[Mkguild] The Illusive Chain (5/?) - My comments

[cokane8116 at aol.com]

Lucywas finishing her careful line work when, with a quiet knock on the doorframeto announce his return, Alex stepped back through the door into the room.  Lucy looked up just long enough to give him asmile and a nod, acknowledging his presence. Julian, who was just replacing the fuel for the fire in the wood-burningstove that heated the room, finished his task and dusted off his hands beforeturning to see Alex in the doorway. His demeanor remained generally cold as washis custom, but he acknowledged his commander’s presence with a nod as well.
 
“Imay have found some help,” the lynx replied quietly.  Lucy did not look up from her work, butJulian favored him with an inquisitive glance. “Another patrol commander arrived to speak with the commander ofHareford immediately after I was turned away. Evidently he had received word that someone was in need of help withinthese walls, and came to see what was needed. He has gone to fetch the mage under his command, and should be herebefore very long.”
 
“Whendid we send out a request for aid?” Julian asked quietly.
 
Alexsighed.  To say that he had notconsidered the same question himself would have been untrue.  It had caused some hesitation when the wolfhad announced his purpose as well.  “Wedid not,” Alex confirmed with a sigh.  “Ido not know; perhaps after our arrival last night someone saw fit to send out acall for help.”
 


>>>Hareford is a small place and like all small towns there are no secrets!





Themoondog shook his head.  “That makes nosense.  It is one man, a man whose lifeis not even particularly endangered by his situation.  With the threat of plague within the Keep’swalls, there is no reason that such a request would have been sent.”
 
Alexhad to agree.  “We are in no position toturn down help,” he stated regardless. “We can ask them what they heard when they arrive.  Be prepared to fight, but let’s be certainthat we do not make the first move in aggression and then live to regret it.”
 
Themoondog responded by adjusting the sword that hung at his hip.  He was the only one of the three to still bewearing his primary weapon, although Alex would have little use for his bowindoors, and Lucy was far more capable with magic than with any weapon.  Alex’s paw went to the dagger that he kept asa sidearm, though he continued to hope that he would not need it in the nearfuture.
 
Lucyfinished her work with the chalk, spinning it about her fingers before storingit somewhere with such effortless grace that it simply seemed to vanish.  Leaning close to the tabletop, she began tocollect every small fragment of chalk that dared to stray from her meticulouspiece of magical artwork.  Finallysatisfied, she replaced her supplies in their pack and placed it back underneaththe table.
 
“Now,let’s see if this helps reveal anything,” she whispered.  By themselves, the chalk lines did nothing,but Lucy activated the enchantment with a little additional effort.  The lines glowed visibly, even to themagically inept commander of the patrol. She immediately resumed her examination, leaving Alex to watch inignorance.
 
“Iam not familiar with the function of these lines,” Julian admitted, watchingher work from a distance.
 
Lucychuckled quietly as she again opened her eyes to the magical world.  The ermine within the cage was looking at theglowing lines of magic with apprehension, but with nowhere to run it simplystared at the strange sight without understanding.  “It would be somewhat difficult to determineexactly what this spell does without already knowing.”
 
“Please,I’ve waited in ignorance long enough already. I don’t need any assurances that my confusion is justified,” Alex said,sounding annoyed.
 
“Inthe presence of other magic these runes will react in different ways toindicate various sorts of magic.  In thiscase, the way it reacts should tell me if there are any hidden spells or trapson Lois.  I could proceed without it,perhaps, but I am uninterested in triggering any traps that might leave me in asimilar state to his.”
 


>>>Smart idea - detecting traps.





“Wouldn’thiding the spell have required some time?” Julian asked.  Lucy looked at him for a moment with a grimexpression before shaking her head.
 
“Yes,it would, and that confuses me.  Itseemed that the spell was cast from a distance, and whatever preparation wasdone would have had to take place in Lois’ absence.  There should not be any traps, but by thesame logic, Lois should not be under this spell either.  Clearly the latter of those two does notapply, so we cannot assume the former.”
 
