How did you know Arvich would listen to me?"

  "I didn't, I hoped, but I wasn't sure. I knew Arvich and Ruton were adversaries, so you were my only hope to persuade him. I was prepared to do it without him but having him take an active role in defeating his country's enemies makes it a lot better."

  "I would urge you to refrain from sharing this perspective with Arvich, he isn't as broad-minded as I've become," said Rufix.

  Rufix left after promising to help where he could.

  We were still trying to locate 18 more mages in a huge kingdom.

  One of the first scouts reported in, advising someone had 'ported into the apartment she was watching.

  I was tired of sitting around doing nothing, so Argon and I prepared to deploy to the new sighting. We promised to call in if we needed backup.

  Darla, the mage scout monitoring the location advised she couldn't confirm whether the mage who appeared inside the apartment was one of our suspects or not.

  "There was no one in that apartment when I first got here," Darla said. "About 15 minutes ago someone entered the apartment. I suspect it was a mage teleporting in, but I can't even confirm that. Your pulse thing alerted me a mage was inside the apartment, but now it shows nothing. He's either blocking your pulses, or he left."

  "The pulse technique is too weak show anything in a well-shielded room," Argon assured Darla. "The pulse would have to be so strong it would alert our quarry. He may have a heavily warded inner room. We are working on how to detect those, but it is still in development. We are just grateful you were so diligent you spotted someone arriving and didn't dismiss it as nothing when the signal vanished."

  The target's ground floor apartment was in a building crowded with families.

  "I'm a little surprised he didn't shield his entire apartment with the stronger ward," I commed to Argon.

  "I'm less concerned about that, he was saving the magic needed to create a larger ward and to maintain it. Someone might go through the effort for a permanent base, but this is just a temporary setup," Argon sent back. "We need to get a feel for how comprehensive the general ward is. I' want to get into the apartment if we can. Stay here with Darla until I call."

  Argon tightened her invisibility spell around her and
sprinted for the building.

  "The ward hinders the doors and windows from opening and sends a notification if someone tries. It doesn’t even have elements to exclude bugs and rodents. I suspect we can get in without alerting anyone by tunneling under the building and coming up through the floor," Argon sent. "The ward isn't even fully charged."

  "Stay here, we are going to tunnel in. Message us if you spot anything," I said to Darla as I sprinted across the street to join Argon.

  I picked a spot equidistant from the windows and began banishing earth and stone next to the apartment building. Argon couldn't tell whether the wards extended into the floor but they definitely did not extend into the dirt below. She gave me the okay to excavate a tunnel. We planned to get far enough under the building to come up through the floor without disturbing the ward.

  "This guy is definitely not an earth mage," Argon sent, "Or, he would have extended the wards into the floor. Banish a few more feet, and we should get a peek."

  I confirmed we were ward-free and banished a small eyehole so we could see inside the apartment. Tunneling in from underneath had several disadvantages, rugs and furniture were just two. It took some maneuvering to create a large enough hole we could enter the apartment without making any noise. Walls and ceilings were a lot easier. By the time we made it inside, I no longer thought the target was being lazy not to ward the floor. Someone entering through the floor had to be very motivated.

  It only took a few seconds to locate the shielded room. It was an interior bedroom. Argon wanted an opening into the room. We would banish the oxygen as soon as we had an opening. I’d need to break into the room to stun and capture him before he succumbed.

  More tunneling. Argon didn’t think the room ward affected the floor. If the floor was warded, Argon still had her magic chalk if we needed to break through the ward.

  I got back into the tunnel and extended it under the warded room. The floor was clear. I banished a small peephole. I couldn't see the mage, but I could now verify his presence with my mind-reading app. I had already enveloped my head with an air supply. Once I confirmed someone was in the room, I banished the oxygen. I sure hoped we had the right person.

  After waiting for several long minutes, I banished a section of the floor above me. I jumped up, cuffed, and stunned the unconscious man on the bed. Once I secured him, I brought the oxygen back into the room. I compared his face with our wanted poster and verified we had another conspirator.

  Argon teleported in to join me. She saw no reason to crawl through the dirt any more than was necessary. I let our command group know we had another target. I advised Darla we had him and as far as we were concerned, she was free to return to the Augun ballroom for refreshments and reassignment.

  When I told Inoa we had another captive, she sent me a new 'port location to bring him to.

  While I was handling the communications duties, Argon was rifling through the target's bookshelf and desk searching for any magical artifacts or papers for possible intel. She tucked a few items into her pouch for later study but confirmed this guy traveled light.

  Argon returned to Augun, while I took our captive to Klee. I handed him off to two members of the Klee King's Guard. They provided a replacement set of mage cuffs. The King's Guards weren't very sociable, informing me only that Inoa was not available. She messaged me she was still interrogating our last captive.

