《Heart of the Empire》


 Chapter 1 (The Wall)

    The men stood in a circle, their hands weaving expert patterns in the air. Their skin shown a deathly gray while bright purple and blue lights danced along runes that they each individually had embedded in their extremities. They each wore dark purple robes which hid their faces. The robes were fastened to their right shoulder with the emblem of a comet. The comet itself was gold. There was also a tail that spiraled out from the center which tapered to a fine point. Each man had the end of the tail at the top, as required.


    The sparks dancing on their skin grew in intensity and the air started to grow hazy. The orb that sat in the middle of this group started to take on the same glow of each man. The pattern of movement that they had each taken shifted. Abruptly they had stopped. And each sat on the ground. The haze that had filled the room gradually dissipated, however the orb that seemed to be drawing on the raw energy that flowed in the room. Eventually one of the men left the ritual and switched on a mechanism that started the process of cutting off the flow of mana into the room.The other men walked to the other side to wait as the flow diminished to a trickle, then ceased. First man lifted a box that had been placed by the shut off mechanism and carefully enclosed the orb that still maintained it¡¯s position floating in the middle of the room. Once the orb was secured the man near the door pushed his hand on a button and the door near him opened. Outside the replacement team waited, Three mages and the four escorts.


    The first mage Two of the men lifted the orb enclosed orb and hauled it off down the corridor lined with countless door each similarly marked and closed. There were many other teams hauling similar boxes off in the same direction. The second team entered the room with another core and with practiced routine they opened their box leaving an orb in the same location as the first, floating in the middle of the room. The put the transportation box in the same location as the first and quickly exited. One of the new group placed his hand on the shoulder of the old group of the mages, pulling him aside and turning his back to the group.


    ¡°Good work in there, you all finished a bit early!¡± one of the new mages spoke. ¡°If you keep this up we may even be blessed by a visit from The Emperor!¡±


    The other man opened his mouth to reply, but instead of words a deep wheezing crawled out followed by a slow moving paralysis. A look of confusion twisted across his face as his body was locked into place. The new mage moved his head close.


    ¡°It¡¯s only temporary,¡± The man whispered and releasing the now stiff man, ¡°Please don¡¯t make this any harder than it has to be.¡±


    The man stood still for a moment, as the new mage joined everyone else. The two remaining mages from the chamber started to notice it. There was something off with this new group. While the pins of the old group had been uniform in their placement with the tail of the comet terminating at the, the new group¡¯s emblems had been haphazardly fixed onto their cloaks. Their suspicions were confirmed when the man fell over backwards revealing a heavily etched and runed dagger buried in his chest.


    ¡°That didn¡¯t last as long as it was supposed to.¡± Said the now disappointed mage, clearly the leader.


    ¡°They probably had more work done than we anticipated.¡± Came the reply from the third mage, vaguely gesturing at their rune work.


    The two remaining mages had been met with the same fate. A dagger had been worked up under his ribcage piercing his lung. The three bodies on the floor didn¡¯t show any blood being spilled. Thankfully the daggers at least did that correctly. It was short work dragging the bodies back into the chamber. Thankfully the muscle atrophy that affected all mages made it easier, they had been quite light. The leader glanced around furtively. It seemed the intelligence they gathered seemed to mostly be correct. The escorts hauled the newly energized core to be processed and shipped to one of the far reaches of the empire. They had half expected this intitailly as any attempt to strike up a conversation with the mindless drones was med with a slack-jawed expression and a copious amount of drool.


    Ones the bodies of the mages had been gathered, the chamber was sealed. One of the men pulled the orb out of the center and set to work altering the set of runes that had been etched into surface. Once they were satisfied with their work they dragged the bodies of the now deceased mages and arranged them onto the floor into a specific triangle pattern matching their etched runes with those that had been etched on to the orb. Satisfied with their work they took it upon them selves to remove their weapons and piled them into the box that originally contained the orb. They removed their cloaks, their arms and visible skin looked far healthier as well as the fact they had more of a healthy looking weight. The muscle atrophy that came with magic work had not taken it¡¯s toll yet.


    Now down to their light undergarments, two of the men stood at opposite ends of each other. The leader strode over to the mana flow switch and placed his hand over it.


    ¡°Are you ready for it?¡± the leader asked.


    ¡°We¡¯ve already made it this far,¡± One of the men near the orb answered


    The other man just simply nodded his head and raised his hands in anticipation.


    The leader pushed out a harsh breath through his nose and pushed the button. There was a satisfying thunk as the internal mechanisms of the chamber came to life. A charge came through the air as well as a slight almost unnoticed haze. The two men near the orb started their movements which was quite similar to the first group¡¯s. The dance progressed and they worked to include the leader. He joined them with practiced fluidity. Once all three men started to move in sync with each other, the runes that had been implanted in their skin started to glow and spark with the same shades as the first groups. The bodies on the floor acted as a filter however, the runes in their skin did not have the same blue and purple colors dancing in them. They instead were a dark purple and red. Lines of the mana were drawn up into the orb in the shape of a tetrahedron and the orb itself started to take on the red glow.


    A crystal jutted out of the sphere cracking it with a loud pop. It was a dark red like the mana that was being channeled into it. The sphere started to fall apart with sudden points breaking out from the center. The sphere¡¯s pieces started to crack dissolve from the core, falling away and dissipating into the air leaving no trace. Once the core was exposed The men continued their work carefully channeling the mana into the room. A light crackling noise started as the core itself started to crystallize. Points of the crystal then started growing along the lines that were focused into it. There was another crack that reverberated in the room staggering each of the still living men, throwing off their routine. The core¡¯s size started increasing. With a low thumping that could only be felt through the air. The men quickly grew familiar with the vibrations that shook through the air fell back into their routine.


    The break in the routine had allowed the crystal forming on the core to grow in an unanticipated way. It started pulsing with new found energy. With each pulse it grew asymmetrically. A outgrowth of the crystal reached one of the bodies on the floor, with the next pulse the runes on the body had started to become encrusted with shards growing out of each rune that had been embedded. The other two bodies on the floor were engulfed shortly after. One of the men noticed the bodies starting to grow similar and stopped moving. He tried to draw attention o the issue but instead shouted out in pain the crystalline growths shot out pulsed out from the body piercing him in the shoulder instantly immobilizing him. The pulsing increased it¡¯s tempo upon finding a new conduit of energy.


    The two remaining men rushed to the mana cutoff one of the men reached the button and the instant he smashed it with his hand a shard blew through his chest. The remaining man turned abruptly and rolled under the shard that cut through the first man. He reached the button near the door and hit it.Once the door opened he attempted to dive under it where he was caught by a shard exploding through his knee. There was a burning pain as he felt his the runes under his skin hardening and the shards working themselves slowly into the muscle.


    Unlike the men inside the mana rich chamber the crystal grew slower once the chamber was opened. The man knew his death would be slower than that of his fellow conspirators. He could feel that his leg was mostly numb at this point and gnawing pain of the runes as they got converted to the crystalline structure. He could see in the distance a retrieval team coming to relieve another crew. The man laughed once they spotted him and put down their box to rush to his aid. With effort a great amount of effort the man twisted himself to look back into the chamber. The red crystal had grown exponentially and if not already, it would be working its way to the origin channels that the entire factory was built on.


    He didn¡¯t have much knowledge about what would happen once the crystal snaked its way to the origin, most of the work at this point had been theoretical at this point, but he knew it was something that was desperately needed. He read the same books, followed the same data. He felt a pang of sadness that touched under everything as he laughed. He wasn¡¯t going to get out of this building. He couldn¡¯t even make it out of the chamber. After all that work, he wouldn¡¯t be able to see the world be remade.


    The retrieval crew made it to him. The crystal that reached his leg was now fully visible to them. The mages upon seeing this quickly ran back down the hall while the man cackled. It wouldn¡¯t be much longer now.


    ¡ª¡ª


    Malik sat at his desk, busying himself with the paperwork that sat on his desk. There were always never ending piles of paperwork that needed his seal of approval. He did as much as he could stand to do. He was never the type that liked sitting on his hands tied behind the desk. He absent-mindedly placed his seal on the more official orders, and for the average day to day work he used his ink stamp. It was always a constant struggle with what he felt were the mountains of paperwork.


    Malik looked wistfully out the window. It was a nice day. He glanced over at his paperwork. It was about time that one of the clerical workers would come in and deposit some extra work and empty the out-box. He looked at the daunting pile of work and frowned. It didn¡¯t really look like much objectively, but to him it felt like a mountain. He stamped a few more forms and fixed his seal to a couple more. He leaned back in his chair. He was thankful that it was comfortable. How long had he been here, It felt like half a day at least.


    Malik looked to the suits of armor that he had brought into the room. He haddone his best to get them to match the men that were depicted on the desk, however many of the current modern adaptations for mobility and light weight builds seemed to accent the ancient feel of soldiers that had been carved in to the desk itself. It most likely was second age design, but only the mages had a basic idea, even then he was sure they wouldn¡¯t be able to place it accurately either. The pieces were also rather hard to find as the more modern equipment had been lighter and tended to be etched to increase their durability.


    Malik thought back to when he had been first assigned his post. The transit system had only taken him to the nearest hub. Once he got off the plate it sped off returning to it¡¯s home. Malik had been instructed to not bring anything with him, in fact, he was explicitly told to wear the plainest clothes he could find. He left the grand, yet empty building, and was greeted by a horse drawn cart. The man driving the two horses greeted him with a gesture and a grunt. The man was unloading what appeared to be large sacks of grain off his cart and Malik took it upon himself to do the same. Once the cart was empty, they worked on loading other goods onto the cart that had been stored nearby. Malik wasn¡¯t as used to doing physical labor as the cart¡¯s driver, but he worked without complaint. Malik figured that secrecy was key here and he decided that he should follow along.


    Malik got onto the cart and they set off. The driver wasn¡¯t the most talkative sort of people. Malik asked a few questions to try and learn more about the man as an individual, but was met with either some sort of grunt or single word answer and Malik quickly gave up any hopes of a conversation. The driver appeared to have the muscular build of a farmer, but as far as Malik could tell there seemed to be an odd edge of discipline that couldn¡¯t be explained. There had been none of the military scarring underneath his right eye nor any of the corresponding ink work tattooed on his neck. The driver seemed to notice Malik¡¯s scrutiny, but simply ignored it.


    The road that seemed to curve randomly though a forest seeming to zig and zag at the strangest times almost as if it were following something different than the topography of the forest itself. The plant life along the edge seemed to cut off abruptly from the path that had been worn into the ground They finally arrived at their destination. There was a large circular open area within the forest that had the same abruptly end of vegetation as the road along the perimeter, there were white bricks with faintly glowing blue ruins that were subtly raised above the surrounding ground. A handful of tents surrounded a central unassuming stone tower that appeared to have been made out of the same material as the bricks. The ground in this area had been covered in grass, with only a few paths cut through which appeared to be more word from constant walking than that of the circle that surround the opening.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.Malik found himself staring again at the pile of papers on his desk. He often found himself daydreaming at his desk. It wasn¡¯t anything out of the ordinary, he just was not a fan of feeding the bureaucratic beast. With a sigh he again and got back to work. He put a little more care into stamping of his papers, but his heart still wasn¡¯t into it. He knew at this point the majority of all the paperwork was just a formality. Basic lip-service for the bureaucrats in the capitol. The work had already been done. There was a lot going on in the fort. He knew what exactly he could and should sign off on and also what else that he specifically had to have no knowledge of. He signed up for this. It was all his show at this point.