Juliannodded soberly, and then joined Alex to watch the young mage work.  He could detect the slight changes in theweave of Lucy’s enchantment more easily than Alex could, but he did not knowwhat they might mean, or whether they might simply be part of the spell’snatural function.  Lucy did not offer anyinsight into the process, so he was forced to guess at her progress on his own.
 
Whatprogress she was making was interrupted briefly after it began.  A knock on the door drew her attentionaway.  Alex took a deep breath, noddingtowards the portal as he moved to answer the knock.  Julian gripped the sheath of his sword in hisleft paw, but remained relaxed enough to avoid seeming threatening.  The lynx wondered how often he had beenforced to tread that thin line while in the company of his enemies.  Whatever the answer might have been, he wasglad to have him by his side.
 
Openingthe door revealed a pair of men, one cursed into the form of a black wolf whilethe other remained human.  Alex immediatelyrecognized the wolf as the one to whom he had spoken earlier.  He was dressed in clothing that was clearlyintended for camouflage on patrol, rather than to keep up appearances amongpolite company, its patchwork of blacks and whites designed to escape the eyeon cold winter nights.  There was not ablade to be seen on his belt.  Instead, apair of stout wooden rods was secured in harnesses on either hip.  The strange weapons drew Alex’s eye for amoment, but he avoided lingering on them long enough to cause suspicion.  The man was nearly his same height, someeting his gaze for a moment was fairly easy.
 
Theman standing beside the wolf helped to redirect the lynx’s gaze.  He was of a very stout build, and the trulyimpressive number of scars that crisscrossed his bare skin spoke of many yearsspent in battle.  His head was bald, buthis beard had been expertly woven into a pair of black braids that hung down tohis chest.  He wore no weapon, but Alexdoubted he would need one to be a difficult opponent.  If the lynx’s surmise was correct, the manwould not depend on strength alone in combat, either.  According to what brief discussion he hadundertaken with the wolf, the man was also a mage of some power.  A well-trained mage was easily dangerousbeyond even the finest of swordsmen.
 
Thewolf smiled as he saw the familiar lynx standing near the door.  “Hello again, Commander Alex.  I have come in the company of my party’smage, as promised.  This is Balrog; hewill certainly be of a great deal more aid to you in this effort than I willmyself.”
 
Balrognodded to each of the members of the party in turn, although he clearlylingered at the sight of Julian before continuing on to Lucy.  When he spoke, his voice was very much whatAlex has expected, a gruff, deep voice colored with a slight accent thatimplied foreign upbringing.  His mannerof speaking, however, was quite distinct from the lynx’s expectations.
 
“Greetings,gentlemen.  Milady.”  He favored Lucy with a short, respectfulbow.  Alex could see her rolling hereyes, but she accompanied her sarcasm with a smile that clearly showed somegratitude for the consideration at least. “My commander informed me that a member of your number was subjected toa spell that reduced him to feral in mind and body, and I would like tocontribute my own experience and knowledge to rescue him, with yourpermission.”
 
Theformality of his speech almost made Alex laugh outright, but it certainly didhelp to cool the tension that the lynx felt mounting in the room.  Either the man was sincere in his desire tohelp, or his acting was camp in its most distilled form.  Whatever the case, Alex favored him with asmile and a nod in return.
 
“Youare correct,” he confirmed.  “Ourcompanion was seeking to scout a lutin camp for information, and it seems thathe ran afoul of the shaman.”  He waved tothe cage on the table.  “The effects ofthe spell used against him are clear, but the nature of the magic eludes us.”
 
Theman stepped forward as the wolf beside him took a step to one side to let himpass.  The man squinted at thewhite-furred creature that crouched low between the bars, focusing intently tomake out every detail that presented itself to his gaze.
 
