The Arcane Suppression Force was hard at work after the incident at the market place. Every stop was being pulled after the humiliation of losing not one, but two mages. If the Queen caught wind of today’s disastrous debacle, the General’s head would be stuck on a spike and displayed in their offices as a warning to others. The General was already running out of excuses to give to the Queen as to why she had yet to receive his report on the incident. General Asmond Derring had no idea as to why she even read his reports. He knew as well as anyone that that woman had eyes and ears all over that city, including the criminal underbelly. She used undercover agents and other diabolical tactics to maintain complete omniscience and omnipotence over her kingdom. He would know, he was one of them before his premotion to General of the Arcane Suppression Force.
“How long until that footage is uploaded to the computer, Agent Fenn?” his foot tapped furiously against the white tiles as he shouted at a hunched over man, who was busy hooking up their brand new body cams to the computer system through a series of tangled cables.
Agent Fenn was the most computer and tech savvy agents the Queen had at her disposal so was often given the task, along with the other eggheads, to invent and test new magic detection systems. It was rare that he worked on something as simple as body cam footage. But these cameras were new and the General’s team was not used to the software that was needed to work with them, and with such important data on the potential Outlier. He couldn’t risk one of the team corrupting the data.
“Not long now General, I’m just plugging everything in and gaining access to the CCTV footage of the market place and you’ll be ready to go through it.” came the clipped tone of Agent Fenn.
A few moments later, the crisp paused image of high definition body cam footage was being displayed on the large flat-screen monitor attached to the far wall of the office. Agent Fenn spoke up after a while addressing the whole team who weren’t already out on patrol, about thirty odd.
“Alright, on the screen in front of you all, is Agent Callahan’s body camera footage.” He points to the left half of the screen before pointing to the right as he continues “And this, is the CCTV footage at roughly the same time. I’ve synced it as well as I can but there’s a second or two of delay.”
The General spoke up next “I want you all to keep your eyes peeled for anything that you think might help us figure out who the Outlier is. I do not have to tell you how important this is not just for our safety but for the safety of the Kingdom.” A chorus of “Yes Sir” rang out around the room and the General nodded at Agent Fenn to play the clip.
The clip was only about forty five seconds long but there was a lot to take in in that time. The fireworks and the screams of the citizens made it hard to make out what people were saying. A chaotic cacophony. The colourful lights of the fireworks sent lens flares across the screen obscuring parts of the footage.
When the lightning bolt struck the ground in front of Callahan and her partner, a collective gasp was heard around the room. It was a close shot – a few centimetres closer and Callahan would have been picking up toes instead of taking chase after the mystery figure. “Geez Callahan, I would have shit my britches” vocalised one of the other Agents, and the room let out a chuckle.
“Concentrate!” The General roared. Normally he would have chuckled along but he needed something from this or else he may as well put his head between his legs and kiss his arse goodbye.
The clip ended with a look at the High Street.
“Anyone see anything?” the General asked, the team shook their heads, the General barked at Fenn to run the clip again. And again. And again. The General was close to giving up hope, his fists clenched and his forehead had a sheen of sweat on it. This was going to be his last moments on Earth, he could feel it. When all of a sudden on the fifth run through of the clip Agent Cleric shot up out of her chair and shouted-
“Stop the clip!” Agent Fenn paused the clip. It was just before the mysterious figure entered the alleyway up towards the High Street.
Agent Cleric went on, leaning closer “Go back about a second” The clip stuttered to a stop. It was just before the figure bolted out from behind the post box “There! Look!” She pointed at the screen. A barely viewable reflection in a shop window.
“Enhance the image” Derring demanded.
But Fenn was already on it, zooming in on the reflection of the window. Derring took a moment to pray to anyone who would hear him to let this be the breakthrough they needed. The screen slowly loaded, anticipation grew. The whole room was holding their breath as the image grew pixel by pixel.
As the image came into focus, the crew let out a collective cheer.
Derring’s face broke into a grim smile of relief “Call the Queen! She’s gonna wanna see this!”
