The tunnel from the valkins’ little complex of rooms was long and, for once, straight. It sloped gently downwards, exiting into the morning light in a wooded area of the lower foothills, with only about fifteen yards in front of the gate free of trees. I dumped the body of the guard I’d killed next to a bush and savaged it a little, hoping that it would look like it had just stepped outside if anyone came looking. That should be better than having a guard simply disappear.
The gate wasn't hidden, but no one would have suspected that it was there. If someone who happened to pass by even looked in its direction, all that they'd see would be a section of rock that had cracked unusually straight.
There were prisoners in there, and this would probably be the most direct route for anyone coming to collect them. There was no way that I was letting this gate out of my sight for more than ten minutes until it was time to meet Rallon.
I took to the air to figure out exactly where I was, noting which regional and local landmarks I was close to. I'd gotten pretty good at that, and I was confident that I could get close enough to the place to find the gate by simply looking for the glow on the wall.
In my by then normal state of hunger and fatigue I settled into a tall, dense tree with a good view of the gate. I was angry, but it was a cold, satisfying anger. This time they were not getting away.
What followed was almost two full days of mostly sitting still. My activities were limited to sitting in the tree, eating an occasional careless squirrel or rabbit, and dozing with an eye on the gate. I hoped that the dragon was still paying attention, but I didn’t bet on it since she seemed to be hiding, or sulking, or whatever she was doing. Instead I had to stay mostly alert when I could, relying on the noise of the gate opening or people moving beneath me to wake me if anything happened while I napped.
Scavengers got to the guard’s body pretty quickly, improving on my cover-up. Towards evening of the first day the gate opened, and two valkin came out, looking around carefully. When they found the guard’s body they seemed annoyed more than anything else, one of them going so far as to kick it a few times before they dragged it back inside. After that I just had to hope that they’d blame its death on its own carelessness rather than on foul play.
Nothing happened all of the following day, and even with the incredible patience I’d developed it was boring as all hell. As the sun dipped behind the mountains at the end of the second day I was reluctant to leave, in case anything actually did happen while I was away, but also very relieved to finally be doing something different.
As I headed for the lake I took note of where one could leave the road, trying to map as direct a route as I could to the gate. I hadn’t been able to find a trail on the ground, but I’d do my best to be able to lead the mercs there by as short a route as possible.
I didn’t land directly at the lake, of course. I did my usual thing, landing a decent distance away and then sneaking up on the campsite, staying low and in the shadows the whole time. There was no one there when I arrived, but I didn’t have time to get bored.
The group that arrived was larger than I was used to, but I’d expected that. They all came on horseback, but dismounted in the campsite and approached the tree on foot. What I hadn’t expected was for half of them to be Herald and her family, but considering how close they were to some of the Wolves it made sense. They were a neutral party, of sorts. I decided that it must be very much intentional, to show that this was intended as a friendly meeting.
Of the other four, I recognised Lalia, of course. Garal wasn’t with her, which was a little disappointing, but you can’t have everything. There was the older, bearded man who must be Commander Rallon, and then there were two more, a man and a woman both around Tamor’s age that I recognised as two of the mercenaries’, what? Scouts? Assassins? I was pretty sure that these two were among the five who had gone before the other mercenaries at the bandit camp, quietly taking care of the sentries. That meant that everyone here was someone who knew about me already, which I appreciated.
Still, those five killers had actually scared me, which was rare. I was going to want to keep an eye on the two that were here.
The two that I could see, at least.
I didn’t make a flashy entrance, this time. I wasn’t here to impress anyone, and I wasn’t feeling petty enough to try to scare Lalia again. Instead I stepped through the shadows into the crown of the lone tree. I climbed out of the tree like I’d been waiting there all along. I was feeling antsy about being away from the gate, but I took my time and tried to look friendly and relaxed. Looking friendly was hard to do with people who didn’t know me, but I made an effort.
Everyone was looking at me, of course, and with a mix of expressions. Happy familiarity from Herald, carefully blank faces from Lalia and Makanna, and relaxed smiles from Tamor and Valmik. The two Grey Wolf killers both looked excited, which I hoped was a good sign, and Rallon was a picture of schooled, neutral politeness. He reminded me of many politicians, but I couldn’t blame him. Even if this was supposed to be friendly, it was still a first meeting, and a negotiation of sorts. Courtesy was in order.
I sat down about ten paces from Rallon, wings folded and tail curled around me. He looked in his fifties and was fairly tall, near Herald’s height, with a wide face that made a beard a very good styling choice on him. He looked like he was waiting for me to say something, and I was not sure what to do. Formal introductions had never really been my thing, beyond a ‘Hi!’ and a handshake to get it over with. Once again I had to rely on entertainment to help me. I’d seen plenty of first meetings between powerful people, after all. Just because they were on a screen didn’t change that, right?
