06 - A trail of blood

“We fight many enemies.

We fight the Exiled and her knights, standing defiant on the Moon, their hands full of terrible power.

We fight the Hidden Schools, ever plotting and scheming, shrouded in secrets and subtlety.

We fight the Faceless Army, whose agents walk the streets in broad daylight, ready to unleash their fury on the innocent.

All those are enemies. All must be defeated.

But there’s no group I hate more than the Syndicates. They use their power not to defend the world, like us, nor to pursue misguided ideals, but only to build petty, violent criminal empires.

They’re not worthy of being called enemies. They’re vermin, to be exterminated.”

* Archmage Ton Ked, commander of the Council Battle Force, in a speech to the Parliament

I used to like the morning oath on Engday. I like the ritual, the sense of purpose, of words spoken by generation after generation, for two hundred years.

Except here, everyone is cold and sleepy, half the agents mutter the words sullenly, and half the others have the glazed-over stare of Stemlink users. Our breath mists in the frigid air as we speak.

My team stands in a rigid line, at the left of Lieutenant Sareas, while Team Green stands at his right. Althea stands one step aside, more relaxed, and Jaeleri watches malevolently from a corner.

The Captain stands in front of us, looking like she just wants to be done with it. She’s in her fifties, and wears her hideous mittens, which are both ridiculous and against regulation. I didn’t expect an inspiring officer, but she’s so drab and indifferent, I can almost hear her counting down to retirement. I’ve met her a few times – she quickly greeted me on my first day here, and sometimes I glimpse her making a furtive sandwich in the mess hall, but she mostly communicates through the lieutenants. Or maybe the lieutenants do all the work while she naps.

It's hard to put my heart into the oath, standing in a dilapidated courtyard, where the Agency sent me to have me out of their way.

But I try anyway. Because the Agency is more than asshole officers and skimmed funds. It’’s history, its a cause, it’s a centuries-old duty to defend humanity, rooted in the thousands-years struggle to stand against the Dark Power. We must remember that, remember that we’re more than just a bunch of kids with silver swords, shivering in the snow.

“I take the silver blade that is given,

I take the golden coin that is offered,

I listen to the story that is remembered.

I swear by the broken moon above,

I swear by the memory of the fallen,

I swear by the world we shall save.

I shall stand against the horrors beyond,

I shall battle the dark power,

I shall fight those who tear the veil.

Until my strength shall fail,

Until the war is won,

Until the sky is mended.”

“At ease, soldiers,” the Captain orders, without bothering to say her line. I find that so annoying. Since we’re here freezing our asses, she could at least do her part.

“I see Team Blue is complete now,” she adds, looking at Althea, and sounding vaguely surprised. Did she just find out she’s here? Abyss, how can a Captain not know who’s in her fucking base?

“Lieutenant Sareas, you have a full roster now. I hope you’re ready for the responsibility.”

She says it with a small smile.

Sareas, however, nods very seriously. He stands rigid in his immaculate, well-pressed black uniform, silver buttons shining. He looks every bit the officer: close-cropped hair, fit physique, his every movement precise and economical, and no hint of a sense of humor. I like him, so far. But both Kaelich and Sorivel dislike him, and given how different those two are, they probably have a good reason.

“I’ll do my best, ma’am,” he answers. He has a slight Vorokan accent – he’s one of the few people in the base who’s actually from here. He also has the weirdly light skin common in Vorok, even if not as pasty and sickly-looking as Jaeleri. His tattoos are black instead of white - which makes sense with a Vorokan complexion, I guess.

“We’re all eager to start working,” he adds, and salutes.

Jaeleri only looks eager to go to bed. And Team Green’s agents, who’re barely standing up, look like they’ve never been eager to do anything in their lives, let alone to work. Then again, Kaelich is way too eager, and Sorivel can be pretty dedicated, as long as he finds some relevant scripture to quote. Maybe the squad averages to reasonably enthusiastic.

“It’s good that you’re eager,” the Captain says, sounding amused, and I dislike her more for every word she says. Not only is she a slacker, she mocks those who actually believe in their duty. “We’re heading for difficult times. Rakavdon used to barely have any magical crime. But the new Syndicate Cartel is pushing for power in the whole Vorokan Republic, and the magical factions are restless.”

She looks distant as she says that. She’s probably wondering if she’ll get to retire before the next Mage War breaks out.

“We’re ready, ma’am. We won’t let the Cartels touch this city,” Sareas says, sounding much more confident than I’d be if I were a junior officer in this sorry excuse for a ThauCon base.

