As Hook, Sylvia, and I slowly slipped our way through the gathered crowds of refugees, I couldn’t help but notice the atmosphere out here.
It was, in a word, bad.
Which, no shit.
There was an air of combined desperation, resignation, and most importantly fear filling the air of the procession. All around me, I heard muffled sobs from inside covered wagons and the throats of desperate, tired-looking travelers. People trudged along on leaden feet with heads held low, while simultaneously doing their best not to alarm the many, many children that I saw being dragged along in their parent's wake. Children were more intelligent than most gave them credit for, so they were unusually solemn as well. I didn’t see any joy or excitement on the smallest faces that I passed by.
I grimaced.
And…I wasn’t exactly here to make their lives any easier. The entire purpose for our infiltration into Elderwyck was to destabilize it. Once we somehow managed to get inside those walls, our mission was to bring down the government of the city through any means necessary. Hook had told me that he had no intention to direct the Nocturne Division against civilian targets within the twin cities, but…
He’d also said that a degree of collateral damage was expected, and unfortunately permissible.
The dwarf was cold like that, sometimes.
All of these people had been forced from their homes out of fear, from a gambit enacted by the very people they were fleeing into the arms of…
They wouldn’t find the safety and stability inside the walls of Elderwyck that they longed for.
It…was our job to make sure they couldn’t.
All of these thoughts were winding their way through my rings as I entered the ‘Stacks’ that the tree urchin from earlier had told me about. I couldn’t help but be a little bit impressed at how quickly the refugees had put this up. It had only been a little over a week by now since the Breaks had occurred, and they already had this little shantytown set up. I mean, if most of these people had only left a day or so after the breaks had occurred, then they must have set this up in a matter of days.
But…that made no sense.
While I wouldn’t call this area anything like a proper town or village, it was still visibly built up. The majority of it was simple carts and wagons that had been parked in a certain area and then built up on, but not everything. I saw plenty of lean-tos and even small ramshackle buildings spaced in between the veritable mobile homes.
I frowned and leaned over and down slightly to whisper in Hook’s ear. “This isn’t right,” I murmured. “This is too much to have been set up in the last few days. How long have these people been here?”
Hook didn’t turn to face me from his observation of the crowd, nor did he stop moving. He still answered, though. “Months,” He whispered back. “Olsen has been up to something, but even though we have suspicions, we don’t know exactly what. We haven’t managed to insert an Agent into his staff or household. Around the time that the main host of the Uprising started marching from Hollow Hill down to Silvercrest and then Helstein, the Duke started to spread rumors. Garbage about how the Uprising hated everyone in the South and was coming to put their homes to the torch. Not everyone in this stretch of the country believed that, but enough did. They started flocking in droves to Elderwyck seeking his protection, but not everyone was let into the city. Thus, these ‘Stacks’ were born.”
Sylvia sidled closer to us, presumably to join the conversation. She had her hood up so I couldn’t see her face, but I nearly did a double-take when I noticed the flesh tones that her visible skin had taken on. Gone were the Mithril hues that I had grown to be so fond of. In its place was what looked to be the pale skin that was common among the Herztalian people. Sometime in the last few minutes, she must have cast the illusion that she’d spoken about earlier.
Her crystalline blue eyes still shined through the darkness of her hood, though. She must have noticed my reaction, as one of those orbs winked at me.
Still, that didn’t stop her from questioning Hook. “Why did he do this? Surely this many people must be a burden on the city.”
“Current analysis suggests that he did the entire thing to stall the Uprising,” Hook answered grimly. “Think about it. If you knew that an opposing army was marching on your doorstep, how would you give them pause? That is, if you were an amoral nobleman that was more than willing to use civilians as shields. How are you supposed to conquer a city when not only is it neighbored by a vastly more powerful foreign national enclave, but it has thousands of innocent refugees outside its gates? The leadership had been dreading the complications of sieging this city that the Stacks would bring.”
“That’s…” I trailed off, feeling like a stone was growing in my guts. “Incredibly cold.”
“And incredibly, maliciously pragmatic,” Hook picked up, almost sounding like he admired the move. “Things have only grown worse with the Breaks. More and more people are flooding here every day now. I’m absolutely positive that Olsen has spread rumors about how the Uprising orchestrated them. Right now, a clandestine operation to take this city is the only way to do so. An outright siege is impossible at this point.”
I sighed and reluctantly nodded at his words. I…guess. That didn’t make me feel any better about how were planning to make things even worse for these people. I wasn’t experienced enough in warfare to gainsay him. What did I know about the complexities and planning of a military campaign? Surely the leadership of the Uprising knew better than I did.
Surely.
Because I was keeping an eye out, I noticed Hook’s body language shift every so slightly. His stride didn’t change at all, but a hint of tension in his shoulders eased. “She’s moving,” He murmured.
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For a moment, I didn’t understand what he was talking about before I remembered the silver coins. He’d had his linked to Dusk’s, which meant both the coin he held and the one she did were homing in on each other.
If Dusk’s coin was moving, that meant…
“Towards us?” I asked quietly.
Hook’s head nodded slightly but didn’t stop walking. “She’ll find us, but for now we need to check on the situation at the gate. That’ll inform our next move.”
We didn’t have to wait long before the gate came into view, as we’d been walking through the Stacks for some time now. The walls of Elderwyck loomed higher and higher as we grew close to them, with the crowds growing thicker as well. We were shoulder to shoulder with refugees now and had to elbow our way through them. Eventually, we broke through and beheld the gates of Elderwyck.
Which were closed.
