Fortress Al-Mir

“Does anyone have any ideas on how to avoid the effects of mind magic?”

Arkk looked around the meeting table. Vezta didn’t move in the slightest in response to his question. She simply sat with her hands clasped on the table, watching him with her unblinking eyes. Zullie, sitting across from Arkk, hummed but didn’t say anything. She glanced upward, looking to the ceiling as if she might be able to divine the answer to his question from the maze-like pattern overhead.

Rekk’ar leaned back in his chair, one elbow on the armrest while his other arm rested on the table. Arkk didn’t expect him to have any real answers, yet he was the first to speak up.

“Kill the caster.”

“True,” Zullie said. “Can’t be mind-controlled if the controller is dead.”

Arkk stared between them, lips pressed together. “I will mark that down under contingencies,” he said with a sigh. “Any other thoughts?”

“The [HEART] normally protects its master from many forms of internal magics. A fireball slamming into your face will still hurt but I believe there should be some resistance to mind-controlling magics.”

“Normally?” Arkk asked, glancing at Vezta.

“I am unsure if that feature is functioning with the current state of things.”

“That doesn’t help now. I wanted to use this guy in that ritual.” Arkk drummed his fingers on the desk. “Zullie, do you know mind magics? Maybe we can test to see if I’ll be able to resist.”

Zullie shook her head with an apologetic smile. “Mind magic is, of course, anathema.”

“So is evocation.”

“We’re taught to recognize signs of summoning as part of our training in the academies, giving me an inlet into how such magic functions. Identifying signs of mind magic usage falls under the dominion of those who use holy magics. I would suggest you ask your abbess or the inquisitors but I doubt that is an option, is it?”

Arkk shook his head. It certainly wasn’t an option. “If I can get a meeting with him, Vezta will come with me, hidden in my shadow. Should he manage to take control of me, you’ll have to kill him and we’ll look elsewhere for our ritual participant.”

“Speaking of,” Zullie said. “I’ve been working with Hale over the past three days. I’m not positive that she can take a corner just yet but she is a whole lot closer than… anyone else,” she said with a glance at Rekk’ar.

The orc just scoffed, unbothered by the insult.

“If she can, that would be the best option.” Arkk paused, taking a moment to peek in on his most recent employees. Both were in the newly constructed workshop. It was a full-fledged lumber mill and carpentry shop complete with tools and a large saw blade for cutting the plentiful logs. John had been quite impressed upon seeing it. “The corners are going to be harder to fill than the sides,” Arkk said, looking back to Zullie “Keep working with her.”

“Sure thing. Any idea who is going to be positioned at the last corner? Assuming you can get this gorgon guy—”

“Gorgons?” Rekk’ar growled. “I thought we were done entertaining that foolish idea.”

“I’m not sending the orcs after them,” Arkk said, shooting Zullie a glare. “The mine I told you about the other week ago is where this mind-wizard is hiding out. I think he is controlling the gorgon to use as guards. I’m not quite sure what the plan is yet. I don’t want to meet with him while the gorgon are around.”

“I would say that you just said the smartest thing I’ve heard you say but you want to meet with a man who has gorgon under his thrall.”

“He also put an entire village into some kind of stasis-like sleep,” Arkk admitted. Rekk’ar did not look impressed. “From the scrying I’ve done on the mine, he mostly stays down on the lower levels while the gorgon lurk around the entrance. They venture out to bring him food—mostly rats and fungus—but otherwise stay well within the mine unless intruders venture too close. I’m… honestly hoping I can appeal to him through his stomach. I’ll toss in a nice roasted chicken from Larry along with a message requesting we meet peacefully.”

“Should use your instant movement magic to appear in his private quarters and drag him out,” Rekk’ar grumbled.

Arkk nodded. “I thought about that. Don’t want to startle him. Considering I need his help, antagonizing him on our first meeting sounds like another downside.”

“In my former master’s day, spellcasters would typically ward against such teleportation magics. Teleporting in despite that generally ends poorly for the one attempting it. There is no obvious way to identify a warded area before attempting the teleportation unless you locate the anchor stone, which can be fairly easily hidden.”

“That’s another reason,” Arkk said. Vezta had explained that before to him when he had asked about getting into the Duke’s manor that way. Her words now were for the benefit of others at the table. “Given teleportation magic is High Anathema,” he said with a nod toward Zullie, “I’m not sure how many people will be—”

Arkk froze as he felt a sharp tug on the employee link between him and Ilya. He let out a small sigh as he looked in at her location. She wasn’t in trouble. Rather, she was standing around outside a garrison. It took him a moment to recognize the spot.

