by Aaron Oster
***
Herald stepped from the portal and into his office back in the Central Kingdom. His feet had barely touched the ground before the world vanished around him once again, materializing a moment later to reveal a darkened warehouse. He had no idea why Morgan and the others had chosen this as their operating base, but truthfully, he didn’t care enough to ask.
The door slid open as he approached, revealing the athletic form of Gwendolyn, her hair still damp from a recent bath and body clad in a fluffy, black robe.
“If your favorite color is pink, what’s with all the black?” Herald asked as he approached.
“My hair is pink,” Gwendolyn replied flatly, shoving the door a little wider to allow him to enter.
“The Gwendolyn I remember wore pink everything,” Herald said.
“Yeah, well, that Gwendolyn didn’t need to fit some bullshit aesthetic to intimidate weird creatures into waging a war on behalf of their benefactor,” she shot back, pulling the door closed behind her.
“You don’t exactly sound grateful to your benefactor,” Herald noted as they walked down the darkened corridor.
“Would you be grateful to someone who held a proverbial ax over your head?”
“I’ve never liked the big guy for what he did to me,” Herald admitted freely. “Which is why I agreed to join your side. This is the first I’m hearing of a threat to you, though.”
“Morgan and Katherine didn’t want me to tell you about it, and Sarah’s too lazy to care either way,” Gwendolyn said with a sigh. “Truth is, we’re in just as much shit as you are if we fail. The only reason we’re taking his side is because it’s the best of a crappy situation.”
The door on the other side of the corridor slid open, revealing the familiar and very different looking form of Morgan.
“Come on, Gwen. I thought we talked about this!” he said, his anger clearly showing on his face.
Herald stepped between the two of them before this could become physical, as it so often had before. Chaos had no rules, so there was no reason the two of them couldn’t fight. No reason any of them couldn’t fight, really, and they had, often.
While Herald had been living here, watching over his small portion of the world for thousands of years, the four he’d believed to be dead had all been in stasis. While he’d had several millennia to mature and grow, they were all still the twenty-somethings they’d been on the day they’d presumably been killed.
They were very strong, nearly immortal and divine twenty-somethings, but children, nonetheless. Very scared children, apparently, judging by the expression on Morgan’s face.
“I don’t know why you thought it was important to keep this from me, but Gwendolyn did the right thing by telling me. We’re the closest thing to a family that any of us have, and family doesn’t lie or keep secrets.”
Morgan glowered at him, seemingly debating whether he could push past him to hit Gwendolyn. But after a long moment, his shoulder slumped, and he turned away with a huff of annoyance.
“Thank you,” Gwendolyn whispered, and Herald gave her a curt nod before following Morgan inside.
The room he entered wasn’t all that large, but contained several couches, beanbags, and fluffy rugs that were strewn about. Sarah and Katherine were each sprawled on couches, both dressed in sweatpants and t-shirts, staring at the massive flatscreen against the far wall. Familiar controllers were clutched in their hands, and they both maneuvered their characters – skimpily dressed female warriors with horribly impractical armor – around a massive monster.
Herald sighed, wishing that the two of them would focus on the upcoming invasion rather than playing ‘Explorer: Monster Basher Mayhem’ on a console that was technically over ten-thousand years out of date. He’d been forbidden from ever going back to Earth, but from what he’d heard, their technology was so far ahead by this point, that physically going into a videogame was practically the new norm.
“Sup, Greg,” Katherine called, her eyes flicking momentarily away from the screen.
“I’ve asked you several times not to call me that,” Herald said calmly. “No one’s called me that in years, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t either.”
“Whatever,” she muttered, going back to her game.
Herald blew out a long breath. These four always managed to test his patience. He took another deep breath, reminding himself that he was here to deliver some important news. News that couldn’t wait.
“Morgan’s copy is back, and apparently, he’s already in Faeland.”
Everyone turned at that, the room falling silent, aside from the roars of the monster on screen as it bloodily tore Sarah and Katherine’s avatars to pieces.
“How is that possible?” Morgan asked, all anger from before now gone. “Wouldn’t we have heard something from their rulers?”
Herald simply shook his head.
“They likely have no idea he’s even there. I warned you that he was skilled,” he said, silencing Morgan’s would-be interruption with a glare.
“Luckily for you,” he continued, “I’m here, and I happen to know exactly where he’s headed.”
31
“There are that many combing the area?” Morgan asked worriedly, now wondering if it had been safe to send Grace off on her own.
Then again, if it hadn’t been, Lumia would have warned him otherwise.
“Yes,” Lumia replied grimly. “They’re carefully combing the forest in a line a few miles ahead. I flew back and forth to make sure. Either their scouts are better than we anticipated, or…”
“We have a traitor in our midst,” Morgan finished with a sigh.
There really was no better explanation as to how the enemy could know their location. Their spies in the North could have discovered he was leaving, but there was no way they could have known exactly where he’d be landing. The only one he’d told other than Lumia had been Katherine, though he very much doubted she was to blame.
