Maksohm continued to stare and I could see the cogs grinding away in his head. “Bannen. Your worry about Rena aside, are you alright? I know it’s a personal nightmare of yours, battling Toh’sellor.”
Caught flat-footed, I didn’t know how to answer him. Was I alright? I didn’t know. I’d been so focused on Rena, on Chi, on finding Toh’sellor so that we could actually do something about it, that I didn’t stop to ask myself that question. I wasn’t sure if I had any room for it.
“The hardest thing to do is not the first battle against a foe, but the second,” he continued, voice gentle. “I know you’re a seasoned fighter, I don’t think you’re getting pre-battle jitters, but Toh’sellor is the worst boogeyman in Z’gher’s history. I don’t want to just assume you’re fine.”
Now his concern made more sense. “I admit you’re right, but I’m not afraid. One, this version of Toh’sellor isn’t nearly as ferocious as what we faced before. I think our trouble is going to come from the defenses around him, not from Toh’sellor itself.”
Maksohm’s flat palm conceded that point. “And two?”
“Two,” I continued, voice hardening, “I’m not afraid because I’m completely pissed off. We finally defeat one of the worst enemies in humanity’s history, and these imbeciles don’t learn from that, but experiment with it? I want to flatten their faces in.”
“I’m absolutely certain you’ll have help doing that. But if you’re truly alright with it, then why have you been so…” He visibly searched for the word before settling on, “agitated?”
“I’m just really bad at sitting still,” I answered honestly. “And the familiar bond has been throwing minor tantrums off and on, which hasn’t helped. But I’m managing.”
Maksohm gave a soft sigh of relief. “Alright. I’m glad you’re taking this so well. Vee more or less told me the same thing although she had more colorful words and wide arm gestures.”
I had no doubt. Vee was not quiet about things that displeased her. “Aww, is our team leader checking in on all of his ducklings?”
Maksohm took the teasing in stride, lifting a shoulder in a shrug. “You all get yourselves into scrapes on a regular basis. Who can blame me?”
Laughing, I grinned. “I feel like I should protest that, but I really don’t have a leg to stand on.”
“You especially,” he agreed bluntly, picking up his cooling coffee.
“Ouch. I do know how to be good, you know.”
“Do feel free to prove that at any time,” he drawled.
“I will,” I assured him brightly. “I’ll protect you from the big bad fishie things.”
He choked on his coffee.
After that, we spent far too much time picking up agents. I was very sorry we couldn’t have Yez. He was apparently on some deep cover mission that he couldn’t be pulled out from. I did trust that if he had a choice, he would have joined us, though. I wondered at some point if we’d have another pre-battle party this time like the one we had prior to battling Toh’sellor, but I didn’t get that vibe from anyone. They acted like it was a mission, one they needed to get through as soon as possible. Granted, I didn’t think they were in a partying mood either. They were a little too angry for that.
I recognized all the faces but could only put a few names to them. Lauren, a very fit forty, blond woman and her ferret-familiar, Rikki, I knew sort of. The darkly exotic Sherri and her jaguar, Jimbo, I knew better than most, as she was one of the healers responsible for me being alive and moving today. I saw Tristan the unicorn, so Magus Jordan was around here somewhere as well, although I didn’t spot him in the crowded hotel lobby. Actually, I rarely saw Jordan but almost always saw Tristan. Wasn’t it unicorns that were supposed to be elusive?
Before I could go upstairs and fetch Rena and Emily for the meeting, I spotted Agent Blanks with his manticore familiar and nearly did a double take. He’d been one of the agents infected by Toh’sellor the first time, losing two fingers because of it. Of all the people I’d expected to refuse this mission, I would have put him at the top of the list. “Agent Blanks?”
He turned to see who hailed him, spotted me, and lit up in a smile. “Bannen! I heard you were in uniform now like the rest of us.”
I took the hand he offered me in a firm handshake, pleased to see him, if confused. “You’ve surprised me, I didn’t think to see you here.”
