Edward Rosewill had been given little time to prepare for the arrival of this Lord Vik’t. He could only hope his preparations were enough. He found it irksome that he had to bow down to an alien invader but he knew that might come to pass when he agreed to have the Enchanters Guild join his town in exchange for defenses. But he hadn’t expected a visit so soon. He had barely solidified his hold on the town and ejected the malcontents before they showed up.

Speaking of malcontents he hadn’t heard many rumblings about them lately, he would need to speak with his captain of the guard to find out what was going on with those people. If they were still causing problems he might be forced to send out patrols to pacify the non-residents.

He checked his tie once more in the mirror before there was a knock on the large door to his penthouse office. His assistant stuck her head in.

“Mr. Rosewill, Lord Vik’t, and his entourage have arrived.”

“Send them in, and have some foods catered in.”

His assistant nodded before disappearing out of the door. A moment later the door opened and a tall man in expensive robes and an overbearing aura walked in. Edward had been coached on how to act in front of the man. He bowed his head in greeting, suppressing his feelings of loathing at having to capitulate to someone.

Edward stayed bowed while the man looked over the room, his gaze finally landing on him. Edward swore he heard a derisive snort.

“You may rise, I find your accommodations… adequate.”

Edward suppressed his anger and rose to lock eyes with the Lord. “Lord Vik’t, I am-,”

“Yes, humbled. I am aware.”

Edward was taken off guard by the interruption and the man seeming to read his thoughts but he hid it well.

“What-“

“What you can do for me, Mr. Rosewill, is answer some questions. I don’t plan on sticking around long in this backwater.”

“I will do my best to answer your questions, Lord Vik’t,” Edward replied, this time not being cut off. There was definitely a derisive snort from the lord this time around.

“What can you tell me about enchanted items being made in this area?” Lord Vik’t replied with a predatory smile.

***

Once Edward had realized what Lord Vik’t was trying to learn about he was more than happy to disclose everything he knew about the man named Paul Fuller. Unfortunately, it wasn’t all that much as the man had fled Houston after the Dwarven attack. Deciding he needed more up-to-date information, he went in search of his guard captain.

After he had orchestrated the deaths of most of the ossified idiots in the gated community, Edward took command of any of the guards who were now out of work. They had been instrumental in his takeover of Houston and now accounted for seventy percent of the guard forces he controlled. The rest came from sycophants that wished to latch on to his rise to power. He was fine with that. Those types of people were easy to control and placate.

Edward entered the office without knocking as was his right. His captain was a bit indecent at the time with some young woman but he just stood there and glowered as the two dressed and the woman ran past him looking highly embarrassed.

“Is this what I’m paying you for?” Edward growled.

“Sorry sir,” The captain replied, looking awkward and disheveled.

Edward didn’t even know the man's name, not that it mattered. What mattered was the man listened and did his job. He didn’t even care if the man was using his position to get in the women's pants, what mattered was results. But he couldn’t come off as accepting of stuff like this or his people would use that as an excuse to get away with even more.

“Keep your dick in your pants on my time.”

“Yes sir, sorry, sir. It won’t happen again,” the man quickly replied.

With that business out of the way, Edward got right to the point of his visit. “I need you to gather information about that Paul Fuller and his people. Where they went and what they are up to. Do you think you can handle that?” Edward asked pointedly.

“Certainly, Mr. Rosewill.”

“Good, also what's going on with the outcasts, I haven’t heard them mentioned in my weekly briefings?”

“Oh, they have been mostly quiet. I have a report here somewhere,” the man replied, digging through the mess of papers that had fallen from his desk during his lascivious activities. Eventually, he found what he was looking for.

“Here we are," he said before glancing at Edward… "ahem, yes. The report states that some of the people boarded one of those barges. Most have either moved to the outskirts of old Houston or left for other nearby settlements. There are a few that still demand to be let back in but the guards have been able to take care of them without much issue.”

Edward recalled the barges and something Gaben Hewitt had said. Piecing that together with the information Lord Vik’t had been inquiring about, he was sure the barges were another invention of that Paul.

“Find out where those barges are going, and try and get one of our people on board. I think that will be the quickest way to find out what that outlaw Paul Fuller is up to.”

“Right away Mr. Rosewill.”

Edward left the office, angry with himself for missing that connection. It was so obvious now that he thought about it. But his focus had been on that overgrown fleabag. He had only known that Gaben had had a conflict with one of that overgrown fleabag’s friends, not what sort of conflict it had been. At the time it wasn’t important as he only needed that idiot's money.

It would take some time but his people were good at gathering information.

***

Mr. Nobody stood in front of another mirror room. Dark figures were displayed on the panels all silently judging him and his failure.

“What of the node?” one of the members asked.

“Currently unretrievable,” Mr. Nobody replied in his normal monotone voice.

“Why?” another asked.

“We are unsure. Attempts to open a portal inside have been met with failure. We have a few people traveling to the location. They have the skills to traverse the ventilation system but that will take time since we deemed it a security risk to open portals near the surface of the site.”

