[Mkguild] Spies and Assassins (8/?)

[Azariah Wolf]

And now we get to the real main event!

-LurkingWolf

___

<i>March 5, 708 CR</i>

Alex was up several hours before his companions, as was his custom.Once 
he was ready for the patrol, he headed out to inquire after the weather 
for the next few days.By the time he had returned, both Lucy and Julian 
were awake and moving.Lois, on the other hand, was nowhere to be 
found.Lucy could offer him no idea of the ermine's whereabouts, but 
Julian muttered something about the man going outside with a few words 
about acclimating to the temperature.

It did not take the lynx very long to find his missing companion.The man 
was sitting in the killing fields with his eyes closed, wearing nothing 
but a pair of thin breeches to ward off the bitter cold.The rest of his 
clothing was sitting in a bundle with his weapons, and Alex wondered 
what would happen should another attempt to steal them.As he had no 
desire to die, however, he left them be.

"This is an odd way to spend your morning," the lynx commented.

The ermine hardly moved."Should the worst happen, I may have to use the 
Curse to my advantage.I expect that my fur will be slightly thicker in 
my feral form, but I do not want to be shivering should the truth prove 
otherwise."

"How do you feel?"

Without pausing for a moment, the ermine responded, "Cold, and trying 
not to think about it."He opened his eyes and turned to the archer."Are 
we prepared to depart?"

"Not yet.The others are still preparing their equipment, but they will 
be ready shortly.I have personally just returned from inquiring about 
the weather we will see in our mission."

"What are they predicting?" Lois asked.

"They say that it is likely to snow in the north.It shouldn't be a 
repeat of last week's blizzard, but the ground is still frozen.Whatever 
snow does fall is likely to stick."

Lois nodded, closing his eyes again."That is all the better.Snow will 
help me blend into the terrain more easily.The more factors that stack 
in my favor, the better."

Alex snorted."Do you always consider such things on your missions?"

"Well, I did not have to consider the natural coloration of my fur until 
recently, but details are always important.Regardless of what they say, 
no true master ever plays fair.The most surefire way to succeed is to 
eliminate all possible methods of failure.Stack the deck, load the dice, 
do whatever it takes to make it impossible for your opponent to succeed."

Alex smirked."Not the cleanest fighter, are you?"

Lois scoffed."There is no such thing as a fair fight.If a man is locked 
in battle with you outside of the arena, he means to kill you.The only 
men who fight fair are those who have been taught to do so, and such men 
seldom last long outside of jousting tournaments."

"How do you feel?About the mission, I mean?" Alex asked.

The ermine shook his head, but his eyes remained closed."Uncomfortable.I 
never wanted to do this again, and yet I don't think I could live with 
the consequences of my own inaction again.This is something I have to do."

"I don't know what makes you think you have the obligation to return to 
assassination when you suggested the idea yourself.The Keep did not ask 
you to do this, it was your own decision.They would not be happy, 
perhaps, but I think that their trust for you would benefit from you 
calling it off."

"This isn't for my benefit or for the Keep's benefit."Lois' eyes had 
snapped back open, and he was giving Alex a cold stare.The deep blue 
coloration of his eyes made it even more effective than it might 
otherwise have been."This is a favor for a man to whom I owe more than a 
few."

"There are certainly other ways you could repay such a trust."

"No."Lois shook his head vehemently, then heaved a sigh before 
continuing."No.I don't know what soul I have left after all these years, 
but I would easily credit him for saving whatever remains.I cannot repay 
all that he has done, but I can do this at least."

Alex wanted to respond.There were words he could say, but he could not 
see them making a difference.The mission would continue, despite his 
opposition to the same.The lynx was not certain why he truly cared about 
what Lois did; he hardly knew the man.Still, there was an odd sincerity 
to the way that he spoke, and what he had done for Gerard made it 
impossible for him to truly believe that the man intended any ill for 
the Keep. It was no comfort that he was still intending to continue this 
assassination attempt, but it would be difficult to change his belief 
that Lois was a good man at this juncture.