“I owe your wife,” he informed me seriously. Lifting his left hand in demonstration, I saw that he had two artificial fingers made of gleaming pewter attached, functioning like flesh and blood limbs. He opened and closed the hand without issue in front of my eyes. I’d heard of things like this, artificial limbs magically attached, but I’d never seen one before. They were hideously expensive. Then again, as an agent of the MISD…. “Without her, I would be in a grave, not just missing two fingers. I want to see this through.”
“We’re very glad to have you,” I responded in all sincerity. Blanks possessed good fighting skills in his pocket and experience. I’d have him at my back any day. “Hey, Chuckles.”
The manticore rubbed his nose into my open palm and gave me a huff of greeting.
Maksohm boomed out from somewhere in the back of the lobby, “ALL MISD AGENTS TO THE ROSE DINING ROOM.”
Looked like our meeting was about to start. I headed that direction along with everyone else, counting heads as we moved—two full teams aside from my own, totaling fifteen people, plus two extra healers, which I appreciated. It always seemed like someone got drastically hurt during these operations. Okay, fine, it seemed like I always got hurt. I’d blame it on bad luck or karma or something along those lines but it was actually more a mix-up of priorities. Rena’s safety came before mine, ergo, I got hurt instead of her.
Good thing I loved her.
The Rose Dining Room held four round tables with snowy table cloths on top, set up with dishes in a formal setting, although no food yet. I assumed meeting first before we ate. My team already claimed the front table, including Rena, and she nudged a chair away from the table in clear invitation. I sat down with her and leaned in to whisper, “Agent Blanks is here.”
“Is he really?” she asked in stunned surprise, mouth falling open. “He’s cleared for active duty?”
“He got new fingers put on,” I explained. “They look silvery? Like pewter. He said he owes you for saving his life.”
“That’s silly,” she protested, but she still lit up in a smile to hear it. “But I’m glad he’s here.”
I had no chance to impart any further news as the door closed firmly, the last of the agents quickly finding seats. Maksohm cleared his throat pointedly to get the room’s attention. “First, a word of thanks. Aside from my team, you’re all here because you volunteered, even knowing what you’re up against. I feel much better having veterans with experience in fighting Toh’sellor with us on this. Thank you.
“Now, I’m not sure how well all of you have been briefed, so I’ll go over the basics. We do not at this time have a visual confirmation on Toh’sellor itself. However, we have multiple sightings by the Siran Coast Guard that there are strange creatures guarding a particular set of caves along the coast—creatures that look like wolves, but magically altered in odd ways. The descriptions match what we’ve seen Toh’sellor do to other animals. We also have a confirmed sighting of a perimeter barrier around these caves. I believe we can all agree that the odds are very good Toh’sellor is in there.”
Everyone nodded, some unhappily, some tautly, angry about the situation.
“Unfortunately, it looks like we’ll have to use the existing cave entrance in order to breach the inside. Magus Hach and I have spoken about this at length, but tunneling through the side doesn’t give us any advantages.”
An agent raised a hand in question and asked, “What if the main entrance has ambushes or booby traps laid down?”
Rena signaled to Maksohm that she’d take the question and stood to answer. “Agent
Marrett, isn’t it? I thought so. To answer, you don’t need to worry about traps of any sort. I can spot them well in advance and turn them to dust.”
He looked a little sheepish for asking. “Ah, of course, I wasn’t thinking.”
She grinned at him and sat back down.
Maksohm continued calmly, “The Siran Coast Guard has kept a boat patrolling the area around the clock to keep people well away from the area. The location has no towns nearby so we won’t have to worry about civilian casualties this round. Unfortunately, we know that this group has stolen several hundred monkeys from Njorage and about two dozen magical artifacts to experiment on. We need to be prepared to face them. The recent kidnapping of familiars is also tied in with this group. Several animals that match their descriptions have been seen near the caves. We’ll try to save them if we can, of course, but be advised that these familiars are likely already warped by Toh’sellor’s energy. If they look odd to you, or are aggressive, don’t hesitate.”
