[Mkguild] The Illusive Chain: Coincidence (8/?)

[Azariah Wolf]

A much longer part tonight to balance last night's brevity.

-LurkingWolf

___

Opening the door revealed a pair of men, one cursed into the form of a 
black wolf while the other remained human.Alex immediately recognized 
the wolf as the one to whom he had spoken earlier.He was dressed in 
clothing that was clearly intended for camouflage on patrol, rather than 
to keep up appearances among polite company, its patchwork of blacks and 
whites designed to escape the eye on cold winter nights.There was not a 
blade to be seen on his belt.Instead, a pair of stout wooden rods was 
secured in harnesses on either hip.The strange weapons drew Alex's eye 
for a moment, but he avoided lingering on them long enough to cause 
suspicion.

The man standing beside the wolf helped to redirect the lynx's gaze.He 
was of a very stout build, and the truly impressive number of scars that 
crisscrossed his bare skin spoke of many years spent in battle.His head 
was bald, but his beard had been expertly woven into a pair of black 
braids that hung down to his chest.He wore no weapon, but Alex doubted 
he would need one to be a difficult opponent.If the lynx's surmise was 
correct, the man would not depend on strength alone in combat, 
either.According to what brief discussion he had undertaken with the 
wolf, the man was also a mage of some power. A well-trained mage was 
easily dangerous beyond even the finest of swordsmen.

The wolf smiled as he saw the familiar lynx standing near the 
door."Hello again, Commander Alex.I have come in the company of my 
party's mage, as promised.This is Balrog; he will certainly be of a 
great deal more aid to you in this effort than I will myself."

Balrog nodded to each of the members of the party in turn, although he 
clearly lingered at the sight of Julian before continuing on to 
Lucy.When he spoke, his voice was very much what Alex has expected, a 
gruff, deep voice colored with a slight accent that implied foreign 
upbringing.His manner of speaking, however, was quite distinct from the 
lynx's expectations.

"Greetings, gentlemen.Milady."He favored Lucy with a short, respectful 
bow.Alex could see her rolling her eyes, but she accompanied her sarcasm 
with a smile that clearly showed some gratitude for the consideration at 
least."My commander informed me that a member of your number was 
subjected to a spell that reduced him to feral in mind and body, and I 
would like to contribute my own experience and knowledge to rescue him, 
with your permission."

The formality of his speech almost made Alex laugh outright, but it 
certainly did help to cool the tension that the lynx felt mounting in 
the room.Either the man was sincere in his desire to help, or his acting 
was camp in its most distilled form.Whatever the case, Alex favored him 
with a smile and a nod in return.

"You are correct," he confirmed."Our companion was seeking to scout a 
lutin camp for information, and it seems that he ran afoul of the 
shaman."He waved to the cage on the table."The effects of the spell used 
against him are clear, but the nature of the magic eludes us."

The man stepped forward as the wolf beside him took a step to one side 
to let him pass.The man squinted at the white-furred creature that 
crouched low between the bars, focusing intently to make out every 
detail that presented itself to his gaze.

"I see no trace of a fetish stone," he observed."I suppose that is 
likely the first thing that you ruled out?"He glanced to Lucy.It seemed 
that he had determined that she was a mage, likely due to her proximity 
to the caged ermine.She nodded, and he sighed with a shake of his head.

"I cannot fault your investigation, then, although I am sorry to say 
that it leaves us very short on possible causes.To my knowledge, fetish 
stones are the only implement that have been used to affect such a 
change since the Curse itself." He grumbled and stroked his chin as he 
rounded the table.Looking at the chalk lines that had been drawn about 
the cage, he gave a pleased nod.

"Good, I see that you are certainly capable with enchantments.You 
suspect a hidden spell, then?"

Lucy almost blushed at the implied compliment, but the mention of their 
present business returned her attention to the problems of the 
present."I have inspected the weaves of magic around him to the best of 
my ability, and I cannot detect anything foreign besides the Curse itself."

Oddly, it was the wolf that responded, not the mage."That is odd," he 
remarked."Most warriors have at least some enchantments to aid them in 
battle, especially during missions of stealth."

Alex shrugged."The only magic I use is intended to make my archery more 
useful in various ways.I have no outside enchantments on my person."

"I do not mean to suggest that every man has such enchantments, but a 
great number of them do, myself included," the wolf insisted."I am 
simply trying to note something I see as odd if it might perhaps suggest 
some useful course of action."

"Unfortunately, they are right," Balrog replied.He had been staring at 
the former assassin in silence while the others discussed the situation 
as hand."If he had been under any sort of enchantment prior to 
encountering this spell, it is little more than a faint echo now, and 
those would be both difficult to find and useless to our current 
pursuit.The magic we need to find should be new and currently active, 
and pulling at loose strands in the dusty reaches of age-old 
enchantments will not lead us to any breakthroughs in that venture."He 
sighed and scratched his head in confusion as he continued to stare at 
the creature behind the bars."What devious device has the enemy used 
against you this time, Lois?"

"Lois?"Julian looked to Alex, who nodded and gave a subtle gesture 
towards Lucy.Julian continued to pounce on the use of their companion's 
name by a stranger as he stepped towards Balrog."How do you know his 
name?" he asked pointedly.

Lucy, despite being at a disadvantage of both height and strength, 
interposed herself between the stocky man and the cage with a hard 
scowl.Alex and Julian confronted the wolf, although Julian's body and 
attention were still turned the face Balrog.He slowly unsheathed his 
weapon with his right hand and pointed its tip towards the wolf, while a 
ball of flame developed in his left, the orange of its base giving away 
to a light blue hue the further the flames licked into the air.

