He guided the cart into the fort, and his eyes settled on the empty centre, before moving to Lanther resting in the back. I moved up behind him, applying a choke hold as I brought him to the ground. He struggled, landing a few elbow strikes into my stomach, I held on, my armour absorbing the strikes easily. He reached up to claw at my eyes, but his arms were obstructed by mine, and slowly his struggling ceased.

[That worked a lot better than I’d expected.] Page noted, surprised.

Agreed. I thought they’d have sent someone with more experience for covert operations. I thought back, frowning as I flipped through the supplies. Weapons, mostly spears, bearing no smith’s mark or even a distinctive design, along with sets of cheap leather armour. It wouldn’t hold up to military scrutiny. But against simple merchants… It’s more than enough.

I tied him a while away from Lanther, didn’t want any possibility of him tampering with Lanther’s situation. I settled in to wait, that he was here meant that Teal had already sent the message a long time ago, and had likely shadowed the recipient for a while. I wondered if they’d managed to find anything about their mysterious employers… I couldn’t keep Lanther on the drug for much longer, prolonged exposure was liable to cause permanent brain damage. At least the addiction will help in interrogations. I thought mirthlessly.

Teal came in during one of my naps, and I was startled awake by footsteps just a few metres from me. I had rolled to my feet, shield prepared as I tried to focus my vision. “It’s me, Seraph.” Teal called, I didn’t react, waiting for my vision to settle and only dropping my guard once I confirmed their form, that of the elven man. “I suppose that is why you were chosen.” he mused. “Proper paranoia.”

I sighed. I wasn’t chosen. I thought sullenly. Not even who you think I am. I shrugged internally. “Did you find out who’s supporting them?” I asked, walking over to the supplier I’d tied to the wall. I untied the knot that bound him to the wall, but not the one that bound his hands. I passed him over to Teal, as he kicked and cursed. “That’s the supplier by the way.” I remarked as I moved to Lanther.

“Not precisely.” Teal answered. “The last person I followed entered into a government building. Seemed like the town guard or similar. Heavily guarded.” I pulled Lanther up and pushed him along, he stumbled forward, unsteady on his feet. “I couldn’t follow him in, but it would seem to suggest that they are funded by another nation.”

I opened my mouth, pausing before letting out a curse. “You wouldn’t happen to know what this settlement was called would you?” I sighed. Teal would hardly know the geography of the human settlements. Maybe they could tell me the rough topographical location?

“The locals called it Romus, it seems to be the capital of a nation called the Republic?” Teal said. I blinked. “They were a little sceptical when I said I had no idea where I was, but relented easily enough after I claimed I was in dire need of direction.” He smirked.

“That… complicates things.” I said, sighing. “Not unexpected, but that’s not good at all.”

The supplier continued to curse us out, calling us a variety of interesting combinations. He seemed to really like the word ape though. Page noted at least thirty variations on the word by the time we arrived at Hrothan. The supplier had slowed now, his movement unsteady as Lanther, but from dehydration and not drugs. The newfound quiet was rather enjoyable.

Caio looked to me with an arched eyebrow as I threw the mage onto the ground in front of him. “They call him Lanther, he should be the Kinth mentioned in the note we intercepted.” Teal plopped the supplier in front as well. “My friend here sent the message and trailed them into Romus.” Caio’s eyes narrowed at that. “He can probably describe the building if you like.”

“The mage is on Quillweed?” Asked one of the soldiers. I nodded. “I… see.” He said, frowning, though he seemed more conflicted than disapproving. They slapped a certain handcuff onto Kinth, the same one used for the mage from the time we faced down the bandits. They took both of them out of our hands. “We’ll take it from here.” He assured me.

“Thanks for this.” Caio said, sagging forward a little once they escorted the prisoners away and we were alone. “Nice to hear good news for once, even if it isn’t particularly nice news.” He grimaced. “I knew some of the people in Haen, that this man fanned and cajoled them to this is despicable. We’ve received some word from the front lines, it’s not looking very good. The dragons have slowed the advance to a crawl, but they’re advancing and gaining momentum. we’ve lost contact with another group of settlements.”

I thought of Cale, Ram, Saindall and the others. How had their diplomacy fared I wondered. If any civilization on this side of the world wanted to survive they’d need that coalition. Well if I want to stay alive I’ll need that too. I grimaced. How much time had I wasted just hunting one bandit group?

[Bandits should soon be entirely gone as a problem though, thanks to due diligence on the parts of the other irregulars.] Page noted.

True, the wildlife is still agitated though, and there’s only so much we can do at once. Baen hadn’t had time to explain, but the requests he’d had written down included more than a few almost half a week away. He was really lagging behind. Chronic hero syndrome there… Can’t say no to people who need help. Not like I’m better. I made a wan smile. There aren’t enough irregulars for this.

