Mahon ran side to side with Arbelladon in the deserted streets of Ratho. They managed to avoid any patrol, and they were quite lucky in doing so given the frantic pace Arbelladon imposed on them.

Maybe Jorik had called back most of the patrols to help Mahon. The man was smart enough to figure out the ramifications of Rizzo’s capture. Mahon shook away his thoughts to focus on the task at hand. The situation could become even worse if he didn’t pay attention. He followed Arbelladon without knowing where the man led him, except it was towards Belanor.

The man seemed panicked enough he might not be thinking clearly. Mahon wasn’t sure what the procedure was for such a case, nor if the cultists even planned for such an event. Given their usual way of doing things, it wasn’t something to rule out, but Arbelladon didn’t seem like someone knowing exactly what he was doing. Belanor seemed more the man for such a situation, and Mahon couldn’t blame Arbelladon for rushing to him.

Arbelladon stopped abruptly in front of Mahon and turned his head around, looking for something. Mahon took it for a sign they had arrived at their destination, and they needed to find the hidden cultists now.

They didn’t need to wait long enough before a woman approached them.

“What are you doing here? Is there a problem?” She asked with a frown.

“Yes, there is. Where is Belanor?” Arbelladon retorted immediately to the cultist.

“Still in the house.” The woman pointed to the nearby silent houses.

“Call him back.”

“What?”

“Call him back now. Don’t make us wait. What’s your signal for retreat?”

“The owl.” She answered, a bit taken aback by the turn of the events.

Arbelladon ignored her completely and mimicked an owl hooting.

“To your hideout.” He ordered next.

The woman jolted to awareness and led them to their hideout, a dark spot in between two old noble mansions. Another cultist was already here and gestured for them to come further in, out of sight.

“What’s going on?” He whispered, but Arbelladon waved him off, not even bothering with a verbal answer.

They waited in silence for a minute before the group of four cultists, led by Belanor, arrived at the hideout in a rush.

“What’s happening? Why did you…” Belanor started before seeing the two men who didn’t belong to his group. “Arbelladon? Why are you here?”

“We’re compromised. We need to move away fast.”

“Pack everything. We leave now.” Belanor immediately ordered his group. “Tell me what exactly happened.” He then added to Arbelladon.

“Rizzo got caught. Alive.”

“Fuck. Are you sure?”

“One hundred percent. Mahon saw it with his own eyes.” Arbelladon answered.

“Double fuck.”

“Yes, the man didn’t have time or guts to kill himself.”

“No need to fuss over this right now. Let’s go to safety first. Did you warn the others?”

“Only Maïa, I don’t have enough men to tell everyone.”

“Ok, take mine and go warn the others. Mahon, you stay with me. What’s the hideout?”

“Red sixth. Should be safe. Rizzo never went there.”

“Fine. Let’s meet everyone at Red sixth then. I’d go grab Oncith and prepare a plan in the meantime.”

The two groups split up, and Mahon ran the way back to the hideout with Belanor. They stayed silent, but Mahon could see from the old veteran’s face that he was processing hard to find a way out of this mess. After a ten minutes run, Belanor stopped and indicated Mahon to stay where he was.

Belanor moved forward and disappeared at the next intersection. Two minutes later, he was back with Oncith. Both men were frowning, but they didn’t say anything as they picked up Mahon and ran to the meeting point.

They reached it first, the other teams hadn’t yet time to come back. Oncith and Belanor cleared a table and sat together, grabbing papers and pens while Mahon stayed silent at their side.

“What exactly did you see, Mahon?”

Mahon explained again the events he had witnessed, twisting what needed to be twisted not to comprise himself. The two men didn’t even doubt him. It seemed Maïa’s test was more than enough for them to trust him completely.

“You shouldn’t have let him go alone.” Oncith admonished Mahon. “We’re a team. We live as a time. We die as a team. Don’t abandon your comrades like that, even in such a situation. You could have tried to kill him and the guards when they caught him. Belanor told me you were a very good warrior. You should have risked it. For the cause.”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“There is no need to blame him.” Belanor intervened. “What happened, happened. I never thought either Rizzo would get caught without killing himself first. It’s too late. Let’s deal with the aftermath now.”

“It’s too soon. We didn’t plan for something like that to happen just now. I need to speak with…”, Oncith eyed Mahon, “...the backer.”

Mahon witnessed the exchange between the head of the cult and his right arm. Oncith seemed more panicked than Belanor, but the old veteran slowly managed to appease the head, and together they started to find a solution.

When a knock was heard from the door, they both glanced at Mahon, and the message was clear enough that Mahon spent the next half hour by the door, opening and leading any arriving group to the room Belanor and Oncith were in.

Maïa joined the duo in their discussion as soon as she arrived, and the other cultists let them brainstorm in silence, only watching from a distance. When everyone reached the hideout, Arbelladon and two other older members also went to participate. Everyone else was observing from the sideline, waiting for the verdict to fall.

After what seemed like an eternity for most of them, Oncith finally rose from his seat and gestured for everyone to come closer.

“Fellow cultists. My friends. One of us got caught by the city guards. An inner member. It’s a question of time before he spills secrets that are only for our ears. Belanor wants to try an operation to kill Rizzo, but I think it’ll be both too difficult and too unpredictable. The man may have already said everything for what we know.”

