An orb of light hovered above Nate's head, allowing him to stare up at the roof of the cave that loomed far above him. The sound of the ocean reverberated all around as he evaluated the space that had once served as both hideout and warehouse for a group of smugglers. Detritus was all that was left of their operation. Rotted wood and rusted metal from what might have once been crates or barrels was piled in a corner, covered in dust. He smiled. It was perfect.

  After showing him to the aptly named ‘Smugglers Nest’, Cutter had informed him that he could do with the place as he wished before taking his leave. Afterwards, the door in the basement of the food warehouse had been closed behind Nate and he’d been left to his own devices. He’d taken Cutter’s offer at face value and immediately used Conceptual Material Shaping to seal the door behind him, and then the walls of the cave as well.

  After making sure no one could follow him, he’d begun his walk down a thin path towards what he suspected was the ocean. The cavern he now stood in was proof that he’d been right, though it wasn’t much of a stretch to put together that a smuggler's hold might connect to the city's port. The distance he’d been forced to walk was further than he had expected taking him almost thirty minutes. Using his farsight sphere of awareness, he’d determined that the cave was about thirty metres below a large outcropping on the southeastern end of the docks.

  A small gap on the oceanside of the space led down to the waterline. He suspected the smugglers had once used that narrow gap to bring in contraband to store within the space, before carting it all the way up to the food warehouse back in the Slums. The trip might have been backbreaking, if one didn’t factor in the System-enhanced Stats or the possibility of spatial storage.

  Since this cave was going to become their home for a while, Nate was seriously considering building a rune fort. With a small smile, he acknowledged that he was going to. He wanted something secure enough to house himself, Kiri, Jacque and the kids, Aisling, Luc, Deverell, Evindal, Britt and maybe Null, Ameera and Karim. He wanted to laugh when he realised how many rooms he was going to need, but given the current situation all he could manage was a snort.

  “What’s wrong, Boss?” asked Frick, floating around near the roof of the cave.

  “Was just thinking that we’re probably going to end up taking up the entire space between housing everyone, room for the workshop, storage and the like.”

  “Ha! So, we’re making a goblin fort?”

  “You mean a rune fort?”

  “Nah, Boss. A goblin fort. Because there’s going to be so many of you lot you’ll end up stacked on top of each other,” Frick commented with a toothy grin. “Though if you want to do a little goblin mounts the warg you’ll really have an audience. Just like a real goblin!”

  Nate just shook his head at his Familiar and tossed down the portal plate. He might as well make sure everyone else agreed that this would work for a base of operations before he got started. Channelling mana into the runecrafted device, the portal sprung open again for the third time that night.

  Stepping through he was surprised to find that everyone was right where he had left them, or close enough. Jacque and Kiri were seated in the grass among the remnants of the conscripts’ camp, quietly discussing something. The three apprentices were lying on blankets on the ground, fast asleep. Finally, Aisling stood a little apart, staring at the sky and the retreating storm clouds.

  “Where’s everyone else?” he asked as three sets of eyes turned to him.

  “Gone,” Aisling answered. “The Princess, her Swords and the two Houses still supporting her took their leave. They headed southwest, making for the Duchy of Korinth.”

  Aisling paused for a moment, glancing at Kiri, before continuing, “It is the Duchy that technically rules over Helmfirth.”

  “And the Guild members?” he asked

  “Two teams, one Gold and one Silver, are heading back to the Capital. The rest left for Asmuisil,” replied Aisling.

  Nate’s eyes drifted for the barest of moments as he thought over the news of the Guild members.

  “You don’t trust them to side with us against Allais,” he stated.

  “No, I do not. That is why I denied their requests to remain with us,” muttered Aisling with a sigh. “I would like to believe that the Guild is above such pettiness, but this night has proved me wrong. Perhaps some of them will go on with their lives at the Guild as though nothing has changed. But, since they are choosing to return to the Capital, despite the state of things, I suspect they smell an opportunity to rise faster than they have been. I’d applaud their desire to grow if it didn’t taste like ashes in my mouth.”

  Nate stepped up beside his mentor and waited. Aisling was always such a steadfast and reliable pillar. Facing down two Platinums hadn’t taken the surety out of her stride, but Allais’ betrayal clearly weighed on her. So, Nate tried to be for Aisling what she had been for him. Unflinching in the face of adversity.

  “I found a place in the Capital that we can hole up in and prepare to strike back. Make sure Deverell is alright and gather Evindal and Luc with us when they return.”

  Aisling gave him a tired smile before her posture straightened and she once more looked like the pillar he had known since his first week upon the world of Galle.

  “You’re right. We need to gather our forces, find out what has become of the Guild and the city, and prepare to reclaim the Guild. After all, Allais has taken a side in this conflict, just like you. And, I guess, me. As of tonight, we are at war.”

