No Stone Unturned

by Frank Morin

  "Makes sense," Kilian agreed.

  "You know, we could add some blind coal to the scale granite armor I've been working on," Hamish suggested. "That way you'd only need to add your stone to the places most likely to get hit. The stop-bash properties of the scaled granite could do the rest for the less important hits."

  They discussed the idea for a minute, and the potential was enormous, but Kilian interrupted before they could get to work trying it out. "That's a good idea, but we don't have time right now. We need to focus on what's already completed."

  Verena and Hamish took turns reporting on their research. He looked pleased.

  "We need to do some field testing," Verena completed. "But I think it'll all work."

  "Test it on the way to the front," Kilian said. "Take everything you can. We get one windrider to pack it all in."

  "What's the rush?" Hamish asked, sounding worried. "Has the war started?"

  "Tensions are high, but Dougal hasn't dared his first major assault. There is still knowledge he lacks that places him at a disadvantage."

  "The weakening powder," Verena realized.

  Kilian nodded. "We've been successful in keeping the secret from him, despite the number of spies he's committed to ferreting out the truth."

  "You know how many spies he has?" Hamish asked.

  "We know many of them," Kilian said. "We track them and make sure they don't acquire anything too important, and monitor them to identify any spies that have slipped through."

  "Plus, your spies in Dougal's army are funneling information to you as fast as his are," Verena guessed. She hadn't paid enough attention during the boring spy management class she took in junior academy.

  Kilian nodded. "The Arishat League also has people involved. Then there's the official spy agency from Obrion."

  "It must be getting crowded on the front lines," Hamish said. "It's a wonder there's any room for soldiers."

  "Dougal does not have that one secret he so desperately yearns for."

  "How do you know?" Hamish asked.

  "Because he hasn't attacked yet," Verena answered before Kilian could. She prayed the Tallan's blessing that the secret would remain secure.

  "Is that why we're going to the front?" Hamish asked. "To beat up some spies?"

  "No," Kilian said, his smile fading. "We're going to trap some rampagers."

  "Have you seen more of them?" Verena asked, shivering to think of those terrifying monsters. The Swift was far better armed than the last time they faced the beasts, but she still wasn't looking forward to the next encounter.

  "They've been spotted a couple of times," Kilian said. "But there have been no additional clashes. With the latest report out of the Carraig, I am more convinced than ever that Dougal has somehow learned how to master them."

  "Connor?" Hamish asked.

  "Is he all right?" Verena asked at the same time.

  "Ilse sent word. Connor failed to escape the school because he had to fight an unclaimed monster right there in the Carraig."

  "How is that possible?" Verena asked.

  "One of the professors, who happens to have secret ties back to Dougal, apparently lost patronage and turned unclaimed," Kilian explained. "Apparently he was trying to murder Connor's aunt. The boy destroyed it, but it was a close thing. What's important for us is that his description of the beast that teacher turned into exactly matches the monsters we fought in that canyon."

  Verena's heart raced with fear for Connor, even though the fight was long since won. She imagined him facing one of those raging monsters, and she wondered what he must have had to do to defeat it. "Is he all right?" she asked again.

  "He cannot risk leaving the Carraig."

  "Of course he can't," Hamish said. "We told you unclaimed were real."

  Kilian shook his head. "There is a threat, that much is certain. However, your girl Jean recently uncovered documents that confirm that patronage was instituted as a grand lie to control the commoner class."

  "She's the smartest person in the world," Hamish muttered, his cheeks coloring a bit. "But, how could--"

  Kilian shushed him. "We don't have time to discuss your girl now. Save your questions for the flight to the front."

  "If patronage is a lie, then why doesn't Connor come to us?" Verena asked.

  "Because there is some kind of threat," Kilian repeated, pacing away. "I've always doubted patronage, but what if they really have found a way to sabotage the commoners' gifts? We must know the secret before we can act with confidence."