“Ilya’s in Smilesville,” he said, a genuine smile forming on his face. Standing, he looked over the others. “Meeting adjourned. Keep an eye on the inquisitors,” Arkk said to Vezta. “And everyone, try to think of a good plan for avoiding gorgon or mind magic.”

Arkk didn’t wait for any responses. He disappeared from the meeting room and reappeared at the far end of the Smilesville tunnel. The inquisitors, he knew, had left Langleey and headed back toward Cliff. He doubted they would be gone for long but for the moment, he should be safe to walk around Smilesville without worrying about them popping up.

The tunnel’s exit let Arkk out a short distance away from the burg’s walls. Most of the burg’s farmlands were down by the river on the floodplain. There was a small forest-covered hill just behind the village. That forest hid the trap exit. People did come up into the forest for foraging, hunting, and lumber, but nobody had found the door so far. It helped that it was hidden underneath a layer of dirt and brush that he had to lift to get out.

From the exit, it took a little over ten minutes to reach the burg’s gate. Nobody stopped him. He had been a little worried that the inquisitors would have put a bounty on his head. So far, there was no sign of that. After another few minutes of walking through the town, Arkk reached Ilya.

She was a beautiful mess. With how long she had been out on the road, Arkk wasn’t surprised to see her looking worn down, tired, and covered in a smear of grime. Her silvery hair wasn’t as smooth and straight as usual. Tied up into a tight ponytail to keep it out of the way, it was still frayed and frazzled. Her clothing looked worn and in need of replacement.

“—put a bounty out on any slavers!”

Still, watching her argue with the same archivist that Arkk had spoken with the last time he had been here, Arkk’s heart swelled. He rushed right up to her and wrapped her in a tight hug.

She jolted, shocked and ready to fight him off until she realized who he was. “Arkk! How did you… Where—”

“Welcome back, Ilya. You stink.”

“Arkk,” Ilya growled. “Get off me.”

“I haven’t seen you in over a month and that is how you treat me?” Arkk said, affecting his tone with false hurt as he pulled away. “I take it you didn’t succeed in finding a tailor?”

“They were all dead,” Ilya said, voice a whisper. “Or kidnapped. We found two on the way back but they didn’t know where they had been taken or what happened to any others. I’ve been trying to put bounties on slavers at every burg we’ve passed. Only one or two even listen to me,” she said with a glare at the archivist. “Only one would take a down payment of gold and Olatt’an thinks he took it for himself.”

Arkk had no idea how bounties got instantiated. He glanced at the archivist, who was pointedly ignoring them despite their presence right in front of her desk. “Don’t worry about the gold,” he said.

“I’m not. I’m worried about the bastards who attacked the elves.”

“I’ll speak with the archivist,” Arkk said, hoping their few interactions would be enough of a rapport to get an honest answer about how to place bounties. Otherwise, he might have to ask Hawkwood about it the next time he was in Cliff. “For now, however, why don’t we get you and the others back to the fortress? We’ll—”

“That’s another thing,” Ilya said, shoving a scrap of parchment against his chest. “What is the meaning of this?”

Raising an eyebrow, Arkk looked down. The first thing he noticed was the large symbol dominating the top half of the parchment. A familiar symbol. It was a depiction of an eye with a vertical bar instead of a pupil, split several times by thin horizontal lines. The inquisitors wore the same symbol as a metal pin on their uniforms.

Feeling his stomach dropping, he quickly scanned over the rest of the parchment. “A recruitment notice? To scour the Cursed Forest for old ruins?” He looked over to the archivist. “How long has this been posted? When is this search taking place?”

The woman adjusted her glasses. Still ignoring Ilya—making Arkk wonder if half her troubles in placing a bounty came from her sharp ears—the archivist looked at the parchment in Arkk’s hands. “Swiftwings delivered notices to all burgs in the area over the last few days. We just received the notice last night. The search parties will gather in Stone Hearth Burg in ten days’ time where High Inquisitor Darius Vrox will organize them and send them into the Cursed Forest. Unfortunately, we do not have many more details than that. If you are interested in signing up—”

“I might be,” Arkk lied. “I need to speak with my men first.”

“Very good, sir,” the archivist said, immediately looking back to her desk.