“Well, let’s start small,” the Captain answers. “There’s an assignment for you - remember the jewelry robbery? I think Team Blue went to investigate,” she says, pointing vaguely at us. “Civilian Intelligence performed DNA analysis, and we have a match. It’s a young person who went missing recently, with no previous record, criminal or magical. You should coordinate with CivInt and see if the kid can be found. We have xir DNA and a partial signature, so it should be feasible with our resources. Especially if we catch xem using magic again, so we get the full signature.”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

My first real operation. Not a terribly impressive one, but if this base is as sleepy as Kaelich says, a decent rogue Liar is as interesting as things will go. Unless the Syndicate Cartel does make a push for power in Rakavdon – stopping that would be proper ThauCon work. But it’s probably best to learn to work with the team before we face a really dangerous enemy, much as I’m impatient to do something important.

“We’ll do our best,” Sareas says, with a crisp salute. “The mage will be localized and brought here in handcuffs.”

At the corner of my eyes, I see Kaelich twitch - I know xem well enough to be sure xe’s repressing a snicker.

“Be careful,” the captain says, and for the first time, there’s a hint of energy in her voice. “Lie-mages are more dangerous than their power level suggests. And they tend to be so detached from reality, they can be unpredictable. Catch the mage if you can, but remember your first duty, Lieutenant, is to keep your soldiers alive.”

“I understand, madam. We stand watch.”

“To victory,” she says, unenthusiastic, “and a mended sky.”

***

Later that day, Sareas calls a meeting. Since we’re still on watch duty, we all have to fit in the cramped watchtower.

“Should I ask Althea to join us? She’d come, I think” Kaelich says. Althea isn’t technically ThauCon, so she doesn’t have to waste her time standing in the watchtower. She’s probably sipping warm chocolate while wearing one of her revealing tunics, looking gorgeous even while slouching in the R&R room.

On the other hand, not being ThauCon means she’s not included in briefings, except as a courtesy.

“Sure as the Abyss Jaeleri won’t come,” mutters Sergeant Gehat, Team Green’s leader. I don’t know much about her yet – except she’s a redhead with a cool scar, which I like, and she doesn’t talk much, which I like even more.

“Supporting mages aren’t part of ThauCon,” Saraes says, curt. “We’ll let them know if we require their input.”

Kaelich looks unhappy, but shrugs in surrender. I’m tempted to point out that if we’ll have to share information with her anyway, if our Team will be deployed to catch the Liar – it would be efficient to have Althea join the briefing . But I don’t want to start an argument on our very first meeting with Sareas. I was told that leaves a bad impression on people.

Of course, if people were smarter, I wouldn’t have to argue with them so often.

“Let’s be clear,” Sareas begins, “our Investigation team isn’t the best. I suspect it’s the worst in the whole Agency, actually, and they were sent here because of that. So, we have to do a decent job without them.”

“We can’t do their job for them, sir. They didn’t teach me how to do detective work, and they sure don’t pay me for it,” says Karan – Green Team’s huge, sour-faced blademaster.

Lieutenant Sareas takes a long breath.

“I’m not saying we should replace CivInt. It’s not, as you say, our duty,” Sareas says, his voice firm, cold blue eyes on Karan. He’s half the size of the blademaster, but Karan is the first to look away. “But we should be aware of their limitations, double-check their work, and keep pressure on them.”

“Anyway,” the Lieutenant goes on after a short pause, “at least they gave us a name for the hair found by Team Blue. Soldiers, meet Korentis Tal-Venant. Nineteen years old, Vorokan citizen from a wealthy family, no previous criminal record, despite a slew of minor administrative procedures.”

He puts his tablet on the table, pushing away cups of steaming tea. There’s a picture, looks like it’s taken from a school’s yearbook - a teenager with a forced smile. Next to it, the pictures from the security camera.

“I don’t know, sir, they look like siblings, not the same kid,” Kaelich says, with the frown xe makes when xe’s trying to say something smart, which rarely works. “The similarity is there, but besides the hair, the face kinda looks different.”

“Changing facial structure is well within the power of a Liar,” I say, “and DNA analysis would tell us if xe were a sibling instead of an exact match. Xe made themselves different enough to fool face recognition.”

We studied pattern-recognition algorithms for Intelligence training. It’s very hard to trick face recognition with make-up or camouflage, but very easy with magic. The two pictures are rather different - the real Korentis apparently has black hair, brown eyes and the epicanthic fold - but they both look like the kid in a class you can tell will do all the stupid pranks.

