The Company of the Red Banner returned to Wolfsburg not by the usual method taken by horses and humans along twisting roads but by using the expensive teleportation process. Captain Bernice had spent longer in the north than she had intended and needed to be home. Every five minutes, another half dozen horses and riders appeared in the middle of the teleportation stone and quickly rode out of the building and towards their stables and barracks. Groups of ten horses followed this with a groom and, finally, the supply wagons with their mules. Normally, the Legion and mercenary groups used the teleport stone in the Legion outpost at the city's north end.

The Red Banner was the exception because of their status as the favored scouts of Duke Carl and the proximity of their barracks to the palace. Some of the rough-looking mercenaries were even trusted enough to trade their trademark red leather armor for the shiny silver armor worn by the Wolfshead Guard and serve in the palace. The line of merchants, government functionaries, and travelers grumbled a bit as they waited throughout the morning, but most people were cheerful, despite the inconvenience. The Red Banner had been in Wolfsburg for generations and, despite their official status as mercenaries, were considered 'Home town lads and lasses.'

Rastfian Earth-Master, the sour-faced senior mage on duty, watched as the mana reserve plummeted. Wolfsburg's Tier 5 teleportation array could nominally store one-hundred-million mana, but it never approached that number. Too much traffic and insufficient mages charging the system meant the larger city had to look for mana sources to transfer to the capital of the Duchy. With the arrival the next day of the Emperor and his large entourage, followed only a few hours later by their departure, the mana reserves were dangerously low. The arrival of the Red Banner Company caused the level to dip lower. A horse took three times the energy to move as a human, and a cargo wagon was worse. Fifty mercenaries, over a hundred horses, three supply wagons, and thirty mules took their toll.

Just as the last supply wagon was done and Rastfian was about to signal the first group waiting to step onto the platform, the corporal managing the supply wagons held up a hand. "We have three more wagons coming through. Each is heavily laden, with no horses. Let the people bringing them park them in the merchant area until I can bring mules to pull them to the barracks."

Rastfian smiled and nodded, despite seething inside. Those wagons were not included in the paperwork sent for the transfer and would upset his schedule further.

"Happy to oblige you, corporal. May I ask what is being brought through that is of such importance?"

The corporal mounted his horse and turned to ride off but spared a moment to turn and say, "Sausage." He rode off, leaving Rastfian and his two junior mages puzzled and frustrated. Five minutes later, the first wagon appeared. Like the Red Banner, it came from Rowan Keep in the far north. Unlike the other wagons, it wasn't pulled by horses. The large, six-wheeled cargo wagon was designed to carry twenty barrels, roughly six-thousand pounds of cargo. It was drawn by one man who smiled down at Rastian and yelled, "Sausage delivery from Sedgewick, where do you want it?"

Rastian saw a much higher-than-expected amount of mana drain from the system. Whatever was in those barrels wasn't sausage! It was organic and heavily infused with mana. Moving such material caused a greater drain on the system. Looking at the barrels with Magesight revealed them as a Tier Three enchanted material containing a high content of dark mana. Was this some attack on the city? Was it linked to the Emperor's birthday celebration? Worse, the man pulling the wagon wasn't what he seemed! He couldn't be a simple Butcher if he could so easily pull a wagon that normally took a team of mules.

Without more than a second's thought, Rastian set off the alarm bells that brought the guards and alerted the legion. Within seconds, the three mages were joined by six of the city guard and another half-dozen junior mage. The latter would be no help, having poured all of their mana into the teleport system, but it looked good to have them backing him up. "Stay where you are! If you so much as move an inch, I'll destroy you!" Noticing how close the man was to the enchanted material and worried about its use, he yelled. "Step away from the wagon!"

An amused look passed across the man's face. "Sounds contradictory. Is it 'Step away' or 'Don't Move'?"

Half the junior mages yelled, "Don't move!" and started prepping their spells. Rastian simultaneously screamed. "Obey me and step away." The city guard moved forward to arrest the man, getting in the way of the mages.

"Does this mean you don't want the sausage? It's paid for already, but I can haul it down to the market and sell it there. Up to you, but I think the Red Banner lads will be upset."

He seemed unworried about the weapons and spells aimed at him.

The crowd of waiting travelers wanted nothing to do with a fight that involved mages and the city guard. They ran loudly for their lives, causing people in the streets to run. Two more alarm bells started ringing, one proclaiming a riot and the other a fire. Merchants shut their doors, grabbed their spiked clubs, and prayed it wouldn't turn into a riot. Another dozen city guards pushed through the panicking crowds to enter the courtyard surrounding the teleport stone.

Ozzy decided to obey the mage who was yelling the loudest and took a step away from the wagon and raised his hands above his head. The last thing he wanted was a fight. He had a lot of work piling up in Sedgewick to get to.

Two guards moved closer, yelling for him to lie on the ground. Torison Flamehead, one of the junior mages with enough mana to cast a spell, misinterpreted Ozzy raising his hands, assuming he was casting a spell. "He's attacking! Kill him!" He launched a Flaming Bolt of Dreadfire, grimacing as his head pounded from expending so much mana at once. Two others joined him, casting Multiple Mystical Bolt and Shocking Blast. With spells flying, Rastian shrugged and joined in. He couldn't be blamed for throwing the first spell and wanted the fame of defending against a mystical terrorist. Summoning the dense bedrock beneath him, he launched Spear of Baetylus, sending a five-hundred-pound, ten-foot-long spear of molten rock at the 'ordinary butcher.'