  "That's why you want to trap one," Hamish said. "You want to study it."

  "We must. Ilse reported that they are following some limited avenues of research and investigation there at the school, but we must follow every possible lead here."

  "How are you going to lure them in?" Verena asked. "If Dougal is indeed somehow controlling the rampagers, he's not going to risk them lightly."

  "He will when the potential prize outweighs the possible risk," Kilian said with a sly smile.

  "The weakening powder. You're going to lure them in with it."

  "It won't weaken them," Hamish said. "They're not Boulders."

  "It's brilliant," Verena said as she considered the ramifications of the idea. "Dougal must gain that secret for his invasion to succeed, but rampagers won't care about it if they're just mindless monsters. They'll only attack and try to obtain the secret if they're driven by the will of another."

  "Exactly," Kilian said.

  "Hold on," Hamish interrupted, frowning. "If they're ravaging monsters, how can anyone control them?"

  "That's the question," Kilian said. "If someone can somehow gain control over them, then they aren't mindless. There is a way to train them, to perhaps trigger the rampager effect, and perhaps even reverse it."

  "How is it possible?" Verena couldn't imagine anyone regaining their humanity after transforming into one of those horrible monsters.

  "I don't know yet. The goal is to set a trap that precludes any but the rampagers from any chance of success. If Dougal has no choice but to risk them, then does, it confirms my suspicion that he somehow controls them."

  "And if they don't, then they're just monsters?" Hamish asked.

  "Perhaps," Kilian said.

  "I'm not sure we're ready," Verena said, glancing at the Swift and considering what other weapons she could pack onto the tiny craft. If Dougal decided to use the rampagers, how many would he send? How many could they defeat before being overwhelmed?

  "We cannot afford to wait," Kilian said. "We must root out the truth of these monsters before the war commences."

  "Connor needs to know too," Hamish said. "I agree. Let's do this."

  Verena took a deep breath, calculating all of the gear they were going to need. "I think we should take two windriders."

  "Only if you and Hamish fly them," Kilian said. "I can't spare more Builders."

  Verena pointed at the windrider Hamish had just damaged. "Even after repairing that strut, that new prototype's not quite ready to fly. I'm training the first non-Builder pilot, but the mechanical's devilishly complex, and it's not quite done."

  "I still don't think it'll ever work," Hamish said.

  It would. She felt that deep in her heart. There had to be a way to make it work. She just needed a little more time. They were exploring concepts so new they were still little more than half-formed ideas floating in her head.

  "So you fly it," Verena suggested. She would rather take less gear than get saddled with the slow-moving windrider. She needed the long flight up to the border pass to test her Swift."

  "No way," Hamish said. "I have to test my battle suit."

  "Figure it out," Kilian said. "Take turns if you have to. Either way, we leave as soon as possible."

  "We can leave after lunch," Verena promised him.

  He nodded. "That can work. I've already initiated the plan. Intelligence is being leaked to a couple of Dougal's spies. The weakening powder is being moved to a forward st
aging area near the front lines. Our forces are on alert for an assault and will be able to stop regular troops. I expect an attempt tomorrow night. Dougal's best chance to make his move will be during the confusion of the battle. That's when he'll unleash the rampagers."

  The plan made sense, but Verena worried about so many soldiers exposed to the destruction the rampagers could unleash upon them. She glanced at the pile of gauntlets she'd been experimenting with, wondering how many more she could complete.

  Kilian noted her glance. "We will lead the strike team against the rampagers. We cannot risk releasing any of your new inventions to any soldiers outside our team."

  "Why not?" Verena exclaimed. "We could save lives."

  "These inventions will save lives," Kilian said. "But we cannot reveal the full extent of our mechanicals to Dougal in the first encounter. We will use them, but we must do so with extreme care. For this first skirmish, we limit them to our team."

  Verena didn't like it, but she saw the wisdom in Kilian's plan. "All right, we'll use this as our final field test for refined calibration."