  While I was satisfied we now had another conspirator under wraps, I was not happy about the amount of dirt that found its way under my armor. Argon found that amusing.

  While waiting on reports from our scouts, we learned more about the two groups in a turf war on the docks. The largest group represented most of the Losan metal exporters. They called themselves Blunts. The other faction, the Sloms, was primarily involved with export foods.

  Orik had the best information about how the feud began. The two groups got along peacefully and had little overlap for decades. Something changed several months ago. We now suspected the conspirators precipitated the feud. Each group vowed the other had hijacked a series of shipments and killed the drivers. The hijackings were a major financial blow to both coalitions.

  Both factions professed their innocence for the original attacks but after the Losan King’s Guard arrested the leaders of both camps for murder and hijacking, the animosity exploded. Despite claiming they were framed, both leaders were executed. The executions prompted the new faction leaders to seek revenge.

  It was now a banner hiring year for guards in Losan, as both camps manned up for war. All faction traffic sported weapons and guards. Both dockside headquarters resembled armed camps.

  There were reports of attacks and counter-attacks each day with the associated deaths blamed on the conflict rising sharply. Even non-faction witnesses purportedly saw nothing and said even less.

  Both groups blamed the King’s Guard. They stopped all payoffs and bribes since the executions. This sudden drop in income forced the guard to recoup their losses from other sources. Some of the guards began demanding "tolls" from all the drivers servicing the docks. This dragged the rest of the Losan businesses into the conflict.

  Between the new "tolls" and the rising food costs, most Losan residents were starting to feel the pinch.

  While the coup was evolving differently in Losan than we saw in either Augun or Klee, I suspected the three plots still had the main aspects in common. Losan seemed more vulnerable to the plotters than either Augun or Klee. Corruption in Losan was widespread, and it had been easier to co-opt the guard. I worried for the kingdom even if we thwarted the main blow.

  One-by-one the mages assigned to the targeted conspirators reported in. Each takedown was different, yet similar and the pile of mages awaiting interrogation grew. There was a sameness to their wards. By the 10th captive, we had the operation down to a science. No more tunneling and very little wasted motion. Breakthrough the wards, smother the mage, stun, cuff, and transport him or her.

  We were getting tired, and despite sending every available mage out to find the remaining conspirators, we had no leads on where to find the last nine mages. We'd known a citywide search was a long shot but still hoped to get lucky. Argon remained confident Inoa would find them through her interrogations.

  I curled up on a table in the ballroom to catch a short nap and Argon settled in with a book. We were running out of time. Nine mages intent on destruction could still wreak a lot of havoc.

  Argon woke me from a sound sleep. Only a few minutes had passed. It was still night. “Inoa located our missing conspirators. All are on the docks. Four live in a housing complex near the Sloms headquarters and the other five near the Blunts,” said Argon, bringing in the other leaders.

  Sleep would have to wait, now we had the locations of the two remaining assassin groups. Jorvik and Jorst called back everyone except the two mages nearest the two target locations.

  We ordered those mage scouts to notify us as soon as they were in position with suitable teleport locations.

  ◆◆◆

  Chapter 20

  Jorvik, Jorst, Argon, and I met to discuss tactics. We agreed to bring in the rest of the commanders as soon as we agreed on an overall strategy.

  Argon recommended against attacking the two nests simultaneously. We still had enough time to take them down one at a time. Jorst disagreed and voted to take them down at the same time. I could tell he was itching to get into the fray. Argon and I were tired from our earlier captures, and we suspected Jorst had never been in a battle against four or five battlemages. I was relieved when Jorvik threw his support behind taking the two camps in sequence. While I had no intention of tackling these assassins all at once, it was better if it wasn't just me opposed to it.

  "We'll split into two groups," I announced. "Jorvik and his group will join Argon and me for the first attack. I'll bring Tobron and my Duchy Guard to secure any civilians. We need to stun or incapacitate any Losan King's Guard or civilians we encounter until the last assassin is in cus
tody. We will target the easiest site first. If something bad happens at that site, designated site one, Jorst and his team will be our reserve force.” I stared at Jorst until he nodded.

  "Once the mages are incapacitated at site one, Jorst is free to reconnoiter site two while we are cleaning up. One of the first things we need is a staging teleport location near site two. As soon as site one is clear, the Losan Mage Guard should transport the Augun King's Guard to staging. We'll send people from the first raid there as we release them from the first operation. That way they'll be available to either take a direct part in the second assault or act as our reserve force.”

  "Once we complete the first raid, Jorvik and I will meet Jorst at the next staging site to finalize the site two plan. Argon will debrief Inoa for any updates before we raid the last nest.” Argon nodded in agreement.