“This is us.” Captain Langley pushed open a massive door that opened up into a room so spacious Pax couldn’t see the walls from the hallway outside. “Ask your beasts to wait out here for a moment, please.”
Pax exchanged a worried look with his friends, but they followed Langley’s instructions.
“Listen up, Vanguard.”
Multiple heads turned as Pax and his crew trooped in behind the tall warrior leading them. On the far-right wall, Pax could see an enormous map with details too small to read. On the opposite wall a wide doorway led off to what seemed to be a training area, based on the glimpse of movement and distant clatter of weapons.
Multiple cubbies lined the other two walls, doors made from chain link allowing glimpses inside. Various mages, warriors and even the occasional crafter worked in some of the divided rooms stuffed full of gear and equipment. The intensity of the attention aimed their way made it clear that everyone there was a battle-honed fighter.
“Attention, everyone!” Langley called out. “Someone, grab those in the training room. I picked up a few students to help us out at the fair thing I had to attend and want to introduce you.”
More than a few groans greeted the final part of that statement, but they still set their work aside and moved toward Langley. He held up a hand to forestall any actual complaining when everyone had gathered. “These are the kids with the beast pets we’ve been hearing about, so no killing or even hurting their pets.”
The interest returned full force and sharper this time.
“Bring them in, kids.”
Let’s impress them. Pax sent quick instructions. Keep your eyes forward and then have them come in together in a loose formation and sit at our sides.
Pax heard rustling and the sound of claws on the tiled floor as their companions moved silently through the door, following their instructions exactly. A whoosh of air sounded as Eris capped off the near perfect performance by landing on Rin’s arm and then moving up to her shoulder.
A low muttering greeted the sight, and Pax wasn’t sure if it was positive or not. Mixed, he decided. At least the members of the Vanguard had taken a break from their training and work to listen.
“Where did you find them?” An elven woman had approached with the feline grace that hinted at an experienced rogue. Her almond-shaped, emerald green eyes flickered with interest, despite her overall jaded expression. “And what exactly did they do to these little beasts?”
Langley waved a hand in their direction and raised an expectant eyebrow, apparently unwilling to do any more hand holding.
You’re up, fearless leader. Amil’s snark came through very well over the Echo.
It was just what Pax needed to swallow past the nerves that had suddenly appeared at being under the eye of so many experienced fighters. He cleared his throat. “I’m Pax Vipersworn and this is my crew. I’m the first person we know of in the empire to gain the Taming skill. We found Talpa here in the catacombs below the academy after a tough battle. Something clicked between us and over a few days, I was able to Tame him.”
Gazes moved down to Talpa who, instead of shrinking back, puffed out his chest and looked back proudly. The reactions from the Vanguard members varied, some curious and others frowning at Talpa’s waggling tentacles.
“The rest of my crew has been learning to do the same thing.” Pax waved back at the others. “There are a few ’crat students who have also managed to gain the skill, but they still kill more beasts than they tame.”
“Isn’t that what we’re supposed to be doing to beasts?” A sour-looking man with obvious dwarven heritage asked, tone full of dismissive sarcasm.
“Yes, but it’s obvious to anyone with intelligence that our pets are working with us and can follow commands.” Pax let some of his irritation at the stupid prejudice into his tone. “They’ve been helping us kill wild beasts for months now.”
“Ohh.” Another man drew out the sound, his tone both laughing and mocking. “Stabbed you, Roland, that kid did.”
Others laughed good-naturedly as Roland’s frown deepened. But he subsided and stepped back.
“This is just for mages, right?” a bulked-out warrior asked, his eyes traveling over the pets with a calculating gaze.
“For now.” Pax kept the answer short, hoping they’d move on.
But they honed in on his response as quickly as they probably used their weapons.
“Do you mean you’ve figured out a way to help other classes tame a beast?” This from another warrior who hadn’t bothered to leave his workbench, but now stood up at the new information.
