***
While we wait for our thief’s name, we get notified that our team mage will join us in the evening - perfect, just too late to be useful in our first deployment.
I’m curious to meet them, however. So, after sunset, I stand with Kaelich outside the base’s maglev terminal, shivering despite the thick coat over my uniform.
“How does Jaeleri get away with being so useless?” I ask. “And more to the point, what if we get somebody equally useless?”
Our team is almost workable. Kaelich is enthusiastic, friendly, and can supposedly shoot straight, even if xe doesn’t have much gray matter to spare. Sorivel, for all his quirks, I can work with. But I simply couldn’t work with Jaeleri.
“Jaeleri follows all the rules, technically,” Kaelich answers, gloomy, “and the fact that he sucks at magic isn’t a valid reason to ask for a replacement. Team Green could still ask for a different mage, on a personal incompatibility basis, but it would be a stain on their record. And any mage they get as a replacement wouldn’t be great anyway – I’m not sure how posting works for mages, but this base is unofficial punishment for them, too.”
“I’ve never really worked with Council mages,” I admit.
Xe turns to me, curious.
“I know I said I wouldn’t ask for your story,” xe says. “But you weren’t just another field agent, right? Do you even… wait, do you have any field experience?”
I’m one year older than xem, and we all finish basic training at eighteen. Naturally, xe assumed I’ve served in some other base.
I don’t really know why I’m not telling xem the truth. It wouldn’t even sound shameful to xem - flunking out of intelligence just means I’m back to being a regular agent, like xem. Still, I can’t help but feel xe’d think less of me. And surprisingly, I don’t want xem to.
“I have extensive training,” I say, “and practiced in simulated raids of many kinds. But since you’re my commanding officer, you should know - I’ve yet to take part in a real-life combat operation.”
“Whoa,” xe says. “You sound so… I don’t know. Experienced.”
I just sound educated, but it’s probably better not to say it loud.
The sound of an incoming maglev train saves me from that line of questions.
“If we get a decent mage, you think we can be a real, professional team?” Kaelich asks, quickly.
“I have yet to see us in action, or even complex training, so I have no way to assess that,” I answer. Then I remember people prefer niceties to the truth. “But you’re determined, and Sorivel looks competent. Most people are neither. So, we have a chance.”
Xe looks at me, a smile tugging at xir mouth. “I guess you’re the one who’s determined and competent.”
“Obviously,” I answer.
The sleek silver carriage stops smoothly in front of us, and the doors slide open, revealing a young woman. She’s short, with a round face and long curly hair. She has striking grass-green tattoos around her eyes, so ornate I’m not sure what they say.
She wears the same red-and-gold robe Jaeleri did, but hers is pressed and new - it looks regal, and not ridiculous. She looks… cute, and harmless?
I send a Stemlink query to ID the mage. Unlike Jaeleri, she made her datasphere profile public, or at least visible to us.
----------------------------------------
NAME: Althea Zoanni
AGE: 21
GENDER: F
OCCUPATION: Initiate of the Loyal Council of Mages
RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Single, looking for a relationship, casual or not.
LOOKING FOR: Anyone hot. Smart is a plus.
INTERESTS: Martial arts, science and technology, partying.
ADDITIONAL INTERESTS: There’s no “combat magic” tag for the interest section. Rude.
BIO: Want to fight, dance, or drink? I’m in.
----------------------------------------
“Goodbye, Mage,” a ThauCon agent tells her from inside the carriage. They sound spiteful.
“Burn in the Endless Pit,” she answers, in a cheerful tone.
She makes a casual gesture, her eyes blaze with emerald green light, and small cubes of green glass form in midair. It’s a perfect green, greener than any green should be – the impossibly vivid hue only magic can make.
The cubes swarm and combine to form steps, like a floating staircase in front of the girl. She waves a hand, and a huge travel trunk floats to her side, wrapped with green glass chains.
A warning flashes in my Stemlink - Theta peak - but it immediately turns blue and disappears, without further alarms. The base must recognize her as one of ours.