    He heard a slight whine outside of his office, pushing the distraction. It sound of a cart, wheels in desperate need of maintenance. He groaned it was almost the time he dreaded most. He could hear the whine intermittently, growing louder each time it started again. Each time it started he winced slightly. There was a faint knock at the door. There was no avoiding it now.


    ¡°Come in¡± Malik called, trying to hide his disappointment.


    The clerical assistant arrived, dressed in uniform that had been meticulously cared for. The man had to be at least two hundred, Malik often theorized. When he first met the man, he was also just as wrinkly then as he as now. Malik was sure he hadn¡¯t fared any better. It had been ten years since he first accepted the posting. The man must have been some kind of immortal. He could picture the man in a freshly pressed suit presenting unsigned papers to Malik¡¯s dry and dusty bones, piling papers to the ceiling. Malik suppressed a groan. He didn¡¯t want to be remembered pushing the endless paper wheel, but that¡¯s how it felt at this point.


    The cart was wheeled in and the clerical assistant pulled out a modest stack of papers. Malik groaned audibly. The assistant placed the new papers underneath the current pile that sat in the box. Many of the people that he worked with knew that he wasn¡¯t a fan of paperwork, and they did their part to keep his desk cleared. The clerical assistant emptied the out-box and loaded the finished work onto his cart, quickly binding the documents The clerical assistant nodded giving a quick, yet respectful bow to the commander. He did what he needed to do and after turning his cart around he wheeled it out of the room just as quickly as he had entered. Malik simply loathed the work and in an effort to remain civil, he remained quiet whenever he had been presented with paperwork.


    Malik took the exit of the clerical assistant as a cue for a break. He got up from his chair and paced to a window. He could make out some of the men practicing their drills in the courtyard. Malik could just barely make out the fresh red dot underneath the sergeant¡¯s right eye. With time the color would fade and it would just be a raised bump, but with how he seemed to be working the men Malik could tell that the man was striving for more than just that single dot.


    There was another knock at the door. This one was louder. Before Malik could call out for the person to enter the door was quickly opened and shut.


    ¡°Magister, always a pleasure.¡± Malik said, without turning.


    ¡°I see you¡¯re doing paper work.¡±


    Malik waved his hand dismissively in the air, ¡±Just budget allocation. Nothing major.¡±


    Malik turned to look at the Magister. He wore Loose white cloth that seemingly flowed around his person. A single blue sash had been tied around his middle. The runes embeded into his skin shone through the cloth along his arms and legs. While the magister had been younger than Malik when he had been assigned the magic coursing through the runes had aged him considerably. This had not sapped his energy however and Malik felt the man was still as fit as Malik had been on the cutting of his first dot.


    ¡°What is it, Klaas?¡±


    They had initially tried to like each other. The more they worked together, the more they found themselves stepping on each other¡¯s toes in issues with the initial construction of the fort but also with staff selection. They could never see eye to eye, no matter how hard either of them tried. With construction of the fort finished they had found themselves in a rather comfortable working situation. While their opinions of each other had never really improved, it hadn¡¯t worsened either.


    ¡°We¡¯ve been having some trouble with the scrying,¡± The magister replied, ¡°Something happened in Imperial Gardens.¡±


    Worry drew across Malik¡¯s face. ¡°Show me.¡±


    They both urgently left the room and descended the tower. The original structure had mostly been unaltered from the construction of the fort, however there was the addition of further rooms and a maze like path to the center of the tower. All which originated from the tower itself. The stonework had been commissioned to have a similar look to that of the tower, however the work that had been done to the tower could easily be seen by Malik and many of the other that had been on board to see the construction of the fort itself.


    The base of the tower had wide open arches on the outside with a single spiral staircase that went directly to the top. Most of the arches had been long since filled in and closed off, and the remaining arches had been fitted with archer slits as well as a murder hold set directly above the door. If it weren¡¯t for the almost sun like light that had been etched through-out the fort, Malik would have found the entire place rather gloomy and wouldn¡¯t have found himself surprised to see the the tower suddenly become as overgrown as it had been when he had first arrived.


    Below the tower, there had been eight giant chambers carved into the earth itself. Initially the chambers held a wealth of books and writing, but upon discovery the works had been distributed among a wide selection of Magisters and Mage-Wrights in an effort for further understanding of the craft. There was still a wide selection of the First and second age relics and artifacts that had remained, however they had been deemed innocuous or useless to the empire. Whatever could be used was quickly carted off and given the same treatment as the books and writings.


    At the bottom of the spiral staircase the floor flashed with a barely perceptible pulse after Malik stepped off the final step. Malik and Klaas walked into the scrying chamber. The mages were definitely busy, but Malik had little understanding of magic. He could see groups of mages changing out large basins of water and then pouring the water into different basins. When he first set eyes on the chamber, it was empty. There had been bare shelves as far as he could see. The floors had been reworked to accommodate the scrying work, and there were many new ramps and stairs between the multiple levels of the chamber. It had also felt a great deal darker than before, but Malik had understood the need for darkness for this type of work.


    The occasional footfall would echo through the chamber as well as hushed conversation. Malik would catch the occasional word but quickly dismiss it. The sound of water pouring would break through but it only seemed to break the almost sacred atmosphere that seemed to permeate the place. Malik always felt out of place in the lower levels. He figured that it was something to do with the fact he had little authority over what happened with the ongoing mission that they had been tasked with, but another part felt that it was the fact that he had no grasp over how the Magister and his mages did their work.It always felt like an ever moving torch in an endless hallway. The more he found himself understanding, the less he felt he knew.


    He tried to maintain a relatively good working relationship with Klaas because of how little he understood of what Klaas did. During the construction of the actual fort Klaas had been tasked with setting up many of the magical defenses, but as with most magic, once it was set it didn¡¯t look like anything had actually been done. Even though Malik felt that he couldn¡¯t begin to understand what it was that Klaas and his mages were working on he did respect the man. It was hard to work with him without ruffling a few feathers at first, but as they got an idea of how to preform their roles, a trust had begun to form between the two men. As that trust grew, a certain understanding had formed.


    Klaas lead Malik to the central basin in a chamber. The water Gently rippled across the surface. Two scryers approached as it on cue, one male, the other female. They both wore a simple loincloth to maintain an air of modesty, although Malik was quite convinced that they did it for everyone else¡¯s benefit rather than their own. Malik averted his eyes and chose to focus on the basin. The two scryers stood at opposite ends of each other and started to take deep breaths. They both were quite lean and appeared to be a little thin, although they hadn¡¯t shown much of any physical atrophy at this point. The mage runes had been set deeper into their skin than most of the other mages, only leaving faint lines where they had been embedded. They silently nodded their greetings to Klass and Malik. Malik always had an odd feeling when dealing with mages. They reacted to things differently than most people, had generally a shorter lifespan. He couldn¡¯t understand mages all that well, but he was still grateful for them and their work.


    ¡°Can you show us what you showed me before?¡± Klaas asked.


    The scryers both nodded dutifully. Klaas guided Malik to the edge of the chamber. Once they were situated Klaas gestured at the scryers. They took up their positions facing inward toward the basin. They stood still, their embedded runes started to glow a dim blue light at first which then shifted to a brighter green. Once the green was at it¡¯s brightest they started to move slowly. It didn¡¯t take long before the scryers dance through an intricate routine twisting and contorting their bodies and limbs into an intricate weave aligning Their runes in specific yet fluid patterns that in some way managed to mirror that of the water. With each of their movements the water in the basin began to still and the ripples eventually reversed. Lights danced across the water. At first it was just a random set of flashes, but eventually Malik could make out a picture. It was gray and blurry but there at.least was something there


    The scryers both stopped moving at once. They both moved to a different location around the basin, facing outward. They both started their movements again, somehow in sync. The gray images reflected in the pool started to gain color and grow more in focus. It was the hub. At first first it was outside the building itself, appearing just as grand as Malik remembered it. The image shifted shifting through the entrance past a few passengers lined up waiting for the arrival of their plate. The image went through to the loading and unloading area and panned upward looking toward the line. Plates were hauling goods too and from the nearby town zipped through the air along predetermined paths. The picture focused on a plate as it started to lift off and followed it. A few other plates that were departing had been close almost to the point of colliding but they were clearly in no danger of doing exactly that. Everything was precise and calculated. The hub had been constructed and over-engineered to the point that it could hold a majority of the traffic of one of the larger cities and still maintain little to no errors in the handling of the plates.


    Malik didn¡¯t notice it at first until Klaas pointed it out to him. The plate they were focused on had a definite wobble to it. The picture projected in the basin broke focus from the plate and zoomed down the line past others. The arriving plates seemed to be stabilizing while the ones that were leaving appeared to become a bit more erratic. The scryers moved fast keeping pace with the quickly moving image, they had started to sweat, their mostly naked bodies shining from the light being emitted from the basin. The image stopped. It felt as though they had been plunged into darkness. Once Malik¡¯s eyes adjusted to darker ambient light he could still see the scryers in their soundless dance. Where their dance had been fluid before,however, their dance seemed to be jerky and incomplete, their embedded runes also had stopped glowing just as the basin had.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Malik asked, as he tried to understand what happened.


    ¡°I¡¯m not quite sure what that was.¡± Klaas stated. He excused the scryers with a few words telling them to rest up. And they left without any ceremony.


    Malik continued to stare into the basin. It¡¯s water gently lapped at the sides. Once He was convinced they had some privacy, Malik looked at Klaas. He knew that if the transportation lines stopped working there wouldn¡¯t be any fresh goods or supplies able to arrive for quite some time. The lines themselves were the backbone of the empire. They kept the empire on a whole well fed and well equipped. He knew that the surrounding area, while it had initially been deeply forested before had been successfully farmed for quite some time. The addition for the new military base had also seen growth of a town filled with eager people willing to help the soldier part with their coin, as well as those willing to take up a farming trade. Any major disruption wouldn¡¯t hurt too much in the short term because food wasn¡¯t exactly scarce. The replacement of any broken equipment and anything needed for general maintenance would be a bit harder. They weren¡¯t exactly in the heart of any industry.


    ¡°What do you want to do?¡± asked Malik simply.


    ¡°I want to get some eyes on this,¡± Klaas answered, ¡°We don¡¯t have much of an idea what exactly is happening, but we at least have a good idea of where it is. I just hope it¡¯s nothing.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll gather some people, And we¡¯ll get a look at this,¡± Malik agreed with Klaas, ¡°we might even have to stop anyone from leaving the hub.¡±


    After a brief pause he added, ¡°Did you see anyone arriving?¡±

 Chapter 2

    Klaas hadn¡¯t noticed it. He was far too concerned about the actual implications of the the failure of the actual equipment that he hadn¡¯t noticed that regular transportation between hubs had been disrupted. Once Malik had made him aware a new deepened expression of alarm had crossed his face. Malik could sense he started running through all the implications that he had gone through moments earlier.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think we have¡± Klaas said simply.