“Isee 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 wasa mage, likely due to her proximity to the caged ermine.  She nodded, and he sighed with a shake of hishead.
 
“Icannot fault your investigation, then, although I am sorry to say that itleaves us very short on possible causes. To my knowledge, fetish stones are the only implement that have beenused to affect such a change since the Curse itself.”  He grumbled and stroked his chin as herounded the table.  Looking at the chalklines 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?”
 
Lucyalmost blushed at the implied compliment, but the mention of their presentbusiness returned her attention to the problems of the present.  “I have inspected the weaves of magic aroundhim to the best of my ability, and I cannot detect anything foreign besides theCurse itself.”
 
Oddly,it was the wolf that responded, not the mage. “That is odd,” he remarked.  “Mostwarriors have at least some enchantments to aid them in battle, especiallyduring missions of stealth.”
 
Alexshrugged.  “The only magic I use isintended to make my archery more useful in various ways, and thus is applied tomy weapons and armor rather than my own person. I expect his was a similar situation.”
 
“Ido not mean to suggest that every man has such enchantments, but a great numberof them do, myself included,” the wolf insisted.  “I am simply trying to note something I seeas odd if it might perhaps suggest some useful course of action.”
 
“Unfortunately,they are right,” Balrog replied.  He hadbeen staring at the former assassin in silence while the others discussed thesituation as hand.  “If he had been underany sort of enchantment prior to encountering this spell, it is little morethan a faint echo now, and those would be both difficult to find and useless toour current pursuit.  The magic we needto find should be new and currently active, and pulling at loose strands in thedusty reaches of age-old enchantments will not lead us to any breakthroughs inthat venture.”  He sighed and scratchedhis head in confusion as he continued to stare at the creature behind thebars.  “What devious device has the enemyused against you this time, Lois?”
 
“Lois?”  Julian looked to Alex, who nodded and gave asubtle gesture towards Lucy.  Juliancontinued to pounce on the use of their companion’s name by a stranger as hestepped towards Balrog.  “How do you knowhis name?” he asked pointedly.
 
Lucy,despite being at a disadvantage of both height and strength, interposed herselfbetween the stocky man and the cage with a hard scowl.  Alex and Julian confronted the wolf, althoughJulian’s body and attention were still turned the face Balrog.  He slowly unsheathed his weapon with hisright hand and pointed its tip towards the wolf, while a ball of flamedeveloped in his left, the orange of its base giving away to a light blue huethe further the flames licked into the air.
 
Thehuman stood straighter and turned slowly to face the man who had challengedhim.  “I know Vincent Lois from manyyears ago,” he explained.  “We met adecade ago, perhaps more, in the lands south of this Keep.  We made a business of culling the smallergroups of lutins who escaped your patrols and harassed the localfarmlands.  I understand your suspicion,but there is no reason for us 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 hispersonal vote of confidence.”
 
Julianglanced 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 youinexplicably know.  For instance, how didyou know that we were here, or that we were in need of help?”
 
“Itold you, we received a request for help while we were returning to the Keeplast night!”
 
“Thatis impossible; we sent no request for aid, especially not last night!” Alexdeclared hotly.  “We had not evenreturned to Hareford until late in the evening. What is the truth, then?  How didyou really hear about us?”
 
Whilethe wolf looked ready to insist on his earlier explanation, a loud sigh fromhis human companion brought him up short. “Sir, I realize that you do not want to so easily reveal your secrets tostrangers, but revealing the truth is infinitely preferable to being skeweredon someone’s blade.”  The man nodded tothe wolf seriously.  Nathan looked quiteunhappy with his companion’s conclusion, but he was forced to admit that Balrogwas correct.
 