The likely culprit was one of the other rulers, and he had to make sure she knew about it.
“Go after Grace and make sure to keep her safe,” he said, already digging into his pack. “I’m going to warn Katherine. After that, I’ll come join you. We can close with the line, then teleport past without being seen.”
They couldn’t fly overhead, as the enemy forces, all beastmen, had eyes trained on the sky as well. They apparently also had forces in the trees.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to wait here with you?”
“She’s been gone for fifteen minutes already, and although the enemy is still some way out, I can’t help but worry.”
“She’s really starting to grow on you, isn’t she?” Lumia commented as Morgan finally found the pendant.
“Yes,” Morgan admitted, pushing the small button on the side, and sliding it over his neck.
Grace had only been with him for a short while, but in that time, he was finding that he was starting to care for her more and more. He’d been allowing more of his emotion to show through than normal and had even allowed himself to laugh a few times, something he didn’t think he’d be able to do until Sarah was back with him. That was a discussion to have another time and he shooed Lumia off after her.
“Just make sure she’s safe and ready to go as soon as I’m done. Tell her she has ten minutes, so she’d better be dressed when I get there.”
Lumia brushed one of her wings against his cheek, then took off, flying in the direction of the small stream.
Katherine had yet to answer, so Morgan pressed on the small button once more, wondering if the woman had actually removed the pendant to try and stop herself from calling him. In hindsight, it probably hadn’t been a very good idea to tell her not to contact him, but in his defense, he hadn’t been thinking very clearly at the time.
“Morgan?”
Morgan’s fears evaporated as soon as he heard the woman’s slightly confused voice sound in his mind.
“Katherine, I’m glad you answered,�
�� Morgan replied. “Listen carefully, and if you’re around people, keep your expression the same as before.”
“This sounds serious. No need to worry, I was just getting into a bath,” Katherine said, painting a picture that Morgan very much didn’t want to think about right now.
“I’m in Faeland,” he said, fighting down the mental images and keeping himself focused. “And I’m already surrounded by enemies. They’re being uncannily accurate in their search and even know to watch the sky. Knowing this, I can only assume that we have a traitor in our midst. Who else did you tell of the plan?”
There was a pause, and Morgan could almost picture the troubled look on the Queen’s face.
“I had a meeting with Herald and Le’vine about an hour after you departed. The people in attendance only consisted of them and their aides.”
“And how much of the plan did you tell them?”
“Only that you’re there to scout, collect intel, and that you are trying to make contact with someone in the dwarven territory.”
“Did you tell them where I’d be landing?” Morgan asked, already glad that she hadn’t divulged the full scope of his mission.
“Yeah,” Katherine replied. “Do you really think Le’vine or Herald could be working for them?”
“There’s no other explanation as to how they found us so quickly,” Morgan replied. “I don’t know which of them it could be, but seeing as Le’vine sought us out to train Grace instead of hiding her presence, I’d have to assume it was Herald.”
“But why, or even how, would he do that?” Katherine asked, her voice tinged with doubt and worry.
Morgan gave her the mental equivalent of a shrug.
“I don’t know. We’re still missing too much information to be sure. But there’s an easy solution to this and one that you can personally orchestrate.”
“I’m guessing that you’d like to try some sort of test to see if the traitor really is Herald?”
“Exactly,” Morgan answered, glad that Katherine was so quick on the uptake. “I’d invite whatever liaison he’s left behind, as well as whoever Le’vine left.”
“Aha. I’m guessing that you also want to test her, just in case you’re wrong.”
“There’s that,” Morgan said. “And the fact that it’ll seem suspicious if Herald’s man is the only one in attendance.”
“Alright. And what do you want me to tell them?”
“That I’ve encountered some trouble, but that I have found a hiding spot a few miles east of my current location in the Wilderwood.”
“How will you be able to tell which is the traitor if they both know that, though?” Katherine asked.
“Because you’ll make sure Le’vine’s liaison leaves first, keeping Herald’s behind for some reason. Then, right as they’re leaving, pretend to receive a communication from me, saying that I’ve moved on to a different spot and send Bell out to ‘inform’ Hilda.”
“You’ll be able to see which spot is attacked and know who the real traitor is, all without letting them know they’ve been discovered,” Katherine’s voice came back, sounding quite pleased. “You know, Morgan, for someone who claims to not be all that smart, you’re really quite devious.”
“Thanks, I think,” he replied.
“Do you want me to kill the guilty party, or leave them be?”
“If we discover the spy, then it would be in our best interest to leave them where they are and keep feeding them false information. An enemy spy is only useful until their cover is compromised. So long as they don’t realize it, we can use that to our advantage.”
“Very, very sneaky indeed,” Katherine said. “How long would you like me to wait to set this up?”
“Give me an hour to find the two spots. Then, I’ll let you know.”
“I’ll be looking forward to your communication then,” Katherine practically purred.
Morgan removed the pendant and placed it in his pack once again. This would take a little doing, but he was sure that with the right plan, he could uncover the traitor and get past the enemy line all in one fell swoop.
