Briox followed the magus, apparently she was named Irela, and another man up the mountain. They passed an outcropping of rock where a man was waiting, apparently a lookout, before finally reaching a narrow cave set into the side of the mountain. The guide led them into the cave, the lantern barely lighting the area around him as they advanced, not that it really bothered Briox. He had long ago mastered a small spell to increase his eyes sensitivity to light, it saved on candles back when he was in school and now it allowed him to follow a man through a dark cave without tripping and introducing his face to some of the local earth.

Ahead he noticed the cave lit up, quickly he removed the spell for low light vision from his eyes. It was useful at night but in a brightly lit are it quickly became a liability and though the area ahead wasn't quite blinding he would have difficulties seeing with the spell active, honestly it was surprising the place was that brightly lit. The guide blew out his lantern and then yelled out as he walked into the bright cave "Oye Tommy! Boss! we got the company ye were expectin!". Briox inspected the cave and its occupants. Torches lit the area and blankets hung on the walls and across the floors breaking up the stone and creating living spaces for the half dozen men and three magi that were currently there. Folding tables and chairs were set up and in the center of the room a single large table stood, a map upon it and Tommy Caulder behind it. "Hey Bans good work bringing them in, over here you two! We don't have much time and need to figure out the plan" Tommy yelled across the cave with a grin and waved them towards him.

Irela and Briox quickly strode forward joining him at the table, on it a map of the Islandyer northern border, and beside it a more accurate map of the Riftzen Lands. At one point this had been the home of the Riftzen magus family and a small part of the Islandyer Alliance. Now it was a part of the Hyser Empire but the geography didn't change much, you just had to replace a few of the Riftzen manors and towers with massive craters. The one where Magus Riftzen himself had lived had been erased so completely that the river that flowed by it had been redirected into a lake. Rumors said a half dozen Hyser archmagi had unleased a group ritual calling down the wrath of the sun upon the tower, eventually erasing it from existence and the remaining power had melted out a glass bottom for the new lake. It was the difference between Islandyer and Hyser. One focused upon dimensional magic and creatures, the other raw power and combat mages. When Hyser's magi struck without warning few of the archmagi even had a chance to retaliate, those who were not killed by surprise group rituals and ambushes where lost when the dimensional anchors to their personal dimensions were obliterated after the Hyser Empire decided they would be too difficult to conquer.

Tommy pointed at his map "Right now the Inquisitor is here, he has fifty odd servants, a hundred hyser infantry, twenty-four rune soldiers, an accompying magus, and the Inquisitor himself. If they move at the same speed they have been recently then they'll reach this pass tommorow. Withers and a few of his men are mixed among the servants and can poison the infantry but the rune soldiers, inquisitor and magus all have their own supplies and personal servants. Which is where you two come in." Tommy looked up at the pair of magi expectantly. Irela looked at her boss tiredly while Briox just kind of blinked after a long moment Tommy spoke "So any ideas on how to handle them?". Irela sighed "Boss you couldn't give us a minute to rest first?". Tommy frowned and Briox spoke "Its fine, i can handle the inquisitor and the rune soldiers. Or rather i will handle them, no guarentees that i'll survive" his voice was calm as he leaned in and looked at the map. The others looked at him a bit surprised before Irela asked "Aren't you a bit concerned about that?". Briox glanced over at her and then went back to studying the map "If i die then i don't have anything to worry about do i, the real difficulty will be if we kill him or fail to kill him but still escape. Inquisitors are elites, they will investigate if one of them dissapears or dies and none of us will be able to escape if he survives". Briox tapped the map "This is the nearest Hyser fort, three days marching distance for a normal troop, maybe a few hours by flight, if there is a magus with teleportation they may be able to arrive sooner though i can disrupt that some". Tommy nodded "So you can handle the runes and the inquisitor, as well as delay reinforcments, Irela can you and your boys handle the magus?". Irela frowned "Maybe, he is a magus-priest of Hyser, so he probably has some pretty powerful spells. We can't win head on." Suddenly she smirked "Of course, we never do fight head on, i have some ideas. It'll have to wait till we try them to see if they'll work however". Tommy turned back to Briox "How sure are you that you can handle the rune soldiers as well as the inquisitor?". Briox sighed "I'm certain i can handle the soldiers, it will come down to how lucky i get and how skilled the inquisitor is. At the least i should be able to cover your retreat once you get your sister, he shouldn't pay attention to you if i'm there."

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They all turned back to the map and Tommy placed two stones on it, both on the mountain overlooking the pass out of the Riftzen lands. "This is the best place to attack them, easy for us to retreat from if we hold the high ground, good cover, it'll be dangerous for them to use combat magic poweful enough to ignore the cover in case they cause a rockslide" Tommy looked at the map once more and looked up at the other two "is there anything else to discuss?". Briox spoke up "yes, i need a place to set up a teleportation marker". Tommy frowned "Teleportation Marker?". Briox nodded, and then took a deep breath his face twisted, the relecutance obvious on his face as he began to speak "Before the invasion i studied as a creature creator, i need the marker to transport some of my creations here". Irela and Tommy both looked at him complex feelings played out inside of them before Tommy nodded. "Bans!" He yelled out and waved the man over "Find out any requirments Magus Briox requires for his teleportaion markers location and take him to the best place". Briox spoke "Anywhere is fine as long as its roomy". Tommy turned and spoke to Bans "Take him to one of the deeper caves, should be one thats big enough". Bans nodded "This way lord magus" he said and led the way as they left the main cavern.

After the two left Irela spoke "He was a Creature Creator". Tommy nodded "I know". She continued on "They will never let us go after we associate with him". Tommy looked over at her a rougish smile appearing on his face "You think they would after we killed one of their Inquisitors? And don't tell me we might be able to do it without killing him, either he kills us or hunts us to the end of the earth after we steal his prize away". Irela grimaced and grumbled "Still, he's a Creature Creator, thats nearly a damn noble". Tommy shrugged "I'd gotten my sister an apprentice ship with her master in the hopes she would be able to acuire some of the skills of a Creator, she hadn't before the invasion but it was planed. Irela looked over at Tommy and then sighed "I'm going to go talk to my boys, if we are going to keep a combat magus company we will have to be prepared". She too turned and walked for one of the caves before pausing "Tommy". He looked back up from the map "Yes?". "Tell me we'll make it out of this alive, tell me that we can survive" Irela's voice was calm and steady as iron. Tommy grinned before he spoke she could only hear certainty in his laughing voice "We will survive, now go, you'll need to rest". Irela nodded without turning around and left calling her magi to her as she left. Tommy looked down at the map once more and his hand settled on the hilt of his sword, caressing the blade that had accompanied him for so long. Tommorow death would come, tommorow the sun would set upon a battlefield, tommorow he would see if Briox could deliver what he claimed, tommorow he would see his sister again. Tommy closed his eyes, tommorow would decide all of their futures, may the ancient ones protect them all. Tommy opened his eyes and glared at the small stone representing the inquisitor upon the map, his sword snaked out sliding under the stone and lifting it to eye level all in a motion too fast for those remaining in the room to see, the small white stone contrasted sharply with his red blade. And if the ancients would not protect them, then his blade would have to do.