When the first alarm bell had gone off, Captain Bernice had been three blocks away, speaking with Captain Marno of the City Guard. Seeing the panicking crowds, she cursed once and called on the power of her city. Being back in Wolfsburg gave her access to abilities she couldn't use on missions outside the city. One of those stored away her current garb and summoned her gleaming plate armor decorated with the Heraldry of the rulers of Wolfsburg. A stylized helmet resembling a wolf and a swirling red cloak ensured that anyone looking at her recognized her as Claudia, Duchess of the North. The transformation took less than a second, and then she ran for the building where the first alarm was still sounding. Five of the Red Banner ran with her, vainly trying to get ahead of the woman they were supposed to protect. Marno trailed behind them, shouting orders and clanking along in his heavy armor.

People got out of Claudia's way, partly from recognizing her and mostly from the effect of her aura. She entered the courtyard to see the Butcher of Sedgewick stepping away from a heavy wagon as mages and warriors yelled at him. As he raised his hands, he was charged by two of the city guard and assaulted with spells. Claudia screamed in frustration, "Stop! Stop you idiots; I command it." The two city guards stopped in their tracks, but the spells had been cast, and she could only watch as the man died.

Two magical axes appeared in the Butcher's hands as he saw the spells being cast, and he crossed them in front of them as if he could ward off the magic coming his way. And to everyone's astonishment, it worked! A shimmering shield of energy formed before him, intercepting the spells coming at him. Shocking Blast was a storm magic spell with a small area of effect. The junior mage casting it saw the Shield absorb his Tier 2 spell and disperse the blast unaffected. The Flaming Bolt of Dreadfire was a more potent spell, a Tier higher than the storm spell. The spell dispersed some of its flame and dark magic, but the rest penetrated and hit the Butcher to absolutely no effect except to make him smile. The low-powered Multiple Mystical Bolt peppered the shield with a dozen missiles, but each lost all its force and failed to penetrate.

Rastfian's spell was another thing entirely. Unlike the other elemental spells, it didn't launch a mana-based attack. Instead, it summoned molten rock and hurled it at the mage's opponent. The physical attack was much more difficult for a mage to deflect. It was designed as a high-mana-cost alpha strike to be used against strong foes. To Rastian's utter disbelief, his spell was deflected from the Butcher's Shield. He had no way of knowing that the shimmering field of force was designed to protect against Sea Monsters and the rams of other ships.

Ozzy's shield held, but he was forced back several yards, his boots carving furrows in the courtyard bricks. His Shield absorbed some of the damage, and his Hull absorbed much more. The rest of the damage hit him like a cavalry charge, doing over a thousand points of damage, and deflected the spell away from him.

Unfortunately, it hit the delivery wagon, loaded with barrels of freshly made Sedgewick Sausage. He'd worked hard to get the first part of the shipment ready, working with Runt and some workers all through the night. Even Billy and Layla had lent a hand, both very happy with the money filling their coffers. Each of the barrels was filled with the thick dark mana that flowed from Gadobhra. Added to that was a layer of smoke and heat supplied by Ozzy and his Pit. The mana had only begun to infuse into the sausages. The barrels exploded, sending freshly cooked sausage into the air and scattering it over the surrounding city streets. The people in the courtyard were pummeled by exploding meat and knocked to the ground, except Claudia and Marno.

Claudia saw the Butcher look at his wagon and scowl. "You could have just said you wanted to cancel the order!" Waves of intimidation washed out from him. A panicked Rastfian stood up and started to cast a spell. Before he could, a black chain wrapped around his throat, and the Butcher pulled the mage to him, holding him by his neck to prevent any more spells from being cast. He saw Captain Bernice wearing much better armor than he'd last seen her wearing. The heraldry and design of the armor weren't lost on him.

"It's your call, your Grace. Destroying good sausage isn't something I'd normally let someone get away with, but it's your city." The axe in his other hand glowed red with heat. Rastfian's face was turning purple, and he kicked his legs to no effect against the Butcher's chest as Ozzy held in the air.

Claudia took a deep breath. "Captain Marno, please round up all of the sausage-desecrating mages and haul them off for the Duke's judgment, except for that one; he needs to explain his actions to me. The rest of you quit annoying the visiting Butcher so he doesn't grind you into sausage. And get this place cleaned up."

Dropping her voice lower, she turned to Ozzy. "There's a tavern nearby. Can I offer you lunch and something cold to drink while we sort out this misunderstanding?"

Another wagon of sausage appeared in the middle of the meat-strewn courtyard. Jon looked around at the carnage. "Dammit! Did I miss a fight?"

Ozzy grinned at them. "It was quick; now we're heading for some beer."

A moment after that, Cham appeared with the last wagon. Jon yelled at him. "We missed the fight but not the beer."

The two looked at each other and pushed the wagons to an empty spot in the courtyard. "Beer sounds good.

Claudia led them off to a nearby tavern, conveniently empty as the patrons had fled or were in the streets picking up sausages. She needed to find out what the hell had happened. Followed by the workers from Sedgewick, a mage who was grateful to breathe again, and Captain Marno, she sat and yelled for beer and food. The tavern keeper knew her in both guises and was happy to get his shaken staff moving.

"Now, let's figure this out and quickly. I have a birthday party to prepare for, and an Emperor is arriving soon to celebrate getting another year older."