“Allright,” 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 littleflexibility.  I was telling the truth ina way when I claimed that I had received a request for help, but the nature ofthat request is what I did not admit.  Ihave the ability to detect echoes of events either present or future.  Last night while returning from Metamor, Ifelt a great cry of distress from the northern reaches beyond Hareford.  As is often the case, I could not determinethe reason for the feeling, but I have learned not to ignore such flashes offoresight when they are given to me. When I heard you speaking with the guards at the keep, however, I madethe connection that your companion was the one whose distress I detected.”
 


>>>Thats powerful





“Thisall seems like quite a convenient set of coincidences,” Julian noted, neverlowering his guard.  “Why would yourpatrol, which you have already admitted was nearly to Metamor when you detectedLois’ distress, not only detect the cry for help from so far away, but alsojust happen to have a mage who is friends with the man in question?”
 
Alexnodded his agreement.  “Julian speaks formy thoughts as well,” he agreed.  “Itseems more likely that the two of you, and perhaps more, have been trackingLois for some time, and only now do you see an opportunity to strike him downwhile he is vulnerable.”
 
AgainBalrog 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 soimmediately after our arrival.  A firespell used on Lois’ cage would not only have likely dealt with him in a matterof moments, but it would have distracted the attentions of either one or bothof my fellow mages in this room.”  Henodded individually to both Lucy and Julian, who was still brandishing thewreath of flame which danced about his paw with a will of its own, never oncesingeing his short fur.  “As a friend ofthe man, I realize that Lois has more than a few enemies, but I also know thathe has spent most of the past ten years slowly culling the numbers of thosethat seek to do him harm.  If we wishedthe same, we would have not spared any risk to see him killed immediately.”
 
Alexnodded slowly.  “You make a few goodpoints, but you still show no proof.”
 
Nathantook up their defense next.  “As Balroghas already stated, our stories could be proven if Lois was released from thespell, but until then you must either find a reason either to trust us, or toutterly reject our claims.  At thisjuncture, can you truly find enough wrong with our words to justify sheddingour blood on friendly soil?  Can youtruly afford to reject our help because of a few doubts?”
 
Lucymaintained her position between Balrog and the cage, but she nodded heragreement.  “We have made no progress onour own.  Any help that we can come bywould certainly be helpful.”
 
“Canwe trust this help, however?” Julian argued.
 
Alexstepped towards the wolf to look directly into the man’s eyes.  The wolf met his gaze fearlessly, althougheven he could not stand the odd inspection without cocking his headinquisitively in utter confusion.  Alex’sface betrayed no emotion, however, and he avoided even blinking as he staredthe wolf down.  Finally, he gave a sighand 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 ashrug of uncertainty.  Finally, Alexstepped away from both of them and waved to his own companions.
 
“Standdown.  I do not believe that they meanany harm to Lois.  Do not lower yourguards entirely, but let them try to help at least.”  He nodded to Julian, waving for him to sheathhis blade and dispel the fire that still guttered along the pads of hispaw.  The moondog was none too happy withthe sudden orders, but he obeyed them with no question, although he kepthimself in position between the two strangers. Lucy, who had never prepared a combat spell at all, simply steppedaside, joining Alex and Julian between the other two.  Balrog gave a grateful smile.
 
“Thankyou for your vote of confidence,” he said with a quiet sincerity.  “I will do what I can to see the spellbroken.  I hope that we can cast asideany suspicion once it is done.”
 
Nathansaid a few similar words, but Alex’s attention was instead on the moondog, whowas waving him to a private corner with no degree of subtlety at all.  Alex apologized for his quick departure, andJulian waved a paw, keeping the sounds of their conversation from leaving thecorner where they would be speaking.
 
“Wouldyou care to explain to me why we are so quick to trust them now?” he asked witha harsh cast to his voice.  “A fewmoments ago, we were seconds from attacking them on suspicion of intent to harmLois.  What changed your mind so quickly,and what in heaven’s name were you staring at?”
 