"Come," he said after a few moments."I am certain that the others are 
prepared to leave now, and we had best not keep them waiting."

Lois nodded and reached for his bundle.He equipped himself as they 
walked back towards the barracks, and was surprisingly finished before 
they arrived.He wore a dark coat, colored to blend into shadows, and 
trimmed with a curiously rich-looking fur collar.Alex was certain that 
it had to be some sort of ironic statement by the man, since he could 
not imagine that it was helpful to his camouflage in any way.Across his 
chest he wore a bandolier of throwing daggers, and at his hips he wore 
his two main weapons, a longer pair of blades that served him in place 
of a sword.The sword that Alex had requested on their previous patrol 
together was absent.Lois was disinclined to bring it, and after the 
events of that patrol, Alex was less inclined to suggest it.The assassin 
would need to be light for his task.

Lucy and Julian were both ready by the time the two men reached the 
barracks, and were quietly performing some sort of joint meditation 
ritual.They noticed their commander before he even spoke, and were both 
on their feet when he greeted them.

"Are you both ready to begin?" the lynx asked.

"Certainly," Lucy responded.The moondog beside her only grunted in 
affirmation, but he was clearly as prepared as any of them.

Alex waved towards the door with one paw."We have much ground to cover," 
he announced."Let us be on our way."

As they left the doors of the barracks, the first white flakes that 
signaled the coming snow had already begun to fall.Alex hoped that they 
would stick.If it aided Lois' mission, he was more than happy to see it 
fall.

***

The patrol reached their destination with some daylight left, and so set 
about the task of finding their quarry.Fortunately, the lutin camp had 
not moved much since the last time Metamor's spies had sighted them.It 
seemed that they had found a good hunting ground and were staking their 
claim to it, and none had been able to challenge that claim thus 
far.Quietly, Alex's patrol began to observe the camp, taking precautions 
to make sure that no thus-far absent portion of the tribe came up behind 
them while they were watching.The sun set slowly, and gave them time to 
watch their enemies at camp.

The snow had continued throughout their journey, even seeming to 
increase as they passed the Giant's Dike, and by the time they had 
reached their destination it had thoroughly covered the ground to the 
depth of three or four inches.Lois let the stray flaked cling to his 
fur, clothing, and whiskers as he moved.It speckled the dark color of 
his clothing white, and seemed to add pieces of fuzz to his already 
thick fur.Alex might have pointed this out had he not wanted to live for 
a few more years.

There was little motion, but what ebb and flow there was around the camp 
quickly helped them determine which of the crude tents housed the chief 
and which held the shaman.These were, of course, pointed out as likely 
sources of relevant intelligence, but Lois and Alex noted them with more 
than a passing curiosity.As soon as the ermine had seen them both, Alex 
could virtually see the thoughts flowing through his mind.He was 
plotting the perfect way to make his entrance and his exit, and it was 
clear that he was preoccupied.Alex simply hoped that Lucy and Julian 
took that mission for what they had been told.

Once the sun had set, the planning began in earnest.The Keepers watched 
in silence as campfires began to spring up.It was clear to see that this 
tribe did not fear its neighbors, as its bonfires were bright and 
numerous.Even more concerning, they lit the area and melted the snow 
around them.It would be a difficult entry, regardless of what they tried.

Watches switched for fresh legs and eyes a little while after the 
campfires were lit, and Lois was immediately examining their positions 
for mistakes or exploitable weaknesses.Julian matched him for intensity 
of scrutiny, but he was quick to shake his head.

"It's a bad idea," he whispered."Metamor doesn't need this information 
this badly, we should return or wait for a better situation."

Alex almost agreed with him, but Lois shook his head."The guards in that 
area are already gambling," he responded, motioning towards the group he 
had mentioned."They will be too engrossed in who is winning to care 
about performing their duty.We should wait for them to begin raising 
their voices, and then we can move while they argue."