There was a small garrison of Loyalist troops out front, and a portcullis had closed over the front of the massive wooden gates. From where I stood, I could see dozens of refugees trying to argue with some of the soldiers, only for the ground pounders to turn them away. In some cases, violently. I winced as I watched one man in tattered brown robes get knocked to the ground and then stomped on by one overzealous soldier.
In other cases, there was a long procession that was leading off to another side road. This one seemed to stretch off in the distance heading southwest. From what I could tell, after they were turned away, a number of the refugees were deciding to keep on the move. I don’t know where they expected to go, though. From what I remembered of the maps of Herztal I’d seen, there wasn’t another major city for at least a hundred miles.
That…was a long distance to go, when all you had was a cart. Especially through land that was crawling with monsters and it was dubious if you could protect yourself.
I can’t imagine how desperate you would have to be to make that decision.
“Welp,” Hook sighed, only slightly audible over the murmur of the crowd. “We’re not getting in the easy way, which I suspected was the case.”
“That’s correct,” A slightly familiar female voice answered back evenly.
I almost tensed in surprise, but forced myself not to. I suspected that I knew who that was. Turning to face the owner, I…nearly didn’t recognize them.
A female Gnoll had sidled up to our small little group. It must be Dusk, but I only thought so because I was expecting her. I hadn’t seen her face under her mask back in Headquarters to recognize it, but I had noticed that her fur was white. This Gnoll’s fur was thin and tawny instead, with plain brown eyes set into hollow cheeks. Her tail looked to be docked, and her left ear had a chunk taken out of it. All together, this woman didn’t look like who Hook had called the Divisions foremost infiltration specialist. She just looked like a down on her luck peasant.
Which was…probably the point.
As Hook turned to face his Agent and gave her a quick look over, Dusk did the same to Sylvia and I. She gave me the slightest nod I’d ever seen after her inspection and then turned to focus on Hook. They met each other’s eyes calmly for a moment before Dusk spoke again.
“It’s very bright out,” She said flatly, standing perfectly still.
“The winter sun is always brighter than expected,” Hook replied evenly.
Dusk nodded slowly. “I hate the color.” Abruptly, the Gnoll turned on her heel and started walking out into the crowd after the…odd conversation. I could guess what had just happened, though. I wasn’t familiar with those code words, but I could recognize a series of identifiers when I heard them.
Hook followed after her, with Sylvia following. With one last glance at the crowd in front of the gates, I did the same.
……………………………………………….
Dusk led us to what looked like a small ramshackle bar, quickly cobbled together from whatever junk wood had been scavenged. Unlike most bars I’d been in, it was unusually quiet in here. Nobody looked like they wanted to be celebrating. Instead, they were either doing their best to drown out the outside world with cheap booze, or quietly sobbing into their mugs. The walls looked like they were barely better than driftwood, but they still had a quiet corner for us to settle down into.
Hook drew a small wooden figurine of a raven from a pouch on his belt. Rubbing a finger over it, the sound outside of our little corner cut out. As soon as a bubble of quiet had descended on us, he turned to face Dusk with a frown. “Report,” He said curtly. “What happened at the barn?”
“Impersonators,” Dusk immediately answered. “I had been waiting for you at the agreed upon location when, approximately twelve hours ago, it was approached by a group of five impersonators. They were wearing full Nocturne regalia and had appropriate masks.”
Hook frowned, drumming his fingers on the table. “Which masks?” He asked after a moment of thought.
“Slate, Blaze, Thorn, Ash, and Frost,” Dusk answered. She paused for a moment, before continuing. “I believe those Agents have been KIA, in order for their masks to have been taken.”
Thorn? The only reason I hadn’t taken that name was because it was already in use.
Guess it wasn’t anymore.
“The only reason I suspected them was because I spoke to Ash days ago, before their infiltration.” Dusk continued curtly. “That was not Ash. When I attempted identity confirmation, the group used outdated code words. This is likely the only reason I’m still alive. I immediately attacked. Fortunately, I survived with only minor wounds.” She shifted her tattered tunic to the side slightly, letting me see bandages underneath. There was a slight amount of blood staining them.
I frowned to myself. “I can take a look at that later, if you’d like,” I said to her. I may not be a fully trained medic, but Aetherial Melding was better than nothing. I had never forgotten the way I had saved Walter’s life via emergency Melding surgery back in Addersfield.
“Unnecessary,” Dusk immediately turned me down. “My Status has nearly finished healing it.”
“Dusk,” Hook said, drawing her attention. “Was it SED?” I was startled at the amount of intensity that was in the normally calm dwarf’s voice.
SED? The hell was that?
Dusk hesitated for the first time, before nodding reluctantly. “I believe it was, yes. There was a degree of sophistication to their attempt that the Loyalist Regulars would not employ.”
Hook cursed then, clenching a hand tight enough for veins to pop up on the back of his fist. Meanwhile, Sylvia drew in a slow even breath, before turning to me and speaking. I guess my girlfriend knew me well enough by now to anticipate my questions.
“The Sovereign Enforcement Directorate,” She said lowly. “The shadowy hand of the Army, and our direct equivalent among the Loyalists. That they are attempting to intercept us…it does not bode well.”
Oh.
Rival spies and assassins.
Great.
“If they’re here, that means the city is locked down tighter than ever,” Hook said with a rough sigh. “I’m guessing we can’t get in via our usual way?”
“I checked in the last few hours,” Dusk answered with a shake of her head. “The canal is being watched. I’m afraid it isn’t an option.”
“Then…we have no choice. There’s only one real way into the city now,” Hook said, before turning to face me with a gallows smirk. “Hope you don’t mind undead, kids, because we’re going in through the old mausoleum.”
Excuse me? Undead?
Fucking what?