“And I think I need to speak with them immediately,” Arkk said, placing a hand on Ilya’s elbow as he led her away from the garrison. “Let’s get you and the others back. The two elves with you are coming as well?”

“I didn’t know what else to do with them,” she said with a sigh. “Sorry if that—”

“It’s fine. The fortress is more than large enough for two hundred more, let alone two more.” Although they were now moving down the street toward the stayover, far from others, Arkk dropped his voice to the barest whisper possible. “They aren’t employees so I can’t just take them straight there, unfortunately. Are they opposed to joining up?”

“I didn’t talk with them about that. They barely speak at all. I was just… trying to keep a level head as we made our way back. I kept wanting to run off into the wilderness and track down these slavers myself. Olatt’an kept me moving in the right direction.”

“I’ll see about these bounties. Maybe tracking them down ourselves won’t be impossible. We’ve got a lot going on right now, however. A lot has happened while you’ve been out. Not much of it good.”

“Great. Just what I wanted to hear upon returning.”

“Would you like to hear about a hot bath? I’m having the lesser servants stoke the flames as we speak.”

Letting out a faint sigh, Ilya nodded. “That, I could stand to hear some more about.”

“Great. Try not to worry too much about things for at least a little while. We’ll talk about what you did and what I did after you get some good food and some rest. Nothing that has happened is immediately urgent.” Arkk pressed his lips together, looking back down at the parchment in his hands. “Well, nothing except this maybe.”

“Piss off some people while I was gone?”

“To be fair, I think they were pissed off before they got here. I didn’t do anything to make the situation better, though.”

Ilya paused in the middle of the road, making Arkk stop as well. The garrison sat right on the edge of the city, close to the wall and one of the city gates. “We’re not actually at the stayover,” she said, nodding her head toward the gate. “Olatt’an claims he wouldn’t be welcome in any burg in the Kingdom and a few of the others are in similar situations. I especially didn’t want them around here after what we saw when passing through with Dakka.”

Arkk’s jaw tightened. “They did take those bodies down. Probably a good idea anyway.” Using his employee vision, he did a quick check on Olatt’an and the other orcs Ilya had taken with her. Like her, they all looked worn and ready for a nap. If the inquisitors were sending people into the Cursed Forest in search of him, he needed them well-rested and ready to fight if the situation called for it.

He would have transported them all straight into Fortress Al-Mir from here were it not for the two smaller elves that were sitting in the middle of the group. A young boy and a young girl. Siblings, maybe? They both had hair the color of gold and the same upward tilt to their sharp ears.

“What is the deal with the elves?”

“As I said, the village was destroyed. Many died. Many more were taken as slaves. Those two, we found on our way back in the hands of some old human,” Ilya said, her fists clenching tight. She paused, not speaking for a long few moments until they passed through the gate and left the burg behind. Only then did she resume in a soft whisper. “The orcs were more than happy to fight his guards and smash in his head. They looted his manor. I only took the kids.”

“Did… anyone see you?”

“No one still alive,” Ilya said with a frown. “Don’t know exactly what happened to the kids. They don’t speak much. Any time I or one of the orcs raise our voices, they flinch. I’m hoping a safe environment will help, but we… sort of left that village behind in a hurry. Doubt our hasty retreat helped much considering they were slung over orcs’ shoulders most of the way. It must have felt like they were being kidnapped all over again.”

Arkk… didn’t quite know what to say to that. “Hale is living at the fortress for now,” he said. “Learning magic from Zullie. Maybe having someone around who is their age—or at least height—will help. John is there as well. You know how he dotes on Hale.”

“That is a relief. I have no idea what to do. They want to go learn how to hunt, I can do that. Parental things?” Ilya shook her head and then pointed off the road.

Following her lead, they quickly came across the orc camp. Although it wasn’t a camp. Rather a small gathering. They hadn’t set up their tent or even started a fire. Most of the orcs were gathered around, sitting on the ground or a fallen log while a few others kept watch. At Arkk’s approach, one of the guards called back for Olatt’an.

The old orc stood and approached slowly. He looked a bit resigned to having a chat right out here in the middle of the woods. Before he could start, Arkk waved him off.

“You all want to get back. We’ll have a debriefing later. Unless there are any objections, I’ll send you all back now. Make sure you have your belongings.”

Arkk waited a moment. Although he hadn’t specified, all the orcs ready to go lined up in front of him with a pair holding onto the horses’ harnesses. The horses and carts, considered property of his, could be transported as well although they were reaching the upper limit of what he was able to move. As the rest gathered their things, they slowly formed into a messy gathering as well. Then, once everyone was standing in front of him, he pulled them back to the Fortress. Everyone except Ilya and the two young elves stayed behind.