    ¡°As you said, we need eyes on this.¡± Malik added, ¡°Meet me in about an hour, my office, get some of your best and brightest.¡±


    Klaas nodded briefly He left the room following the direction that the scryers took. Malik Thought briefly. He needed to get a team together to investigate the trouble with the transportation line. He left to go towards the central staircase. The lower levels were pretty easy to navigate. It was all laid out rather logically and you¡¯d have to try to get lost to actually get lost.


    There was an inkling of an idea playing in his head. He¡¯d need to first stop the traffic in the hub. If people were disappearing from the plates that couldn¡¯t be good. Instantly, knew exactly how to shut them down.


    He went back to his office for a moment. He had an idea for stopping the access to the transport lines. He snatched an imperial seal off his desk. It felt heavier than it actually was. It¡¯s metallic surface glinted as he looked at it.  He could see the crest of his fort on one side, and the imperial crest on the other. Both were inlaid with a purple color.


    No one was going to be happy with what was going to happen. He he gripped it tightly with his hand and left the office. Malik was surprised he wasn¡¯t holding his breath. This wouldn¡¯t be something he¡¯d be able to lightly, yet once he felt this was the right thing to do.


    The second part of the problem was he needed a team to investigate what exactly was going on with the transportation line. He had a vague idea of who he needed. There was Garren, Astyr and the old paper pusher himself. Malik always hesitated on saying his name to himself. It was a slight superstition, because he feared that if he said it, the man might actually show up with more paperwork. Astyr would be easy enough to find and he could count on Garren for everything else.


    With the seal in his hand he left the office and descended down the stairs. For Garren, it was a quick search. He had been working in the courtyard drilling some of the soldiers. In the time that they had been working together Garren had loosened up quite a bit. A lot of the stony silence that he initially had when they first met once faded away as they got to know each other. As Garren explained it the reason he was so stony was the nature of the assignment itself, and once Malik accepted the secrecy could drop. Garren was quick to warm up to Malik, and Malik found that he could trust him with even the most sensitive of matters. Unlike when they first met, the scarred dots under his right eye were no longer concealed, and the honor tattoos all three dark bars and corresponding dashes were on full display. Malik knew he could easily acquire the records that would show how they were given, but he figured that if Garren wanted Malik to know, Garren would have said something.


    When the men saw Malik approach them in the yard they stiffened, however, Malik made it a point to not distract the men and they fell back into their routine just like Malik wasn¡¯t there. He gestured to Garren, who had been well aware of Milk¡¯s presence. Garren passed passed off the instruction to his subordinate and approached Malik.


    ¡°Sir?¡± Garren asked simply.


    ¡°Has the paper pusher left yet?¡±


    Garren shook his head.


    ¡°Stop him, both of you are to meet in my office.¡± Malik then passed off the seal to Garren.


    Garren¡¯s eyebrows raised in surprise.


    ¡°Close the hub, no questions.¡± Malik continued.


    Garren snapped into action, he tossed the seal to his subordinate shouting, ¡°Close the hub, Edict 3715-A¡±


    The subordinate caught the seal, clearly shocked. He shouted orders at the men and they too ran off with urgency. Garren had also set off  with urgency.


    Malik did the calculations in his head. There wouldn''t be too many people left waiting for a ride on the transportation plates at this time. The 50 or so soldiers would be effective at shutting down the hub for at least a little while. He grinned slightly about Edict 3715-A.


    ¡°No citizen shall cross paths before the Emperor unclothed whilst unclothed and wielding both a chicken and it¡¯s spawn.¡±


    Malik hoped no one would call the bluff. He recalled the edict from one of his command classes, it had been used as an example of conquered people. It had been considered an insult by some forgotten tribe who¡¯s name would be a point of argument for scholars until the end of time. Malik had often wondered what the spawn of a chicken referred to. Was it a chick or was it the egg?


    Malik went to the barracks to retrieve the last member of the scouting party. When he arrived all he found was the night watch sleeping. Astyr had picked the assignment for herself. She had always been a bit of an assertive personality, but oddly enough she took great pains to always stay out of the way. She was never hard to find. He strode simply to the barracks. He knew exactly where Astyr would be hiding.


    They had gone to command school together, back then she had been a little more open as a person and quite friendly. Malik had always had felt some form of attraction to her. They had seen a lot of each other around that time and had nearly become an item. Without notice, however, Astyr dropped the command school and had virtually disappeared. They had managed to write each other and stayed in contact, but there was a noticeable cooling to their relationship. When the surprise command of the base had been thrust upon him, and due to the nature of his assignment her name had come up as someone he needed.


    The door to the janitorial closet opened smoothly with barely a creak. Malik had seen the mark that was near the door indicating this were the right one. The shelves were filled with various cleaning supplies, odds and ends and various other items just needed to keep the barracks clean. The bottom most shelves were quite dim as the light from the outside room filtered in but as Malik looked up to the top of the room, the shelves grew far darker as most of the lights were disabled. He paused for a moment, holding his hand over the marked switch tentatively. Would it be worth it, just for now?


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it, old man.¡± Her voice shot out of the darkness.


    Malik suppressed a jolt of surprise, and moved his hand away from the switch.


    ¡°Was it my keys this time, old woman?¡± he asked.


    Two orbs lit up in the darkness, near the ceiling. They dropped to the ground accompanied by the light sound of boots hitting the ground. Astyr came out of the closet, her eyes dimming in the light. Her uniform was slightly crinkled in a few places because, as Malik figured it she had probably fell asleep in them. She had no command dots underneath her eye and only a single half honor bar on her neck.


    Malik had known exactly what the half honor was for. Astyr was enhanced. After leaving the command school she had volunteered to be enhanced. Like Malik she had also been handpicked for her position. She had shown great affinity for combat through the meager courses given at command school and was snatched up as quickly as she could. The enhanced were near mages with their rune work, however, unlike mages no ,actual runes were embedded into their skin the only work that they had ever received were just etchings to improve physical aspects of their individual focus. He knew that like mages she was stronger and faster than most of the soldiers on the base. He also knew, only because it was quite obvious, that she had also acquired excellent night vision. There had been also general boosts to her other senses either through intense training or- through the application of etchings.


    For the most part she seemed to enjoy her time at the fort, she hadn¡¯t seen actual combat because of the long time spent training for both her assigned job as well as the actual training that was required to allow her to use the full range of her new etchings effectively. She would occasionally use her abilities to dispatch dangerous wildlife around the fort and for a generous reward, for the nearby town as they moved.


    In the light could make out the faint lines tracing across her face. Thankfully unlike the mages the enhanced didn¡¯t undergo the full effects of aging and physical atrophy that the mages did, they did still get effected in quite the same way, just to a lesser degree.


    ¡°What brings you to these parts?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I need you in my office.¡± Malik replied.


    ¡°I bet I¡¯ll be there first,¡± she winked as she left, walking a little too fast to be considered a walk, and a little too slow to be considered a jog.


    Malik knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to match her speed, and walked back to the central building at a much slower pace. All the same though, he hoped he locked the window, just to be the first there this time.


    Malik had tried his best, but  He wasn¡¯t as young as he used to be. He¡¯d put some strain on himself with the brisk pace he set walking from the barracks. It was nowhere near the speed that Astyr could go without breaking a sweat. He could feel the burn of the muscles from his walk. He hadn¡¯t pushed himself out of breath, not broken a sweat. All the same He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and whipped it across his brow to catch any perspiration. Satisfied he pocketed the cloth and opened the door to his office.


    He looked at the assembled people as they all from their seats. The simple joy of socializing wiped clear from their faces as they greeted Malik in their official capacity. Garren stood stiff , the closest to Malik¡¯s desk. Next to him was Laudislaus, the  paper pusher himself. His uniform was as immaculate as it had been before. The man had tried to stand as stiff as Garren, however the effort was there. They were standing along the edge of room on the least comfortable chairs that, as far as Malik was concerned, should have been banned as torturing equipment. Astyr  held a less formal stance, standing in front of the desk before one of the pair of plush chairs. Malik was quite impressed as she had beat both Garren and Laudislaus to the office.


    Somehow Astyr had managed to gather her gear in the time that it took her to get to the tower. A pair of goggles hung loosely around her neck, their lenses darkened and covered with a thin film to reduce any glare. Her short bow was currently leaning on her chair. She wore a hooded poncho covered in a pattern to simulate the leaves of the forest. Around her waist was her quick draw quiver. It had been concealed on the poncho. It was clearly full, seeing the arrows packed neatly inside.


    He motioned for them all to be seated as he got to his desk. It had taken far less time than anticipated to get everyone together. He was a little disappointed by the fact that for the most part Astyr had managed to get to the office than he. Malik was quite certain that many of the windows had been locked. Even then the windows themselves were quite a bit smaller than she was. He knew any questions about how she managed to get in would be met with obfuscation and vague answers. It happened in the past and he learned eventually it wasn¡¯t worth it.


    Once Malik had reached his seat and settled comfortably They sat in silence, casually regarding each other. Malik knew Klaas was quite punctual, and would arrive the moment that they had agreed on previously. With a casual glance at the time piece fixed above the office door Malik estimated that there were roughly twenty minutes left for them to kill before Klaas would open the door casually, as was his custom.


    ¡°It¡¯s going to get a little bit more crowded in here.¡± Malik commented to himself as he attempted to fill the silence that he knew that would quickly fill the room.


    Both Garren and Laudislaus shifted uncomfortably in their chairs. Astyr simply stared at Malik, unmoving in her chair. Here eyes were back to brown and any hint of the glowing that he had previously witnessed was gone. Malik half expected her to break into a grin and tease him about being too slow, but knew that it would never happen. She had definitely picked up some odd behaviors he hadn¡¯t quite managed to get over. There was always and odd disconnect. Sometimes it was like she was always the same person he knew, but then others it was a sudden switch and she was an entirely different person. He¡¯d be lying to himself if he said that sometimes she didn¡¯t unnerve him.


    ¡°Garren, what¡¯s the status of the men?¡± Malik asked, even though he already had a sense of the answer. He just wanted to stop thinking of Astyr for the moment.


    ¡°They¡¯ve departed, sir.¡±


    Malik nodded, casting a sly glance to the clock. He caught himself before he started to drum on the desk with his hands and switched to pulling paper from the in-box that was piled on his desk. He read through a few pages, stamped his approval and placed the completed work into the out-box.


    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be too much longer,¡± He said moving onto the next form. This one would take less time.  It was a single page. It looked in order. The stamp seemed louder than it would have been normally. He used the opportunity of putting the second form in the out-box as a chance to glance around the room.