As he had noted, a trio of lutins were beginning a game of knucklebones, 
chuckling together as they tested each other with cheap bets and cheaper 
tricks.They glanced about to make certain that no one was watching with 
regularity, but Lois was right.Such games seldom remained entirely 
friendly for their duration.Julian silently conceded the point, and the 
four returned to their observations, maneuvering slightly closer to get 
a better look.

As Lois had predicted, one of the players had soon been caught sneaking 
a bead from another player's stack.The discovery was relatively civil as 
far as gamblers' arguments tended to go, but their attention was 
immediately off of the forest and onto the game.With some precedent now, 
the lutins were more inclined to watch the stacks of valuables they were 
gambling with than they were to look for intruders.

"Now," Lois signed.

Alex nodded."Do you think you can get the information?" he asked.

Lois coolly responded in keeping with the cover story that they had 
chosen."Of course.I've been into more tightly guarded placed than this 
without the benefit of natural camouflage."

"With all due respect, I have experience in espionage," Julian 
contradicted."I think I should go."

Alex shook his head."I'm sorry, but I've worked with Lois, and I know 
what he can do.I hope to be able to say the same of you before long, but 
this is too important for me to take any risks with it.

Julian huffed in annoyance, but said nothing further.He crossed his arms 
instead, and looked back at the squabbling lutins.

"Best go quickly," Lucy interjected."They may find more entertaining 
pastimes, or they could be corrected by a superior.We have no guarantee 
that this distraction will continue for long."

Without another word, Lois made for the edge of the camp.The lutins 
whose distraction he was exploiting were thoroughly engaged in their 
game, but Lois still kept low to the ground as he exited the tree 
line.Lying on his stomach and covered by his snow-covered clothing, it 
was hard for a casual observer to tell him apart from the nearby rocks 
when he stayed still.

He was patient, as he had learned to be from years of experience.More 
than one pair of eyes stole over his prone form, but he was dismissed as 
some background object that they had not noticed previously.With almost 
shocking stealth, the ermine soon crossed the distance to the chief's 
tent.Although it was at a longer distance than the shaman's, the two 
were close together, and the assassin preferred the shorter path once it 
was time for his escape.

Several guards were stationed outside the tent, but Lois ignored them.He 
drew one of his main daggers and used the razor edge to slit the tent's 
material swiftly and silently.He slipping inside carefully, keeping his 
eyes and ears open for any guards who were permitted to stand guard 
within, but there were none.Instead, the chief herself was the only 
occupant, and she slept silently on a bed that represented a luxury 
unheard of by her tribe.Lois slithered towards her location, but made 
extremely certain not to trip any traps, magical or mundane, on his 
way.From an unseen sleeve hidden in his cloak's collar, he drew a thin 
dart, its tip covered to keep it safe until he had need of it.Removing 
this protection, he took aim, and threw it carefully, directly into the 
sleeping lutin's neck.

She jerked, swatting at it in her sleep for a moment, but paid it no 
more mind that she would have a mosquito that similarly disturbed her 
rest.Unfortunately for her, it also meant it would be her final rest on 
this side of death.

Lois' egress was swift and silent, and he was soon beside the shaman's 
tent.The area around it was eerily silent, with neither guards nor fire 
within a stone's throw of the tent.Lois breathed deeply as he stood 
outside of its dark form.Here he was more in danger than his target.With 
no notion of magic and no way of resisting a spell cast at him, the 
ermine had to rely on preparation and luck for success.

The first concern was lethal magical traps set on any entry point an 
attacker might use.Lois quietly drew out a strange, marble-sized gem, 
and tossed it towards the cloth of the tent.There was a spark and a soft 
flash, and the bauble fell to earth, both itself and the spell intended 
for the ermine inert.The thing was almost pure mithril and was hardly 
cheap, but it could not only trigger but also absorb most spells before 
they could be fully unleashed.

Lois took the precaution to test the canvas again, but now not even the 
slightest hint of magic touched the stone.He retrieved it, as it had not 
yet served its purpose, and then proceeded to cut his way through as he 
had done with the first tent.

