by Zack Finley
"I suspect the two nests will be heavily warded and we need the best ward breakers along on the first assault," I turned to Jorvik. "If you and Jorst can determine who the best ward breakers are between you, assign them to the first assault. If they are from the Losan Mage Guard, send some of your mages to backfill Jorst’s ranks."
Jorvik nodded in agreement. Jorst seemed about to argue but withdrew his unvoiced objection.
"As soon as we have mage scouts at the two sites, Argon and I will 'port in to select the initial attack site. We want to capture the mages if possible, but not at the risk of losing any of our people. It is notoriously difficult to kill battlemages without giving them a chance to teleport out or message a request for help. It is much better to use stealth and render them unconscious before they even realize they are under attack." The two leaders were looking at me, clearly not used to this method of assault.
"Argon and I have several different tactics. For mages in a closed warded room, once we have access to the room, we'll remove the oxygen until they pass out. The hard part is usually getting into the room. With mages spread out, we'll need help opening several rooms quickly. Stealth is still essential, or we'll end up with a tough fight or worse." Apparently, Jorst was not aware of how we had captured the Allixon imposter and secured King Arvich, his mage, and the Losan King's Guard in Jorvik's offices. Combat mages with air magic were rare and from what Argon told me most just used air magic to blow things around.
We broke up to brief our teams and prepare for the assaults. I made sure Tobron, Erik, and the rest of the Duchy Guard were ready to go. Tobron recruited several of Jorvik's mages to help teleport the Duchy Guard when they got the word.
I made sure I was hydrated.
Argon rested; I fretted.
◆◆◆
Chapter 21
I went on high alert when Jorvik messaged me we had the sites. Argon slipped out of sleep, and we were on our feet, weapons in hand in seconds.
The first teleport site was near the Sloms hangout. The mage scout picked a great 'port site which could also serve as a staging area for an assault. The target site was a two-story stone building. It was old and looked poorly maintained, but we didn't have to get very close to feel the wards radiating from the walls. The roof was a tilted stone slab attached to the outer walls and resting on a central wall running the entire length of the building.
We had no idea how many people were in the building, as the wards totally blocked our mind-reading apps. We cloaked in our invisibility spells and cased the building. I banished dirt near one wall to check whether the wards were as strong in the floor. While the toughest wards didn't extend under the building, we would have to do some work to break through. I left Argon excavating while I went to see the second site.
The second site was a much bigger project. It was a large well-warded warehouse. I made the executive decision to leave this one for last and notified the teams.
When I arrived back at site one, Jorvik, Orik, and the two best ward-breaking mages were already there. I shrouded the area with our invisibility cloak and checked with Argon. She had a tunnel ready for us under the building. I was happy to see Tobron arrive with Erik and two other Duchy Guard. I assigned the original mage scout as the communications liaison with the mundanes. I motioned for Tobron and Jorvik to follow me to the excavation site.
It was still pitch dark in the area. We could detect no late-night strollers or king's guard. The Sloms complex had several guards posted in front of its main door. It was chilly and foggy with a mild breeze coming in from the ocean. The fog muffled sounds and no one showed any interest in our target building. The briny odor from the docks was overwhelmed by the smells of garbage and barnta poop.
Argon's excavation was shrouded by an invisibility spell, but a faint light escaped from it. Had conditions not been so dark, the wisp of light would not have been noticeable.
Jorvik didn't wait for me, I no sooner turned to Tobron when someone with a large blanket materialized out of the gloom. "I sent for a blanket," Tobron messaged. "We can't afford for the light to be visible."
"We agree," I sent as I ducked into the hole under the wall to join Argon. Tobron found the entrance a tight fit. He expanded it without comment. The hole had about three inches of water in the bottom, which I started crawling through to reach Argon. Tobron refused to crawl through the muck and within moments, the tunnel was smooth and dry. Argon was pleased, she had tried banishing the water, but it kept seeping in.
"I guess I'll have to show you how to make a watertight tunnel next training day," mused Tobron. We both echoed our agreement. Jorvik's ward breakers were studying the building floor.
"We just need an eyehole first then a hole large enough to crawl through," I messaged the team.
The wall wards helped reinforce the floor within about 10 feet of the walls. This was why Argon had excavated so far under the building, seeking the weaker floor wards.
"The ward has a tamper alert overlay, or we could just break the ward and enter. Good thing we brought some magic chalk," sent Jorvik. "Our ward breakers will mark the entry area with the chalk. They will let you know when they have weaved the marked edges into the wards. Then you can banish the stone inside the marks without triggering the tamper alert."
I agreed and suggested they pick the spot. I was briefed on using magic chalk to break into warded areas, but this was the first time I saw it being used.
While Jorvik and I were discussing breaking the wards, Tobron was building a tunnel under the street to our staging area and removing the entrance we'd blocked with the blanket.