    Garren and Laudislaus both looked uncomfortable, however Garren seemed to be having a hard time concealing it, shifting in his seat more than normal. Laudislaus seemed to be having it much easier, sitting relatively still compared to Garren. To Malik¡¯s relief they  started their conversation again, a light hearted discussion of local amenities of the town nearby. Astyr looked almost to be melting in her chair Malik felt a small sense of relief that she had stopped staring at him and had closed her eyes. Her face was still expressionless, but at least the discomfort of the blink-less stare was gone.


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    He continued working on the paperwork determined to make some use of the downtime that he had. If he was going to be sitting in his office for 20 minutes he might as well do something, even if it was something that he clearly loathed. An eternity later, Malik heard the quick knock and opening of the door that had become his signature.


    ¡°Magister.¡± He simply stated. After he had finished examining the form he stamped it and stood to greet the man. The report wasn¡¯t anything quite too interesting, but old habits die hard. He liked to keep Klaas on his toes with pointless things.


    The two scryers from earlier were standing on either side of Klaas Unlike before they were clothed. Both scyers wore metal clawed gauntlets. They were both quite shiny as if they had been recently polished. Silver lines cut across the steel surface, in odd patterns that were unique to each gauntlet. Loose silver chains emerged from the knuckles of the gauntlets where they were woven into a loose lattice along the scryer¡¯s upper arms. They each wore a muted purple cloak with a comet pin affixed to their shoulder. Klaas had the similar cloak except he did not have the gauntlets nor the loose lattice of silver chain around his arms.


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised by how many people are here¡± Klaas stated. ¡°It¡¯s quite cramped.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re closing down the hub with an edict.¡± Malik replied, ¡°3715-A.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Klaas¡¯s eyebrows raised with mild shock. ¡°That¡¯s quite interesting.¡±


    Klaas then decided it was best to jump straight to the issue and briefed everyone in the room. He went into excess detail, much to the chagrin of Malik. Once Malik was certain Klaas had reached the end of his information he broke into the orders. With the group of men being sent ahead of everyone else, Malik wanted to make sure that there was some sort of a perimeter around the anomaly in the transportation lines. Malik would travel with Klaas and the scryers and a small squad of Astyr¡¯s scouts. Laudislaus would accompany them. While he didn¡¯t look like much he had been one of the original team that had been used to survey the area, he was the most knowledgeable out of them all as to what was where.


    Malik was determined to go, because he felt that to best understand the correct course of action he would need to see, for himself what exactly was happening. Klaas had been set with the same mind.  He first weakly objected to see Malik¡¯s reasoning behind this, and quickly jumped into agreement. The scryers themselves were to measure any magical interference, may it be with the transportation line itself or any other possible cause for the vision black out that they had all experienced. Their second objective would be to determine where a safe perimeter could be established leaving just enough room for them to do their work uninterrupted. Astyr and another group of her scouts were to go ahead of everyone else to make sure things were clear. If anyone were to be attacking, Malik was confident that Astyr would be able to warn them in time. He was even confident that Astyr and her scouts would arrive at the hub before even the 50 or so soldiers that he had Garren send out before.


    They were able to speed through their planning as both Klaas and Malik had already put a lot of thought in what5 they needed to do. Satisfied that they had covered everything they broke they broke apart to prepare to leave. Astyr was the first to leave.Malik watched her half wondering where she would exit the tower.


    Malik was glad that they were all leaving the office. With the addition of suits of armor it felt like there was a group of 9. He started to second guess himself on the choice of offices. The only thing limiting him was the fact he couldn¡¯t justify not moving his desk along. It was quite fixed into this room, and no matter how many times he had tried to move it, it would not budge. He finally decided to bring it up with Klaas later. If anything, he probably knew more about the tower than anyone else living. Malik was getting quite tired of being stuffed in this small office, even though he really had no one to blame but himself. He¡¯d start buy moving some of the decorations through out the fort or maybe just removing the decorations altogether. He was the base commander. He had to have at least some say in how things looked.


    They left the tower and were greeted by a group of Astyr¡¯s scouts at the entrance to the tower. They each were wearing the same sort of clothing that Astyr had been. The fact that scouts had been there to greet them was a good indication that Astyr would already be long gone. The scouts had been kind enough to bring a sword and some light armor from the armory for both Malik and Laudislaus. It really hadn¡¯t been much, just some simple pieces that had been designed to slide over their armor. It was more for decoration than anything.


    Magic had almost rendered hand to hand fighting all but obsolete. Malik was quite confident that Laudislaus had better training with swordplay than he. Malik had been one of the last classes still educated on fighting hand to hand. With mages and inscribed weapons coming into play, anyone unlucky enough to be fighting with a simple sword and steel armor would most likely cease to exist before he even had the idea he was supposed to be fighting. The empire had come into power with the direct application of magics and their practical uses on the battlefield.


    Malik and the group went to the stables and received some horses. The scryers both wanted to ride the same horse so they were obliged. Everyone else had their own horse. The scouts however declined. The group exited the fort leaving Garren to organize the remainder of the troops  and to assign a group to keep the fort itself manned.


    It hadn¡¯t taken them long to reach the tree line, it had been pushed back somewhat from when the tower was initially discovered. Once they were at the tree line the scouts disappeared up into the branches. The scouts were quite nimble when it came to traveling through the trees where they had a better view of the surrounding area and could keep track of anything that might develop into travel as they continued on to their destination.


    The road to the fort stayed the same. It had the same twists turns and curves that Malik had been introduced to when he first accepted the assignment. There had been the option to open up some of the minor for transportation lines from the nearby farming communities to the fort but Klaas had been quick to shut those down. The barrier that had been pushing off the natural vegetation of the forest would have either disrupted or been disrupted by the minor transportation lines. The hub itself had been a a far enough distance that they never had to worry about any cross interference but a minor line, even the smallest type, would have been a poor idea.


    It had isolated the fort at first, which hadn¡¯t been a bad thing. It allowed Klaas and his teams of mages to continue their research and development without too much trouble. When the vaults were cleared it had caused quite the headache logistically though. The small twisting road Had only been made to accommodate the occasional group of travelers, the convoy of sensitive materials that had left had, in addition of the large volume of people transporting them, needed security to the objects to make sure that nothing would be lost and it would all be accounted for.


    The removal of the items from what had been called the vault went off without a hitch. The whole operation went through smoothly It was a fact that both Malik and Klaas had worn as a badge of pride. Malik had even received a mark of honor, which he proudly displayed.  The empire had become quite adept at transporting sensitive materials across great distances.  Many of the materials had just simply been transported out by carts and specialty crews, but the more vital items had been secreted out by actual construction crew that were used to build the fort itself.


    The empire had a history of collecting and spreading the magical artifacts throughout itself.c More recently it had relied on the transportation networks that were pretty much the backbone of the empire itself. Before the transportation lines there had been many other methods that they had used to spread the materials out for research and development. It had become a great priority for the empire for such a long time that it was usually expected that at some point in a typical soldier¡¯s life they would be involved in some way with retrieving some artifact obscure book.


    Malik looked around the road. He tried to catch a glimpse of the scouts that would be accompanying them to the hub. Whenever he thought he managed to see someone it usually turned out to be either some animal or his own imagination. As they pushed further into the forest, the trees grew more dense and the light dimmed as there were more leaves filtering out the sunlight. The road itself had been properly established at this point. There had been less maintenance required for maintaining patrols along the road between the fort itself and Goldenleaf, and for that Malik was quite happy. The road still seemed to swing wildly seemingly at random intervals. The odd hills and curves had been mostly smoothed out, but the wild nature of the road had been quite hard to subdue and it still seemed to peek out whenever it had a chance.


    Malik had expected the soldiers to be mounted, although the speed at which they would have been moving wouldn''t have put too much strain on the horses. So they decided to skip swapping horses at the way-station as well. Malik had wanted to meet them after the hub had been somewhat secured and shut down careful to keep the soldiers with a great enough lead.H knew that the mayor of Goldenleaf wouldn''t be too understanding. Most of the income for the city was traditionally earned by selling food to many of the larger cities. It had been disrupted quite a bit from the construction of the fort. The money that the soldiers had spent in town had brought further complications.


    The town had come into existence from the nearby farming areas. The two major farms had combined and owned the town for the longest time, as it was mostly the farmers themselves and a few other hundred souls that had decided to live there. Before the fort it was an easily forgotten town where everyone knew everyone else.  They had gone through their growing pains mostly at this point as the fort itself had already been established for nearly 10 years.


    What had drawn the researches were visions of unknown entities that lived around some forgotten ruin. The locals actively ignored the location due to local superstition. The first few researchers that had been assigned made little progress in exploring the ruins and many of the chambers underground and a large collection of the rooms in the tower had been sealed. It had taken a good number of years for the first seal to be cracked. Once first seal fell, the others quickly followed. It then became apparent that something important had been discovered.


    They passed the way station, with little ceremony. The forest surrounding the way station had been thinned, mostly it had been to make pasture for the horses, and it had been nice to see the open sky again. Malik had never been a fan of the forest and the touch of the warm sun on his skin improved his mood quite a bit. The forest around the fort had always felt a little too cold to his liking. But just as quickly as the sun reached his skin, it fell away again. The forest once again engulfed him.


    There had been local legends of men possessed by spirits of the forest roaming to catch travelers unaware. Malik had always equated the odd figures that were fighting the men on his desk as the creatures, but as with most of the researchers and soldiers were stationed at the fort they were quickly dismissed as fiction or wild animals. There had been cases of missing horses from the way stations pastures, but whenever horse remains were discovered there had been clear indication of wild animals. Beliefs between the soldiers at the way station had always been varied. There were wolves that had to be fought off initially when the way station had been built. They mostly gave the residents of the way station and their animals a wide berth at this point, mostly. There was an occasional attack perpetrated by hungry wolves.


    Even with clear evidence, however, the stories would still circulate of creatures stalking the woods at night. The typical creatures described had been a man like creature standing at least four to five heads over man, stark white skin stretched over bones. The were said to wait for an isolated person and snatch them away to somewhere unknown. The stories always talked about farmers being grabbed from isolated farms, and with the addition of the fort, there had been new stories of soldiers either watching the walls our out on patrol being grabbed.


    Mostly out of boredom Malik had asked a few of the scouts, and even Astyr herself, if they had ever encountered anything odd patrolling during the night. He had tried to obfuscate the line of questioning to get some kind of a candid answer Mostly they talked about the odd animal. Once Astyr caught on, however, she had taken any opportunity to spin a tale to tease Malik. He stopped asking shortly afterward, He didn¡¯t quite find them as funny as she did.


    Malik had only had a few reports of missing soldiers, and even with the small number of them reporting missing, they had always been found and reprimanded. Malik never had a case of full blown desertion. The soldiers that had been reprimanded had never had the issue again. The penalty for such a crime was rather harsh, and Malik would try his hardest to go out of the way for his men.

 Chapter 3

    The forest started to thin out as they reached reached the outskirts of the city. It had taken a good part of the day to travel this far. The city itself was still moving. The outskirts still showed it¡¯s farming roots and they passed a good number of farms before they started to get closer to the hub. The scouts reappeared keeping pace with the horses easily.