For a moment I freeze, my heart thumping, ready to run - I’ve never seen magic used so casually. Lord of Sands, I’ve never seen so much magic from up close. Half my brain screams mage, enemy, fight. The girl’s burning eyes are terrifying. How did I find her cute, of everything?
But I know some Council mages use minor spells pretty casually, and I’m not going to be provincial, so I grit my teeth and stand still in my place.
The mage walks down the steps she created, looking at us. She moves like she owns the place, and it makes her look imposing despite her stature.
“She’s hot,” Kaelich says.
“That’s not a very appropriate comment, ser,” I point out. Not that xe’s wrong - my eyes keep being drawn to her smooth brown skin, and the perfect ringlets of chestnut hair framing her face. Plus, she manages to wear the old-fashioned red-and-gold council tunic as if it were high fashion.
“Hey, you know I’m all kinds of proper,” Kaelich says. “I meant it literally. Look at the snow.”
I see it now - Mage Zoanni doesn’t even touch the ground, but the snow melts at her passage, making steam rise in rivulets.
She smiles at us. It isn’t a nice-to-meet-you smile, it’s more an only-one-of-us-will-leave-this-place-alive smile. Unable to meet her glowing stare, I notice she wears earrings with green stones matching the hue of her magic.
“Welcome, to, uh, Rakavdon,” Kaelich says, sounding far less confident than xe was when I arrived. “If you’re here, you fucked up? At least, that’s for ThauCons. Not sure it’s true for Council Mages. Sorry. Also, hope you brought extra layers--it’ll only get colder around here for a few month, and it’s already so fucking cold.”
“The cold won’t be a problem,” the mage says. She walks down from the last green light step, and snow melts before it can touch her shoes. Her floating trunk follows her, radiating green light.
“And yes, I fucked up,” she adds, cheerful. “Arguably. Anyway, thank you, but I can carry my own baggage. Could you call Corporal Kaelich for me, please? I’d like to meet xem as soon as possible.”
It takes me a moment to process the situation - of course, she’s a mage, so she has no implants. And she mistook us for porters.
Stolen story; please report.
“Err, Corporal Kaelich, that would be me,” Kaelich says, with a thin voice “And she’s our blademaster, Private Cerical.”
The mage looks surprised for a moment, then looks at xem, up and down, as if judging xir worth.
I sigh inwardly. I’ve met plenty of her type in basic training, and even more at Intelligence School. The kind that must make clear you’re beneath them - and that’s a terrible dynamic with someone like Kaelich, who tries to be nice to everyone. I already know we won’t like each other. A pity she’s so hot.
“Sorry for the misunderstanding, corporal,” she says, haughty. “I come from a ten hour train ride and I’m not at my best. I’m Althea, Initiate of the Council. Nice to meet you both.”
Initiate. An old-fashioned way to say second level. Unusually powerful, for a junior team mage.
“Nice to meet you,” Kaelich says. “We can introduce ourselves properly tomorrow, we’ll be off duty. Now I’m sure you’ll want to rest and…”
“Are you kidding?” she asks. “It’s Scienday night. Just show me the way to the showers, and then let’s get drunk. Best way to get to know each other.”
“Oh, finally,” Kaelich says, xir voice dripping with gratitude. “I’m so happy you’re here. I don’t care if you’re any good as a mage, as long as you drink with me.”
***
An hour later we’re in the R&R room, sitting around a stained plastic table with a deck of cards and three bottles of assorted intoxicants.
The room is drab and depressing, with concrete walls, motivational posters proudly proclaiming ‘WE’LL TAKE BACK THE MOON’ and a few faded holiday pictures from agents who are probably dead, retired, or both.
It doesn’t look like a place which would be conducive to team bonding, or relaxing. But surprisingly, it works - we spend a good half-hour doing rounds of questions, and I learn more about my two teammates than I had in the previous week.
After a few rounds of harmless questions, we get to more personal questions – I find out they’re all single, even if Sorivel is still angsty about a boyfriend he broke up with last year. We move to politics, shameful childhood memories, and find out that Althea was meant to be an engineer before manifesting the Dark Power.