A shiver skimmed through the little crowd, and some even shook their heads with disgusted expressions.

“Don’t lose hope. It just means we’ll have to move forward faster with our plan. We’re not completely ready, but we’re close to the first step. Depending on tonight’s loot, we may have an easy way out. If not, we’ll use more drastic solutions. Our great cause will not falter from that minor setback. We’ll make so much noise with this first step that we’ll not need to worry about Rizzo's betrayal. Everyone will have other things to think about at that time anyway...” Oncith laughed threateningly.

“But I digress! Give us two days to sort this out and organize the little details. By that time, let’s all meet here again and we’ll explain the plan and finalize everything together. In the meantime, don’t use the other hideouts if you’re not completely certain Rizzo didn’t know about them. We’ll be reducing our recruiting activities as well. We’re close, my friends. Let’s not make a little mistake stop us. Don’t do anything in the next two days. Stay safe, and then come right here.”

People nodded slowly, unsure of their future, and Belanor stepped forward.

“Where is your enthusiasm?! It’s just a small setback, but we’ll come back even stronger! Let’s show them!” He shouted.

His little intervention managed to rouse back the cultist’s spirits, and they cheered back at him, raising their fist in the air. Belanor let it happen until the shouts died down on their own, and then the cultists left the hideout one after the other.

Before Mahon left, Belanor took him aside and spoke to him.

“Don’t be too affected by what happened tonight.” He started. “It happens even to the best of us. You couldn’t have predicted it. I know how you care about your comrades and our cause. Take these two days as an opportunity to decompress and come back with even more determination.”

Belanor observed Mahon, as if to check he wasn’t too sad about losing Razzo. Mahon played his part and nodded, a sad smile on his lips. Belanor approached even closer to Mahon and grabbed his shoulder in a gesture that reminded him of Zac. He repressed a shiver of disgust at the old veteran having the same mimic as his friend.

“Oncith didn’t voice it out loud, but we’ll probably be missing at least one important document. It means, two days from now we’ll have to go on a special operation to take care of this problem. We might even need to include the backer’s bodyguard. She’s scary but extremely efficient. I want you to be part of this operation. We might need another good fighter if things turn sour. Be ready for it.”

Mahon acquiesced, and Belanor finally let him go. He took his usual random convoluted path through Ratho’s streets before aiming for the school. It was still late and most people were already sleeping, but Mahon didn’t care in the slightest. He went directly to Jorik’s estate, knowing the man would have been waiting for him.

Jorik opened the door before he even knocked. He was still fully dressed and seemed completely awake, as if it was perfectly normal to receive Mahon at this hour. He led Mahon into his office, crossing the empty corridors that were usually full of other students.

The Last Black sat at his office, and Mahon took the seat in front of him.

“I’ve received your package. Took care of him and the First White as well. Your infiltration is still on, as far as I’m concerned.”

Mahon nodded. “It was bound to happen, anyway. It went better than expected on that front.”

“And on the Fada cult’s side?”

“It’s a mess. They triggered their next step, and from what I can tell, it’s gonna be really big. We have to stop them before that.”

Jorik grimaced. “I’ve a promising lead on the bodyguard. A week or two, and I can have proof against a noble family.”

Mahon shook his head, staring straight at Jorik. “Not gonna happen.”

Jorik returned his look without flinching. “How long are we talking about? And what exactly?” He asked after a silence.

“Less than a week at most. I don’t know the details yet, but I’ll know everything in two days. They’re preparing something really big, that’s for sure. The head said everyone will have other things on their mind once it’s done. We can’t wait. In two days, the cult will reunite. We can strike them then and prevent everything.”

“Will the backer be here?”

“They need him to consolidate whatever they’re planning. And his bodyguard will help, so probably.”

Jorik took some time to think. He took his head in his hands, and Mahon could see the struggle of the decision in his posture. He waited patiently for the noble to make his choice.

“Two days from now will be just after the tournament. There is no way Ravatoris will agree with anything so soon.”

“What do you mean, agree with anything?” Mahon snapped. “Who cares about a stupid tournament at such a time?”

Jorik threw him a warning look. “Careful here, Mahon. I know Ravatoris, and if I present everything to him right now, he’ll just swipe it aside. It also suits me to wait two days for more information. Both from you and my own sources regarding the bodyguard. The big operation isn’t in two days, right?”

“No.” Mahon admitted reluctantly, knowing very well what the noble would propose.

“Don’t think I’m a monster just because I don’t want to stop the cult the quickest I can. I’m also capable of empathy. We’ll wait for two days. If I find my information, then all the better and we can stop the cultist in two days. If not, we’ll talk about it with Ravatoris depending on how big they aim, and stop them before they can do it. Will that be ok with you?”

Mahon eyed Jorik while thinking. “No more delay after this. Do I have your words on it?” He finally asked, giving the man a chance.

“Yes, but will you trust me?”

Mahon thought about what Zac had said about the man. Mahon himself knew Jorik was a very rational and capable person. He usually could trust such a commander. He just feared how calculative the man was, and if he was really weighing people’s lives on his balance.

“Maybe.”