Walking from the briefing room to their quarters was painful, heads popping out of other passages, seeing Stathis and then retreating in a flurry of whispers. Those she passed flicked off parade-ground salutes, staying in place until she passed. She didn’t want to acknowledge them but it was rude to just leave them there, so she settled for a nod of acknowledgement as she passed each of them.

Janaxia bustled up close behind, in a flurry of silks and scents. ‘High Colonel Stathis? Congratulations are in order, I suppose, that is quite a high rank. So will you be taking command of this situation? And I would have appreciated some forewarning that I was being dragooned and press-ganged into the army. I certainly hope you won’t be insisting I wear the uniform.’ She frowned at a soldier in an ill-fitting uniform. ‘It really would do nothing to show my best attributes. Although I believe dress uniform is rather more dashing?’

‘We’re not in the army, we’re here as mercenaries to help out.’ Another soldier saluted her. ‘So we’re not part of the army. Although if someone gives you an order, it might be a good idea to follow it, they have far more of a plan than we will. We provide the heavy force, they seize the ground and deal with the bulk of the enemy.’

‘I do hope you have at least used your rank to secure us comfortable accommodation. Tents are very much to be avoided, if there is an alternative with an actual floor, ceiling and walls.’

Stathis didn’t mention the offer of the royal chamber. ‘They’ve fixed up some rooms, so we’re there. I’ve no idea how long this is going to go on for though, so we might end up just crashing there between attacks. I wouldn’t bet on getting much sleep.’

They walked down a narrow spiral staircase, Janaxia practically on top of her in the tightly curved confines of the steps. Out of the arrowslits was more of the same empty mountainsides – there was nothing up here, so small wonder the place had become home to bandits.

The staircase came down into a courtyard, building materials stacked up in piles along the walls, the sounds of crafting ringing out, arrows being mass-produced in readiness, swords and armour getting repaired. There was a sudden ringing sound of weapons, swords getting unsheathed. Stathis’ hand flew to her own hilt before a loud shout echoed around the walls.

‘High Colonel Stathis of the Iristari, heir to the Blade!’ The swords made a gleaming ceiling of steel, forming a passageway out of the tower. Stathis winced, desperately hoping Herith wouldn’t find out about this. A soldier approached, red knot of rank bright against his armour as he bowed.

‘High Colonel Stathis, honour to your blood.’ He bowed, as Janaxia wrapped her arm around Stathis’, tightly enough she couldn’t be easily removed. She preened under the attention, even though it was nothing to do with her. ‘We of the 22nd Heavy Foot stand ready to accept your orders. For the glory of the winged sword of the Iristari!’ There was a rattle of steel as swords rattled back into sheathes, what looked like an entire troop standing ready to receive her orders. Stathis sighed, ignoring Janaxia’s pleased wriggling.

‘I’m not here to assume command, just as a simple knight. Major Colobra is in charge, she has the command, and her orders will be followed.’ She let a note of command into her voice. ‘She has more than earned the right to command. I, and the rest of my adventuring company, will be taking the field to support you.’ This got more of a cheer than it deserved, although if Janaxia grinned any wider her head would fall off, enjoying the reflecting glory far too much.

Walking through the tunnel of people was cringeworthy, the soldiers all in perfect, parade-ground poses, despite the worn and battered gear. She stopped in front of one of the men, recognising the face, his expression slightly embarrassed. ‘Brennik? When did you get busted down, I thought you’d made lieutenant?’

He relaxed slightly, meeting her eyes and smiling. ‘There was a disagreement between myself, an owlbear and a captain that shall remain nameless.’

‘What was it?’

‘He said the owlbear was dead. I disagreed. So did the owlbear. Ended up with a lot of angry hooting and growling and having to bring the damn thing down in melee. I got busted down for that. Could be worse though, damn thing almost had my arm off!’

‘Tough break. Good job bringing down an owlbear though, those things are tough.’ She wanted to talk to him more, but with the rest of the troop around, still in their lines, it was too awkward. She’d have to find him later, see if he had any useful rumours or information, especially about whatever this bloody “Sheathed Eye” business was. There was nothing else for it but to continue walking down the double-line of soldiers, making bland statements, complimenting them on their gear and readiness for combat, Janaxia preening and echoing her statements, holding on far too tightly.

Finally Stathis reached the end of the line, increasing her strides and heading for some small cottages on the inside wall, still looking in need of repair, dragging Janaxia along with her. She felt relieved when they got inside, out of sight. Hakara shut the door, and Stathis let out a sigh as Janaxia spoke.

