Truth slipped back across the river well after dawn. If he was a paranoid sort, and he was, he would triple surveillance of the border crossing in the hours just before dawn, when things were at their darkest and minds at their least attentive. Truth slept a full night, had a solid breakfast of rice and veggies, “enjoyed” a savagely mediocre cup of coffee, and spent an hour just watching the border. Nothing alarming. The soldiers looked calmer. Not “too calm,” just a bit more settled after the drama of yesterday’s storms.

Lots of people queued up on both sides of the border, though. Not everyone was being let through, and they weren’t being excessively calm about it. Whether they were going home or just away, Truth didn’t know. All the crossings were in more or less the same state.

On the theory that anything that looked under-surveilled was a trap, he picked a middling busy crossing and slipped under the bridge. The Ulay blurbled along below him, promising to soak his trousers in frigid pollution if he fell. Truth firmed up his grip and crossed quickly. The recording talismans and golems looked straight past him.

The yellow house was where he left it. The half dozen hosed down and overturned flowerpots were new, as were the rest of the potted plants littering the ground by the front step. Truth took a look at some of the nursery tags still shoved in next to them. Vegetables, mostly. Squash, tomatoes, cabbage, beans. Was it the season for them? He had never learned much about gardening, let alone growing vegetables. Still. Securing an extra source of calories in a couple of months was a good idea.

The recording crystal was tiny, barely the size of a grain of rice, and hidden under a bit of dried dirt stuck at the very bottom of the pot. Must have “missed a spot” cleaning the pots. The hairs on the back of his neck had risen straight back up as soon as he set foot in Jeon again. There continued to be nothing he could identify as a threat, which Truth interpreted as meaning something uncommonly nasty was cooking. He got out at speed.

He picked a plumbing supply store at random, made his way to the back room, and plopped down on the one available chair. A good enough place to review the crystal. So far, his strategy of moving at random had paid off. It was hard to surveil someone who didn’t have patterns, let alone intercept them.

He pressed his energy into the crystal carefully, making sure he didn’t accidentally overload the tiny thing. A vision of Merkovah appeared in his mind.

“Truth, even in the few hours since we spoke, our plans have been overtaken by events. Localized magic collapse has been reported across the world. It seems to be temporary and transient. Our best forecasts suggest that we won’t see more of them for weeks at the earliest. On the other hand, our best forecasts said we wouldn’t see them at all for at least another two months, so I don’t hold out any hope there.”

Truth nodded at that. He wouldn’t either.

“The results politically have been dramatic and intense. I’ll spare you the details-” Truth was actually pretty interested in the details. It seemed highly relevant. “Riots have started popping up, globally. Some genuine spontaneous public outrage. A lot more of them are “encouraged” by groups looking to take advantage.”

Truth’s mouth creased mirthlessly at that. Rats rioting over who got to wear the captain’s hat as the ship sunk.

“I’d be mad about that,” Merkovah continued “If I weren't behind so many of them. The local instigators here in Siphios are having a little time out somewhere quiet. My colleagues have ensured they will not be bored, and have plenty of people to talk to. On the one hand, this doesn't really change our plan or goals. Go in, get the girl, and if you see anything that looks expensive or useful, break it. On the other hand, it does mean the security situation is going to be elevated, and tense.”

Because it was low and relaxed before? Truth gave the illusion a look. Merkovah must have predicted the look, because he preemptively rolled his eyes.

“Yes, yes, I know. Just think a moment. You know most people don’t cultivate their bodies, and for the tiny minority that do, most of them have no inbuilt means to hang on to the energy they absorb. Everyone is suddenly in the position where their tools won’t work, their spells won’t work, and worse, they will be in crippling pain. Potentially fatal pain. A situation that can occur at any moment, without warning. Imagine trying to guard something under those circumstances.”

Ah. Yes. He would not be calm and relaxed about it. Actually, he was in a far better situation than most, and he wasn’t calm and relaxed about living through another storm.

“They will be in a rush to complete their project, whatever it is. After this message, information on extraction routes, contingencies and useful information will be presented. Likewise, we are in a rush to kill Starbrite, the CEO and the C-Suite. Be clear on this- at least some of those people will certainly be at the research station.”

Truth felt a nasty jolt. It was obvious, of course. Where else would they be?

“And yet, despite your determined unreliability, you are the most reliable operator I have at the moment.” Merkovah looked like he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “I do good work, apparently.”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Truth grinned at that. The old man really did.

“So, rather than sending a team of highly trained, specially prepared special forces, people who have studied the layout of the mountain in exacting detail, people trained to do recon and prepare detailed tactics for breaching fortifications, I am sending an aspiring talisman maintenance technician who really enjoys cheap romance novels and blasphemy. He will look at all the painfully collected data, some of which cost multiple lives to obtain, nod appreciatively, then wing it.”

The old exorcist shook his head. “It professionally offends me that you have succeeded thus far. I’m glad you have, but mad at the same time.”