  "It's a long flight to the border," Hamish said, moving toward the door, looking excited by the prospect of taking on the rampagers again. "I'll talk with the cooks about extra rations."

  "That might not be a good idea," Verena said. "Didn't the cooks ban you from the eating hall outside of strict meal times?"

  Hamish waved away her concern. "That was because they want to make sure there's enough food ready. The head cook loves me. She even said once that she'd pay to transfer me to the front lines. Getting some extra food should be easy."

  Chapter 29

  Connor knocked on the door to Jean's small room near Shona's quarters. It was almost the dinner hour at the end of a very hectic day. He'd delivered the rounds, alert for signs the frustration at the reduced rations was growing to the point that students might decide to beat him, despite Jok's intervention. The army training seemed to keep them distracted enough that he didn't have to dodge Boulders yet.

  His army training went well, and his soldiers were beginning to function as a cohesive unit. He still had no idea how they were going to win the first battle, but they were making great progress.

  He had learned that Camonica's rooms were situated in Lord Nevan's palace, and he hoped to find time to sneak in and search them. But none of that mattered at the moment. Jean was preparing to leave to meet Jok, to attend him at a formal event. Connor hated that Shona had allowed it. He needed to talk with Jean. She was probably terrified.

  Jean opened the door and Connor gaped. She looked gorgeous, more like nobility than any of the Petralists he knew. Only Shona could rival Jean's beauty and grace.

  Jean wore a spectacular midnight-blue gown she must have borrowed from Shona. The square neckline revealed more of her chest than the modest dresses she normally wore, and a simple ruby pendant drew the eye like a lodestone. Her hair was plaited and wound atop her head, highlighting her perfect features, and she wore powder and lip color. He had never seen her so elegant, and for a moment was at a loss for words.

  Jean gave him a radiant smile and a little hug that wouldn't risk rumpling the beautiful gown. She was wearing some kind of perfume, and the delicate scent left him breathless. Was she planning to attend Jok at the event, or single-handedly conquer the Carraig?

  "I'm glad you stopped by," she said, pulling Connor into her room and closing the door. She directed him to the single chair beside a desk with a mirror above it. Her powders and beauty supplies were placed there with the same order as her medical kit.

  Jean pulled her leather writing pad out of a desk drawer and settled onto her narrow bed, which was perfectly made, and tucked her feet under the voluminous skirt. She made a brushing gesture, as if to push her hair behind her ear, but with her hair done up in that complex tumble atop her head, her graceful neck was exposed and there was no loose hair to tuck.

  "What have you found?" he asked, wanting instead to ask her about the looming event with Jok. "Did you speak with Evander?"

  She shook her head. "He wasn't there, but I found another book in the secret library. It wasn't there before."

  "How do you know?"

  "There aren't really that many books in there. I think he has an inner secret library where he keeps the full collection. He only shows me the pieces he wants me to see."

  "There are too many levels of secret library in this place," Connor grumbled.

  "Isn't it exciting?" Jean's eyes sparkled.

  "More like annoying."

  "Regardless, this new book had exactly the information I was hoping to find."

  "Like he knew what you were looking for?"

  She nodded. "I don't know how he does it, but I'm glad he did."

  Connor wasn't so sure. Was Evander somehow eavesdropping on them? Or had he hired another Pathfinder to listen to their conversations? He was already feeling paranoid enough.

  Jean flipped open her folder and scanned through some of the loose pages filled with her clean, flowing script. "There's so much to share. I took lots of notes, but I wish he'd let me just take the books out to show you."

  "Has he forbidden that?"

  "In his roundabout way."

  "Any idea why he's sharing it with you now?"

  "Not yet. But listen, this is important." She leaned forward, gesturing with the notebook. "The volume he left for me tracked all known instances where unexplained attacks have happened across the country ever since the final days of the Tallan Wars."

  "They've been tracking the unclaimed?"