    The work on the hub had been finished far before there had been any discovery of the ruins over which the fort had been built. The lines themselves were constructed over mana channels that had been established either through natural or artificial means in ages past. No one quite knew what the channels actually were, but that didn¡¯t stop people from using them. Any sense of danger that had come from using magic was quickly squashed either from the weight of the empire or the convenience and money that it brought to anyone fortunate enough to be near an mana channel.


    The work to establish a transportation network hadn¡¯t been much. As Malik understood it, you just needed an origin and a place to anchor the origin. Plates were specifically etched to travel along the lines in a near automatic process. Hubs generally were areas that could hold multiple anchors and were quite generally seen as the prized possessions of the empire due to the fact they could safely transport goods and people long distances.


    Only a kingdoms had been able to discover how to make the transportation lines. Generally the empire offered the scattered kingdoms the chance to join the empire peacefully. If they did not join the empire acquired them in more forceful ways. The empire had been made as a conglomeration of a large number of small kingdoms. Once a kingdom joined the empire the citizens were dispersed throughout the empire.


    The city eventually had it¡¯s center shifted more toward the hub itself as commerce and people flowed in. The guard themselves had trouble initially with the first influx of people who ended up moving to the area, but, with a new governor being assigned to the area who had been from the capitol, he assisted the mayor in getting recruitment and training for the city guard to deal with the growing pains.


    The streets of the city were busy as many of the locals set to work on their normal day. Malik¡¯s group had drawn a few eyes, but were mostly ignored. From what he imagined, the 50 or so men that had been sent to the hub would have drawn more stares as they set about getting to where they needed to go.


    The streets were relatively clean as were the buildings. The buildings had been built haphazardly in the old town, but thankfully the route that they followed had avoided the old town. The newer buildings had proper city planning and had been set up in a grid like patterns mostly coming from the hub itself. The grid work had fallen apart as it fell into land that was held by the die-hard farmers that did not wish to give up their land, but for the owners relented, and more than not had found themselves with more money than they would have reasonably expected to see in their lifetime. The land holders that ended up selling their land usually left first chance they could, but there still had been a group of the locals that saw this as a successful opportunity and ended up reinvesting their new found wealth instead of moving on.


    The current mayor, Basewin, had been a member of one such family. He had only recently become mayor. They mayors of this city had been historically elected for a lifetime position. The previous mayor had been more closed to the influx of money and the new people moving in from all corners of the empire. However, the position had grown to be a bit too much for him and he had taken his own life. The circumstances of his death were widely disputed for some time. Many of the locals saw his death as an assassination by the empire to allow growth, while others had  considered him to be murdered by one of the other families in the city in an effort to gain wealth by removing any restrictions that would have placed on growth.


    Basewin won a heated race against four other candidates. His nomination and win were grudgingly accepted by more of the extreme groups that had been in the city. In the end as he did his job rumors of the old mayor simply faded away. He felt often that his own work had been successful at getting no one happy. The key of compromise, as he jokingly saw it, was the ability to give everyone everything that they wouldn¡¯t be happy with.


    The Hub towered over the other buildings in the city, not only was it tall, it was large. Malik often though that without a map the hub would be easy to get lost in. The plates entered the building through a large opening in the center. The plates would then settle on any of the large openings on one of the many floors. This hub had only one anchor point currently attached to it far to the south east. A blue light shown in the center of the transportation hub shooting off into the sky and then shooting off to the anchor point forming a literal line which faded where plates traveled close to it. The color returned just as bright as they moved along.


    There hadn¡¯t been a lot of traffic at first, but as it stood now, there had been a quite a bit of activity on the bottom most floors. Even now as it was starting to get quite late in the afternoon shipments still arrived from the anchor point. Malik watched the opening and nodded to himself, satisfied that no plates were leaving.


    The entrance they arrived at towered over them. A version of The Promise, A large version of the imperial comet, had been fixed to the middle of the arch aligned perfectly. Oddly, Malik didn¡¯t feel the sense of relief that he normally did upon seeing the comet. The promise was an oath from the emperor himself to the people that he would bring protect them and make them prosper. Malik cast a glance to the other members of his party. The Magister and the two scryers looked as they ever had. Laudislaus and a couple of the scouts appeared to be slightly perplexed and glanced around like Malik had. On catching each other¡¯s eyed there was a nervous chuckle shared.


    The inside of the hub would have been rather busy normally, but for now, with the plates not leaving there had been a small crowd had gathered, trying to leave the city. The soldiers that had arrived ahead stood smartly, taking in their surroundings. Malik instructed everyone to meet them at the south entrance and left with Malik to find Garren¡¯s subordinate.


    It hadn¡¯t been much of a search. The man had been waiting with the hub manager in a room that had been set aside the control center. The seal he had been given was still being held by him. The soldier stood quickly to attention upon seeing Malik enter. The manager was a bit slower at getting up from his chair. The man was a little bit on the portly side, and wore a well fitted uniform denoting his public service. The man was quite eager to see Malik and started to rush to greet him. The soldier reluctantly followed the man.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know how glad I was when your soldiers arrived.¡± The man spat out.


    ¡°Eager to see us?¡± Malik asked. ¡°Usually people are far from eager to see us in a group.¡±


    ¡°He practically was in tears when we arrived, sir.¡± The soldier clarified as he handed the seal back to Malik.


    ¡°Something is wrong with the plates!¡± He exclaimed, while forcing a whisper.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the plates?¡± asked Klaas with a look of concern.


    ¡°First the goods stopped arriving¡± the manager started, ¡°Then the man showed up.¡±


    ¡°The man?¡± asked Malik, looking at the soldier. The soldier shook his head, indicating that he hadn¡¯t known.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to show you.¡± Said the manager.


    The manager lead them up a couple of levels to an empty floor. There had been a makeshift barrier set up around where a plate would have settled itself. The manager walked them around it simply. The plate had a couple of containers loaded on it, however they were off center.


    ¡°Is this how it arrived?¡± Asked Klaas.


    The manager nodded, as he walked them to the other side. He stopped suddenly and looked away. Malik Klaas and the soldier looked. A single man had been fixed to the deck of the plate. The container itself had a large growth of large red crystals jutting from it. One of the larger crystals had formed over half of the man¡¯s body, piercing the skin of the plate. Inside where the crystal had formed over the man, his skeleton was visible through the translucent surface. His flesh seemingly eaten away from the more dense skeleton. The uniform that the man wore had been that of another public servant, most likely from the other hub. The plate¡¯s internal etchings had been effected as well. The normally pulsing blue and purple that would have been expected it too had no longer showed any activity. There had been a growth of red crystals forming around where the larger crystal had per iced into the etchings themselves.


    ¡°Did anyone touch him?¡± Asked Klaas coolly.


    ¡°N-no¡± answered the manager. ¡°He warned us off before he just stopped moving. That crystal wasn''t as big when the plate first arrived.¡±


    Malik moved the seal in his hand around absentmindedly as he stared at the unnamed man¡¯s corpse.


    Malik told the soldier and the manager to head back to the control room. The scryers pushed forward, pushing past both  Malik and Klaas. Malik jumped out of the way. Mostly it was because he was startled and had forgotten that they were even preset. The scryers ran their hands absentmindedly through the air tracing out an invisible border.


    Klaas nodded as if in thought. The scyers had developed a pattern and continued to trace their hands through the air along the border that they had previously established


    ¡°Have you seen anything like this before?¡± Malik asked, while studying the movements of the scryers


    ¡°Not at this scale.¡± Klaas said dismissively.


    Klaas looked around  the area. He walked over to one of the corners of the makeshift barricade and pulled at a metallic bar. It had been roughly the size of his arm. The runes in his arm glowed momentarily and traveled down to the bar. Klaas swung it through the air a couple of times and placed it gently on the ground. He found a similar length of wood. He examined it closely, and picked up the length of metal.


    ¡°This might take some time.¡± Klaas said.


    He held both materials close together in one hand as he traced his other over the surface of both objects twisting his fingers into intricate patterns. Malik was half interested in the process, however nothing appeared to be happening for quite some time. Malik grew bored and walked off.


    He walked to one of the lower floors and looked up through the middle opening. By now the stars were out. The line shooting out of the ground cut through the darkness, drowning all but the brightest stars. He shook his head. He never did like the lights that they gave off and wondered how people could live near the hub. City life had never truly appealed to him. The truth of the matter was that he had never really enjoyed being around people. He thought back to his conscription.


    Military service for the empire was mandatory. Any kingdom acquired by force or diplomatic reasons were required to give up a portion of their population for the mandatory service. This went as well to be expected. The conscripts were then shipped off seemingly at random throughout the empire for their assessment and training. Malik was already a full fl egged citizen of the empire. He was required  to enter the service as soon as he hit the age of 13.


    He remembered his family taking him to the conscription center. His father stood sternly with his arm wrapped around his mother who was in tears. The building had been rather drab from the front, straight corners with a rather uninspired white coat of paint. The proctors had him sit in a hallway with other teenagers on a series of rather used benches, each of the teenagers were just as nervous as he was.


    There had been no conversation between everyone in the hallway, each casual conversation was quickly broken by the swapping of the teenagers in the hallway. They did a variety of tests, checking basics like magic affinity, standard physical health check ups as well as a battery testing their sight and hearing.


    They were mixed into two separate mixed sex groups and those that had been determined to have a high magic affinity were pulled away from his group. His group were met at their local hub, split further into smaller groups then sent on a plate to their respective boarding schools in surrounding cities and regions of the empire. Typically the young citizen conscripts weren¡¯t sent far, but the conscripts from a conquered kingdom were shipped to the furthest part of the empire.


    Malik shook his head. Something about the lights in the city made him want to think back. He looked up into the sky. The twin moons continued their eternal dance. There had been a story he heard about them once, but it was getting late. As if on cue he let out a yawn. If he was tired, he was sure his soldier were too. Malik needed to see about lodging. He only had a small contingency of soldiers with him currently.


    He found himself wondering back to the control center. He needed to speak to the manager for a little while. He felt that he needed a little prospective on what actually happened. When he came to the control center, it had been rather empty. Malik couldn''t be certain if it was the fact it was rather late or if it were the fraudulent shutdown he issued. He had been scared by the visions given by Klaas and his scryers.


    The manager and the still unnamed soldier were talking in the empty control center. There was a slight bit of reverberation on their voices as it echoed off the back wall. They stopped abruptly once they noticed Malik, but he was quick to join in their conversation.


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    ¡ª¡ª


    Klaas and his scryers worked hard on containing the contaminated object. They couldn¡¯t Quite make out what exactly it was due to the high concentration of crystallized mana that encrusted it. The soul that had found himself pinned to the plate had had an agonizing death as the mana interacted with his body. The make shift containment rod he had crafted from etching just a simple length of wood and metal seemed to be working well enough. The scryers had set themselves to tracing the contamination border, and lucky for everyone the only traces they could find were contained to the plate and it¡¯s shipping containers.