“What about our eyes on Mr. Fuller?” a third member asked.

“Dead or captured would be my guess. We have long-range scouts watching the city but the information they can gather is limited. We know a wall has gone up, and some towers. Our best guess is those are shield towers. Mana cannons have also been spotted along the walls,” Mr. Nobody responded.

The final member asked her question. “What of the project?”

“Most of the rune work was moved after Stone’s removal from the Order. We lost a few items and early works but nothing that will affect us in the long term.”

There was some back and forth conversation amongst the others as Mr. Nobody stood there. It took a few minutes before everything settled down and the first speaker spoke again.

“This new development is troubling. Do we know how Mr. Fuller managed to find the node and Stone’s cell outpost?”

“Nothing definitive,” Mr. Nobody responded.

“A theory then? Enlighten us,” the first speaker added.

“As you know I was an eye witness to the events. I had just entered the portal room when Mr. Fuller appeared. He appeared directly on the location that we used for incoming transits.”

“So you believe he found a way to piggyback on our teleports?”

“Either that or trace them back. But given the timing, I put more stock on him piggybacking.”

“In either case, that is highly disturbing. I vote we issue a no transit order within fifty miles of Saint June. All in favor say aye.”

The vote was unanimous. Hardly a surprise to Mr. Nobody, considering the implications.

“Send someone out to notify the watchers. If the opportunity arises, slip some more spies into the city. We need to know what this man is up to.”

“What of the Guild?” the third speaker asked.

Mr. Nobody answered that question as well. “They are getting closer to the truth. War seems inevitable at this point. That is probably the reason for Mr. Fuller’s help with building up the city’s defenses. Has the seer been able to determine anything?”

“No, the lines of the future in that region have gone dark,” the second speaker responded.

“What of the rest of the world?” Mr. Nobody asked, with concern.

“The areas we are working in are still on track, with only a few issues. Other areas have also gone dark but those individuals seem content to stay where they are,” the final speaker stated.

Mr. Nobody nodded in reply and the screens faded away. With Stone gone, Mr. Nobody was the only active cell now in the United States. It sometimes made things difficult to keep track of everything, but he had no choice. Eventually, a new cell leader would be voted in, but that could be months. It was a bit irksome that all the other cell leaders seemed to be having a much easier time of it.

While there were more continents, it was rare for the Order to have to impose themselves on some. North America was a hotbed, as was Europe, Asia, and Africa. There were cells in every continent, even Antarctica, but few had more than two or three cells. It was mostly for redundancy in case something like what Stone did, occurred or a cell was compromised.

Rebuilding a cell was usually pretty easy, but with a large portion of the world population dead, it was a much more difficult prospect. Angering people like Paul Fuller didn’t help matters. Knowing he had a lot of work to accomplish, Mr. Nobody left the node chamber and got back to work.

***

“Well, Mayor, what is your first agenda?” Kurt asked, looking a bit annoyed.

Martin pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. The election had completed last week but it took time to get up to speed, despite him having worked with Kurt and Paul for months. There were certain things Kurt had refused to disclose. And now the man was dumping everything he didn’t wish to deal with in his lap.

Martin let out the breath he had been holding. “Kurt, just call me Martin, I’m not big on protocol.”

Kurt soured at this and Martin wanted to sigh. Kurt could be a real stickler for rules. Sometimes this was good, especially for a Sheriff, but sometimes it made the man highly inflexible.

Martin ignored Kurt’s pouting and picked up the report he had been handed last week. He wondered how Kurt had managed to keep the issue under wraps for so long. The report was short and concise but painted a dire picture of the city’s food reserves. The problem had mostly gone away when the merchants had started coming through but that only helped so far. With the growing population, the issue had only grown and become worse.

Martin had pondered over the issue for a few days. “Let's go for a ride.”

Martin drove the Paul modified vehicle with Kurt in the passenger seat, to the east side of the city and through the gate. The gate was kept open during the day for people to come and go as they pleased. With guards stationed there, it wasn’t much of a concern.

It was a few hundred feet to the edge of the plateau from the gate and a winding path that led down to the land beyond. Kurt looked a bit unsure but kept silent as they drove on. Martin could have just driven the truck off the plateau but this wasn’t the time for theatrics.

Martin wasn’t a farmer, but being a small town country boy he had picked up a few things doing odd jobs for neighbors when he was growing up. He stopped the truck and got out as the area started becoming thick with trees.

“Why are we way out here?” Kurt inquired.

“I want to see how good the soil is.”

“Farming? Won’t that be too dangerous outside the walls?”

Martin ignored the question as he kneeled down in an open area and dug through the dirt. As he had thought, it was dark and rich soil, perfect for farming. He wiped his hands off and stood back up.

“I will contract with Paul’s people to have this area cleared and a wall erected to keep the farmers safe. We can’t afford to only rely on our fishing to bring in enough food to survive. And importing food isn’t an option at the moment. One because we have no easy access to Bazaars and two because the city coffers are rather meager at the moment.”

“That’s mostly your friend's doing,” Kurt grumbled, more than happy to pass off the issue to someone else.