Kaelich is steadily getting drunk. Xe’s drinking some clear Vorokan liquor that smells and tastes like antiseptic. Althea is drinking the same but looks much more sober. I drink apple cider, which makes me a little more sociable but won’t make me regret my choices tomorrow morning.
Sorivel keeps to water, and mutters something about sinful and poison every time we touch a bottle.
“I know I’m pathetic,” Kaelich says, with an arm around Sorivel’s shoulders. The techie looks uneasy but pulls closer to Kaelich, his ears and cheeks turning a little red.
“But I’m so happy I got assigned you three,” Kaelich continues, slurring the words a little. “I was sure I’d get slackers like team green, or thugs like team red.”
Xe looks around, xir eyes bleary. “Or stuck-up assholes like Lieutenant Sareas,” xe adds in a very loud whisper.
“So, how does it work here?” Althea asks. “We’re great friends, but we hate everyone else? Isn’t Sareas our LT?”
“I wouldn’t say we’re friends,” I correct her.
“We don’t hate anyone,” Kaelich says, at the same time.
“I don’t like mages. Nothing personal. It’s just that you’re a sin against creation,” Sorivel adds, taking a sip of water.
Althea looks at Sorivel, her eyes hard, and all the companionship we built up evaporates in a moment. Sorivel stares back, his expression neutral. Self-consciously, he pulls his sleeves to fully cover the silver bands on his wrists.
“A cultist, I see,” Althea says, cold. “Worship what you will. But prayers won’t stop Elsefire. My shields will. And remember your Agency begs the Council for help.”
Sorivel leans forward, a dark gleam in his eyes, and oh fuck this might go seriously bad.
“Don’t listen to him, Althea,” Kaelich says, lazily putting a meaty hand over Sorivel’s mouth, “He’s a softie, deep down. Just a bit weird. You must humor him,” xe whispers, way too loud again.
After a moment, Sorivel snickers, Althea laughs, and some tension bleeds from the air.
“Well, I was told this base is a piece of work,” Althea says, taking a long sip of liquor. Sorivel looks away, his shoulders relaxing a little.
“So, what did you do?” The mage asks, eager to change topic. “You keep saying you fucked up, to end up here. How?”
“We don’t ask…” Soriviel begins.
“I’ll go first,” Althea says, cutting him off. “There’s a kind of short boot camp for mages, between learning magic at the Glass Tower and being assigned to a ThauCon team. I did mine in the Andvor highlands - I thought it was a shitty place, but it’s basically heaven compared to Vorok. Anyway, I had an argument with one of the trainers. I suggested to settle it with a friendly duel. The sucker accepted, and I wiped the floor with her ass. She couldn’t accuse me of anything, she had accepted the duel in public, but she pulled some strings to get me posted here. ”
“What was the argument about?” I ask, curious despite my better judgment.
She smiles. Lost Stars, she has a nice smile. She has dimples and soft, full lips, but her eyes are so intense. Nothing soft in her stare.
“That’s for later,” she says. “Drink more, tell me your part, and you might get it.”
She changed her tunic for a regular t-shirt, and I see her arms are muscular, if less bulky than a soldier’s. I catch myself hoping to see her in the baths. She’s Karesian, so she’ll go half-naked all the time, right? Come on, Ceri. We need a good working relationship. This isn’t the time for hormones.
“Well, I won’t get any drunker,” Sorivel says, grim, “and it’s no big secret. My previous LT was tired of my religious convictions, the team mage even more so. We ended up arguing. Words were thrown, then some punches, and since I hit a superior officer, but she had started it, they basically offered me to drop all charges if I accepted a voluntary transfer to base freeze-ass.”
I’m a bit surprised. Sorivel is strange and not very personable - which could be said of me, too - but he doesn’t look the kind to get in a brawl.
“A drink to asshole officers, may they all rot in the Abyss,” Althea says, taking one more swallow. Kaelich follows her, enthusiastic, and I sip a bit of cider.
“People burn in the Abyss, they don’t rot, and drinking alcohol is a sin in itself,” Sorivel grumbles, but he raises his glass of water and drinks.