“Commander Rallon, I presume.” I tried to sound confident. “I am Draka. Thank you for coming.”
That seemed to do it. When he replied, his voice was strong and rich. “Lady Draka. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me. I understand that you are interested in cooperating with the Grey Wolves.” He paused. “But, where are my manners? I am Terriallon Mordo, Commander of the Grey Wolves Free Company and a minor city lord of Tavvanar, though that is of little importance here. Please, call me Rallon, or Commander if we’re to insist on titles. These two are my cousins, her young ladyship Terriallon Rebatia and his young lordship Terriallon Poterio.”
The two waved enthusiastically.
“You are of course already familiar with Lalia of Karakan, one of my squad leaders–”
Lalia gave me a curt nod.
“–as well as Makanna of Karakan and her siblings, and Valmik of Karakan.”
Waves all around from them, even from Makanna.
“With the formalities out of the way, shall we get to the substance of this meeting?”
“Please,” I said, maybe a little more eagerly than I’d intended.
“Very good. Lady Draka, I would like to begin by apologising for encouraging these rumours about a wyvern. I understand that it has and will continue to cause you some trouble. Know that I do not blame you for defending yourself. Now, on the advice of two of my squad leaders, as well as the testimony of some trusted citizens of Karakan,” he indicated Herald’s group, “I believe that we could use your aid in our work to protect the city. I hope that you’ll forgive me if we must keep this cooperation secret, and understand that I will disavow any rumours as lies and slander if I must. Mallin has suffered under a dragon in centuries past and it is unlikely that your existence here, or any relationship we might have, would be seen favourably by the council or the citizenry at large. I like to think of myself as being more pragmatic than most, though I confess that I myself became concerned when I first heard of your existence, and I had trouble believing in your apparent lack of malice until recently. That said… I believe that there was a specific reason that you wished to meet tonight?”
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“There is. You’ve heard about the gates, yeah?”
“I have. Though, again, it was a difficult thing to believe until I heard that the Cranes were sent to clear out some valkin from a tunnel complex hidden behind one such gate. Now Miss Herald tells us that you can show us another.”
“I can do you one better. The gate that Herald told you about? I scouted the tunnels. There is another, way more convenient entrance to the same tunnels, and there are both valkin and human prisoners there. Looks like a whole small village, like last time. If we move quickly we can rescue them before the slavers come to collect them!”
That got their attention. Rallon’s cousins started whispering together with Lalia, and I thought I heard something about favour with the council.
“They still have prisoners? Are you sure of this?” Rallon said, and I saw a hint, a glint in his eye, of excitement.
“They did two days ago, and no one came to get them. There are a lot of tunnels in there, but with any luck the slavers are lazy enough to use the ground floor entrance.”
“This is an interesting opportunity.” Rallon ran his fingers through his beard. “People have been going missing. The council is aware that there must be slavers operating here, but no one has been able to find or track them. If we could catch them coming to collect… do you have any idea when that might be?”
“None at all. But I’ve been keeping an eye on the gate, and I plan to keep doing that until you all are ready.” I thought for a moment. “Couldn’t we just get the prisoners out, and then wait for the slavers?”
“I’m afraid not. I understand that it might sound callous, but capturing these criminals and hopefully breaking their organisation is more important than expediting the freedom of a few prisoners. If we act in haste, the slavers may hear of our rescue operation, and the opportunity will be lost.”
I didn’t like it, but his words made sense.
“Then how do you want to handle it? We don’t know when the slavers are coming, and if I leave to warn you when they show up they may be gone before you can get there.”
“Quite right,” Rallon said, rolling a few strands of his beard between his fingers as he considered. “I believe that we’ll have to go with a somewhat riskier option.”
“What’s your plan?”
“I would ask you to take a small group to this gate. I would also like you to show us where this other entrance is, in the mountains, so that we may guard it as well. We, the Wolves, will send out few enough of our number to not cause any suspicion, bolstered, if they agree, by Makanna’s group.”
Rallon looked at Makanna, who in turn looked to the others and then nodded at the Commander.
“I believe that there were six in the slaving party last time,” Rallon told me. ”Is that correct?”
“That’s how many I saw.”
“To be safe we’ll assume a few more. In any case, I believe that a group composed of yourself, my own squad’s scouts, as well as Makanna’s group would be enough to kill or, preferably, capture the slavers as they are leaving. We can clear out the valkin at a later date. I don’t suppose you found a Nest Heart?”
I shook my head then, remembering that the gesture didn’t work very well with my long neck, said, “No.”