He threw the second bauble in before him and ducked through soon 
after.His forward guard remained unharmed, but he still went carefully 
to retrieve it, looking around him as he did.

The tent held no few items of tribal and magical 
significance.Ingredients to be used in alchemical spells littered every 
nearby surface, while wards against evil spirits adorned the walls of 
the tent, many sewn directly into its surface.There were no visible 
spells anywhere, but Lois knew better than to trust this sort of 
luck.His left hand remained on his dagger while his right clutched the 
mithril sphere.His eyes searched the area, looking for any sign of his 
target.

His first sign nearly took an ear from his head, as a bolt of magic 
sizzled past, dispersing behind the ermine as he just managed to 
dodge.The tent had evidently been made to resist such attacks, as it 
showed not even a singed thread where the magic had struck it.Lois 
mouthed a bitter curse as he drew a dagger and threw it towards the 
unseen target.He was close enough to be dangerous, and he saw a pile of 
furs move as his opponent took shelter behind them.

The pitch black hindered neither party, but would doubtless have 
confused any attempting to observe the battle.Lois' animal eyes had long 
since adjusted to the low lighting, and he surmised that his opponent 
had a quick magical trick that allowed him to have the same advantage.

Lois drew one of his main daggers in his right hand, while a throwing 
dagger was soon in the palm of his left.He maneuvered behind a table 
full of strange symbols, trying to keep it between him and his enemy.The 
shaman proved adept at this sort of combat himself, and Lois was barely 
saved by the corner of the table as another spell struck it, turning it 
around fully with the force of the spell.Lois shouldered into the table 
and turned it over on its side, ducking into its cover as a third spell, 
aimed for his head, passed over him.

The shaman chuckled coldly.This was not the first time he had fought a 
Keeper, and it would not be the last.Those searching for lethal traps 
could all be foiled by a single hidden thread that triggered nothing 
more than a small spell intended to rouse him from any slumber.They 
could disarm his lethal trap spells, but none were skilled enough to 
face him openly.

He threw another spell at the center of the table, and heard his 
opponent grunt as the piece of furniture slid backwards.He could have 
shattered the wood without much more exertion, but a shattered table 
meant splinters would fly everywhere, and there were many complicated 
enchantments lying about that he had no desire to repair.Putting his 
opponent on his back should be enough.

The shaman stood and struck the table with one more bolt of magic.He 
grunted in surprise as the table toppled, showing no man hiding behind 
it.It was a simply trick, a cloak to hide the man in such a fight.A ball 
of flame lit in his palm.He would end this with a single strike.

And yet, as the flames scorched the earth and the table alike, there was 
no cry of pain to follow.The shaman cursed in a guttural voice and 
raised a ward to protect against magical attacks.He stepped forward, two 
different spells finding life in either of his hands.He would find his 
attacker, and he would crush him.

As he stepped into the ruin of the table, he had only enough time to 
flinch as something exploded off the wall at him.He turned and unleashed 
his prepared attacks, only to send a giant bear's pelt into a raging 
inferno as it landed on him.Screaming in rage and pain, he threw it 
away, but it was already too late.

Behind him, Lois emerged from beneath another table, slicing the mage's 
back open with one dagger before twisting under a flailing arm and 
disemboweling him with the other.As the shaman collapsed, the ermine 
drove a poisoned dart, similar to the one that had killed the chief, 
into the lutin's chest.The ermine danced back and prepared his antimagic 
orb as a last defense against a counterattack, but none came.The shaman 
remained where he lay, his scorched clothing turning crimson with his blood.

The blaze that the Shaman's last spell had created had not stopped, 
however, and the tent now began to catch in the flames that were 
consuming the bear pelt.Lois discarded the simple string he had used to 
turn the creature' fur to his advantage, and turned to make his 
escape.He would have attempted to put out the fire, but he doubted that 
even the distracted guards would have ignored the shaman's cry, and a 
blaze would help distract them during his escape if he moved quickly enough.