Hearing those words made me flinch on an instinctive level. I think everyone in the room, mage and familiar alike, didn’t like that order. But we understood it. We accepted the logic behind it. But deities, it sat sour and unpalatable on my tongue. I didn’t have to like it.
“We don’t have the time or liberty for subtle tactics on this one,” Maksohm announced. “When Toh’sellor was taken, it brought matter along with it, and it’s obviously gained more liberty since relocating, as there are minions again. We’ll leave tomorrow morning by ship. The Coast Guard has offered to escort us down, which I’ve accepted. Everyone be at the docks by eight sharp, ready to deploy. The MISD ship will act as our base of operations so bring your luggage. As soon as we land, we’re heading directly in. If we’re rebuffed, we’ll retreat back to the ship. But Agents, don’t plan on a retreat. These thieves have already portaled Toh’sellor once already at cost to one of their own. They might choose to portal it out again, no matter how dangerous that is. We absolutely cannot afford for it to be moved a second time. Short of a disaster, we’re succeeding.”
Maksohm didn’t say ‘or die trying’ but everyone seemed to hear those words regardless. I knew they had, as they all darted glances at Rena as if to reassure themselves that with her, they could win. They could survive. Perhaps Rena sensed it too, as she stared back at them with a determined expression. That seemed to reassure them. I wonder, when did she learn how to do that?—reassure people without saying a word? I felt distinctly proud of her, especially considering how she battled with her own fears. None of that showed on her face.
“Any questions?” Maksohm seemed to think he’d covered what he needed to.
Lifting a hand, Blanks called attention to himself. “Will we be susceptible to Toh’sellor’s energy like last time?”
“Unknown,” Maksohm answered with a brief glance to his artificial fingers. “It is Magus Hach’s expert opinion that the odds of that are low unless we get very close to Toh’sellor itself. Our advice is to stay at least twenty feet away from Toh’sellor at all times unless strongly shielded. However, if they have failed to properly contain Toh’sellor and there is malignant energy there, then please use common sense. If you feel anything off, go to a healer immediately. Healers, you know what to look for. If you need Magus Hach’s intervention, do so. Any other questions?”
Lauren raised her hand. “Agent Maksohm, I understand we can’t return Toh’sellor to Z’gher. What’s the plan for after we’ve taken him back?”
“Magus Hach’s former master is a Void Mage in Turransky. She has generously agreed to manage Toh’sellor until we can put it in a proper facility.” A rumble went through the room as people whispered to each other. I caught a few words here and there, but mostly heard the sound of relief and some curiosity, as people hadn’t known there was another Void Mage aside from Rena. Maksohm waited, panning the room. “No other questions? Good. Let’s eat. Everyone get a good night’s sleep tonight. I want you well rested for tomorrow.”
Fortunately, we had two mages in the group with flying familiars. We stopped out of range of the perimeter barrier, carefully acting like any other Coast Guard patrol ship, and sent the familiars in for an aerial sweep. As they did, I stood on the decking with Bannen at my side and peered over the choppy water toward the shore. I huddled in next to him, using him as a windshield against the cold winter weather and the distinct chill of the wind whipping over the waves. Up until that point, it had been a slightly academic question if Toh’sellor was actually here or not. We had all of the earmarks of it but no concrete proof.
One glance at the creatures patrolling the area, we had all the proof we needed.
Maksohm stood at my elbow, intently watching my face, and my expression must have given it away as he grunted in satisfaction. “It’s here.”
“It’s here,” I confirmed darkly. An unpleasant crawling sensation started up under my skin, like ants, and I shivered, trying to shake the feeling off. Intellectually, I welcomed pinpointing Toh’sellor down. I disliked Toh’sellor being out in the world causing havoc with no idea of its location. But the rest of me really dreaded this. It’d put me into a Mind Down the last time I’d faced him, nearly killed Bannen, and hurt a lot of other people. I didn’t want a repetition of that.
Sarding deities, but I really didn’t want a repetition of that.
That in mind, I offered to Maksohm, “I can clear out the beach before we actually land on it.”
“Trust me, I’m counting on that. Landing will be madness otherwise. Let’s see what our scouts say. I want to make sure there’s not any other openings to that cave.”