The human stood straighter and turned slowly to face the man who had 
challenged him."I know Vincent Lois from many years ago," he 
explained."We met a decade ago, perhaps more, in the lands south of this 
Keep.We made a business of culling the smaller groups of lutins who 
escaped your patrols and harassed the local farmlands.I understand your 
suspicion, but there is no reason why we need to come to blows."He 
raised both hands in surrender, specifically turning his gaze to the 
moondog."No, I cannot prove it to you, at least not until Lois can 
provide his personal vote of confidence."

Julian glanced towards Alex, watching as the lynx stepped towards the 
wolf."Perhaps that may be so," he conceded."However, that is not the 
only thing that you inexplicably know.For instance, how did you know 
that we were here, or that we were in need of help?"

"I told you, we received a request for help while we were returning to 
the Keep last night!"

"That is impossible; we sent no request for aid, especially not last 
night!" Alex declared hotly."We had not even returned to Hareford until 
late in the evening.What is the truth, then?How did you really hear 
about our crisis?"

While the wolf looked ready to insist on his earlier explanation, a loud 
sigh from his human companion brought him up short."Sir, I realize that 
you do not want to so easily reveal your secrets to strangers, but 
revealing the truth is infinitely preferable to receiving the tip of a 
blade to the heart."The man nodded to the wolf seriously.Nathan looked 
quite unhappy with his companion's conclusion, but he was forced to 
admit that there was no flaw to his thinking.

"All right," he said with a quiet growl behind his words."I did not wish 
to reveal this needlessly, but it seems that the current situation 
affords me very little flexibility.I was telling the truth in a way when 
I claimed that I had received a request for help, but the nature of that 
request is what I did not admit.I have the ability to detect echoes of 
events either present or future.Last night while returning from Metamor, 
I felt a great cry of distress from the northern reaches beyond 
Hareford.As is often the case, I could not determine the reason for the 
feeling, but I have learned not to ignore such flashes of foresight when 
they are given to me.When I heard you speaking with the guards at the 
keep, however, I made the connection that your companion was the one 
whose distress I detected."

"This all seems like quite a convenient set of coincidences," Julian 
noted, never lowering his guard."Why would your patrol, which you have 
already admitted was nearly to Metamor when you detected Lois' distress, 
not only detect the cry for help from so far away, but also just happen 
to have a mage who is friends with the man in question?"

Alex nodded his agreement."Julian speaks for my thoughts as well," he 
agreed."It seems more likely that the two of you, and perhaps more, have 
been tracking Lois for some time, and only now do you see an opportunity 
to strike him down while he is vulnerable."

Again Balrog spoke, still holding his hands in the air in calm 
surrender."I know that your suspicion is not unfounded, but I would ask 
you to rethink your logic.If either of us had wished to kill Lois, we 
could have done so immediately after our arrival.A fire spell used on 
Lois' cage would not only have likely dealt with him in a matter of 
moments, but it would have distracted the attentions of either one or 
both of my fellow mages in this room."He nodded individually to both 
Lucy and Julian, who was still brandishing the wreath of flame which 
danced about his paw with a will of its own, never once singeing his 
short fur."As a friend of the man, I realize that Lois has more than a 
few enemies, but I also know that he has spent most of the past ten 
years slowly culling the numbers of those that seek to do him harm.If we 
wished the same, we would have not spared any risk to see him killed 
immediately."

Alex nodded slowly."You make a few good points, but you still show no 
proof."

Nathan took up their defense next."As Balrog has already stated, our 
stories could be proven if Lois was released from the spell, but until 
then you must either find a reason either to trust us, or to utterly 
reject our claims.At this juncture, can you truly find enough wrong with 
our words to justify shedding our blood on friendly soil?Can you truly 
afford to reject our help because of a few doubts?"

Lucy maintained her position between Balrog and the cage, but she nodded 
her agreement."We have made no progress on our own.Any help that we can 
come by would certainly be helpful."

"Can we trust this help, however?" Julian argued.

Alex stepped towards the wolf, fixing a neutral gaze, looking directly 
into the man's eyes.The wolf met his gaze fearlessly, although even he 
could not stand the odd inspection without cocking his head 
inquisitively in utter confusion.Alex's face betrayed no emotion, 
however, and he avoided even blinking as he stared the wolf 
down.Finally, he gave a sigh and stepped back, only to repeat the 
process with the human.Balrog took the inspection in stride, although he 
did once glance towards his commander with a helpless smile and a shrug 
of uncertainty.Finally, Alex stepped away from both of them and waved to 
his own companions.

"Stand down.I do not believe that they mean any harm to Lois.Do not 
lower your guards entirely, but let them try to help at least."He nodded 
to Julian, waving for him to sheath his blade and dispel the fire that 
still guttered along the pads of his paw.The moondog was none too happy 
with the sudden orders, but he obeyed them with no question, although he 
kept himself in position between the two strangers.Lucy, who had never 
prepared a combat spell at all, simply stepped aside, joining Alex and 
Julian between the other two.Balrog gave a grateful smile.

"Thank you for your vote of confidence," he said with a quiet 
sincerity."I will do what I can to see the spell broken.I hope that we 
can cast aside any suspicion once it is done."

Nathan said a few similar words, but Alex's attention was instead on the 
moondog, who was waving him to a private corner with no degree of 
subtlety at all.Alex apologized for his quick departure, and Julian 
waved a paw, keeping the sounds of their conversation from leaving the 
corner where they would be speaking.
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