Shadows in the Smoke - 31 - We Have a Small Problem

  “Equality is a fundamental principle of the Republic. Every Citizen has the same rights, freedoms and duties as every other. However, that does not mean that we have no hierarchies. The Republic’s military, like any other, has officers of differing ranks to command the soldiers. Where we differ from more backwards nations is that these hierarchies are underpinned by the knowledge that every man and woman is the equal of every other, even if in the moment one has seniority.

  The Struggle for Freedom by Bjarne Midthun

  =====

  Arcanist-Subaltern Jakob sprinted round the corner and skidded to a halt at the sight in front of him.

  Mazar was stood there, surrounded by bodies and wrapped in a blanket. Not much more than that too, he pulled his mind back on track, now wasn’t the time. Why was she surrounded by bodies? Ones in Republican uniforms too. More infiltrators?

  The presence of one of the fort’s garrison was the only thing that stopped him from thinking the worst. Although he had to wonder what the man was doing down here during an attack. Had he been having some sort of liaison with their guest? They seemed to be doing their best not to look at each other. Had they had an embarrassing interruption?

  He started towards them again, at a jog rather than a sprint, followed by the squad he’d pulled out of his maniple for this. He should have been with the rest of his maniple, defending the fort, where they could actually make a difference, but orders were orders and if Arcanist-Major Norred said the Mage needed to be guarded, then she needed to be guarded.

  “Are you hurt?” Jakob raised his voice and stumbled to a halt as Mazar spun to face him, faster than he’d have thought she was capable of. She still didn’t look particularly threatening, especially wearing a blanket, but his instincts were screaming at him to take care. “It’s me, Jakob.” Ice and steam, he was going to be in trouble if she’d gone and gotten herself hurt. “What happened here?”

  She relaxed slightly when their eyes met and glanced nervously at the soldier beside her before answering.

  “There were traitors. Or infiltrators. I am not sure. They are all dead now.”

  “Ice and steam!” This time he cursed out loud. That confirmed his suspicions about the bodies and explained why she was so on edge. He hurried over, keeping his hands where she could see them and tamping down on the flows of magic pulsing through his body. He didn’t think she’d lash out now, but it would be awkward if he had to restrain her because he’d frightened her. No wonder she looked so uncomfortable, if she’d been attacked.

  Jakob turned his attention to the Republican with her. Red tabs on his uniform, so part of the garrison rather than the 13th. The chevrons and blue spear below them said he was a Sergeant-Cantrist. The man’s uniform had blood stains on it and the way he was standing and casting wary looks around himself suggested he’d barely survived the fight. It was lucky for Mazar that he’d been there to save her. Hopefully he could explain what had gone on too.

  “Don’t worry, Mage Mazar. You’re safe now.” He didn’t look at her as he spoke, keeping his focus on his fellow soldier. “Sergeant-Cantrist, report!”

  The bearded man glanced around them and took a deep breath before saluting with a closed fist to his chest.

  “Sergeant-Cantrist Vegard, Arcanist-Subaltern. I couldn’t sleep so I’d gone for a walk with Runar, another man from my maniple. When the alarms went off, we were running back to our posts when we practically charged into the middle of a squad of men in Republican uniforms. We didn’t recognise them, even though they were dressed as part of the garrison, so I challenged them. Their leader attacked me mid-sentence. A full on necromancer and two more that could use combat magic.”

  “I see…” Jakob looked back at the five corpses, it made no sense. A Cantrist and a normie, however skilled, couldn’t match that. “They’re all dead? And where’s Runar?”

  “Aye, they’re dead but they got Runar.” Vegard winced as he said that, understandably. “We were totally outmatched. I thought I was done. I was going to try to run and get help, then I threw one of them straight through the door to, uh, Mage Mazar’s room. Ice and steam, I had no idea anyone was in there and you wouldn’t have thought it, but she came out like she was the Ashen Vow’s own daughter or something. Dueled the necromancer to a standstill and then, the moment he focused his attention on me, she just offed him like it was nothing. One of the them even shot her, didn’t do nothing. The moment the necromancer was down, she finished them off like she was squashing a bug.”