  *************

  Theora, Wind of the East, looked over the ruins of the camp that had once housed the Etruan Army. The soldiers of Asmuisil were packing up anything of use, but the remains were nothing important. Simply those items that were too big to bother collecting as the Nobles of Etrua fled the field.

  “What are your thoughts, Sub-Commander?” asked Kalista, the older woman gazing over the empty fields, devoid of life.

  Theora had seen the corpses or, at least, those that hadn’t been picked up. The betrayal was written all over the land.

  “Princess Morgane of Etrua was clearly betrayed. An assassination attempt perhaps, Commander?”

  “I’ve had word from Commander Havelin of the First Army and Sub-Commander Bjorn of the Second. Havelin reports that Prince Thane has been slain and his army is advancing, while Bjorn’s report states that Commander Gomathi is dead and the Second Army has been decimated. They’re in retreat to regroup while Commander Havelin’s First Army is moving to intercept Prince Bordain’s forces. Does that change what you think?”

  “No, Commander. If anything, it reinforces my thoughts. Prince Bordain is making his play for the Etruan throne and he is using us to do it,” growled Theora through gritted teeth.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Kalista looked into the distance before nodding, “My suspicions as well, Sub-Commander. But it doesn’t change our charge. We continue our march, to the gates of the Etruan Capital itself.”

  “And the First Army?”

  “High Command is already preparing reinforcements and Sub-Commander Bjorn will be raised to Acting-Commander for the Second Army. They will join with Commander Havelin to deal with Prince Bordain’s Army. Our orders are to continue our march. Have our forces get a few hours rest. At daybreak, we march for the Capital of Etrua.”

  *************

  Nate sat comfortably in one of his workshop chairs, eternally thankful for the comfortable cushion beneath him. His newest rune fort was still a work in progress but after three days in the cave once called ‘The Smuggler’s Nest’ he was confident that all the basics had been built. The rune-imbued wall panels of his workshop building had been repurposed and linked through some runic arrays utilising the Connect Sigil. They had then been sealed into the outer walls of the rune fort, which spanned the entirety of the large cavern and, with the linkages, created what he suspected would be an incredibly potent obfuscation and anti-scrying ward.

  The kids, or Nate supposed, the apprentices, had a room for themselves which was already an upgrade since they had been sleeping in the storage area in the original workshop. At the moment, they were doing some basic rune scribing practice under the watch of Jacque on the other side of the workshop. Normally Nate would have created a separate workshop for himself, mostly for safety reasons, but they were working with limited space and were expecting more people to move in.

  Aisling was sitting off to the side, eyes like a thunderstorm glued to the tome in her hands. Before Morgane had taken her leave, she had given Aisling a communication tome so that the Platinum could coordinate with her. Even after days, and more than one message, it was clear to Nate that Aisling had not forgiven Morgane, or Avery, he supposed, for her infiltration of the Adventurer’s Guild and especially not for using it to further her own ends. It didn’t help that they had yet to find Deverell. Kiri had been surprised when she couldn’t sense the Soul Tether she had placed on the quietly efficient man that functioned as Aisling’s assistant. Both Kiri and Aisling were holding out hope the Dagger Dancer was alive, but he could see the toll it was taking on the both of them.

  A toll made all the worse because only Kiri could search for him. While Nate could get Aisling out of the cave they were using as a base of operations, he couldn’t easily get her back into it. Worse, she was a very recognisable individual, given her height and general appearance. By now Allais would likely know they had survived her attempted assassination of Princess Morgane and the resulting fallout. If she didn’t have eyes out for Aisling already she likely would soon. That problem, and the transport issue, were what Nate was currently working to solve.

  His eyes drifted towards the puzzle box sitting on his desk as he channelled the last of the mana needed into the slab of chalk before him. With a sigh, he looked away from the puzzle box and the Sigil it bore, lamenting the fact once again that he couldn’t just sit around and pursue his curiosity. Turning his attention back to the bright red chalk, he cut off the flow of mana to Conceptual Material Shaping. The slab of chalk now quietly hummed in his senses and, with a straining of his eyes and leaning heavily on his Farsight of the Runic Artist skill, he caught whiffs of the space affinity contained within. He’d only pushed the material to the Rare-tier as he imbued the Concept of Space into the chalk because, ultimately, the chalk wasn’t meant to last.

  Mixing Conceptual Material Shaping and Conceptual Runic Mastery, he slowly cut the chalk into thin wafers before carving a rune into the surface of each piece, wrapping the rune around the chalk. The Sigils for Space, Connect and Obfuscate went into the crafting, each piece being guided by his Intent as he linked the Connect portion to a room they had set aside as the ‘teleportation’ room. He moved each one to a different location in the room. While he was pretty certain that the Concepts and mana involved weren’t strong enough to allow two individuals to occupy the same area, it seemed a pointless risk. Besides, his memory allowed him to remember every position he marked as a target so there would be no mistakes.