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Queen Nyxara’s royal cape billowed behind her as she stormed purposefully towards the Arcane Suppression Force’s main base of operations. Her displeasure was simmering close to her icy surface. The nerve of the General to summon her like this, like he was her equal. She was debating whether or not to punish him for this offence but she decided to see if this information he had was any good. Her personal mage trailing along behind her at a respectful distance. Close enough to hear every command, yet far away enough to understand that they were not equals. Her long strides made quick work of the walk from her personal chambers to the headquarters, the walls and decorations were a blur. She had no time for pleasantries today.
The Queen had received a message from one of her servants that General Derring had a very big update on the Outlier. Having had to wait more than an hour for any sort of update on the situation in the Market Place earlier today, this better be a gargantuan update. Nyxara did not tolerate tardiness of any fashion. She was a busy woman and would adjust her schedule for no-one. Normally, the Queen wouldn’t bother with such trivial matters such as mage hunting, but since this was such a powerful mage, she had personally demanded regular updates from the General. Especially since she had been so generous to offer up the armoury and splash some of the kingdoms cash on new equipment for the team.
Two guards stand to attention as she nears and salute, each pushing open a door, kneeling onto one knee as she passes them. She strides confidently into the room. Those who are sat instantly stand, those who are already stood stand to attention, they salute her too before falling into a kneel. Nyxara ignores them, focusing on the man in charge. The smell of stale coffee lingered in air and buzz of computers filled the room.
“Your update must be very important for you to drag me all the way down her General. I am not a person who can be summoned like someone’s common bitch” her tone is icy cold and her eyes are narrowed as she stares intensely at the man as he looks up at her from his kneel.
“I apologise, Your Majesty. But it’s about the Outlier. We have an image of them. It’s only hal-”
The Queen quickly interrupted him “Show me”
Ragneth was stood there, muscles tight, trying her hardest to not let her fear and anxiety show, but there was nothing she could do to stop her palms from become clammy and her heartbeat pounding in her chest, echoing in her ears drowning out all sound. She hoped and prayed for the first time in a long time to her old Gods that the image wasn’t going to reveal Veylyn.
The General fired a quick order at Agent Fenn, who once again brought up the image. It was pixelated slightly and half of the face was obscured by their hair but it was clear. That was their Outlier – Part of them anyway.
There was a tiny gasp followed by a light cough and an apology from Ragneth, the Queen gave her a look, years of watching people made her able to observe without appearing to do so. Ragneth’s posture was stiff and tight, her eyes staring intensely at the screen. She returned her own gaze back to the monitor on the wall. Ragneth rarely showed emotions as strongly as that. She filed the information away for later, her curiosity piqued.
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“I have already ran a sweep through our data banks in hopes to cross reference the image with someone in the system, Your Majesty” Started Agent Fenn and the Queen’s head snapped to him, making him jump and stumble over his words a little “B-but either they have never committed a crime within the city, never had a military or civil services job or they’re an outsider to the Kingdom, their fingerprints and ID aren’t in the system, Your Majesty” he finished
The Queen returned her powerful gaze to the General “I want this image sent to every shop, restaurant and public building in the city by morning. I want every news channel to show a story on this with this picture. Set up a call line and man the phones twenty four hours a day. I don’t care if that means some of you don’t get to go home. I want someone on CCTV monitoring constantly and I want teams to check every alley, abandoned and dark spot available in this city.
This is not an everyday operation. I will not accept slacking on this city-wide hunt. Anyone found harbouring this mage or aiding them in anyway will publicly suffer the consequences. Let there be no sanctuary! I want this mage found before the week is through! Pull out every stop. They will not hide from me and I will not accept failure!” a shout of “Yes, Your Majesty” echoed around the room.
“Well? Why aren’t you moving? GO!” She thundered and she watched with internalised joy as the team scrambled to get started. Fear spread through their bodies, scared to anger their Queen.