He left through the slit he had created a few minutes before, briefly 
running on all fours to keep momentum as he ran.He slid behind a tent as 
a few guards ran towards the smoking tent, and took a moment to plan an 
escape route.

The camp was beginning to come apart at the seams.As he took shelter in 
the snow, he could hear a cry going up from the chief's tent; evidently, 
the threat of fire at the shaman's resting quarters had increased their 
concern for her, and even the threat of death at her hands could not 
keep them from checking on her health.Fortunately, this meant that 
everyone in the camp was suddenly running to one of two very specific 
places.The other side of the camp was quickly being vacated.

The ermine waited for a few moments, but once he saw an opening he took 
it.He kept his head down and charged through the snow, heading for the 
trees while the lutins headed away.His daggers were still held in a 
white-knuckled grip after the combat with the shaman, but he meant to 
avoid using them if he could.With the lutins distracted, it was at least 
slightly more likely.

***

The shaman's life was slipping through his very fingers, despite his 
attempts to use his magic to heal his ills.He tried to ask a boon of any 
spirit that would listen, but their ears were all shut to him now.They 
now awaited only his soul, and seemed content to receive it sooner, 
rather than later.

His right eye was blinded by his own blood, but his left eye slowly 
focused on something that lay in front of him.It was a small bauble, 
similar in size and shape to the one that the assassin had used to 
disable his traps, but far different in the nature of the spell it 
contained.The lutin coughed and reached for it, closing it in one 
blood-stained hand with some effort, even as loss of blood and poison 
drained away his life.

If the spirits wanted his soul, they would have it, but he would not see 
his murderer escape so easily.With one final effort of will, the lutin 
poured all of his hatred, malice, and desire for vengeance into the gem, 
and one more effort of will gave the desire a power it could never have 
had otherwise.

And then the shaman shrieked in anguish as his final spell drew its 
power from his own blood.

***

Lois was only a dozen steps away from the edge of the forest when he 
heard the horrible death wail of the shaman.There was only one cry that 
had ever turned his stomach like this one did, but even that horrible 
night was struck from his mind as a strange sensation raced through him 
in an ominous wave.

The ermine's dagger dropped from his right hand as he reached for his 
head, his escape forgotten amid the lancing pain that threatened to 
split his skull.His eyes quickly clamped shut as though such an act 
could repel the sudden invasion, but it simply resolved itself into an 
insistent, nagging feeling that something was wrong.He continued to run, 
but dizziness began to overtake him and he stumbled, bringing his eyes 
open once more.

The world pitched like a ship in a storm, and then the assassin suddenly 
tripped on clothing that was clearly  too large for him.As he tumbled 
forward, Lois could see his fingers retreating into his gloves, robbing 
him of the convenience of hands.It brought to mind his intention to use 
his feral form in case of a desperate escape attempt, but he had not 
willed this.An icy fear began to grip him, and then the world suddenly 
fell into absolute darkness.

A thick, smelly material had closed around him, stinking heavily of his 
own scent and also that of a predator.He hissed and scratched at it, but 
his claws simply caught in the heavy weave.A wave of desperation 
overtook him, and he threw himself bodily against the fabric.It would 
yield!He would not let it hold him!

As he struggled, the ermine suddenly encountered something cold and 
metallic.He scampered back from it in surprise, only to feel his tail 
emerging into the open air.He spun and forced himself against the cloth 
in the opposite direction, and finally his head emerged out of the 
stinking pile of cloth.

The animal stood up on his hind legs, sniffing and surveying the area 
for threats.Both ears and nose told him what his eyes could not see so 
readily; there were threats here!He could scent predators of all sorts, 
and loud sounds indicated that they were nearby!Dropping to four paws, 
the ermine made a desperate bid to flee to safer environs.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.integral.org/archives/mkguild/attachments/20140126/c9c7dd4e/attachment-0001.html>