***
Grace had only gotten into the cool stream and begun scrubbing at her dirt-streaked and sweaty skin when Lumia came drifting out of the trees. She was immediately wary and began looking around for enemies, briefly wondering how she’d be able to fight naked if that were indeed the case. Thankfully, Lumia clarified as soon as she landed.
“Morgan’s going to be here in ten minutes. Enemies are closing in, so best wash up quickly.”
“Seriously? How the hell did they find us?” she asked as she began scrubbing herself far faster than before.
“We believe that there’s a traitor who gave up our location,” Lumia said, causing her to hesitate.
“You can’t mean…”
“No, child. Morgan doesn’t suspect you of being a traitor,” Lumia said with a small curl of her snout.
“Oh, good,” Grace replied, letting out a sigh of relief.
The last thing she needed was for the small amount of trust she’d build with Morgan to vanish right now. Things were tense enough with so much on the line, and trust was something the two of them could not afford to lose, especially seeing as she was finding herself depending on him more and more with each passing day.
It was one of the shortest baths of her life, taking less than five minutes before she was out and hastily drying herself before getting into a fresh set of armor.
“Leave the sleeves on,” Lumia said as she reached for the buckles. “It might be hot here, but you’ll be grateful for the extra protection should you need to fight.”
Grace nodded, snagging a brush from her pack and beginning to work at the tangles in her hair. It had been days since she’d washed it, so it was quite the mess.
“You ready to get going?”
She turned to see Morgan standing there and had to fight the urge to jump in fright. She knew she’d been caught unaware, and judging by the look in his eyes, she knew she’d be paying for that in their next training session.
“My hair’s still a mess,” she said, yanking on her brush. “Can you give me a few more minutes?”
In response, he simply stooped and scooped her off her feet, causing her heart to flutter and face to burn.
“No time, but seeing as you place so much value on keeping it neat. I’ll let you keep working on it while we move.”
“Thanks,” she said, hating that her voice came out as more of a squeak than anything else.
Morgan didn’t seem to notice. He scooped her bag onto his shoulder and drifted up off the ground.
It was a much different experience, being carried instead of riding on his back. For one, it was a lot windier, making brushing a lot harder. This had the effect of drying her hair far faster, so within just a few minutes, it was no longer lank and wet, but fluffy and neat. It took her a few more minutes to work out all the knots, but before she could get to styling it, she was distracted by a flicker of movement from up ahead.
“Holy shit,” she whispered, seeing the long line of bodies stretching off to either side.
She felt something be thrust into her chest and looked down in confusion to see a worn, leather bag.
“If you feel like you’re gonna throw up, do it in there,” Morgan said. “The next few minutes are not going to be pleasant.”
Grace barely had time to grab the bag, pulling it over her face, before Morgan made his first jump.
32
The world vanished in a whirl of color, coming back into focus an instant later. He had a brief view of the enemy line right below him, before immediately teleporting again, vanishing into the whirling confusion of the space between space. He did this ten more times, each jump taking them another half a mile away from the enemy and widening the gap. Even if someone had seen him in the bare instant that he’d been visible, there was no way they’d be able to follow as he took a confusing pattern to do so.
With each jump, he headed furt
her south, though the general direction was still east. He’d course-correct on every second jump, heading a bit north to try and throw off any pursuit just in case he was being observed. By the time they came out of their tenth such jump, he was fairly confident they were far enough away. Still, he didn’t stop, streaking off through the trees as soon as he came out of the teleport.
Grace heaved and shuddered in his arms, face buried in the bag, her stomach regurgitating the meager contents of her breakfast earlier this morning. She may have been growing used to his mode of teleportation, but that many in a row would make even the strongest a bit queasy, himself included. Truthfully, he probably could only have managed a few more before the nausea became too great and he lost focus.
Rapid teleportation was still something he needed to work on to get right, but for now, this would have to do.
“Did we…get away?” Grace asked, partially removing her face from the bag.
Morgan was alarmed to see that her face was now a very unhealthy shade of pale green, and her eyes were half-lidded and unfocused.
“I think so. We’re going to do another series of jumps in five minutes, so I’d hang on if I were you.”
Grace only gave a low moan in response and stuck her head back in the bag. Morgan streaked through the trees, keeping low to the ground and doing his best to memorize the landscape and the path they were taking. They’d already been on the fringes of the Wilderwood when they’d landed, and he could see the ground changing, containing more protrusions of stone.
If Gold’s map were to be believed, they’d be entering the Soaring Peaks, home of the dwarves, sometime soon. Seeing as this continent was far larger than the Five Kingdoms, he had to assume that it would take longer than he thought for them to fully enter the dwarven lands.
“We’re going to jump again now,” he warned, only waiting for a slight groaned response before vanishing once again.
An hour later, Morgan landed on a far rockier landscape, setting Grace down to recover in a small, hollow outcropping of stone. The girl was completely out of it, so nauseous that only a good rest could cure her. For what was to come, Morgan felt that it was best she remained out of the way.