The two elves didn’t look up or react to the sudden disappearance of the orcs. They just stood stock-still, not even looking up to meet Arkk’s eyes.

Arkk shot a glance at Ilya but she had no eyes for him. She stepped forward, pausing when the smaller elves flinched. “This man is going to give you a coin,” she said. “It is yours to keep. It will let him take you to a safe place. Do you understand me?”

Both gave identical nods of their heads, still without glancing up. Neither said a word, though he did note that the young boy started breathing harder as Arkk stepped closer. Trying to look as unthreatening as possible, Arkk pulled out a pair of gold coins. Kneeling, he got a look at their faces for the first time.

While partially healed, there was heavy evidence of bruising. The girl’s eye looked like it might have swollen up recently, though now it had at least partially returned to normal. One of the boy’s ears had been clipped, chopping off a sizable portion.

Not trusting himself to open his mouth, he just held out the gold coins.

“Take them,” Ilya said, noting their hesitation.

That stopped their hesitation. Arkk didn’t miss the stricken expression crossing the girl’s face as she took the coin like it was a venomous snake. The boy held it like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to throw it away or hand it right back.

Arkk couldn’t quite understand their expressions. He did start frowning as he noted something.

“It didn’t work.”

Both winced, squeezing their eyes shut in preparation for a beating.

“What do you mean?” Ilya hissed, tearing her eyes off the elves.

“I mean it didn’t work,” Arkk said, keeping his voice as soft as possible. “There isn’t a connection.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know,” he said, thinking back to all the other times he had hired employees.

Ilya had been his first, becoming an employee upon them making a transactional agreement. The orcs, he had hired with gold. At least some of them had been under duress at the time with him threatening them into working for him. So duress couldn’t be it. He had been able to hire Hale without incident, so age didn’t play a factor.

Then there were all the times he had handed gold over to people without hiring them. Mostly merchants. Whatever magic linked him to his employees could tell the difference between purchasing goods or services and a desire to hire. At least to an extent, given Ilya’s hiring.

Was it his fault? Did he not want to hire them? He wanted them back at Fortress Al-Mir. Wasn’t that enough? Or was it something else? Did the magic, apparently smart enough to not hire merchants, think that these kids weren’t worthy of working for him? Was it something about them? A resistance to wanting to work for him? He doubted that it was the falsehood of what Ilya said given that he had hired Ilya basically on accident, maybe her words played some role anyway?

“I might need to ask Vezta.”

“We can’t just leave them here while you go figure things out,” Ilya hissed. “Can we… I don’t know, carry them? You move our clothes and gear. Why not people?”

“We can try. Otherwise, the entrance to the tunnel isn’t far from here. The tunnel isn’t designed for people to physically travel through—” Not after Zullie’s excursion to Langleey, anyway. “—but it is a direct route straight to the fortress.”

“Let’s try the instant travel first. Not looking forward to walking in a dark tunnel. My boots have practically worn away as it is.” Stepping back toward the smaller elves, she held out her arms for the young boy. “Come here. I’m going to pick you up and hopefully we’ll disappear.”

Although he winced at Ilya’s arms, the young elf didn’t disobey. He stoically marched over and let Ilya pick him up without a fight. Ilya lifted him off the ground but didn’t fully stand. Probably not wanting to drop the elf if one disappeared but not the other.

With Ilya’s arms around the young elf, however, Arkk noted something interesting. A link formed between him and the boy. It wasn’t an employee bond. Not like he had with all his other employees. Some elements were similar but, if Arkk had to put a word to it, it would be prisoner.

Although he hoped it wasn’t permanent, it did afford him the ability to pick up and drop both Ilya and the elf in her arms back at the fortress.

The prisoner bond solidified somewhat upon their arrival, making him worry a bit more.

He needed to speak with Vezta.

But first, he looked down at the remaining elf. Instead of staring at the ground, she stared after her vanished brother with wide eyes and a quivering lip.

“We’re not going to hurt you,” Arkk said, kneeling and holding out his arms as Ilya had. “Come here and you’ll be back with him.”

The young girl had teal eyes, Arkk noted as the elf threw an angry glare his way. That flash of defiance disappeared almost as quickly as it had come as the elf dropped her head and stepped into Arkk’s arms.

Both vanished.