Pax sighed, not wanting to get into the topic, especially in a forum that was public enough for the information to spread quickly. “It’s something we’re exploring with our own warriors.” He tipped his head toward Bryn and Tasar. “If we can get it working reliably with them and even our crafter, we’ll be confident enough to do the same for empire warriors like you. Beasts are aspected, which makes matching compatible mana types easier during the taming process with mages. It’s the unaspected mana the other classes have that is causing issues. But if we work out an agreement with your Vanguard, you’ll be the first to know.”
Captain Langley’s brows shot up and he mouthed the word If to Pax.
“You’re making it sound difficult,” someone else called out, voice sounding skeptical. “If you and other students are doing it, too, it can’t be that hard. Right?”
“No one has managed to do it on their own yet, without learning from me first.” Pax kept his tone firm and no nonsense. “And even then, only a few mages get the skill. Those that have are all sponsored and under the control of their families and guilds.”
Someone spat off to the side, and Pax heard mutters about privileged idiots taking all the good things for themselves. He stifled a smile.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“At this point, my crew are the only ones free to Tame for whomever we want. With rebel flicks trying to ruin everything, we want to help the empire’s best fighters become even stronger. Captain Langley says that’s you. Is he right?”
His arrogant question prompted more chuckles than scowls, making Pax hope he hadn’t pushed them too far.
When the room quieted and the fighters began asking specific questions about the taming process and their companions specifically, Pax’s tension relaxed. He’d piqued their interest.
“So, it’s just baby beasts? They won’t be that useful except as novelties,” someone said.
“Babies grow,” Amil answered.
“How exactly do they grow?”
“How long does it take?”
“Is there any way to speed it up?”
“I heard they could gain abilities.”
Questions came rapid fire. The rest of Pax’s crew joined in answering questions and explaining the details about their different pets. The mood shifted significantly as the practical fighters quickly picked up on the value tamed beasts could bring to scouting and fighting.
After an intense question-and-answer session, the fighters eventually drifted away, one by one, returning to their interrupted work. Pax and his friends all sagged with relief when they’d finished answering the questions of the last one, the elven fighter who’d been interested from the start.
“I haven’t seen Lyndara so engrossed in something for a long time,” Langley said. “Just that is worth bringing you lot on board for a bit.”
“For a bit?” Rin asked. “We haven’t discussed exactly what you’d like us to do for your Vanguard. Obviously, we need an official assignment to satisfy the Academy’s new requirements, but we have a lot of choices, for now at least. What did you have in mind for us if we work with you?”
Langley chuckled before aiming a questioning look at Pax and the rest of the crew. They all kept quiet. They’d learned long ago that Rin drove the best bargains and things turned out better when they left her to it.
“So that’s how it is?” Langley looked back at Rin. “You’re in charge of negotiations for the crew?”
She nodded, but stayed silent, waiting for him to answer her questions.
He waited for another beat, and when she didn’t speak, he gave her a quick nod, his expression turning thoughtful. For a few long moments, all Pax heard was the background noise of the various fighters working in their cubicles, the snick of a blade being sharpened, the rattle of someone working with plate armor and other sounds of fighters hard at work.
“Alright. Here’s what I’m thinking,” Langley said. “As I’ll need to itemize the work I’m having you do for the Academy accountants, I’d like you to have two primary jobs. First, the Taming, of course. But, as I understand it, only your mages can reliably do the Taming, which leaves nothing for the others to do. You’ll also eventually run out of Taming to do once all of my people who want a beast have one. Though other parts of the army may pick up on the idea in the future. In any case, I’d like you to also take over a primary duty our probationary recruits usually handle.”
Rin wasn’t the only one to look unhappy at the direction Langley was going. Pax knew exactly what kind of grunt work and hazing senior members usually heaped on the newbies.
“It won’t be as bad as it sounds. You won’t be actual probies subject to all the intensive training we put them through.”
“What if we want training?” Rin asked.
Langley paused in surprise, looking impressed. “Well, once you’ve proven yourselves, I’ll authorize you to join in any of the lower-level training that interests you. Maybe even some of the advanced classes if you survive the others. I just assumed your training at the academy would be enough, not to mention the new war games program you’re starting over there.”
Now it was Pax’s turn to be taken aback. The headmaster had just announced the new program that morning.