I thanked Caio for the news, leaving Kinth and the supplier to them. The questioner apparently didn’t have high hopes, noting that any information they got would probably be denied all the way, and there was nothing to confirm that they did work for them. It would, at least, influence the course of action for a few of those sitting on the fences.

Teal had decided to wait outside the town, transforming back into his draconic form in an area obscured by trees. We took to the air, headed now for Torven, where with luck I would find Frejr and the others waiting. Winter was coming again, the trees were in their autumn regalia, bright and beautiful. “It has been a long time since I have been able to see leaves.” Teal had rumbled happily.

We landed a ways from the city, and Teal changed again. This time she took back the form of the noblewoman. “I like this form.” She protested, swapping out the fine dress for a set of more practical wear and changing her posture slightly. “No one will even know!” She said, splaying out her arms. I sighed and shook my head, but didn’t stop her.

As we entered I spied a duo limping into the city. A spearman and an archer, dressed in blood stained leathers. As I and Teal approached, they caught sight of us, and seemed to deflate. “What happened to you?” I asked, their wounds were nothing to sneeze at, the spearman himself looked about ready to keel over. I walked over and took him from the archer, she didn’t resist. “He’s poisoned.” I murmured, looking at the green necrotic tissue that marked his arm.

I drew out my potion immediately, passing a few drops into his mouth. His pallor seemed to recede, and some colour returned to his face. “What the hell did you people fight?” I asked, eyebrows knitted together. The spearman, now somewhat more lucid, shrunk a little.

“Goblins… sir.” He said, his voice low and meek. “We weren’t good enough.” His head lowered. The archer walked over and reached out, trying to take him back. I did so. Why the heck are they so afraid of me? I thought, bewildered, as I helped to move them into the city.

They seemed to be heading the same direction I was, and indeed, our destination was the same. Teal herself left to explore the city, eager to see the sights. She promised to come to the building later, asking directions from the locals. We walked towards the door, and I stood there for a moment, staring somewhat uncomprehending. “You’re irregulars?” I asked aloud, a surprise to my voice that I mentally berated myself for. “Sorry, it’s just, I didn’t know that there were any others in the area…”

“Uh, we’re new sir.” The archer said. “We signed on a week ago… sir.” I raised an eyebrow. Signed on? We’re irregulars aren’t we? Organization is practically anathema. I then thought to Frejr and the others. Almost anathema. I corrected. They stared at me for a moment, my puzzlement mostly hidden I ushered them into the building.

I opened the door to a strange sight. Gone were the dusty, empty corridors from when the buildings were first given to us, four tables dotted the centre where a few citizens and a few armoured people sat and dined. Two magical lights hung in the back, over a counter where a group was conversing with a… receptionist? As I saw that sight I paused for a moment, before shaking myself from surprise and pushing into the building. The orc receptionist saw me and her eyes darted to me.

The others realized that her focus had shifted, and soon everyone had turned to rest their gaze on me. I ignored their stares as best I could, helping along the two fighters, who seemed just as unnerved about the whole situation as I was. “These two need some medical attention, do you know where Frejr, Qent, Azarint, Rince or Numen are?” I said, my voice the only sound where the buzzing of conversation once was. The silence stretched on as they each looked to one another.

It was the receptionist that finally spoke. “Could you come over to the back?” She told the two, and they nodded hastily, separating from me as quickly as they could. The receptionist took them with her, and left me at the desk, I leant against it, turning so that I was facing most of the others. Bloody hell this is nerve-wracking, what is going on? I thought, forcing myself to be calm.

The tables at the centre were part of some kind of tavern like arrangement. A counter sat on the edge of the room, where a bartender put together several drinks and whispered urgently to one of the serving wenches. On the other side was what appeared to be an armoury, a man stood before it, probably guarding it, he didn’t seem particularly perturbed, though his eyes would dart to me every so often. The armoury itself seemed to be a refurbished part of the building.

A wall, obviously newly constructed, separated it from the rest of the floor, with a window and a till instead the only obvious point of interaction. I was just about to walk over as Numen walked down the stairs from above, and grabbed my hand. “Let’s go.” She said, as all eyes turned to her now. I nodded, turning once to glare at one of the staring people, who had decided to focus on places decidedly inappropriate. His eyes averted as I did so, as he pretended not to have done so at all.

“… Want to explain what happened here?” My voice echoed lightly down the corridor. “When exactly did you start redecorating?” I asked. The upper floor was a lot more austere in comparison, with neither decorations nor refurbishments. Still the same old building, the only changes were the lamps, still magical. Where did they manage to get these? I thought to myself. Can’t have been cheap… A favour of some kind?

“Well…” Numen started, but didn’t continue until we reached one of the rooms near the back. “We’ve kind of… expanded.” She said. Opening the door and ushering me in.