LOCATION: THE CRUCIBLE, 100TH FLOOR
PLANET: LAPIS DIVINUS, ORION LUMINARY INSTITUTE
YEAR: ? | DAY: ?? | TIME: ??
Huddling over a large table in the basement under the warehouse, Rowan went over the situation for everyone present.
Along with Kaela and the thirty-one other royal guards she rescued, twenty more people were there. They were shop owners, innkeepers, and other business leaders. All men and women who comprised a tightly-knit domestic intelligence network that, it turned out, Ellister Rowan himself led.
“We had witnessed members of the Velthorn family traveling to Hillstead more often than usual in the past months,” Rowan said. “But when a thousand mercenaries arrived at our borders at the same time and began killing their way to Caerwyn City, we had no way to respond.”
He sighed.
“Our forces were depleted from the war, and as much as I hate to admit it, the Velthorn nobles picked the perfect time to execute their scheme.”
Kaela stepped forward and slammed her fist onto the table, startling all those listening to the briefing. Venom filled her voice as she spoke.
“But you have something they do not.”
She looked around at each of the men and women in the room.
“You have me. And should we need it, the entire combined might of all of you and Seraph’s Hold.”
She stepped back from the table and let the weight of the moment sit.
“But I think there’s a better way than marching an army across the border and allowing these sniveling cowards to escape. The definition of a mercenary is someone who fights for money, is it not?”
She laid out her plan, and Rowan helped assign people to cover each aspect of it. They all left the warehouse, staggering their departures, with a promise to regroup in two days at the same location.
Kaela returned to her lodging and turned over the stone.
Within an hour, she heard a knock at her door.
It was the Scout Leader himself, dressed as a wealthy merchant.
She let him in, and they spoke in quiet whispers. Kaela filled him in on everything thus far.
“Excellent work, Lioness. What need do you have of me?”
“I need you to join Ellister Rowan and me tonight. We are going to the countryside to pay the Velthorn estate a visit.”
The merchant smiled widely. He was itching for some action after having had to play his part for so many days.
She and the Scout Leader met Rowan at dusk. The Scout cast Zephyr’s Boon and Greater Shadow Cloak, and the three slipped effortlessly out of Caerwyn City.
Three hours later, they arrived at the outskirts of the vast estate of the Velthorn noble family. Vineyards stretched as far as Kaela could see, and the fences had been modified recently to reach around ten feet high.
Five guards were stationed at each gate along the perimeter, pacing about nervously. They all wore mismatched armor, marking them as mercenaries hired from outside.
Kaela assumed the family’s trusted guards were all inside the palace walls, leaving hired muscle to guard their estate here.
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Rowan led them to a gate further away from the main road, and out of sight of much of the main property.
The guards here weren’t quite as tense.
Kaela didn’t even wait for the Scout or Rowan to speak.
She disappeared from view, ran through the aether, and came out behind the guards.
She drew Phantom Blade, and dispatched two of the guards before the other three even realized something was wrong.
She was surprised that her sword didn’t seem to be in a hurry to return to its home in the other realm, and she brought down two more quickly.
She took a deep slice in her right arm from the last guard, and only when her grip on the hilt loosened from the wound, did it disappear from her hands.
She growled and slammed her head into the final guard’s face, shattering his nose and willing the aether to envelop them.
Blood dripped down her face from the wound in her forehead, and Kaela felt dizzy from the concussion.
The banshees swarmed quickly, taking only the mercenary and leaving Kaela free. As she prepared to end Phantom Step, she heard another message in her mind.
“This is three now. You may pass as you wish. The more you bring, the longer you can stay. The aether will no longer hinder your movement.”
Kaela nodded in appreciation and phased back to reality. She slumped to the ground and Rowan rushed to her side.
Blood flowed freely from the deep gash on her arm, and he tied a length of cloth around the wound. Kaela felt the concussion fade after a few minutes, and when her vision refocused, Rowan seemed angry.
“You are not alone, Lioness, and you do not need to fight alone. Please do not risk your life like that again.”
Kaela smiled weakly.
“I’m sorry. You are right. I will be more careful.”
It took a few more minutes, but once she was out of combat, her recovery was quicker and soon they were ready to go.
The Scout inched the tall wooden gate open. He wanted to be sure nobody had heard the commotion and listened for several minutes. Nothing.
“Clear,” he said. “Let’s go.”
He cloaked Kaela and Rowan again, and they made their way through the vineyards and to the main residence.
The sprawling mansion was lit up brightly, and guards patrolled the grounds in large numbers.
“We can’t get in through the front door,” the Scout whispered. “Let’s look for another way inside.”
What they found was not pleasant, and the Scout Leader insisted on going in himself. He told them to hunker down and watch a certain window for a sign.
Then he took off his merchant outfit and stowed it into his satchel, handing that to Rowan for safekeeping.
The dark gray armor he wore underneath had special resistances built in, and the Scout Leader was going to need them, because he entered the mansion through a sewer pipe.
Knee deep in shit and other refuse, he cast a special skill to reduce his sense of smell to near zero, and trudged through it.
He had to crouch low and stay that way for well over a thousand feet. Kaela did not envy him for that.
But a half an hour later, he waved from the window he had indicated.
Kaela and Rowan ran toward it and climbed inside. The Scout had taken a few extra minutes to kill an unlucky mercenary who had been about to use the privy when he came up from the sewer below. The Scout also took extra time to rinse off after his harrowing journey, something for which Kaela and Rowan were both thankful.
By the time Kaela and Rowan climbed through the window, she couldn’t see or smell anything. She made a mental note to give the Scout Leader a commendation for going above and beyond.
“Okay,” the Scout said. “Most mansions like this have a storehouse where they keep their jewels and treasure. We need to find it.”
“I already know where it is,” Rowan said. “We’ve had this information for a long time, just never the opportunity to act on it. Follow me.”
They rushed through the hallways, avoiding patrols while the Scout Leader cloaked them. As long as nobody got too close, the stealth bubble wouldn’t be pierced.
Finally the trio got to the master suite at the extreme end of the massive home. The Scout picked the lock like a master rogue, and stepped aside as Kaela and Rowan entered.
He followed and closed the door behind them.
Rowan then executed a surprisingly elaborate series of actions.
He pulled the fifth book on the third row of a bookshelf out and set it down on a nearby table.
Then he went to the other side of the room and turned a lantern affixed to the wall to the side. He knelt down at the foot of the large bed and Kaela heard a clicking sound, followed by the cranking of mechanical gears turning.
Behind her, the wall opened, revealing a narrow staircase. Rowan picked up a lantern and entered, disappearing down the stairway.
The Scout went next, and Kaela followed.
What she saw when she reached the bottom took her breath away.
“How?” she asked. “How did they amass so much wealth?”
Rowan turned to her.
“The royal coffers were much more impressive than this. Before the war, anyway. Your father drained the kingdom’s resources to keep the war going far longer than he should have.”
Kaela sighed.
“Alright, so here is the plan…”