I was mildly disturbed to realize that I recognized the layout of this building. It almost directly mirrored the layout of Magnus’s manor back in Addersfield. Sure, the decoration was a bit different, and there weren’t slaves cowering in every corner, afraid they would catch the attention of a ‘master’. But the resemblance was uncanny enough to give me a mild sense of vertigo. And when I exchanged a troubled look with Bleddyn, I could see I wasn’t the only one who had recognized the halls and stairs we were directed down. My werewolf friend was visibly tense within the formation of the expedition’s leadership, twitching at the movement of every Dwarf he saw.

  Both of us had suffered within a building very similar to this one. I had been drained of nearly every last ounce of blood so a madman could paint a macabre portrait, while he had been tortured to the point he’d lost an eye.

  Unsettling, to say the least. It didn’t bode well for the coming talks, either.

  Even worse, the door that we were all eventually led to was in a familiar approximate position. In Magnus’s manor, this had been where his Seneschal Orinbar had his office.

  The same office where Bleddyn had first demonstrated his bestial nature, ripping apart a traitorous Dwarven with his bare hands.

  Carefully, I set a hand on Bleddyn’s tense shoulder, causing his head to snap over towards me with a feral look in his eye as we came to a stop in front of the door. I didn’t react to the tinge of gold I could see creeping at the edges of his irises. Instead, I just met his gaze calmly, evenly…and raised a single expectant eyebrow at him.

  My fellow commander understood the implicit question I was unwilling to ask, in the presence of possible foes. He grit his teeth and visibly mastered himself before the soldier who had led us to this door turned in place, thumping a fist into his breastplate and bowing his helmeted head towards us. “The Captain-General awaits you within.”

  His duty completed, the soldier marched away, leaving my staff and me alone in the heart of the manor. Strangely, we actually were alone. I would have expected the presence of other soldiers, guarding the office of their leader. Especially when he was going to be meeting with a potentially hostile force that they had already clashed with. But no, the halls around us were abandoned.

  That spoke to a startling level of either confidence on Olag’s behalf…or assurance.

  When I stepped forward and opened the door, I got my answer as to which it was.

  Strangely, it was reassuring to receive it.

  Olag had removed his full set of plate-mail in the intervening hour since we had met before the gates of the town, and into more noble fare. Said arms and armor were resting on a rack standing not five feet behind him and to his left, looming over his shoulder like an immobile guardian. What he had changed into was not nearly as gaudy as some of the highborn clothing I’d seen in the past, but still visibly higher quality than even my own. Oddly, with how darkly colored it was, the sight of the Dwarf sitting in his sparsely decorated office-

  (Another mirror to the resting place of Orinbar.)

  -it almost reminded me of where Wenzel, the Regent Lord of Herztal, preferred to work.

  But that was far from the most important feature in the room. Along the walls leading to Olag’s desk were more than enough chairs, with a few small tables to seat everyone accompanying me, but that was incidental. There were two people sitting in the accompanying chairs before Olag’s desk that I was very glad to see.

  Kierla, our wayward Elf…and Walter.

  To my not-so-slight relief, both of them looked mostly fine. Walter had been assigned to the monster culling squads today, and if Kierla was here with him, then he must have brought her along. I…had told him that was fine when he had inquired about that some days ago. The Elf girl didn’t seem to care much for the rolling and rumbling of the caravan, much preferring to be out stalking the forests. They both looked a little banged up, with a few clean bandages visible on their persons, but nothing grievous.

  Good. That had been a sticking point for me. If Olag and his people had severely injured my Squire…

  Well, it didn’t bear thinking about. But better safe than sorry.

  “Renauld.” I said quietly, not looking at the Gnoll to my back. Instead, I had locked eyes with Olag across the room, from where we stood in the doorway. There was a knowing, calculating look in the Floren’s Dwarf’s eyes that I didn’t care much for.

  Just what had Walter told him?

  My best Healer didn’t need more prompting than that, scurrying around me to approach the two youths in their chairs. They had both turned around at the sound of my voice, seeming not to have noticed the door opening, and only had a moment to light up at the sight of us before Hurricane Renauld descended. He barely listened to their protests that they were fine as he dragged them away from the desk to one of the side tables, where he could examine them in more detail. As the Gnoll’s hands lit up the glow of a diagnostic Spell, I finally strode into the room, coming to a stop next to the trio.

  Walter briefly looked at me before ducking his head in seeming shame. “Sir Nate, I-I couldn’t…there were…”

  I cut him off before he could descend into self-flagellation, as he stuttered in a way I hadn’t seen him in a long while. He startled when I set a hand on his shoulder, looking back up to meet the small smile I gave him. “It’s fine, Walter,” I said kindly. “You did more than enough. I’m just happy to see you alive.”

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  The emphasis on that word was pointed enough that I saw Olag raise an eyebrow from the corner of my eye, but he didn’t comment on it. With one last nod, I bid my squire farewell and crossed the distance to the Dwarf’s desk, to stand in front of it. Notably, there were only two chairs that my erstwhile subordinates had been occupying only moments ago, and I couldn’t help but feel that was deliberate.

  Olag was fishing, in his own subtle way. He wanted to know just who I would consider my second, among our forces. Whoever joined me in front of him at that desk would answer the question for him.

  So I preempted him.

  There in the silence of the office as I deliberately turned around and approached the western wall. Under the gaze of everyone within, I dragged two additional chairs over to join the others, one by one. They weren’t even heavy seats. Even before my Status, I could have picked up two at once.

  It was the principle of the matter.

  Once I was done, I calmly sat down in the center left chair, while Bella sat to my left, and Nyx and then Gustave sat to my right.