  When he had finished his work, he had twenty pieces of chalk lying before him. He’d also burned through multiple mana gems. He could see why such things, which he was dubbing Spatial Escape Talismans, would be considered expensive. The material would’ve been rare on its own, though he suspected that there were others with Skills out there to do what he had done. Rare quality material seemed feasible with a lower tier Skill, albeit more expensive in terms of mana than his own. Then there were the Sigils used. Even with a lower tier Space Sigil which would make the resulting artifact less efficient, it would still be possible, just more expensive. Finally, there was his Conceptual Spatial Authority at play which was effectively doubling the effectiveness of the Talismans. At the Rare tier, these would probably only work for around ten kilometres. With his Skill in the mix, they would work for up to twenty.

  It was a big distance, and to some extent he was estimating, but even without testing them he was fairly confident he understood what he had created. He suspected if he pushed the material to Epic and upgraded the Connect Sigil involved to Journeyman it would likely cause a tenfold increase in the functional range. Expensive was all he thought with a smile, before scooping up five of the chalk bars and taking them over to Aisling.

  His mentor glanced at the chalk sticks before smiling and making them vanish into her spatial storage.

  “Thank you, Nate. I’ll need a disguise as well, though,” the Stormspear pointed out.

  “I know,” he replied. “It’s next on my list. I’ll create an Illusion Rune that will surround you. It will be a fixed image but it should let you at least go up there and get a sense of the Capital. Kiri paints a bleak picture.”

  “She does,” Aisling acknowledged.

  The way Kiri had described the mood and behaviour in the Capital had caused more than a few problems. Deverell being missing was far from the only problem they had encountered. Finding him was just the one they could act on. The streets were far emptier than usual and there was talk of guards entering homes and forcibly conscripting individuals in the slums for a new army. Beatings happened daily and there had even been a few deaths. The Merchants’ and Noble districts were not much better. Rumours were that the houses of merchants had been raided for their wealth and that the nobles had mostly fled the Capital. The ones who hadn’t had sworn themselves to Bordain and either left with him to join his new army or were assisting in suppressing the rest of the populace.

  As for Luc and Evindal, the pair had yet to be seen in the Capital. Without a way to communicate with the two Platinums the best they could do was wait for Kiri to sense them through her Soul Tethers. The only positive was that Nate was confident they could avoid getting caught and were powerful enough to survive an attack if they were somehow discovered, at least to the point of being able to flee.

  The second problem was the one truly vexing him and one they were unable to act on yet. The Royal University had been locked down, surrounded by Gold-ranked guards and a few Professors who may or may not be Platinums. It sounded like the ploy was mostly to use any of the merchant's kids who had remained on the grounds as hostages, but it hadn’t stopped them from also locking down the four remaining Guildies. Nate had even checked himself to see if he or Kiri could teleport in and get them out. Someone capable had created a layered Spatial Lock spell over the area they were being confined to and Nate wasn’t confident he could break it before someone could react. With Britt locked away, Nate was quietly fuming and had been distracted by thoughts of violence more than once while he crafted. A frontal assault seemed out of the question, at least without more bodies in the mix.

  Finally, there was the Guild itself. The rumours out of it were some of the worst and why Nate didn’t have a lot of hope for Deverell. Prefect Porter, the renowned Earth Mage, had been slain by Allais herself, while Portos Jamison, one of the three Platinum siblings, had driven off Prefect Raoult. Where Null’s Father was was anyone's guess at this point, but the result was clear. The Adventurer’s Guild of Etrua was under the control of Prefect Allais and the Jamisons, and the only jobs they were taking were those that served the new King. Guildies had been seen in the company of guards and he had heard some had been dispatched into the countryside to catch runaways. Allais hadn’t even negotiated for the Guild members to be released from the University grounds, though Nate suspected that was so she could leverage Null against his Father in case Prefect Raoult returned.

  Either way, they were all on the clock. They needed to strike while Bordain’s rule was still unsteady and before Allais had managed to sow her lies to the greater parts of the Guild beyond the borders of Etrua.

  Nate opened his mouth to make his suggestion to Aisling when he felt someone appear in the teleportation room. His eyes widened and Aisling was right behind him as he ran towards the source. He felt more than one person present and for one of them, something was very, very wrong. The door flew open before he could get to the room and Kiri stepped through the archway, princess carrying the limp and unconscious form of Deverell. The Dagger Dancer appeared as pale as a two-day old corpse and was missing an arm and a leg.

  “Help him!” yelled his sister as Nate’s thought processes went into overdrive.

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