Sounds like most of their relationship, Truth thought.

“Pretty much how our whole relationship has gone,” Merkovah continued. “Wrapping up. Your wife is getting discharged later this week. Not all the way better, but is now generally considered safe enough to return to her family. She sends her love. Her cousin does too. He’s wrapping up his studies at speed, and has already lined up a very nice little temple to manage in the near future. If Siphios still exists in twenty years, he will probably be made a priest.”

Oh, how nice! Go Jember!

“Your… commercial project and… protegee… are up and running. I can’t say for sure they went undetected, but it appears that way. Your servants are well. Good job looking after them. Your large female friend is also fine. Her family is a known quantity. In fact, they are part of one of the contingency plans. We did find your commissioned artwork. After having a minor heart attack laughing, our assets in Harban and other points in Jeon are promoting it. Your “face” will be appearing on posters, tee shirts and stickers everywhere. “The Tiger Rises. The Prince Shall Be Its Wings," Apparently.”

Truth smiled. It was great to hear everyone was doing well.

“As for myself, I remain, as always, furiously busy and busily furious. Be well, young man. You have a lot of work ahead of you.”

____________________________________________________________________________

Truth had run through the forest like a cheerful ghost. He was immensely buoyed by the news from Merkovah. Just knowing everyone was doing well was incredible. He couldn’t explain why it was, but it was. He lept from tree to tree, feeling sharp and eager for the fight.

The forest was actually undefended, to Truth’s quiet surprise. He was sure it would be littered in subtle traps. The reason it wasn’t was reasonably obvious- tourists. This area was quite popular with hikers, campers and those who enjoyed visiting historical sites. Busloads of tourists would come to the foot of the mountain and hike up. Heavens Lake filled the caldera, and was legendarily beautiful.

The latest information Merkovah sent confirmed that the institute had entrances under the lake, as well as concealed within an inaccessible slope of the mountain. Truth found it a little strange that they would build in such a heavily traveled mountain at all, but no explanation was provided.

How did they even make the base? Some kind of high level demon summoning to dig it out? He wondered. Then shrugged. He knew how the girl got in there. That case wasn’t all that big. An easy tote. Researchers and equipment would be brought in under some kind of optical camouflage or other means of diverting sight. If he could do it, Starbrite definitely could do it.

The pine trees smelled wonderful. He raced through them, not stirring the fallen needles as he rushed up the slope. There was likely a hidden entrance three quarters of the way to the summit, but he would have to do some investigation. It was either that, or dive into the lake and swim down. The bottom was, famously, quite free of mud.

The treeline was roughly two hundred meters away when he started running into covert defenses. Nothing active. Hidden alarms, hidden sensors, hidden devices checking for he didn’t know what. There was a subtle, and powerful, network of banishments and forbiddences laid over the forest here. Angels and demons would be wise to avoid this place.

Truth naturally took it as an open invitation. Caution was required, however. Some of these alarms were verging on Level Four power, and that meant custom work. Custom meant non-standard by definition, which meant that the odds of something sneaky and hard to spot being present was near enough one hundred percent.

He carefully probed the ground ahead with his senses, pouring power into Incisive to give him as much notice as possible if he was going to step in something nasty. He was making a point of hopping from bare rock to bare rock as he moved, leaving no trace and stirring no leaves.

He had to stop that rather abruptly, when Incisive alerted him that his next jump might well be his last. Truth froze, crouching in place. The next rock was nothing interesting- twice the size of a man’s head, a mottled gray, with lichen growing on it. He had no idea what kind of rock it was. Rocks, like trees, were a closed and firmly ignored book to Truth.

The rock opened an eye and glared around. The pupil was a sinuous W shape, shrinking and stretching as it peered into the woods. Other, identical, eyes opened near the first, practically covering the rock. All darting around, hunting for prey.

Truth held very still. He could feel more than hear the steady draw of breath. Something terrible was stirring. He didn’t even breathe. Were the trees swaying with more than the breeze? Was there a rock behind him staring at his back? He didn’t dare turn and look. There were creatures that hunted based on motion, he knew. Impossible to know if this was one of them. He would just hold very still, and blend into the forest. Hoping the thundering beat of his heart didn’t give him away.

He clung to his little rock, carefully looking around himself without turning his head. It was out of the corner of his eye that he managed to spot it. Like tiny glass worms, or perfectly camouflaged threads twisting in the fallen needles. Silently, subtly, the forest floor was alive with almost invisible movement. He had no idea what they were. The sheer alienness of it revolted him.

The forest floor only looked empty and still. It occurred to Truth that he hadn’t seen an animal or heard a bird in the last twenty minutes. It also occurred to Truth that Starbrite really was terribly good at defending the things it actually cared about.

He perched on his little rock, watching the threads of something awful writhe around him, as the many eyes of something even worse hunted for him. Not daring to breathe. And still not seeing the door into the mountain.