  As I was coming to expect was going to be a theme with the Florens ‘Captain-General’, the only response I received at the response to his maneuvering was a small, appreciative smile. “Welcome, o’ travelers, to my villa here within the village of spinels,” Olag said evenly. “Such as it is. These paltry headquarters are only a…temporary measure, I can assure you, considering the ongoing state of emergency. How I wish our meeting could be under gladder circumstance, and that I was welcoming you into the halls of my personal manse, in my beloved Rhoscara. Alas, it is not so. Now…introductions in order. I am well acquainted with Marshall Hart,” He nodded to me respectfully. “But I have not had the pleasure of the rest of yours.”

  I kept a close eye on Olag as the rest of my present Captains introduced themselves to him. Gustave received an almost disinterested nod of acknowledgement from him, while Nyx a short bow of his head in respect to the Order of the Eclipsed Dawn. However, it was his reaction to Bella that interested me the most.

  A spark of recognition flashed across his eyes, hearing her name, before he could hide it.

  Interesting. Have contacts among the pirates, do you, Olag?

  “Well met all, and be welcome,” The Dwarf continued once the introductions were done. “As you can see, I have brought along two of your companions who were taken prisoner, as a show of good faith. They are…mostly uninjured. It wouldn’t do to mistreat captives, after all.”

  I twitched my head to the side and spoke. “Renauld?”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my Healer stand up from where he had been hunched over the kids. He took his time popping his back, the asshole, before answering. “He’s right,” Renauld said, a slight note of relief in his voice despite his nonchalance. “A few bumps and bruises, but they’ll be fine after a night’s rest. Their Status will take care of it.”

  I nodded as Walter spoke up again. “Most of us are fine too,” He said quietly. “…most of us.”

  My eyes shifted back over to Olag with a pointed stare, and to my surprise, I received one in return. “We were just involved in a battle,” He pointed out. “Some casualties are to be expected.”

  To my right, I heard it as Nyx’s obsidian hands tightened on the arms of her chair. The wood creaked warningly, but held its shape admirably.

  Olag didn’t flinch. “Their bodies will be returned to you when you return ours,” He continued. “Along with both of our mutual prisoners. I hold no enmity for this skirmish. Neither of us were operating with the appropriate knowledge of the circumstances.” He spread his arms wide and cocked his head. “I am prepared to return your people to you immediately, with my only asking being reciprocation. What say you, Herztalians?”

  I exchanged a glance with my fellows, and was unsurprised to see unanimous agreement in their gazes. Although each had their own levels of enthusiasm, I noted.

  I turned back to Olag and nodded. “Agreed. We can begin the transfer immediately.”

  Olag smiled widely, stretching his facial tattoos strangely. “Excellent. Then, as soon as we’re done here, we can both order it to begin.”

  “No need,” I shook my head, reaching for a Skill. “I’ll order their release to your people at the gate this instant.”

  As Olag blinked in surprise at my words, my Core Lattice wordlessly jumped from its cozy place within our mind…

  And into the Sprite I had left with Marcel, for just this purpose. Although I had no personal control over the new Clone that I was sure was filling in our fifth Captain on what was happening, I still made a show of closing my eyes and concentrating. It didn’t take long, though, for my Core to return and silently inform me that the transfer was underway. As such, I dramatically fluttered my eyes back open and gave a short nod to the intensely curious-looking Captain-General of the Raven’s Beak. “It’s done. My people are releasing your prisoners to the guards at the gate right now.”

  “Fascinating,” Olag breathed, seeming to forget himself for a moment. He gathered his composure shortly, though, and shook his head. “Wonderful news, of course. I shall reciprocate immediately.” He picked up a small bell lying on the surface of his desk and gave it a single, delicate ring.

  The door to the office opened immediately, and I deliberately did not tense up, despite wanting to.

  The hallway was in range of my blood sense, and I had not felt anyone lingering within it. I kept tight control of my physical responses as I felt the vibrations of, more than heard, the person pad into the room on completely silent feet. When a completely concealed, black-robed Dwarf with another stern-faced mask came to stand at Olag’s side, I understood.

  This was his answer, I see. Whoever this was…

  Judging by the alarmed look I could see on Maria’s face, from her chair at the edge of the room, they were a better stealth expert than anyone in the room. And many of us had been professional spies and assassins, once upon a time.

  The black-robed figure bent down slightly to head level with Olag, and the Florens Captain-General whispered in his agent’s covered ear. When he was done, the spook stood up without a word and exited the room as silently as they’d entered.

  When the door clicked shut once more, Olag smiled widely at everyone. “I have given the order to release our prisoners into the care of that…curious Gnoll fellow I spotted. In the meantime, we have more things to discuss, do we not?” He folded his hands on top of each other on the top of his desk and singled me out with a piercing stare. “Particularly in regard to this abominable phenomenon that seems to be afflicting our planet.”

  Hmm…

  “Are you saying you know nothing about it?” Gustave asked incredulously.

  Olag didn’t even glance at the young man as he answered. “I do not,” He said calmly. “I was merely presented with a manner to survive it by the Principality itself, before I decided the contract was null and void.”

  I leaned forward in my chair. “How? How is the Army moving in the Skyfall?”

  I couldn’t keep the hunger out of my voice, and at the sound of it, Olag smirked at me. I didn’t even care that I was betraying myself.

  I needed to know.

  Almost leisurely, Olag reached down and opened a drawer in his desk. He grasped something, and when he brought it up and set it on the desk, there was an audible intake of breath all around the room.

  “Why, with this, of course,” Olag said tauntingly. “A frozen piece…of the ‘Skyfall’ itself.”

  Sitting innocuously on the desktop was a long, jagged sliver of magenta crystal. It almost looked like a small, frozen bolt of corrupted lightning.

  Not unlike the gigantic magenta streaks of it that spanned across the grey skies this very instant….