“I thought not. From the north, most likely. Valkin like to travel. Ah, well. Lalia will take part of her squad as well as another group we’ve worked with to the other gate, the back door, if you will, and guard there in case anyone tries to go through.”
Rallon looked at me, then at the others in turn. “Are there any objections?” he asked, his tone making it clear that he did not expect any.
“Not so much an objection as a question,” I said, and Rallon nodded for me to go on.
“Why don’t we follow them back to wherever they came from? We could break their whole operation that way, couldn’t we?”
“Ambitious, but too risky. For one, they are unlikely to bring the captives back to the city. Most likely they have a hand-off arranged, perhaps a ship or two cruising off-shore, waiting for a signal.”
Well, shit. I wished I’d thought of that when I was looking for a ship on the beach like an idiot. Of course they wouldn’t be waiting right on the coast!
“For another, we can only send a small group, and they may join with a larger force later. No, we’ll have to put our hope to interrogation, I think.”
“Alright.” I’d have to trust him on this. He definitely sounded confident. “And what about the prisoners that the slavers don’t want?”
“Hmm. The rejects, yes. They did try to dispose of them last time, didn’t they? We’ll have to strike quickly, once the main objective is accomplished. I’ll keep a squad in reserve to send out as soon as we hear of your success.”
After a few seconds of silence I realised that he was waiting for me. “That sounds… okay, I guess.”
“In that case, let us talk about details and compensation. While the company’s monthly payments are fixed, I was unfortunately forced to give the council quite a lot of leeway when it comes to compensation for specific actions. That said, I believe that they will be most pleased if we can rescue a number of captured citizens and disrupt a slaving ring before it becomes a widely known problem. I am prepared to offer yourself and Makanna’s group twenty percent each of whatever bonus the council pays us, after expenses. Would that be acceptable?”
I had no idea how much that meant, but I saw Tamor’s eyes bug out a little and his smile grow to a full grin at the suggested share. I took that as a good sign.
“Uh, yeah,” I said. “That sounds good.”
“Excellent!” Rallon gave me a toothy smile. “That’s the unpleasant part taken care of. Now, let’s get down to business! Lady Draka, I have two requests to make of you. First, to show my two cousins to the gate where we hope for the slavers to appear, and second, to show Lalia to this other gate into the mountain. I understand that this may seem rushed, but would you be able to begin tonight?”
“Well, I can. But don’t they need some rest?”
“It will do them some good,” Rallon said, looking back at his subordinates. “And without saying too much, they have the tools, the training, and the advancements to handle it. Thank you for your concern, but there’s no need!”
After that things moved along quickly. I took the opportunity to talk to Herald and the rest, giving them my very honest thanks for the gifts Herald had presented me with a few days before, and Makanna had a talk with Lalia. I saw the tell-tale glow of magic pass between them, presumably to let Lalia see better in the dark.
“Do you know that you’re bigger again?” Herald asked privately before we separated. “Not so much taller or longer as just–” she flexed her arms “–bigger.”
I grinned at her. “Yeah, I thought I might be. I got another advancement.”
She rolled her eyes at me, like this was something I’d done specifically to annoy her.
When we left the campsite I just told them all to follow the road south, then flew ahead to find the place I’d memorised as the place to turn off. Once they found me, Rallon continued towards the city with my friends, and Lalia, Rebatia and Poterio came with me. The walk through the woods didn’t bring us straight to the gate, but that was fine. I could tell that we were somewhat north of the gate, so we simply followed the exposed rock south until I recognised the place.
We didn’t really talk. Lalia wasn’t exactly ignoring me, but we didn’t exactly have much to say to each other. The two cousins whispered to each other, but for all their excitement they got really tongue tied whenever we looked at each other. I hoped that we could deal with that, or we’d have a few awkward days ahead of us.
“This is the place,” I told them as we stood in front of the gate.
“I don’t see anything,” Lalia said, miraculously managing to not make that sound like an accusation.
“You wouldn’t, but neither can anyone else. You see how this area is flatter?” I pointed along the edges of the gate. “And the ground here is disturbed a little. That’s how you can tell.”
“If you say so. And the one you’re taking me to is the same?”
“That one’s easier, actually. It’s in a kind of trench in the stone, and it’s a lot more weathered, so you can see the edges better.”
“Alright. Rib, Pot, how do you want to do this?”
“I’ll stay and keep an eye on things,” Rebatia said. “Pot’ll take the horses back to the city and bring the others in the morning.”
Lalia nodded.
“See you when this is all over, I guess.” Then we split again. Poterio headed back to the road, and me and Lalia went south along the hills.
Just me and Lalia, alone together. For hours and hours.
What the hell had I agreed to?