  Jakob couldn’t help shooting glances at Mazar as Sergeant Vegard told his story. It made more sense than a Cantrist successfully taking on a group of infiltrators by himself, but he wouldn’t have thought Mazar had it in her. Had the Empire actually sent a Battle Mage in disguise? He doubted it: everyone knew that the Empire didn’t allow women to become Battle Mages, reactionary fools that they were. Obviously she wasn’t as soft as she looked though. He’d have to be a bit more wary of her. The leader of the infiltrators had probably a been a relatively weak necromancer too. Anyone with real power wouldn’t have been risked on a likely suicide mission into the fort.

  He realised the silence was stretching. “I see. Well done, Mage Mazar. I’m sorry you had to fight, but I’m glad that you were able to defend yourself and Sergeant Vegard. It shouldn’t have to happen again.”

  She sketched him a vague bow, while still clutching the blanket to herself. “I am glad I could be useful, Arcanist-Subaltern. Do you know what those men were doing in the fort? Or how they got in?”

  Jakob frowned. “I know that other infiltrators were caught. That’s why I was sent to check on you. I’m not entirely sure what’s happened - that’s for the more senior officers - but I’m to stay with you until the all clear has sounded.”

  “Oh,” in a flash Mazar’s expression went from awkward to excited. “Should we not be going hunting for any other infiltrators then? If there were other groups then they could be anywhere in the fort.”

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “While I appreciate the sentiment, Mage Mazar, my orders are to keep you safe to avoid any potential diplomatic incidents.” He carefully didn’t look at the shredded corpses behind her. “I’m sure that we’ll be allowed to move around again soon, but…” he chose his words carefully, unable to help the slight blush, “before we do that, you might want to find something more, uh, substantial to wear.”

  “Wha-” Mazar’s cheeks darkened visibly and without another word she fled back into her room. A moment later, magic spiraled into a black shadow blocking all sight through the broken doorway.

  Jakob did his best not to smirk as he turned back to his troops. “Search the infiltrators’ bodies, see if there’s anything interesting. Now, Cantrist Sergeant Vegard.” He studied the bearded man for a second. “Thank you for your help in defending the Mage, I’m sorry about your friend. Unless there’s anything else you have to report, I’d suggest you return to your unit. If they give you any problems, direct them to me.”

  “Yes, Arcanist-Subaltern. Thank you, Arcanist-Subaltern.” The man brought his fist to his chest in another salute and fled without another word. Jakob could hardly blame him under the circumstances.

  =====

  The next morning, Ester resisted the urge to mutter angrily to herself as she followed Jakob through the fort’s corridors. She’d been dreaming of an opportunity to prove herself to the Republicans and it had been dropped straight into her lap. But she couldn’t feel happy about it, not when it only happened because of people trying to murder her in her sleep. She didn’t even know why she was surprised by it. What else should she have expected, going gallivanting off with a load of soldiers who hated the Empire? Was Sergeant Vegard going to break his word and try again? Would she be able to relax again until she was back in Nilrava? Or even the Empire?

  She shuddered and forced herself to focus. There was no point in getting worked up. She’d dropped herself into this situation and now she just had to get through it.

  Jakob’s meandering path eventually led them to a room Ester recognised: Commander Sundt’s briefing room. It was probably Arcanist-Colonel Lindholm’s now.

  This time, the sentries didn’t challenge her. They just saluted Jakob and gave her hostile looks out of the corners of their eyes, but she couldn’t bring herself to care about that. Let them be suspicious as long as they didn’t try to shoot her.

  Inside, the Republicans’ senior officers were gathered in small pockets, speaking urgently to each other. Lindholm was stood at the head of the table, an island of icy calm amidst their worried chatter.

  Ester and Jakob stood out. She was the only one not in a uniform and, if she was reading the Republicans’ ranks correctly, he was by far the most junior officer in the room. Was he only there because she was?

  Bang! Magic twisted briefly in the air and all conversation stopped as the officers looked towards Lindholm.

  “Citizens,” she didn’t sound worried, but she did sound grim. “We have now tallied the damage from last night’s attack. I am afraid that the situation has not developed as I might have liked and we now have a small problem.”

  “We fought off their attack though!” One of the garrison officers shouted angrily. “We should…” He trailed off under Lindholm’s unimpressed stare.

  “Are you done, Citizen?”

  “Yes, Arcanist-Colonel.” He seemed to shrink slightly, his pale skin flushing bright red.

  “As I was saying, things are not as positive as I might like. We did indeed fight off the undead’s attack and inflicted casualties on them too. I would expect no less than that, given where we are and the forces they chose to use. However, their attempt on the walls was clearly a feint. Their real purpose was to get their infiltrators into the fort and in that they succeeded. I shall be reexamining our defences against such matters.” She looked at Commander Sundt who met her eyes with a scowl.