While I thought it was overkill, the tunnel reduced the chance of being interrupted by a guard or civilian. I was also grateful not to be crawling around in the mud.
By silent agreement, Argon and I moved into position near the ward breakers. The magic chalk went on white and when activated turned to a black, thick, gooey residue in a rough circle on the floor slab over our heads. The ward breaker told me it was ready and moved out of the way.
Argon stopped me before I started. "The ward is dead within this circle," she said pointing to the stone slab above us. "The ward will return inside the circle and likely set off an alarm if anyone breaks the circle," she warned looking around at those in our party.
I noticed my mind reading app was now recording seven people in the building above us including three mages. I suspected there was at least one warded room where one or more mages could be hiding. I should be grateful three of the mages appeared to be sleeping in regular rooms.
Argon and I included Jorvik and Tobron in our tactical session. "Should we flood the building with an area of effect stun spell or just empty the oxygen?" sent Argon.
"I'm worried the oxygen depletion might be less effective in rooms we don't have direct access to," I countered. "I'm also concerned with how our stun spells might interact with a mage's personal wards. We should test the effectiveness of all these methods one day when we aren't in combat."
"Good point, we should test these no later than tomorrow?" Argon quipped. "I can have Findot be our training dummy."
"Let's stun the mundanes, use oxygen deprivation on the mages, and find any warded areas," I decided. "Jorvik, once we confirm they are all unconscious, quietly deploy your team, secure the prisoners and remove them from the building. Cuff the mages and have Tobron 'port them out of here. Hold the mundanes in a secure location until we are done. Message us when you find any warded rooms."
"There are two rooms on the first floor off-limits to the servants. The female mage has a warded bedroom on the second floor, where servants cannot enter without supervision. She takes her personal security seriously. The servant thinks she is sleeping there now, although he doesn't know for sure. The rest of the mundanes know nothing of interest. So just keep them confined until we take down the last site," said Argon. She shared the location of the three special rooms.
"Have your ward breakers concentrate on the mage's bedroom--
Argon needs a small unwarded area to determine the next course," I said. "Removing the oxygen acts indirectly and doesn’t require breaking down any personal wards, so I like to use it on mages whenever possible."
After determining everyone was staging behind us, I banished a small peephole above us. No furniture but I had to cut away bits of a rug. I expanded the hole and trimmed the rug, so no one snagged it and knocked over any furniture. Not wanting to touch the magic ward boundary I levitated through the opening. I was in a small living area filled with pillows and short tables. Argon followed silently deploying her invisibility spell with a new sound muffling effect that improved it substantially.
Outside the servants' quarters, I laid down an area-of-effect stun spell. Argon monitored the three servants to assess its effect.
"They are in a much deeper sleep," Argon said. "The spell definitely works through unwarded doors and walls, at least on non-mages. It likely depends on how thick the walls are, too."
The mages were all upstairs. One had a barmaid sharing his bed. I stood by one room and Argon the next. We slipped into a tactical weave.
"I'm going to try this first without cracking open the room," said Argon. "I'll monitor the barmaid and let you know if it worked. I have a backup sequence queued up, taking out part of the wall, and removing the oxygen again. Add figuring out how to confirm the lack of oxygen to our next training session."
I conjured force field helmets with air supplies for us both just as Argon executed the first set of spells.
"It looks successful, the barmaid just slipped into a coma," said Argon. "Let's give it a few more moments then go in."
I had decided banishing a section of wall and slipping inside would be quicker and quieter than dealing with a lock.
"Go!"
I was inside the bedroom and had the mage in cuffs almost before I knew I was moving. I stunned the mage, conjured replacement oxygen for the room and slapped a short-term force field air supply over the targets’ heads.
I entered the second bedroom and performed the same actions.
Argon and I notified Jorvik to quietly bring in his team while we moved to the warded bedroom.
"If a ward has no air magic component, do you think it will block your air spell?" I asked. Most privacy wards combined force and mind magics. External wards leaned toward force and earth spells.
"Good question," Argon replied as she carefully tested the warded bedroom. "I see no air component to this ward, but this lady doesn't trust her companions. She certainly didn't want them breaking in during the middle of the night. I doubt we could teleport in and if I try the oxygen deprivation spell we need to break in with brute force, or she will die."
"Will you be able to tell if the oxygen spell works? Maybe add some smoke or haze to the nitrogen you replace the oxygen with?" I asked.
"I should be able to detect the absence of oxygen. It is easier to check for the presence of something rather than its absence though."
"Maybe you can replace the oxygen with helium or hydrogen?" I asked.
"I'd rather not try that first in real combat," Argon replied. "We should let our ward breakers open up a peephole and incapacitate the mage the way we've done before."
Argon showed our two ward breakers where to create the peephole. Once she verified the mage assassin was present and comatose, my assignment was to break through the wall with a dispel and earth magic combination.