‘Well, that was rather pleasant, wasn’t it? I had no idea you held such rank. I hope that appropriate servants will be assigned – having a cook and a cleaner is the minimum for a commander in the field, is it not?’ She looked about the cramped chamber, probably built to house workers at the castle. ‘I suppose this is technically inside, but seems decidedly lacklustre.’

‘I’m not the commander. We’re here as mercenaries, nothing more. So no servants.’

‘That little display would seem to indicate otherwise. I’m sure you could arrange something a little more comfortable, could you not? Or at least someone to clean up?’

‘Sorry Janaxia, this is going to be it. You can ask Hakara to share her sanctum thing if you want.’ There were no beds, just straw mattresses on the floor. ‘Where’s Semari gone? Please tell me she’s not clambering over the walls. She’ll get arrested as a spy or something if she’s not careful.’

Janaxia let go of Stathis’ arm, annoyed that her hopes of having lackeys were being dashed. She would probably be even more upset when she encountered military rations, fit to make Parth’s food look like, well, food, to say nothing of the wine.

Hakara was already starting to chalk arcane symbols onto the wall, blue energy flickering around her. It was stained black, like ink poured into clear water, the effect dirty and tainted. Stathis looked at Janaxia, but she didn’t seem to be doing anything, her lash dull, tattoo unmoving. Parth scraped some moss off the wall with a nail, sniffing it, then chewing a little contemplatively as Stathis talked to her.

‘If you say “ancient darkness” or something without clarifying, then I’m going to do something we both regret. Especially because I don’t think you can walk through walls while that spell is in place.’

Parth looked annoyed before speaking. ‘Normal. No ancient power.’

‘That’s good, isn’t it? I mean, zombie hordes are bad, but if it’s just some necromancer, that’s not as bad as yet another ancient relic no-one could be arsed to destroy before.’ Parth looked doubtful. ‘Everything we’ve done recently has been “ancient monsters” or whatever, or Semari’s weird lightning-god stuff, I figure we’re owed something straightforward. Hakara, what do you think?’

Hakara’s face was tense with concentration as she continued to cast her spell. ‘The enemy must be quite potent, to achieve such a powerful and wide-reaching effect. Normally a dimensional anchor would affect only a highly limited area. It is a useful way of ensuring that reinforcements will be inaccessible, but it must be taking a lot of power to maintain. I would assume that it must be a group, rather than a single wizard - an individual would find themselves drained of power and be unable to participate in combat from the drain of the anchor alone, never mind maintaining control of a large number of undead. Such a power is normally the purview of group ritual magic, or powerful relics.’

‘OK, see if you can trace the source, that should give us something to work on in terms of how long until we’re going to be attacked. And go speak to Kelnara – they’re a bit touchy, but they know what they’re doing. Janaxia, you got any nice and easy ways to disrupt control of loads of zombies?’

‘Fireballs are generally up to the task. It is rather hard to control a pile of ash and burnt meat, after all. My darkness would likely have a similar effect.’

‘I was hoping for something rather easier and more occult, but thanks.’

More darkness was swelling up within Hakara’s divination spell, blotting out most of the other information it might have shown. ‘Apologies, Miss Stathis, but you appear to know the commander here. Is she a friend of yours?’

‘Not a friend, exactly. We were at the Academy at the same time. She was one of the star students, fantastic at tactics and strategy, I’m not surprised she’s got her knots already. But we were in the same class, so ending up having to compete against each other a lot, and there was some awkwardness when she found out about, well, who I was. It wasn’t really secret, as such, but I didn’t really tell other people about it. And then I managed to beat her in the final assessment. Honestly, she should have won, but I managed to break through and pull out a win, barely.’

‘Ah, so a grudge? I was concerned she might be a jilted lover.’ Janaxia was starting to clean the room, dark forces shunting dust and moss out of window.

‘Why would you think that? No, she’s mostly focused on her job, I don’t remember her doing much of that sort of thing, she was always studying and training. She’s damn good at the organisational side of things, and not too shabby at personal combat either. But she did raise the valid point that the troops will be expecting more reinforcements since I’m here, so that’s going to screw their morale when they realise none are coming. And they’re probably going to keep expecting me to take command, even though Herith is in charge.’

‘Oh? Is this not your birthright? To lead the forces of your homeland in conquest? They seem quite happy, eager even, to accept your command.’

‘Not really? I mean, I guess I’ll be in charge eventually, but if I have to lead an army, that’s because something’s fucked up somewhere. I’d rather have a people’s council or something, let them do the work. And conquering causes a lot of problems. Out here, it’s just empty, although there’s probably an elf that technically has the title.’