“I agree. A Lie can’t fool DNA, so the face must be a trick,” Sareas says. “Anyway, Korentis has two elder siblings, but they’re both accounted for and don’t look anything like xem. Xir family claims - and local police confirms – that Korentis ran from home about a month ago. So xe’s definitely our rogue mage.”

“Xe must have had a mentor,” I muse, “no one can reach that proficiency with magic in a month. Either xe immediately joined a terror faction, or xe had a teacher.”

And we could really use Althea’s expertise here. But I can’t think of any subtle way to point that out.

“I’m not so sure,” Sareas says, frowning. “Xe made no attempt to cover xir signature. Any mentor would teach that first, especially in the terror factions. Maybe xe started practicing xir magic sooner than xir family thinks – or is willing to tell us.”

“Or, xir teacher didn’t mean to teach signature masking,” Sorivel intervenes, cocking his head. “You said xe’s from a well-off family. They wouldn’t be the first to covertly teach a child the basics to control their power, hoping to avoid the need for silver tattoos.”

He sounds angry at the very idea – he also clutches his arms, where his own tattoos are.

Sareas nods.

“That’s a possibility, too. In any case, if xe had a mentor, they’re a magical criminal, and we should investigate that. It would be useful to ask the family some more questions - amicably, since officially there’s no hint of wrongdoing on their side. But even a visit would be hard to formally request - on paper, CivInt already took their depositions,” he adds, annoyed.

“If we think Korentis used magic at home, we could frame it as investigating a magical crime scene, which is within our mandate,” I point out.

I was always good at loopholes.

Sareas looks at me, as if he saw me for the first time. I know the wait, you’re actually smart look.

Well, of course I’m smart. I’m wondering if he is, too. He made some decent points, and he takes his duty seriously. Maybe he’s just too serious for Kaelich’s taste.

“That looks like a good approach,” he says. “I also asked Corporal Aeniki to do some datasphere sleuthing and find about Korentis’ friends. I hope the Corporal will actually work on it, I’ve been told she’s not the most reliable analyst, and…”

“She’s good,” Kaelich says, “you just have to make her like you. Try to bring her some muffins.”

“This isn’t kindergarten,” Sareas says, “she’ll do her job because it’s her job, not because I bribe her in any way. Anyway, if Korentis ran from home, xe probably is, or was, crashing at some friend’s house. It’s surprisingly common for rogue mages. If we’re fast, we can get xem before xe finds a better hideout.”

“What if xe leaves the city?” Kaelich asks.

Sareas shrugs. “If xe leaves our jurisdiction, xe’s no longer our problem. We’ve submitted xir DNA and signature to ThauCon database so wherever xe’ll pop up, xe’ll be found. But xe can’t leave easily.

“Unless xe’s willing to walk for weeks in the snow, there are only three ways out of the city: vac-trains, chartered airplanes and the airship caravans. Trains have thorough security, without an ID chip xe’s not riding one. I doubt xe has the money for a private flight, or xe wouldn’t be stealing. As for airships, Kalestran caravans don’t like taking passengers and they usually lynch mages on sight. I doubt xe’ll risk it.”

“Xir family could help xem charter a flight,” I point out, “the fact that xe ran from home doesn’t mean they wouldn’t help xem. There are security scans at the airport of course, but it’s not as airtight as the trains, since it’s only for super-rich people.”

Sareas nods. “I’ll make sure Intel covers that side. Anyway, there’s no real reason xe should leave. ThauCon is everywhere, and xe grew up here. It’s easier to hide in a place you know.”

“The Captain claimed Syndicates aren’t active in this city, historically,” I say. “Is that accurate? Do we know why? A young rogue mage of some talent would be a prime target for them.”

Kaelich shakes his head. “No Syndicates in Rakavdon. Well, that’s what everybody says, at least. I guess they see no reason to freeze their asses up here.”

“Yes, but seriously,” I say, looking at Sareas. Your time to show you’re worth something, Lieutenant. “This is a mid-sized city with a lot of wealth and limited ThauCon presence. Why aren’t the Syndicates active? The Lodge of Stars and the Sacred Song Society have a presence in Vorok, at the very least. The latter is part of the new Cartel, they’re trying to expand all over the continent.”

Sareas shrugs. “I wouldn’t worry over the problems we don’t have.”

I nod, as if he had said something smart. He has some organization skills maybe, but he’s stupid. Good to know. And I’ll have to look into the lack of Syndicate activity on my own time.

***