It took the ward breakers only a few moments to isolate a foot-wide circle for Argon to work with.
"The mage is alone," Argon confirmed to the team. "Be prepared to breach the wards in about 4 minutes."
"Wait for it," Argon urged me. "This one is strong in mind magic. I can't tell whether she is just asleep or has slipped into a coma. Give it another minute or two."
I was twitching to wrap this up and move on to the last group. Tobron, Jorvik, and Orik were beside me, ready to provide backup. Tobron had delivered two of the mage captives to Inoa already and would transfer the last two as soon as we had this one cuffed.
I threw a huge dispel blast at the wall. When the ward wavered, I banished the wall and raced to the bed. The mage had stopped breathing. I slapped an air supply on her head with nearly pure oxygen and sent a pulse of healing through her.
While I was trying to kickstart her breathing, Tobron had her cuffed, just in case.
I sent several pulses of healing into her lungs and heart and was pleased to see the heart start beating again. As the nitrogen was expelled from her lungs, replaced by a rich oxygen supply, she began breathing normally. I could see no brain damage. It didn’t look like she had any collateral issues from her ordeal.
"Looks like she will make it," I sent the team. "Hope she has useful intel." I brought the oxygen back into the room as some of Jorvik's team looked in. Tobron tossed her over his shoulder and strode out of the room.
"Have your guys get with Argon to check the two warded rooms downstairs." I sent Jorvik. "Secure this scene. We will scour it for intel after we deal with the last batch of mages on the other side of the docks. I just don't want to leave a skeleton crew here and discover we have an army of mages asleep in the warded rooms. Once we confirm the rooms are empty, leave a mage and the Duchy Guard to watch the place. The rest of us will head to staging at site two."
Strong wards guarded the last two rooms. Jorvik confirmed these spells involved force, mind and all elemental magics. The wards were of a much higher quality than any we’d encountered.
Jorvik's ward breakers were still struggling to open up the first room when we got the alarm. Jorst's team was in trouble.
I should never have left Jorst without supervision.
◆◆◆
Chapter 22
A rush of adrenaline jolted me to action. Jorvik and Orik began issuing orders to their mages. I didn't know what method they used to decide who needed to stay but I instructed Erik and the rest of the Duchy Guard to secure site one.
Tobron was still in Klee, dropping off the mages for interrogation. He wanted to know whether he should ‘port to the site two staging area or site one to support the Duchy Guard.
After a quick consultation with Jorvik, we agreed Tobron would return to site one and take command of those remaining. Without knowing what was in the warded rooms, I was reluctant to leave the guard without strong mage support.
"I'll organize a reserve force," Tobron promised. "We'll be ready to go where you need us."
"I've been monitoring site two. Jorst's group is pinned down," said Argon. "Several of his mages are down--either unconscious or dead. The rest of the mages are trying to shield their comrades. Olive and her Augun King's Guard are in the warehouse. She thinks the enemy has between four and seven mages. She can't keep track. They also have a group of 15 or more raiders with them. I can't read anything from this distance, we need to get closer."
I gave the order to teleport to site two staging in groups of no more than four. I grabbed Argon's hand, and we left for site two. When we got there, only the original mage scout was left at the staging area. He was in a full-blown panic.
"Take a deep breath and tell us what you know," I told the scout.
He took two deep breaths and had just begun telling me about the situation when Jorvik and three companions 'ported in. They moved to the edge of the staging area and began establishing a perimeter.
"Jorst was sure everyone was asleep in the warehouse. They were supposed to be asleep," the mage scout repeated, his voice broken. "One of our mages found an open window on the ground floor. They decided to go in that way. I think it was a trap, but I can't communicate with them. I was supposed to wait here for you and let you know we had the last group. Now it looks like they have us."
"There are five opposition mages, according to their raider brothers-in-arms. They think Jorst and his group are Sloms. They left the window open to entice the Sloms to raid the warehouse. We still have a chance to take them down without revealing we know about the coup," Argon sent.
"We have a lot of people down. Some will die without medical help. Jorst's mages are running out of magic. Olive thinks they won't be able to shield the wounded for much longer. None of Jorst's mages have a deadman's teleport, so I suggest everyone here set yours up right now. Those still conscious can't teleport away because they would doom their comrades to death."
"Jorvik have your team set your emergency teleports here." I shared the Klee hospital teleport site with him. "We have healers at this location ready to help." I alerted Alba, and she called in several healers. She also brought the entire batch of healing amulets we'd charged sometime yesterday.
"Olive has a 'port location near her position. We'll need our invisibility spell, but it should work," Argon shared with Jorvik and I. "Steve and I'll drop in there first. I don't think it will work going in through the window. Neither Jorst nor Blarn is responding so we can assume they are down. We'll send you a better teleport site if we find one. Otherwise, you may have to slip in a few people at a time."