Parth nodded. ‘Cyfiawnder Tournelle, Knight of the Stone Shield.’

‘Friend of yours, I guess? Anyway, it’s not like anyone was using the place, so taking over and pushing back the monsters is fine. As soon as it comes to conquering settlements, everything gets messy and goes to shit, so I don’t want to do that.’

‘Well, it was certainly pleasing to be so well received. They must think highly of you. And you certainly seem to know many of them.’

‘I guess it’s been enough years since we graduated that everyone’s starting to reach the higher ranks. And if we’re expanding out into the empty lands, then there’s plenty of chances for rapid promotion. Does mean the forces are stretched thin though, this place is at about three quarters of full strength. Behind the walls, they can probably deal with zombies and common undead, but we’ll have to do the heavy lifting, deal with the necromancers and anything powerful, do what we can to help end this fast.’

‘Hmm. Well, I do hope there won’t be anything too problematic. I’m sure it’s some minor problem and she’s simply exaggerating the problem.’

‘Maybe, but I doubt it. She’s sensible enough she won’t have called for help unless she thought it was urgent.’ She looked at Janaxia, then Hakara and Parth. ‘I’m sure this won’t be a problem, but while you’re here, could you please remember this is a military base? If Herith orders you to do something, do it. It might not make sense to you, but this is a different organisation than you’re used to, so be mindful of that. There’s probably going to be an attempt at a fancy dinner.’ Janaxia immediately perked up. ‘But don’t be too surprised if it’s a bit disappointing – there’s not going to be anything that great, this is a military base that’s miles from anywhere. But be nice. And don’t be too dressy, Janaxia.’

‘Oh? Are you concerned that the soldiers might have been too long without feminine company I might drive them wild?’

‘It’s mixed sex, in case you didn’t notice. No, if you dress up super-fancy, they’ll take you less seriously as a wizard. Everyone here is career military – preened and perfumed aristocrats normally means incompetents causing trouble. You’ll be a lot more popular if you dress, well, like how you’re currently dressed, for action, rather than super-fancy dresses. You won’t look as nice, I’m afraid, but you’ll have to manage. And anything with armour would be preferable, in case there’s a sudden attack. There’s probably a spare suit of chain or something you can have.’ Janaxia wrinkled her nose in disgust. ‘It’s better than getting stabbed!’

‘Do you wish me to change, Miss Stathis?’ asked Hakara, tugging at her own robes.

‘No, you should be fine. Although please call me “Stathis”, I want to try and make it clear that I’m not an officer or anything. It’s going to get complicated if the soldiers keep looking to me for orders, and Herith knows the situation far better than I do. And I know you won’t, but don’t use my name to get away with stuff.’

Janaxia was looking increasingly annoyed as her dreams of shared influence were dashed. ‘This is sounding decidedly less pleasurable than I anticipated. I imagined something rather more dramatically fraught and tense, fighting to hold the breach and so forth. And did not expect it to involve quite so many old colleagues of yourself, Stathis. I suppose it will be interesting to see what stories they have of you.’

Stathis winced. ‘I’m sure there won’t be anything that interesting. And we need to focus. Sieges are mostly long and boring. In this case, it’ll be even worse, because they’re undead, so they can’t starve or anything – we might be stuck here for a while. Hakara, I guess there’s no breaking through the barrier?’

‘I highly doubt it – as Fribuald’s law states, to shield an effect takes less energy than to penetrate the shielding. And the effect is sufficiently diffuse it cannot be directly dispelled without access to the caster or the bound nexus.’

‘OK, try and see if you can work out where that is. It’s probably with their main forces, so at least that will give us some distance if you can work it out. Janaxia, can you summon up Mavrosa? An extra horse would be useful.’

‘Very well.’ Janaxia left, the cottage too small to summon up a horse inside.

Parth spoke. ‘Scouting needed. Local terrain, search for spies.’

‘It’s an undead horde, they might not have any, but anything you can see would be helpful. If there’s any old ruins, add them to the map as well. I guess there’s no conveniently hidden ancient relics around here?’

Parth shook her head. ‘Organised retreat. Nothing of value left.’

‘Makes sense. OK, you do that. Hakara, keep doing divinations. I’m going to go see what this place is like. If anyone knocks, try and be polite, and try to keep Janaxia from being too strange. And if you see Semari, try and keep her off the walls.’ Stathis left, Parth close behind.

The main gate was currently open, guards on watch, mostly looking bored. Parth walked through, ignoring the surprised shouts from a guard, vanishing into the undergrowth with unnatural speed. Stathis took a deep breath, readying herself for the awkwardness to come as she prepared to look around.