“So, what about you?” I ask Kaelich. “What did you do? Brought too many stray kittens to the base? Cooked too many cinnamon rolls? Fuck, I’ve not been here long, but I can’t picture you doing anything bad.”
Xe blushes and looks away. Is the alcohol making me ramble? Impossible. I’m extremely rational.
“For starters, my cinnamon buns are amazing, no one would ever complain about those,” xe says, “besides, my story is boring, really, I don’t…”
“You wanted us to know each other,” Althea cuts him off. “And a leader should lead by example.”
Xe sighs. “Ok,” xe says. “I had troubles with my captain, too, happy? He wanted to have me transf… ferr… moved here.”
“Did you have an argument?” I ask.
Kaelich looks away.
“I can’t bet because it’s a sin,” Sorivel says. “But if I could, I’d bet xe fucked said captain.”
“Hey!” Kaelich says, waving a finger. “Why would you jump to that conc… lonc… why do you say that? I’m your commanding officer.”
“You’re competent and you’re a bootlicker, any captain would love you,” Sorivel says. “On the other hand, you sin of lust like you’re trying to break some record. So, the result is obvious.”
“Sex is not a sin!” Kaelich protests. “Except with your commanding officer, it turns out. I hadn’t thought much about that.”
Kaelich looks shy, but from Sorivel’s tales, xe’s good at picking up partners, and I guess xe looks good, if you’re into big smiling idiots. I can’t help but laugh, and Althea joins me. I drink some more cider.
“Your turn, Ceri,” Kaelich says, slurring the words. “Come on. I’m so curious. Did you fuck your captain, too? No, wait, you’re waaaay too boring. Had some huge argument? You guys should have seen her, she pestered Admin for three days for something about door maintenance, they hate her now.”
“It was a potential security concern, I had to…” I begin.
“Don’t change topic,” Althea says, curt, “you’re the only one left. What did you do?”
I have no obligation to answer.
This is almost a drinking game, a social construct I loathe and won’t take part in. But since Sorivel isn’t drinking, it’s not actually a drinking game, right? And Althea’s eyes are such a lovely shade of hazel, when they don’t burn with magic, and my skin tingles as if I could feel her gaze on me.
“I was in the Officer School, Intelligence section,” I say. “And I was expelled.”
There’s a moment of silence - stunned, at least from the two ThauCon agents.
“Whoa,” Kaelich says. “You got into Intelligence?”
ThauCon Officer School has high standards for entry, compared to those for the rank-and-file. And Intelligence has the most challenging criteria, resulting in a very low ratio of accepted applications.
It’s where I always wanted to be, since I was old enough to understand the Breaking of the Moon, and the way it ruined my home, the way it’s ruining the world. Intelligence is the branch of the Agency that actually tries to understand our enemy. Actually tries to win the war against magic.
And now I’m stuck with chasing small-time magical thieves.
“How did you get kicked out?” Sorivel asks.
“I wrote an essay,” I answer.
“Holy shit, I get it,” Kaelich says, sympathetic “I was terrible at those, too. Always got the subj… the verbs wrong. I barely got passing marks in my basics.”
“I don’t think she wrote a bad essay,” Sorivel says, cocking his head.
“Come on, what did you write?” Althea asks.
I almost tell them - but it feels too much, and too risky a territory, and something which could derail a surprisingly pleasant night.
“Well, that’s for the next time,” I say, and risk a glance toward Althea. “We’ll get bored if we learn everything now, right?”
“Tell usssss,” Kaelich slurs. But Althea nods at me.
She didn’t tell the full story, either. But the full truth is not for tonight.
“So, our officers threw us here to freeze, out of their sight,” Althea says. “But that doesn’t mean it will work. I’m a powerful mage. Cerical got into Intelligence, she must be good. And neither of you was moved for incompetence.”
She looks at us like I’d look at a new sword, trying to decide if it fits my fighting style.
“That's what I say.” Kaelich jumps in “We should surprise everyone and become a strong team. It’s redemption, in a way.”
“Call it redemption if you want,” I say. “It’s revenge.”
We raise our glasses - even the one filled with water.
“To revenge!”