Nyxara stood there for a moment savouring their fear and observing the controlled chaos around her. Her hands were clasped behind her back and her mind was whirling at the information she had been given. She was so close to this mage now she could almost smell their fear. If the Outlier didn’t know they were being hunted, they will by tomorrow and that sweet stench of fear would sell them out long before anyone could ring the hotline. Her signature smirk fell upon her features and her eyes filled with a sadistic happiness. Her plan was all coming together, she admitted that it took a little longer than expected but once the mage was captured she could move onto the next phase of her plan. She had been brewing this plan for a while and it was becoming close to perfection. Not even Ragneth knew. She would know, but when the time was right. These things have a habit of declaring themselves. Perfect opportunities always knock – you just have to listen.
Speaking of Ragneth, she needed to discuss with the woman about her reaction. The Queen turned to the woman and traced a finger from Ragneth’s neck up to her chin. “Come my little mage, let us leave these fine, hard working individuals to their task and we have much to talk about don’t you think?” before turning her back to the other woman.
Ragneth held back a shudder at her touch and disgust from her face but her heart rate elevated at the mention of the talk, she knew she had messed up when she had let that gasp escape her lips. She gulped “Yes, Your Majesty”
There was a silence between them as they walked back the way they had came, through cold stone brick corridors that slowly bled into white marble and rich coloured tapestries that hung from the ceiling and walls. A huge grand entrance hall gave way to a large staircase, adorned with soft woollen carpet in a ruby red. Instead of giving the stairs a welcoming feeling, it gave the impression that they were doused in fresh blood that spilled down from the first floor.
It was on these stairs that the Queen asked her first question “Did you ever manage to finish that spell I assigned you to work on, Nethy?” her tone was sickly sweet as they climbed.
Ragneth tilted her head in confusion “What spell, Your Majesty?”
“My spell, the special one I asked for, of course” the Queen replied, her voice was still sickly sweet but there was a bite behind it.
Ragneth’s eyes widened. That spell! It had been so hectic with everything going on with Veylyn that she had completely forgot that she was supposed to be working on something. “That spell! Of course, my apologises, Your Majesty. With everything going on I forgot to tell you. I managed to concoct the spell but it did not awaken any magic. I think I may need more test subjects. I will go back over my notes and attempt to fix what went wrong but this type of spell has never been done before. Your Majesty” She lied, keeping her tone as casual as possible.
The Queen nodded as they turned down one of the many corridors, before stopping at the only door in the corridor. “That is disappointing. I had such high hopes for that spell too. No matter. I know you’ll keep trying for me”
Opening the door revealed the Queen’s bedchambers. The room looked the same as the rest of the castle, white with royal colours like red, purple and deep blues. A black four poster bed sat in the centre of the room, fancy looking bedside cabinets made from a type of black wood each with matching lamps made of stained glass, patterned with roses and thorns. In one of the two bay windows sat a lone armchair, surrounded by bookshelves. The bookshelf was home to all sorts of books, the predominant series of books being martial arts and fighting techniques from around the world. It wasn’t public knowledge, but the Queen was a highly skilled fighter, trained by the best. Her royal position meant there was a constant risk, so she became prepared. Well versed in most weapons and hand to hand combat. She was a force to be reckoned with.
A small table stood to the side, a book on the Vombardy Kingdom lay pages down on top. A tall lamp was on, illuminating the chair and table in a warm glow. Opposite the comfortable armchair was a wooden chair, with a singular pillow on it.
In the second bay window was a desk and chair, made of the same wood as the bedside cabinets. A sleek looking laptop was glowing in the dark as well as a few note pads and strewn about pens.
The Queen lounged into the armchair and let out a small sigh and closed her eyes. Relaxing into the well worn material of the chair. “Take a seat, Ragneth” she gestured at the wooden chair in front of her. “I want to talk about your visceral reaction to the picture. Care to explain why you let out a gasp?” her tone had lost that sickly sweetness to it and was now cold and demanding.
Ragneth steeled her self as she sat down knowing exactly where this conversation was about to go. Her mind had been in overdrive as she thought about every possible answer that she though the Queen would fall for.
Ragneth crossed one leg over the other and lent back in her chair. The wood hard against her back, the back rest of the chair was curved and at seemed to hug her, supporting her and her lies. “I was just surprised, Your Majesty. They looked young. A mage that powerful at that age is incredibly rare” her posture was deliberately relaxed and her tone was neutral. Her act had to be perfect.