We stayed still, waiting, and eventually our two scouts came back and landed on their mages’ shoulders. Maksohm strode off to confer with them, and I nearly followed, but something caught my eye as I moved. What was that? It looked like a mirage, or some sort of air distortion right above the knoll in the center of the perimeter barrier. There was no color to it, just a wave as air moved against the blue of the sky and the white of the sand and snow. It almost gave the impression that the top of the knoll was shifting, but I knew that not to be the case. Blinking, I narrowed my eyes, leaning over the wooden railing to try and see better.
“Whatcha looking at, honey?” Bannen inquired, leaning in to put his head on the same level as mine.
“There’s some sort of strange…” I trailed off, pointing instead. “Do you see it? Right there.”
Following my finger, he stared hard for a long moment. “I think I do? It looks rather like a mirage. What is that?”
“I’m not entirely sure. But it’s giving me a jeepers creepers feeling.”
It did not look good. There was no way to have a heat wave in the dead of winter, so something else had to be giving off that kind of distortion, to warp the surroundings in that peculiar way. In fact, that energy looked remarkably like—all of a sudden it hit me. I’d rarely seen Toh’sellor’s energy in its pure form, it had always been wrapped up with something else—dust or plant material or gas, something that distorted it. The only time I’d seen it in pure form, I’d taken it down to its core. I hadn’t seen it while it expanded and grew. But the base of it, ever changing, morphing from one form to another like quicksilver, that I knew intimately well.
Swearing viciously, I turned and frantically looked for my team leader. Spotting him, I screamed, “DAH’LIL!”
He twisted about so sharply, he nearly fell. With quick strides, he came back to my side, demanding, “What? What’s wrong?”
“They’ve lost control of it,” I reported frantically, words nearly tripping over each other to get out of my mouth. “You see that mirage-like wave of air over there? Like a heat wave above the knoll? That’s Toh’sellor’s energy. They’ve lost control of it—it’s literally eating at the ground above it right now.”
Maksohm’s expression went as black as a thundercloud of a mother storm. “Sarding son of a Bauchi. How much time do we have?”
“
We don’t,” I informed him bluntly. “Every second it’s loose, with all of that material to work with, it becomes that much harder for me to defeat. Especially closed in like that, it’s going to be an outright bear to safely approach without us all risking being infected with his energy.”
I could see his mind calculating at lightning speeds. I loved watching his expression in times like these because Maksohm had one of the best intellects of anyone I’d ever met, and seeing his mind in action was a glorious thing to behold. He nodded sharply at some conclusion he’d reached and then turned, booming out orders with precision. “Team Two! I need you on shore now. You’ll be stationed at the top of the knoll, I want a strong barrier up around that area as of yesterday. Keep Toh’sellor contained so it doesn’t spread out any further, we can’t afford it. Team Three, you’re with us, we’re landing in the next ten minutes. Move, people, move!”
We moved.
Even as I maneuvered for the small runabout boats that would take us to shore, I could hear Vee demanding of Maksohm, “Was there only one entrance, then?”
“Fortunately—or unfortunately, depends on how you look at it—there’s only the one,” he answered, standing to the side and ushering people onto different boats. They could only fit about ten to a boat, so by necessity we had to take three: one for each team and all of their familiars. There was a little confusion on who needed to go where, which Maksohm sorted as quickly as possible, then the guardsmen lowered us into the water so quickly we got splashed with freezing sea water.
None of us complained, as we needed that sort of speed over precision right now. The motor of the boat rumbled to life and I kept my eyes on the knoll as we were turned toward the beach, the prow of the small boat cutting through the waves as we bounced a little along the top of the water. That energy mirage above the knoll definitely got worse as I watched it; I could actually see part of the knoll cave inwards by inches.
Maksohm put a hand on my shoulder, prodding me around. With the waves and the loud motor, he couldn’t say anything and have a prayer of being heard, so instead he directed my eyes toward the beach and pointed to the minions now watching our approach. Right. That should be my priority at the moment.
Remnants Page 21