    Klaas had been satisfied with their work. He would need to issue words of recommendation at the earliest time. While scrying and mana detection had used a lot of the same skill set they had taken to the mana detection with ease with far greater aptitude than he would have normally expected even under normal circumstances. It was a testament to their skill and their training. After all, they had discovered this anomaly.


    Klaas had fixed the makeshift containment rod to one of the corners of the plate. The size of the plate would make it difficult to contain, but as long as the crystallized mana hadn¡¯t made it¡¯s way too far into the internal etchings of the plate he was confident they would at least be able to prevent any further damage to the plate itself. Klaas fixed the newly constructed containment rod to one of the corners of the plate.


    Klaas felt a little drained but knew he could continue. It might take a while to get the plate contained correctly. He looked over to the scryers. Taelon looked exhausted, however his companion Maeve seemed to be holding up pretty well. That would change, Klaas knew. Their linked physiology would have both of them collapsing at roughly the same time. They had done a lot recently. Two scrying sessions and now mana detection. That would have a heavy toll on anyone¡¯s body. The fact that they had been linked was not lost on Klaas.


    The linking process had always been controversial. It had helped with the lifespan of the average mage, but there had been a large list of drawbacks. Klaas had to opportunity to be linked when he was initially conscripted. He shook his head. The process of getting embedded was always a sore memory. The process itself was harrowing, and even thinking back to it was enough to start him sweating. Klaas had always loved the fact he had an additional facet of the world that was fully exposed to him and his fellow mages, yet he always had at the back of the mind the thought of the actual cost of what that entailed. When he found himself in a position of power in the Westwatch fort he vowed to himself that he would always care for those in his charge. It was the least he could do.


    ¡°How are you two holding up?¡± Klaas asked.


    The spoke simultaneously. ¡°We could use some rest.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll probably be here for a few days,¡± Klaas replied with a nod, ¡°Go meet up with Commander Malik to see if he can get somewhere for you to sleep.¡±


    The two scryers stopped moving ending all the glowing from their embedded runes. They turned to leave.


    ¡°Wait a moment¡± Klaas called out.


    Both the scryers turned back to face Klaas as he fished into a pouch that had been hidden underneath his sash that was tied around his waist.After a moment he produced two small vials swirling with both blue and purple colors. He tossed them to both Taelon and Maeve who caught them smoothly.


    ¡°It¡¯s not much,¡± Klaas stated ¡°But it¡¯ll help recovery.¡±


    The scryers thanked him and left to find find commander Malik. Klaas set back to work creating more containment rods. The work was simple enough. He simply repeated the the steps that had been drilled in to him all those years ago. The flow of mana had initially fought him quite a bit but once the first containment rod had been formed and placed it became easier to direct the mana through his runes. He began the dance using his runes and directed the flow of magic around him to form a shell around the unidentified object. It was always a little hard to get the mana weave started, but like mostly everything, the first step was always the hardest. Once he had been confident that he had successfully tied the weave to the control rod, he started making a second rod using the readily available materials he had, collecting both metal and wood from the makeshift barrier that the manager of the hub had started. Klaas knew that it wouldn¡¯t be enough to fully reverse the crystallized mana, nor restore the plate¡¯s functionality, but it would be a start. He knew he would have to talk to Malik when he had a chance to get materials from the vault.


    When the scryers approached him Malik had been surprised by them speaking in near unison. He could tell they had physically been drained. With a quick look and and the use of an actual edict he lead the pair to the quarters for soldiers yet to be assigned to their own posts. The manager eagerly lead them down into the lower levels of the hub. The room that was available had been large. It had a set of twenty bunk beds lined on either side of a single aisle. The beds themselves had been recessed into the wall. They were a bit nicer than the beds that had been set up in Westwatch. There had even been a panel that could slide down shutting the room¡¯s light out of the individual section.


    Malik had tried to see if there was an available room that would have been separate from the bunk itself. However, it became quickly apparent that he would have to bunk in that room itself. Malik talked with the officer that he had been acquainted with to set up a staggered sleeping schedule to keep everyone alert when the dawn would break. Malik knew that there wouldn¡¯t be too many people happy with the lock down that he initiated on the hub itself.


    Malik and the two scryers were the first to head to the quarters as the officer went to set up the schedule. Malik felt he should have at least remembered his name. He chose the top bed at the bunk he selected. He had been taught early that the bottom bunk was always a trap. It had been more comfortable than he expected, however he still found himself staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep. He concentrated a bit on the officer that was in charge of the men. His face he could clearly picture  his face, the single command dot, no honors. It was when he tried focusing on the name itself that things seemed to get foggy.


    He was distracted from his thoughts as the scryers readied themselves for bed. He watched them briefly. They drank something from the vials and then appeared to hug for quite a while. The two scryers separated from each other almost reluctantly and went to their selected beds. Malik always had thought mages were strange. He didn¡¯t want to worry about the scryers anymore as he let out a yawn. He simply lowered the divider and fell into a quick sleep.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The next day had come quickly.  And Malik woke feeling as though he hadn¡¯t slept at all. He gave a glance to the beds being occupied by the scryers. The panels were still closed. The rest of the room still had activity, small groups of soldiers were climbing into their respective beds, while others were leaving theres. Outside in the hallway he had a chance meeting with the unnamed officer who directed Malik to a cafeteria where he could pick up some food.


    The officer accompanied him to the cafeteria and lined up behind Malik as they picked up some trays. Malik cringed internally as  he was served his food.  The food itself wasn¡¯t anything awful to look at, it was more of the cost of the food that would come up over the time he had the soldiers stationed out here. He could possibly write off the perimeter that would be set up out in the outskirts of the city as some kind of training exercise and had most definitely had funds set aside for such a thing. The trouble would be for the costs of having his men quartered in the hub itself.


    The thoughts of logistics were set aside, he had managed to travel along the line picking up exactly what he felt like eating. The food on the tray was rather standard for hub food. There was a porridge with a roll of bread, as well as an unidentified cut of meat.  That was what at least what Malik had selected. As an after though he also added a slice of an orange melon just to have some sort of fruit to accompany the rest of the food. He had also had a rather aromatic tea selected for him. He was never a flashy eater, but he found that the most fragrant of teas in the morning was enough to snap him awake. Malik went to pay for the food, just in case something hadn¡¯t been worked out, but the unnamed officer simply advised him that it had indeed been taken care of.


    The cafeteria was pretty nice as far as  Malik had been concerned. He had always considered himself more utilitarian than anything.  They had selected a table to the edge of the room. There was a painting of a floral arrangement hanging above the table. Malik lazily spooned his porridge into his mouth as he half listened to the officer. It was just a summary of the sleep schedule that Malik requested. Just hearing basic details would have been enough to satisfy Malik.


    Malik looked at his companion¡¯s food. It was just about the same as his, although for some reason it had looked far more appetizing. The meat wasn¡¯t just a slab of meat, it looked like there were proper sausages. Malik let out an inaudible sigh. Everyone else¡¯s food always looked better. Malik would have to just make due.


    ¡°Have you talked to Astyr and her scouts?¡± asked Malik, in between bites of his food.


    ¡°Not yet sir. She made herself scarce once she arrived.¡± The officer continued, ¡°We also have the day manager on duty now, and she¡¯s not exactly taking well to the shutdown.¡±


    Malik nodded. He reached thoughtfully to the tea and gave it an experimental sip. It was quite bitter, any hint of the wondrous aroma had been instantly demolished. After that first sip, however, he felt a slight, yet unexpected surge of energy. He put the tea down and stared at the cup. The rest of his breakfast had somewhat become less appealing. He ate a good portion of the mystery meat and found it had tasted just as he expected it. He didn¡¯t know if he should be disappointed or impressed. They continued eating in silence, finally Malik¡¯s tea had cooled down enough and was finished in a giant gulp.


    ¡°After you¡¯re done eating I want you to find Astyr and Laudislaus and have them wait for me in the command center.¡±


    Without waiting for a reply Malik got up from the table returning his tray. He then talked to the server, in an effort to get a larger cup that he could carry with him.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Klaas continued his work late intro the night constructing containment rods out of materials that he simply snatched from the makeshift barrier . The twisting and etching of the materials was the most taxing part of what he had to do. In a flash of foresight he had packed enough flasks of concentrated mana that he could handle most of the stresses that the work would place on him.


    The work had been mostly haphazard, just to overcome unexpected disturbances. He wasn¡¯t quite sure how long his work would hold, but he had felt quite certain that it would hold at least long enough for a quick supply run to the fort. He didn¡¯t want to chance moving whatever it was that had been shipped here, but they could at least continue to conceal the plate on the dock itself.


    Klaas looked at his hand to get a gauge of how much further he could push himself. The skin had someone become gray and ashy, there was also a slight tremble. He feared he may have pushed himself just a little too far, and pulled yet another flask that had been fixed under the sash at his midsection. Once it had been emptied his completion had improved just slightly, but the tremor continued. He pulled some black leather gloves from the sash and pushed his hands in. They had been quite tight, but, they would work for now to suppress the quaking in his hands. Klaas decided he should probably go to sleep to prepare for the next day. As an afterthought he wrote down a list of some materials and some names of his personnel that he needed to work on his project.


    Klaas went to the hub¡¯s control center. He had been greeted by two guards that had been posted at the entrance and was immediately waved inside. There had been a different station manager on duty at this time, and unlined the manager that had been on shift the previous night, she had been far less accommodating. Any effort that had been used to get her to at least take a look at the downed plate had also been pushed aside and ignored.


    Klaas was too tired to deal with this and turned to walk away. As luck would have it, Malik entered the room carrying a large thermos in one hand and a small cup in the other. A smile had been glued to his face that hadn¡¯t shown any indication of fading any time soon. Klaas caught a whiff of the tea and chuckled to himself.


    ¡°I¡¯d be careful with that if I were you¡± he whispered to Malik.


    Malik waved his hand dismissively in the air.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine,¡± he replied.


    Klaas handed Malik the list that he wrote. Malik took a look at the paper and furrowed his brow in scrutiny.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get a runner out as soon as I finish up here.¡±


    Klaas pointed at the thermos nonchalantly and said ¡°You¡¯re probably going to need that whole thing to deal with the Day manager.¡±


    Malik listened to the heated debate. Some of the joy faded from his face.


    ¡°I heard she wasn¡¯t liking our little shutdown here.¡± Malik replied.


    ¡°It¡¯s too late for me to deal with this,¡± Klaas replied then left before Malik could say anything else.

 Chapter 3

    The day manager, Imelda was not happy with the presence of the soldiers in the hub. They had show up out of the blue and the Night manager, Gen, had not left any note as to why they had actually taken over the hub itself. She was quite furious at the worker she had sent out of the office. He hadn¡¯t taken the time to learn the exact details of what the soldiers were doing there either. There was also this man, the commander of Westwatch just dancing around and keeping the ever turning wheels of the empire. They had offered to take her up to see what was causing the slow down, however she still had a ton of work to do and these people were interrupting it.


    ¡°This hub needs to be open, Now.¡± She looked at Malik coldly.


    Malik returned the same icy stare.


    ¡°We can¡¯t do that,¡± he growled through his teeth.