Langley laughed. “Don’t act so surprised. Everyone in an elite fighting unit knows how valuable information is. It doesn’t matter how well you can fight if you’re in the wrong place or don’t know who your true enemy is.” He paused and looked over each of them with a much harder, evaluating gaze. “Which leads me to the second line of work we’ll need you to help with when you’ve done all the Taming you can.”
A lot of ideas ran through Pax’s head, and he held his breath hoping it was one that fit with their plans.
“While this is where we coordinate our gear and equipment, each of the Vanguard squads is assigned to different battalions. They also send us out on a lot of missions ahead of any large movements of the army. With all the craziness going on right now, that means lots of coordination and planning. We are also considered above reproach for sensitive messages that need to be sent between important people in Salman. With no new probies coming our way for the foreseeable future, we’ll need you to take it on.” He stopped and waited for their reaction, aiming a questioning look specifically at Rin.
“You’d like us to be glorified messengers?” She didn’t sound impressed.
“You sure know how to cut right to the core,” Langley said with a laugh. “That’s essentially it, but the information you’ll be taking all over the capital will be important and need protection. We need trained fighters in pairs to do the work, not messenger kids who someone can knock over the head and steal the information from.”
“What’s to keep us from reading the information ourselves, if it’s so valuable? How do you know we won’t sell it to the rebels?”
Pax wasn’t the only one to shoot an alarmed look at Rin. Amil even hit her shoulder with a backhand while he scowled.
As soon as Pax saw Langley’s eyes taking in their reaction, he realized what Rin had done. He kept his own expression of disgust on his face while inwardly cheering her brilliant move. She’d brought up the glaring issue while drawing an instinctive response from the rest of the crew that reassured Langley.
“I can’t know. But that’s the same dilemma the entire empire is facing. We don’t know who the sympathizers are.” He gave them a shrug. “There are points in your favor, like your performance during the Purge and your perseverance to help the empire with your tamed beasts, even when some deride you for it. But we’re not idiots. We will have our information specialists dig into your backgrounds looking for any flags.”
Worry spiked in Pax’s stomach as he tried to think if there was anything they’d find about their crew. He kept an expression of mild interest on his face as he thought. There wouldn’t be much to find with their street rat backgrounds. And he didn’t think Bryn, Tasar or Tyrodon would have anything suspicious to find in their past.
Pretty much their only connection to the rebellion was through him and then to Mage Incedis, as his mentor. As long as Incedis’ cover wasn’t blown, Pax should be fine.
“I plan to go through these details later, but just know that we have protected the messages you’ll be carrying in a way that detects any tampering. Please—” He held up a warning finger, his aura turned hard. The easygoing personality was replaced by a battle-hardened warrior. “Please don’t make me enforce the penalties for tampering with critical war information.”
“We’re not stupid.” Rin scoffed with an aplomb that Pax didn’t think he could have managed under the pressure of Langley’s gaze. She held it without flinching. “We came to you because we want to help and we’ll do whatever we can to take out every last rebel so we can all get back to saving the empire from the beasts. We want in.”
He held her gaze a moment before looking over the rest of the crew as if to gauge their commitment. Pax felt a trickle of sweat drip down the back of his neck.
“Good.” He nodded with a big smile. The affable captain was back. “Then I’ll turn you over to Mage Lyndara to get things scheduled. She’s our Rin.” He tipped his head and shot a half smile in Rin’s direction. “And your new beast thing has put her in a better mood than I’ve seen in quite a while. Lucky you.”
Rin looked past him, searching out the willowy mage.
“Lyndara!” Langley called out, waving for her to head over. “Come get them set up with one or two of the empty cubicles and work out a tentative schedule for Taming and courier duties.”
She had already headed back in their direction, nodding at the instructions as Langley gave them a cheerful wave before turning on his heel and leaving out the door.
Pax let a full grin spread across his face, knowing observers would attribute it to him landing an awesome job with an elite fighting crew. But he was really smiling because they’d found a way to tap into the war information moving back and forth across the capital. If they couldn’t bypass the tampering protection, they would still have access to extremely valuable information about who was communicating with whom. Not to mention the places and people they’d gain access to during their delivery duties. His grin widened further. Things were falling into place.