  “If you are implying that-”

  “I am happy to speak explicitly about your incompetence instead of implying it, Commander, if you would prefer?”

  “How dare you! Who do you think you are?”

  “I think I am the woman who is going to ensure that we survive this mess. Be quiet, Commander, or I will have you thrown into the cells. Does anyone else wish to interrupt me further?” She looked around the room. “No? Good.

  “Now, there were six teams of infiltrators as far as I have been able to establish. This was a significant commitment of resources by the Liches; each of them was led by a necromancer of moderate skill and included others with lesser Talent. Three of them were intercepted at the walls and never penetrated the fort. Two of them were found shortly after they got inside and, while there were casualties, they did not achieve their goal. The sixth, unfortunately, did. They reached granaries three and four and set their contents to the torch. It is a small consolation that they did not succeed in escaping Fort Statvinger with their lives. It appears that they may have had a secondary mission of targeting our guest.” She nodded towards Ester. “Presumably with the goal of worsening relations between the Republic and the Empire, although I would be very interested to know how they found out about her presence here.

  “Unfortunately for them, our young Mage turned out to have bigger teeth than they expected. Unfortunately for us, their attack on our food supplies makes our situation somewhat worse. We now have a little more than half the food supplies we did previously. Rations will need to be cut if we are to hold out until help arrives. It also changes the tactical imperatives. We will no longer be able to sit safely behind the fort’s walls and wait. Instead, we may find ourselves forced to strike out against the undead and weaken them. Fortunately the 13th specialises in exactly that. In the meantime, I expect all of you to ensure that morale and discipline remain strong. The undead have successfully struck a blow against us, but they are a long way from winning this battle, let alone the war.”

  Ester let out a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding as Lindholm kept talking. How much did she really believe of what she was saying? Could they really hold out? It wasn’t like they’d have any choice. They could hold out, or they’d die.

  Lindholm had moved on to giving instructions to individual officers, setting out responsibilities and plans for the immediate future. Eventually she finished and paused, looking over the assembled soldiers with cold eyes.

  “I have every confidence in your ability to fight for the Republic, but if we are to succeed here, every one of you will need to give your utmost efforts to our defence.”

  Ester bit her bottom lip at those words. Lindhom was clearly talking to the Republican officers, but this was her opportunity. The Republicans already didn’t like her, but surely she’d earned some credit over the infiltrators she’d killed. They might actually take her seriously now and there was no way in the world that she was just going to sit there watching and waiting to see if she’d get to live or die. She was a Mage, not some clueless girl. She could offer as much as any of them, more.

  Ester took a small step forward and squared her shoulders. “Arcanist-Colonel, I want to help too. I know you are meant to keep me safe, but I can fight and you said you need every person-”

  “Alright.” Lindholm cut her off. “Thank you for your offer. I shall find a use for you too.”

  Ester was left blinking. Had it been that easy? When she’d said anything like that as an Apprentice in the Academy they’d just laughed at her. Should she thank Lindholm, or just act if it was exactly what she’d expected to hear? Commander Sundt was looking at her like he wished she was dead. Maybe she should just try to stare him down. Ester’s attention was yanked back to business when Lindholm, oblivious to Ester’s thoughts, kept going.

  “Now, we have one more thing to consider. The liches have sent us an envoy and I suppose we had better hear what he has to say. Edvin,” she looked at the young man Ester who’d been introduced to Ester as Arcanist-Captain Loga, “go and take the man to room fifteen and make sure he cannot see or hear anything we do not want him to. I shall follow with a couple of other officers."

  As Loga hurried out, Ester couldn’t help but wonder what an envoy from the Lands of the Dead would look like.

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  We've had a lot of discussion on the Bones in the Dark discord too, including the difference between dachaid and do'aelt. .

  Dramatis personae:

  Ester Mazar - Chartered Mage, I offer myself as tribute.

  Sigrid Lindholm - Arcanist-Colonel, obviously you have to fight, why are you asking?

  Jakob Rostad - Arcanist-Subaltern, one of my hobbies is underestimating people.

  Vegard - Arcanist-Sergeant, run away!.

  Marius Sundt - Commander of Fort Statvinger, wishing Lindholm would stop publically calling me out