    Imelda slammed her hands into the desk. The move further hardened Malik.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t a request. Get your soldiers out of here, or face the consequences.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s not a damn thing you can do,¡± Malik slammed the seal on the desk in front of her. ¡°This grants me the authority to do what I need for the good of the empire.¡±


    Imelda¡¯s gaze didn¡¯t stray from Malik¡¯s face The seal sitting on her desk meant nothing to her.


    ¡°Get your men and get out of here.¡± She reiterated.


    Malik scooped up the seal and put it back onto his person. Malik closed his eyes, and tried to picture the Forrest . It had always calmed him. He let go of a long breath and felt the tension that had been building in his body start to fade. He looked at Imelda. She had the same uniform as the manager from the night had. The uniform had been a bit looser on her.  The stern expression remained. They stared wordlessly at each other for quite some time.


    Malik tried to use the silence to probe into her character. The worker that had advised her of the situation in the hub was filled with relief once Malik strolled in and hastily exited. He expected that the behavior she was exhibiting was somewhat of a constant thing. The activity in  the control center had been unchanged from the night before. He could guess that she was usually unpleasant to be around.  He couldn''t think of a way out without the rest of his people. He saw her casting a few looks at his thermos. Malik wondered if she just might just not e a morning person. He produced his thermos and rested it on her desk.


    ¡°Do you have a cup?¡± he asked.


    Her demeanor slightly changed. The hostility was still quite present, however it seemed to have lost the edge. She slid open of of the drawers  on the desk and pulled out a mug. Malik slipped the top on the thermos. The tea inside was still quite hot and steam curled in the air once it was exposed. The aroma had quickly spread throughout the room. Malik poured some tea into Imelda¡¯s produced cup and gently slid it back to her. She watched the cup and tested the outside with her hand. It was still to hot so she let it sit.


    ¡°I think we got off on the wrong foot,¡± Malik said as he poured some more of the tea into his own cup. Once it was filled He closed the thermos


    I don¡¯t want to be here any more than you want me here.¡± He continued, ¡°What can we do here to make this as smooth as possible?¡±


    Imelda rested her hand on the outside of her cup. She was still a bit angry, but looking at the tea steaming in the cup had somewhat taken the edge off everything. She was still quite distrustful of the commander but he seemed to be genuine about not wanting to be there. She stared at the tea that she was offered for some guidance. The dark liquid rippled softly as steam rose from the top. Her hand strayed to her wrist and she lightly stroked it. Malik caught the movement. She moved both hands to the cup and lifted it into the air in front of her face, resting her elbows on the desk. There had been some slight scarring on the wrist she had been rubbing. Malik filed this into the back of his head.


    ¡°I¡¯ll need to call the Mayor at least.¡± She said.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what you had been told by your subordinates, but I¡¯ll one up that. I¡¯ll show you everything that we¡¯ve done here and we¡¯ll let you into the plans as well.¡±


    Malik felt he might be overstepping something, but he didn¡¯t want to chance pissing off the one person that could call his bluff if she were to look into the actual edict proclamation. Imelda nodded slowly. She sipped some of the tea in the cup and blew across the liquid in an effort to cool it down.


    ¡°I¡¯;m going to have a few of my people come into the office here and we¡¯ll talk about what we¡¯re going to do.¡±


    She agreed simply.


    As if on Cue the unnamed officer entered the room.


    He greeted Malik with a respectful bow and stood rigid near one of the walls.


    ¡°Laudislaus is on his way sir. And the scout master stated she would meet you on the way.¡±


    Imelda sat up straight when she heard Laudislaus mentioned by name. She pushed some of her stay hair over her ear. Malik caught a better glance at the scar on her wrist. It almost looked like a rune, but the darker colors that indicated something had been implanted were missing. He could gauge from the reaction she had from the mention of Laudislaus there had been something there. He might want to have a few brief words with Laudislaus when they were on the way.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Malik paused briefly, trying to recall the man¡¯s name, but couldn¡¯t think of it still, ¡°Can you wait on the twins for me? Send them up here once they¡¯ve eaten, just don¡¯t rush them.¡±


    The officer nodded and left.


    ¡°Who are the twins?¡± asked Imelda.


    ¡°They¡¯re a pair of scryers.¡±   Malik replied, ¡° they found something down the transportation line and we need to investigate this.¡±


    A thoughtful look crossed Imelda¡¯s face at the mention of the word scryers. Any of the anger she had felt had appeared to have been dissipated. Malik sipped his tea, mirroring Imelda. The initial buzz had worn off and had a feeling  that his entire body had been awake.


    ¡°By the way, what kind of tea is this?¡± he asked while tapping his cup.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Kob walked himself down to the quarters. With the required sleeping schedule in place he had become quite accustomed with walking down to the room. He still hadn¡¯t found the time for himself to sleep, but he knew that later in the day the sergeant would be coming down to relieve him, and after a briefing, he¡¯d be able to get himself some shut-eye. The tea that had been served in the cafeteria had been quite well accepted and generally loved all around.


    From all Kob could figure it was some kind of a mild stimulant. The effects of wakefulness and clarity worked quite well for the soldiers that had been posted for the over night duty. The way Kob figured it The soldiers on the move from the fort would arrive in two to three days. The soldiers should be showing up at the way station, if not now, they should be there by tomorrow afternoon at the latest.  He had made the sleep scheduled stagged enough so that the quartered troops could watch the recovery of the new troops once they arrived.


    The quarters weren¡¯t too busy as he must have come at a point when people were either following the schedules or actually sleeping. Kob walked down the aisle between each bunk. He couldn''t find any indication of which bunk contained who, however, he assumed that the ones closer to the entrance had been occupied prior to his work scheduling the shifts. They were still closed when he checked in on them.


    It took an hour for the two scryers to wake. They still wore the loose clothing that they had brought on the trip with them. It looked like they weren¡¯t too concerned about wearing dirty clothes. Kob was quick to greet them and take them to the cafeteria. They declined the tea that had been making its rounds between all the soldiers and ate a hearty meal. It was already past the breakfast serving times and the two scryers opted for just about the same meal. The only difference had been that Taelon had opted for the chicken and Maeve went for the fish.  The sides had been an assortment of vegetables, mostly a mixture of greens and reds. Kob hadn¡¯t been hungry but he still grabbed some pastry just to have something to nibble on, to be polite while talking to the scryers.


    They hungrily devoured their meals like they had not eaten in quite some time. Kob gestured for them to grab a second serving, which they gladly accepted. Kob felt a little repulsed at the speed at which they went through their food, but he quietly kept that to himself. He hadn¡¯t had much experience with mages as he had only been at the fort a few months, but, whenever he talked to them, they tended to be rather short with answers and generally avoided talking to people at all. It still irked him a little bit when the scryers opted instead of engaging in conversation, to instead put more food in their mouths. Kob figured he should probably ignore it. When they finished he would urge them up to the command center where they could talk with Malik and the others. They just silently followed along while Kob threw a few words of light conversation at them.


    The officer opened the door to the office and ushered the two scryers in. They had been greeted with smiles from both Laudislaus and Malik, but Imelda the manager, still held on to her stony expression. The tension that had been present initially had been cut down by a considerable amount. The officer stood by the back wall near the door and the scryers stood on either side of him. The second chair that had been set up facing the desk had now been occupied by Laudislaus. His presence had seemed to help cool things even further.


    ¡°Alright,¡± started Malik, ¡°We¡¯re going to have to start measuring where the anomaly and see if there¡¯s any sort of way to fix it.¡±


    Both the scryers nodded in unison.


    ¡°It should take us about a day or two to actually reach this area.¡± He continued.


    Laudislaus spoke up, ¡°I¡¯ll help navigate the area. I did have a part to play with the actual scouting of the terrain where the line actually runs.¡±


    Imelda wasn¡¯t exactly too pleased to hear that, Malik started to idly wonder if they had been just friends or if there was anything else lying underneath it all. He considered getting some time alone with the old paper pusher to get some answers to help with the curiosity that was now bubbling beneath the surface.


    Laudislaus continued talking about what he had seen and all the landmarks he could think of about their actual journey. Malik knew that most of this was just for the benefit of Imelda, most of everything would be figured out by the scouts as they approached the anomaly itself. He continued on for a bit, and then Imelda started up saying something herself.


    Once there was a lull in the conversation Malik noticed both Laudislaus and Imelda looking at him expectingly. Malik silently cursed. He had no idea what was just said, and wouldn¡¯t have any idea of where to continue. He simply nodded, and that seemed to satisfy both of the conversation participants. The officer opened the door and left in a hurry. Malik cringed internally. It was probably going to be the arrival of the mayor at this point. Malik wasn¡¯t too happy about all the extra hurdles they¡¯d be putting in their way and felt it was not an effective use of their time. He didn¡¯t want to risk upsetting Imelda and wanted to keep the hub relatively happy. It was their turf he was on, and if they actually called him out on his bluff there wouldn¡¯t be much else he could do other than pack up and go home.


    He decided to stand up from his chair, but neither Laudislaus of Imelda seemed to pay any attention. He left the office feeling a little clueless, and cursed under his breath. The two scryers followed him out. Once they had left the control center the male scryer spoke.


    ¡°You agreed to have the Mayor come by you know.¡± The scryer continued, ¡°We could kind of tell you had been lost in thought there.¡±


    Malik felt some conflicting emotions rise in him. There had been a little fear that he had been caught out, but it was quickly pushed down by gratitude.


    ¡°Not really sure how you caught that,¡± he replied, ¡°but, thanks.¡±


    ¡°We want to leave as much as you do.¡± The female scryer added.


    ¡°Are you all hungry?¡± asked Malik.


    They agreed and walked off to the cafeteria.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Kob left the hub to get to the mayor¡¯s estate. He found a fresh horse and attempted to get through the city as fast as he could. He didn¡¯t exactly have to rush but he wanted to make sure that commander wouldn''t have to put up with Imelda for longer than necessary. The streets were busy with the every day hustle and bustle of daily life. The streets had been set out in a grid like pattern, and were wide enough for carts to pass through. The hub was more of a commercial district, the zoning work that had been done in the area had seen to the more encircle layout that had been here.


    Most of the citizens that had lived in surrounding neighborhoods. Transportation through the city was handled mostly by horse and cart, however with the influence of the transportation lines from the hub there had been more small scale public transportation lines that had been constructed in the city. They weren¡¯t as wide spread as some of the larger cities in most of the empire, they were still considered to be in their infancy in the city. Kob hadn¡¯t seen any of the public transportation plates moving around most of the traffic he had encountered were just the standard horse and cart.


    He had a lackluster trip until he got to the old-town. There4 had been a distinct line where the new city ended and the old one began. The building tended to be a bit more tightly packed and a majority of the actual construction work was seemingly more haphazard. There was still evidence of a few of the old properties but most of everything had been purchased by others seeing to consolidate land or to actually work on the urban planning. The architecture here was just as new as the rest of the city however due to the odd shapes of plots and the narrow roads.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Kob had arrived at the governor¡¯s estate without too much of an issue. The building itself was packed in just as tight as every other surrounding building, and if it hadn¡¯t been for the title that had been shown in giant golden letters above the entrance it would be possible to completely pass it by. Kob figured that the land was named as such sarcastically. The mayor¡¯s estate was more than anything, just the government building. The city would most likely end up having the mayor¡¯s property and the actual government building separate as time went on, however for right now this was exactly where he needed to be.