  "Maybe other things too. All the attacks are blamed on unclaimed, but I think some of them were caused by something else."

  "What else is there?" Connor asked with a grimace. "It's pretty clear if someone saw an unclaimed or not. At least, if they survived, they'd know how to describe it."

  "One interesting fact is that actual sightings of unclaimed with first-hand witnesses didn't start appearing until just the past twenty years or so."

  "But you said the book's been tracking attacks for hundreds of years."

  "It has. There were fourteen attacks in all. Four in the three decades immediately following the Tallan Wars, three in the two centuries after that, and seven in the past twenty years."

  "That's a strange pattern."

  Jean nodded. "I thought so too, but when I dug deeper, I noticed other patterns. All but one of the attacks that occurred before the past quarter century were atrocities where entire villages were destroyed."

  "Entire villages?" He easily imagined unclaimed rampaging through Alasdair, slaughtering everyone.

  Jean nodded. "There were few survivors. They all spoke of gigantic monsters that seemed immune to damage."

  "How did they stop them?" Connor asked, filled with cold dread to think of an unclaimed monster as big as what she was describing.

  "Most of the accounts are unclear, but in three of the records, there were witnesses who saw a second giant appear and destroy the marauding monster."

  "Two monsters in the same place? Lucky they didn't get along."

  "Stranger than that," Jean said. "The accounts are a bit contradictory. One says the other monster was made of living waters that burned, but the other two spoke of fire incarnate that left steaming tracks."

  "Were they waxing poetic?"

  "They seemed to be speaking literally," Jean said, studying her notes. "They claimed that both monsters were formed from elements that rose to take living form and battled with such fury that they broke mountains and laid waste to entire valleys."

  Connor thought of his own recent training with fire and water. Was it possible for the elements to come alive? He was learning to walk with the elements, but did they ever walk alone, get upset, and take it out on anyone unfortunate enough to get in the way?

  "I've never heard of elements acting without a Petralist involved," Connor said.

  "Apparently it happens sometimes. I found a reference to a name for the monsters, although
I'm not sure if it's for a particular one, or a broader label, since descriptions of the monsters vary pretty widely."

  "What name?"

  "Elfonnel."

  "I've never heard the term before," Connor said. "I wonder if Aunt Ailsa has."

  "You should ask her. I'm going to study more tomorrow. The elfonnel were sometimes referred to as Tallan's Fury."

  "I don't like that," Connor said.

  "One account called them Builder's Folly."

  "What does that mean?" Connor asked. That definitely didn't sound good.

  "I don't know." Jean gave him an apologetic smile. "That's all I found about them. I don't think the giant elemental elfonnel monsters were responsible for the spate of recent attacks. Those all involved smaller numbers of casualties and more witnesses. Those accounts match what you saw of Professor Hector's transformation. Those were unclaimed monsters, raging out of control when they lost patronage."

  "So what changed in the past twenty years?"

  Jean shrugged. "I don't know yet what makes unclaimed a reality now when there's no record of them ever before, but there is enough evidence that they do exist."

  "They exist, but we need to know how, and why."

  "I'm studying as fast as I can."

  "I know." He rose and paced across the little room. "I spoke with Gisela briefly this morning, prior to my rounds. She hasn't learned anything useful from her Arishat contacts, but told me that their armies are on the move."

  "Has the war started?" Jean asked, sounding scared.

  "It could any day. A major skirmish is brewing on the border. That'll probably trigger everything else. Obrion and Granadure will be fighting there, but she said the various armies of the Arishat are positioning themselves to react to whichever country gains the upper hand. They could invade before winter."

  "I don't see how finding the truth about the unclaimed will make a difference," Jean said.

  "Don't you see, once we know, we can find a way to get the word out. With the Guardians no longer fearing the loss of patronage, Obrion would face revolution. They couldn't afford to go to war."

  Jean shook her head. "It's not that simple, Connor. Evander won't let us reveal the truth."