“You need to stop that shit right now,” Martin responded angrily, getting a jerk of surprise from Kurt. “If it wasn’t for Paul, the city would still be facing daily monster attacks and still be suffering from food shortages. But now there is a wall that keeps wandering monsters out, a steady influx of people and resources, and stability for the people. So I will not listen to you badmouth the man when he isn’t here to defend himself. If this is too much for you to handle, perhaps I need to replace you with a new Sheriff?”

When Kurt didn’t respond, Martin only nodded. “Get in, we have other work to do.”

***

Ska patrolled the city, making sure nobody was causing too much trouble. Most people just received a fine or time in a cell. It was a strange dynamic that humans had but Ska had grown used to the irregularities.

Ska found guard duty to be much more stressful than hunting. At least with hunting, you knew your quarry. As a guard, he had to be vigilant of everyone around him. Most people were polite or at least civil when he strode past. He was one of the few guards that patrolled solo thanks to his level and skills. But anyone not new to the city already knew who he was and that it wasn’t a good idea to piss him off. He let out a small contented growl at that thought, making a few people, close enough to hear, scurry away in fear that they were his target.

He now understood how the alphas of his village felt when they could just look at someone and without saying anything, make them slink away.

Ska rounded the corner of the bustling market district. His keen vision quickly picked out a group of men causing trouble at the far end of the road. They were harassing a vendor by shoving him around and messing up his stall.

Ska flexed his paws angrily, causing his blade-like claws to extend and retract. Before he rushed to see what the problem was, he unclipped the radio from his armor strap and contacted dispatch.

“Dispatch, this is Ska. I have a disturbance in the market district involving seven individuals.”

It took a moment before a reply came in. “Roger that, we are sending another team to your area.”

Ska purred in approval when they didn’t ask him to wait like they did when he first joined. Not that he would have anyway.

Ska quickly jogged toward the growing altercation with a gleam in his eye. One of the men spotted his approach and tapped on the guy manhandling the merchant. The man looked over with a snarl and threw the merchant to the ground. Ska noted that the merchant was human. Usually, people got angrier with the non-human residents.

By the time Ska had arrived, the other five men had formed a rough half-circle with the leader at the center. They didn’t have any weapons drawn, but almost everyone went around armed these days. Ska could see a few different weapons on the men. The most concerning thing was the leader and his lack of weapons. That usually meant a caster of some sort.

Ska glanced around and noticed most people had quickly moved away from the area. He nodded in approval before turning back toward the men.

“What can we do for you, OFFICER?” the leader said, spitting a glob of something on the ground.

Ska ignored the man while he glanced at the store owner.

“Are you ok?”

The man nodded.

“Good, please come over here.”

The man hesitated, looking at the other group.

“Hey! Don’t ignore me, asshole. You fucking outworlders are all the same. Coming over here and stealing our land and forcing your god damn rules upon us. This is America! And you don’t belong here...”

Ska continued ignoring the man as he ranted, keeping an eye on the shopkeeper as he hobbled over. The man didn’t appear all that injured so he would heal shortly. That just left Ska to deal with these seven troublemakers. It didn’t really matter what they did, if they went quietly they would be punished, but if they resisted it wouldn’t go well for them. Ska hoped they resisted.

Ska had grown up with the system and troublemakers always had to be dealt with severely because if they weren’t, they could cause a significant amount of damage or endanger the community in the future. At least this town had figured that out. The standard way of dealing with these situations was, incapacitate and contain, or kill if they resisted. Everything else could be figured out later.

Ska didn’t think too much about it, he earned experience in his second class by safeguarding innocent people. He could still earn experience through killing but the system seemed to be able to distinguish what act he was stopping and the experience could be reduced.

When the merchant was safely behind Ska and away from the area of battle, and before the man finished his rambling, Ska burst into motion.

It seemed the men had been expecting it as they drew weapons and readied spells, but they hadn’t expected Ska’s explosive speed. They chose resistance and Ska snarled in approval.

The leader screamed as his spell went off, a crackling bust of energy flying harmlessly into the sky as Ska tore both his arms from his body, before kicking off the man to send him tumbling backward and redirecting his motion toward his next target.

The fight was over in less than a minute, with all of the men missing at least one limb. Ska walked around, dripping a bit of healing potion into the open wounds. It was enough to have them seal over to prevent the people from bleeding out but not enough to regrow the limbs. That would take a few days. Not that it would matter much. These people had attacked him. There was only one penalty for that. Ska wished he could just deal with the men now but there were laws and he had to follow them. Even if he found them asinine.

It was rare he actually got to fight in the city, most people were smart enough to give up when they saw him coming. Ska had taken a few hits, nothing major though. Most of the damage had been healed thanks to his magical claws. The rest was a badge of honor he wore proudly. He hoped Paul would return soon, he needed to get the runes redone as they were starting to lose their effectiveness. Ska stood there among the groaning and screaming men as he waited for his backup to arrive. He wondered if Martin would be available tonight to make some delicious food.