“Iwas looking for tells, signs of deception on their part,” Alex explained.  “With little else to go on, their argumentwas valid: we cannot deny their help simply on suspicion of some kind oftreachery.  If they had given me someother reason to suspect them, we would at least have forced them to leave.  As it stands, however, they gave me no reasonto suspect that they are here for any reason besides a wish to help break thespell.”
 
“Ithought you said that you were no mage,” Julian observed.
 
Alexnodded.  “Still, there are some thingsthat are simply human nature, and require no magic to detect.  I had a friend who taught me much about theways men react when they are deceiving others. They are not perfect, but in the absence of absolute certainty I amwilling to give the benefit of the doubt, at least for now.”
 
Julianmet his commander’s eyes seriously for a few moments, looking worried whilestill managing a small smile.  “Very wellthen,” he said quietly.  “They still makeme uneasy.  That said I remain extremelyfond of the idea of help.  While I havehad little time to appreciate Lois as a friend, what I have seen convinces methat he is a valuable comrade-at-arms. Especially considering how he was able to kill the shaman at the camplast night.”
 
Hekept his gaze fixed on his commander to drive home his point, and while Alexmanaged to remain composed for the sake of appearances before the others in theroom, he felt his heart sinking within. He kept his eyes fixed on the moondog’s face, but he knew that he wouldfail his own tests of sincerity now. “You suspected something, then?”
 
Julianchuckled.  “You forget, I worked forNasoj for quite some time.  He is evil,yes, but one thing that should never be confused for evil is stupidity.  Nasoj is not stupid, and that means that heknows not to leave any sensitive information, especially written information,in the possession of such petty creatures as lutins.  They can be as easily bought as stolen from,and he is well aware of that fact, and the Keep has learned the same over theyears.  It is for just such a reason thatmilitary doctrine regarding dealing with lutins prescribes little or no searchfor intelligence following engagements with lutins.”
 
Alexsighed and rubbed the fur on the back of his neck.  “It was supposed to be a secret.  The chief and shaman of this lutin tribe havebeen in power for years, and they have gathered more and more power as time hasgone on.  The scoutmaster decided that itwas in our best interests to have them removed, and let the naturally viciouspolitics of lutins help cull the numbers of their followers.”
 
Themoondog nodded seriously.  “I do notquestion the Keep’s decision; I only question your lack of trust in me.  If you can look these two strangers in theeyes and come to trust them in a few seconds, certainly you can extend thatsame consideration to me.”  He kept hiseyes on his commander, his gaze serious but not truly angry.
 
“I’msorry,” Alex replied in a subdued tone. “I could say that they did not give me enough time to get to know you,but your point stands.  I should havebeen able to trust you.”
 
Themoondog gave him a sympathetic smile. “You cannot undo what is already done. All I ask is that you do not make the same mistake again.  If you can trust a stranger, you can trustme.  We are, after all, not strangersanymore.”
 
Thelynx smiled.  “I will take care to keepyou informed in the future.  For now, letus both keep an eye on our pair of strangers, shall we?”
 
Themoondog nodded, and waved a paw to dismiss the spell that kept theirconversation private.  The two steppedback towards the group, finding that Balrog was examining the entrapped erminewith intense focus, and Nathan had found a chair and sat, watching hiscompanion at his work without comprehension. Lucy gave her two companions a look of exasperation; it was clear thatshe did not appreciate being left alone with two men she did not trust.  She had managed however, so she simply rolledher eyes and shook her head when Alex shrugged his shoulders innocently.
 
“Anything?”Alex asked.
 
“Nothingnew,” she replied.  “I can tell what heis doing because of the enchantment I have created, and he has seen nothingthat I have not seen already.”
 
“Letus hope that the winds change, then,” Alex muttered.  He sighed. Since he had been unable to speak with Sir Dupré, it was as likely asnot that they would be called upon to aid in the quarantine patrol routinebefore long.  He hoped that they wouldfind their solution before that time came.




>>>>Good dialogue there!



Chris



 
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