    Kob had taken his horse to a stable that had been a short distance away from the actual estate building.It hadn¡¯t taken him too long to walk back to his destination. The building itself had only been recently constructed. It was by no means grand or even impressive. The stonework outside the building had mostly been bland, blending in with a few of the other buildings that were in the area. There was a large entryway that set it a little apart from the other buildings near by. Kob hesitated briefly contemplating how much strength he would need to actually open the doors as  The doors were rather thick. He was impressed when he opened the entrance, had been done in the construction of this building had seen that they moved as smooth as butter when they were opened


    The interior of the building had been mostly open, except for an information desk that had been in the middle of the room. There hadn¡¯t been too much activity in the building itself, which surprised Kob. The worker in the Kiosk spotted and watched him with disinterest. Kob walked over to the kiosk.


    ¡°I need to speak to the mayor.¡±


    The worker pointed in a direction vaguely without saying a word and waved Kob off.


    ¡°Thank you, I guess.¡± Kob replied as he turned and walked to where he had been pointed to.


    A giant information board had been set up along the wall. There had been arrows pointing to a variety of different departments. Kob followed the arrows to the mayor¡¯s office. His footsteps echoed along the hallways as he walked. In the back there had been a small looking office.  Kob opened the door and was met by a secretary. Kob approached her.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been sent to speak with the mayor.¡± Kob said simply.


    ¡°Have a seat,¡± The secretary said, gesturing to some chairs that had been lined along the wall, ¡°I¡¯ll be just a moment.¡±


    She got up and walked into the room she had been seated in front of. It hadn¡¯t taken too long.


    ¡°The mayor will see you now.¡± The secretary stated, leaving the room to go back to her desk.


    Kob stood up and entered the office. mayor Basewin had been sitting in a large chair behind a wooden desk. It hadn¡¯t been much to look at but it looked sturdy. There were two security guards holding some news papers sitting on a simple couch. They watched Kob carefully for a moment but nodded upon seeing his command dot.


    ¡°How can I help you today?¡± asked Basewin.


    Kob stood straight, ¡°I¡¯m third rider Kob. I¡¯ve been sent by my base commander to retrieve you for potentially catastrophic issue at the hub.¡±


    Basewin readjusted his position in the chair upon hearing that.


    ¡°What do you mean catastrophic?¡± Basewin asked, narrowing his eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯m not at liberty to say sir, This is something that requires your attention personally.¡±


    Basewin sighed, standing up reluctantly. ¡°I take it you were issued an edict?¡±


    ¡°Yes sir, 3715-A in fact.¡±


    Basewin stopped suddenly, ¡°Repeat that?¡±


    ¡°3715-A sir.¡±


    He covered his face with his hand quickly and turned around, falling suddenly silent. After a moment he turned back around, regaining his composure.


    ¡°I take it Garren gave you the edict?¡±


    ¡°Yes sir, that he did.¡±


    Basewin gestured to his security and approached a shelf that was along the side of the office. He quickly touched a book and the shelf swung open revealing a hidden passage. It had been dark at first but some dim lights came to life after a moment.


    ¡°I take it you left your horse at the stables?¡±


    ¡°Yes sir.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll meet you there.¡±


    The mayor and his security men walked at a quick pace down the hallway, the bookshelf swung by itself back into place noiselessly. Kob stood for a moment looking at the hidden door. He then turned and left the office. He thanked the secretary and then continued out the building.


    Garren had always enjoyed the scenery out in the forest. It had always been calm and serene. The light danced through the leaves illuminating the path he was on.  It was shattered by the rhythmic sounds of soldiers marching, pulling him out of his moment. He shook his head slightly to clear his thoughts. A fraction of the soldiers that he had were on horseback, they had been assigned to watch the pace of the rest of the group as they marched toward the hub. They had been marching a hard pace. It wasn¡¯t anything too grueling and a little too slow to his taste. The travel time on foot was usually around four days. They had yet to get to through way station, but it shouldn¡¯t take them too much longer. He thought about the way station a moment. When they would arrive they¡¯d rest well and get more supplies for the march ahead.


    It wasn¡¯t a particularly interesting trip. He had made the journey countless times throughout his posting at the fort. His initial time at the fort was rather boring. It took him a few2 years to be shifted on over to some covert operations. The mages had become quite handy at covering command marks and the honors that were tattooed on his neck. Garren hadn¡¯t been to fond of hiding who he was and honors that he won in service to the empire. It had taken him quite a long time to see things along the lines that were needed to operate the research facility. It had been something that all the higher ranking officers had all been in on. Even for the lower ranking conscripts it became quite hard to ignore that the mages had run of the place. In fact for most soldiers in the empire, it was quite rare for a soldier to even have contact with a mage beyond seeing them in processing during their conscription into the service.


    Garren had been a little wary with his interactions with the mages. It wasn¡¯t exactly anything that was awful. It¡¯s just that they operated in a different world. Klaas had been alright, he figured. It took him a while to warm up to the Magister.  The trip that Garren had taken with him was quite similar to the one that he had with Malik. They had a lot of the same personality traits, except for the fact that Garren had always considered Malik to be a bit absent minded, but generally a pretty deep thinker. Klaas on the other hand was able make snap decisions and was generally present in all the time4 he had spent with Garren.


    Something was off with the road. Garren could quite put his finger on it, but something about the pathway seemed a little off. The rest of the soldiers didn¡¯t show any signs of awareness on something being off. From everything he could see in the surrounding area it all looked pretty much the same. The road appeared to be just as it had been the countless times he had been down it. He figured it out there hadn¡¯t been any wildlife around. He had noticed this earlier but pushed it out of his mind figuring that it would have been everyone marching down the road that scared off the local wildlife. Had the air been warmer before? Garren tried to remember. He did feel a little bit more chilly, but then again he could just be paranoid about nothing. He tried to push everything out of his mind and focus on the march. The unease remained.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Just like the mayor said, he had met Kob at the stables. The security men had greeted him and had shown him a rather nondescript black carriage. The mayor had already situated himself in the carriage. One of the security men climbed in the back to sit with the Mayor, and the other would be driving the carriage to the hub. Malik retrieved his horse from the stable workers and they set out. The streets were still a little empty in places, however, it did appear that there was more traffic as they came to the hub. Initially Kob had been riding aside the carriage but with the people that were now out in the streets he had to take lead.


    Besides a few incidents where they were forced to push through a few crowds of people, and the general nervousness of the carriage horses, they managed to make it to the hub without incident. The stables at the hub had been a little bit more tidy than the ones near the mayor¡¯s estate. Kob wondered idly if it were because there hadn¡¯t been much activity in this stable because of the shutdown that they were enforcing, or if it was just the fact that the stable hands at this stable were better equipped with cleaning and maintaining their stable. Another factor he considered was that the stable near the mayor¡¯s estate had also been older. Once they were in the actual stables Kob dismounted from his horse and gave the reins to the hub¡¯s stable hand and the mayor and his two security men passed off their horses and vehicle as well.


    They entered the hub and strode directly to the command center. Kob wondered to himself how Malik had been informed that he had arrived with the mayor  as the room was filled nearly to standing room only with everyone that had previously been there was once again in attendance. The two security guards were quite massive and they took up more room then the others. In an effort to keep everyone more comfortable, the mayor had the two security guards stand outside the room. They carefully considered the attendance of the room  and stood outside without protest.


    ¡°OK, I¡¯m here,¡± stated the mayor.


    Imelda spoke up first, ¡°Sir, we¡¯ve under lock down. None of the passengers or goods have been allowed to leave.¡±


    The mayor looked at Malik.


    ¡°Is this true, the hub is under lock-down?¡±


    Malik nodded gravely. ¡°I fear something has happened to the line itself. No shipments have even been received from the anchor point.¡±


    ¡°The edict you gave as justification,¡± the mayor paused, while a slight grimace formed on Malik¡¯s face, ¡°I think you chose correctly.¡±


    Malik gave out an unnoticed breath of relief, ¡°There¡¯s more. One of the last plates received, well it¡¯ll be better if we show you.¡±


    They left the office and went to check on the quarantined plate. The hub manager decided to come along and take a loot at it as well, for the first time. The barricades that were constructed around the plate still did an excellent job at keeping out prying eyes. The soldiers that Kob had posted around the plate had also worked as an effective deterrent. The group got to the plate. There was now a slight shimmer to the air that surrounded the plate. The makeshift containment rods that had been set up around and affixed to the plate itself strobed slightly, their etchings glowing in time with each other. The crystals that had grown on the plate were not readily visible.


    The mayor walked to the edge of the shimmering barrier, the two scryers tensed visibly as he did so, only to relax once he had stopped moving.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t get any closer, it¡¯s only temporary and rather delicate.¡± Maeve spoke up.


    The mayor looked back at her and nodded, ¡°What exactly is this for?¡±


    Malik lead the group around to the side where the crystals were more visible, he had been careful to avoid showing them the body, he didn¡¯t want to chance spooking either the mayor or the hub manager more than he had to.


    ¡°I understood there was a body,¡± Imelda spoke up.


    Malik nodded and reluctantly showed them where the body would have been. Malik and the scryers stared at the empty spot bewildered. The body should have been there.


    The scryers spoke up.


    ¡°The body is currently concealed by the containment Field that was set up here.¡± Taelon then followed that up with a string of technical terms and jargon until he could see that everyone¡¯s eyes had started to glaze over.


    Maeve took the moment when everyone was focusing on Taelon to whisper into Malik¡¯s ear, ¡°I¡¯ll have to get Klaas so we can figure out what happened to the body.¡±


    Malik gave an unseen nod to Maeve as she broke off from the group unnoticed. Taelon continued his lecture giving details on the crystals what they were and details on how to body was found. The lecture itself had taken a little longer than he would have liked, but as long as people were brought around to his point of view he couldn¡¯t complain.


    Malik looked at the barrier as Taelon continued talking. He knew it had been hastily constructed the previous night. He had seen where Klaas had pulled down some of it to construct his own containment rods. The barrier had been reconstructed around those parts and it appeared that it was also somewhat extended to encompass the whole plate. Malik would have to talk to Garren at some point about how well he thought the officer, who¡¯s name still escaped him, had done his job. Malik stepped away from the group and walked a bit around the plate. He wanted to see if he could figure out what happened to that body. The position that the body had been in, was indeed clear of any remains. The large crystal that had penetrated the body¡¯s side was still in position. The container directly behind the body that had been encrusted with smaller crystals seemed off. The crystals that were growing at the base of the container had shown evidence of shattering. Malik craned his neck and squinted to see if he could get a better view along the bottom of the container. It was barely visible, but the more he looked at, the more it stood out. The crystals along the bottom of the had been neatly removed, as if the container had been pushed slightly back.