One month. One month under occupation. One month sending my people out to hit random cities, and stockpiling the E-rankers (and any F-rankers under their command) that we found there. My soul had healed, my new form was finished, and I’d managed to get a pretty sizable point harvest between renown income and wishes.

Three thousand points, two thousand Fantasy, five hundred each in Might and Perception. It was an interesting haul. I often made a point to try to figure out exactly what actions resulted in certain types of point gain. In this case, my reputation seemed to be heavily leaning toward force and cleverness. The raids must have been leaving an impression, overwhelming power and incisive information gathering. It was kind of fitting.

But today would be the end of that. The end of the waiting. Our forces were gathered, we’d taken stock of everyone we had, learned their powers, even trained them in some quick and dirty formations that should help.

All to prepare for this raid. Or rather, to prepare for the next one. Today, we were hitting Rajak. In force. Travis and Madigan were holed up in Wintervale, and we needed a trial run before attempting to take them on. Rajak would be the second heaviest defensive emplacement based on what we’d seen, and they would have information about the Wintervale defenses.

Unfortunately, there was still one big question mark. “What the fuck are they DOING?” I asked the room at large as I stared down at the model we’d made based on Callie’s intel.

Because it didn't make sense. We'd been WAY too successful so far. Sure we were good, had amazing tools and used them well. But this was absurd. They had to have SOME kind of plan to deal with us…which meant Rajak had to be some kind of trap. It was their last chance to hit us before we attacked Wintervale.

Granted, attacking Wintervale was madness from a strategic perspective. Even with the additions from Rajak they outnumbered us 10 to 1. But it was also the only real shot we had. Even if they didn't know about the cold storage, we HAD to take out Madigan to get rid of the Labyrinth.

But Rajak looked…normal. Not great, but the forces that had collected there weren't centralized. They appeared to just be running amok around the city, ripe for the taking.

“I mean…it’s a trap, right?” Said Benny as he stared down at the model.

I glared at him. “Yeah, thanks. I managed to deduce that much already. Any other staggering insights into our situation? I obviously meant what KIND of trap are they setting, genius.”

“Well damn, Shane. I can’t read your mind.” He said with an eye roll. “But I don’t see us managing to scope them from this distance any more thoroughly than Callie has. So what the hell should we do? They’ve got half their people in Rajak. If we go in the front we’re going to get our asses kicked. Or the back. Or the side. And air dropping seems like it wouldn’t work well. Pretty much our only option would be-”

“Underground.” Said Abel. “We can use the old access tunnels into the districts. They were abandoned ages ago, but some of the shadier crews in the dark districts use them for…illicit activities. Disposing of bodies they don’t want traces back, smuggling, that kind of thing. Stuff that even the WCP can’t officially condone.”

That was an unpleasant thought, given the kinds of things my family actively encouraged, but it wasn’t really the point right now. “You don’t think they know about the tunnels?”

Stella snorted. “I didn’t know about the tunnels. The Palace is notoriously free of traitors. They use contracts and wishes to scan for double agents among their own people. The Unity was probably at least partly involved in the infiltration, but the WCP is rock solid. It sounds like these tunnels are a well kept secret even among the Rajak branch, I’d say there’s a good shot we slip in undetected.”

“True, but what about once we’re in.” I said with a grimace. “We won’t be dropping into E-district. The dark districts are basically lawless free for alls. Which means if the vanished gods and their people want to hit our strongest, they’ll have to get through. Those places are probably warzones.”

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Which would be fine if this was supposed to be an assault, but ideally we would get in, get our people, and get out.

Sloane spoke up. Her and Melanie were here with us, as well as Melanie’s pet weasel (the unfortunately named Travis). “We might be able to help with that. You know what Beast Lord Garden does, right?”

“Animals.” I said simply. “Sell, train, breed, all that stuff. Why?”

Melanie smiled sheepishly. “Because most of the people down there have bought from us at one point or another. Or a subsidiary. We have several active pet shops down in the WCP. The point is, there are a lot of animals down there. They’re all trained and trusted…and we MIGHT have a way to make them go insane and attack everything around them.”

We all stared at her. “You…you put BERSERK buttons in your trained animals?”

“They’re not buttons.” She said firmly. “And they won’t harm the animals. If anything, they’ll make them stronger. Just, you know, insane with rage.” At our appalled expression she grimaced. “It’s a last resort, ok? Every faction has one. Most of them are like, explosive formations or collapsing charges.”

“Well, ignoring the ethical ramifications of implanting magic insanity triggers in your animals.” I said sarcastically. “Exactly how many of them are going to be down in the dark districts?”

She shrugged. “We’re a major faction. One of the biggest on Callus. The numbers could be in the tens or even hundreds of thousands depending on which district we end up in. Which begs the question, do we KNOW which entrance we’re going to use.”