The Queen let out a small smile “Reminds you of someone doesn’t it? You were only, what? Eighteen? When you blew up your whole village.” she covered her mouth with her hand and let out a small chuckle as she watched Ragneth struggle with the memory. Her eyes were wide with fear and tears threatened to fall “Whoops, I forgot that was a sore subject of yours. Me and my big mouth.”
The Queen loved watching her mage crumble. So poised and stoic all the time, but one little mention of that town she ran so far from and she’s in more pieces than a jigsaw puzzle. It gave her such a rush to see her like this. To have power over the most powerful. The Queen knew that Ragneth could easily kill her with a wave of her hand, which is why she had several plans in place in case that ever happened. Ragneth’s story would be released to the public, especially to her Kingdom. Evidence had been found to incriminate her and she would be sentenced to the death penalty, not only for the murder of the Queen but for the deaths of all her town members too. But she hoped it would never come to that, she preferred seeing her suffer with her past. Death would be too swift an escape from the pain and sorrow of her actions.
The Queen let the silence between them linger for a moment longer, revelling in Ragneth’s painful memories before stating “I think you’re lying to me Ragneth.”
Ragneth instantly snapped back to reality and she pulled herself together, unclenching her hands that she had unknowingly made into fists. She blinked the tears away from her eyes as she looked at the powerful woman in front of her. “W-what?”
Nyxara leant forward in her armchair and gripped Ragneth’s chin, her fingers were icy cold against Ragneth’s warm skin. The grip was soft but controlling, daring her to try and move away from her, but Ragneth knew better, she became a statue.
“I think you’re lying to me” she repeated, looking deeply into Ragneth’s eyes. Her eyes the colour of old blood, seemed to stare into Ragneth’s soul, as if scanning her very psyche for the truth.
Ragneth’s heart rate increased once again and hoped that the Queen couldn’t feel the difference. She needed to show the Queen that she wasn’t getting under her skin. That she wasn’t as vulnerable as she felt.
“My apologise, Your Majesty. But you are mistaken” she said, her voice strong and no longer croaky. Meeting the queen’s intense gaze with one of her own. Forcing as much defiance and heat into her stare as if it could act like a shield against the probing look the Queen was giving her.
Surprisingly, Nyxara gave a small smile “Oh? Is that so, my little mage?” her eyebrow raised and her voice held a hint of humour in it. She still had a grip on her chin.
Ragneth nodded, subtly attempting to break the hold on her chin. “That is correct, Your Majesty. Like I explained before, I merely gasped because of how young they looked”
The Queen broke her hold and leant back in her chair “And to think I gave you plenty of opportunity to come clean to me” she tutted “But still you lie. You may be well poised now, but your posture in the ASF headquarters gave you away. Stiff shoulders, tight muscles. My, you looked as if you could have sprinted right out of that room” she leant her head onto a closed fist and looked Ragneth with a tilted head. “You know I have a little soft spot for you Nethy, that’s why you get to go home to your child and the rest of your mage kind stay here in the castle. Do I need to make that the same for you? Perhaps I should keep you on a lead – to make sure you can’t lie to me again” her voice dripping with the cold unspoken threat as she let it hang in the air.
Ragneth could feel the noose wrapping around her neck and the flames licking at her feet already as her lies slowly dissolved around her, but she didn’t let her panic show. Instead she played to Queen’s ego, let her hear exactly what she wanted to hear. “That will not be necessary, Your Majesty. I know my place, I am yours” her voice was monotone and she dropped her eyes to the carpet in front of her, unable to hold the Queen’s eye.
The Queen’s insatiable hunger for power over the woman was almost satisfied with that small sentence. A wide grin spread over her features as she fed on her crumbling resolve. “Then, you’ll understand that I cannot trust you to go home, not tonight at least. Not after my naughty little mage lied to me. You will stay here. So I can keep an eye on you.”
Ragneth’s shoulders dropped in defeat. She had lost this battle, she could only hope Veylyn would win the war for her, she could sense that her own war against the Queen was coming to an end, and she was not going to be the victor.