“Whichever we pick, I’m going to say no on the animal riots.” I said decisively. “That’s too far. Those animals are likely to get seriously hurt, and they’ll probably kill some of their owners. It’ll be deeply traumatic.”

Benny frowned. “I get it, Shane. But how do we get in then? We need a distraction to bypass the dark district and get into E-district. From there we have a straight shot to the surface, not to mention some serious backup. But only if we actually get there. Unless you have some way to make us all invisible.”

I froze. “I…I actually might.” I turned to Bethy. “If I can put you under stealth, do you think you can keep everyone inside your Domain long enough to get us through a small warzone?”

She lit up. “I totally could. I’ll be the one dealing with the strain too. I bet you were worried stealthing me would mean trying to stealth everybody?” Bethy was pretty insightful when she wanted to be. I’d definitely been concerned that Bael wouldn’t be able to keep up.

Stella shook her head. “We’re ignoring the obvious. Getting in is one thing, getting out is another. We need some kind of distraction.”

“I’ve got one better.” I said with a grin. “Trust me. I already talked to Abel about it. We have a working plan, we’ll be splitting up when we get there. The less everyone knows the better, but trust me, they aren’t going to be worried about us by the time we leave. And if it works out how I’m planning, we won’t need to worry about them either.”

My plan for Rajak was…complicated. But also effective. I’d needed Abel’s help along with Burning Fist to put it together, and we still weren’t a hundred percent it would work.

“Well fine.” She said with a shrug. “Then our biggest problem is getting into the Unity building undetected. That I might be able to help with. There are a few emergency exits, even one or two that let out directly into the WCP. The question is exactly what parts of the tower are locked down. It’s designed to turn into a fortress during a siege. It’s not really my area of expertise though, I can’t get you detailed schematics.”

I grimaced. “Callie has some basic layout stuff. Apparently the Necromedes can scan buildings even through the defenses, at least at that level. It took them a while to crack it, but they got the maps. The issue is they’re static, they’re the blueprints for the place, and don’t take into account dynamic changes. We’re pretty sure the building can do that.”

Apparently hacking into the networks that ran the thing (and the fact that you could HACK enchantments was news to me) and getting a layout was a one and done thing. We had a vague idea of what was where, but after a week of sieging, chances were good that the building was dramatically different on the inside.

“It’ll have to be enough.” Said Chelsea tiredly. “A map, your skills for reading the situation with Eye of Revelation, it’s not ideal but we can get to someone who can let us through.”

I sighed. “That was my plan too. The place is covered with cameras, so chances are good we’ll get noticed quick. Callie knows a couple of passwords for emergencies.” Pulling out a series of envelopes, I passed them around. “These are your parts of the plan. Read and burn people. I don’t want any evidence. Compartmentalizing will save our asses if anyone gets captured.”

It didn’t really sit right with me, but I knew the chances of us getting intercepted if we split up were high. More than that, my plan for our exit was both dangerous and a little ruthless. I didn’t want any more of my friends living with the measures I was taking than was necessary.

Once everyone scanned their envelopes, we all piled into Bethy’s Domain, and she, Walker, and Gabe mounted the charger, ready to take us to our destination.

The trip took ten minutes, tops, and once we arrived, Abel and I were let out, while Gabe and Walker headed back in. Abel would be helping us find the entrance, then retreating himself, leaving Bethy and I to make the trip as a team.

Strolling into the forest, my mentor scanned the treeline for about two minutes, than walked up to a specific tree. Knocking on the bark, he frowned, then moved over one tree. Rinse and repeat, until he finally came to a tree that made a hollow sound. Once he did, he reached up and tugged a few branches, which shifted and clicked until a door swung open.

Grinning at us, he gestured into the darkness of what appeared to be a ladder shaft. “Alright, this will take you down to…I want to say PROBABLY dark district twenty six? I lose track. I never used these much. Cicero found out about them and wanted to try to set up a secret avenue of transportation for-” He stopped, grimacing. “Sorry, I’m worried about him. Makes me nostalgic.”

I pulled him into a hug, which seemed to surprise him. “It’s cool, man. If he’s alive, we’ll get him back.”

“Nice of you to say it, kid.” He said with a sad smile. “But we both know how likely that is. Keep your head on a swivel down there. Might get nasty. I don’t feel like losing any more family.”

He really must have been shaken, Abel wasn’t normally that emotional. I smiled and nodded, then he headed over and Bethy let him into the domain. “Alright.” I said with a grimace. “I need you close to use my stealth form.” I turned around. “Climb on. You’ll be making this trip on piggy back.” Bethy squealed with excitement and raced over to jump on my back as I activated my Bael form to obscure us both. At least one of us was having fun.