Chapter 149 – Preparing for the Beast

The next cycle, Mirian planted several incendiary devices in the rooms where Troytin sometimes stayed, then talked to Torres about sabotaging the spell engines he’d be bringing so they’d blow up in his face specifically. She sketched out what a divination-proximity trigger would look like for her. Torres was deeply uncomfortable with the idea, but reluctantly agreed. Next, she got Calisto interested in her project, then set a date for them to meet in Second Cairn with her father.

Then she headed down to Cairnmouth and started working on a workshop and then production line.

Mirian hit five different banks that she knew weren’t connected to each other, picking only one that was run by the Allard family. She used a different disguise in each one, relying on an old Syndicate contact, Numo, for fabricated introductory letters and forged identity documents. While the Syndicate had rules preventing it from working against its allied banks, it also had a policy of not asking why someone needed forgeries. Numo, like the good Syndicate man he was, didn’t ask any questions. If Mirian had been planning on sticking around, the deception certainly would have come back to bite her. As it was, she just needed everything to pass muster for a few weeks.

To further allay the suspicions of the banks, she deposited some of the gold the letters of credit entitled her to and withdrew only a portion. That gave her ten thousand doubloons. Four more letters of credit of varying amounts made up the other ten thousand.

She spent another two days assembling a myrvite divination engine based on her previous designs. The difference was, this one had a setting that would pick up only the most intense soul readings.

The next challenge was moving it all. The doubloons weighed 150 pounds, and the divination engine another 50, so she bought a cart, then spent some time scribing glyph wards so she could both reinforce the case and ward it from basic divination. It wouldn’t do to have a common criminal with even rudimentary magical training discover her; not because she couldn’t handle it, but because it would draw unnecessary attention. Then she hired a small team to come with her. It felt strange to have people doing things for her. She didn’t like not having her own hand on her luggage, and it felt strange to order people about outside a military context.

By the 12th, she’d made it to Second Cairn and reassumed her Micael disguise. On the 13th, Calisto joined her for the meeting. This time, the meeting was properly scheduled and Mirian had discussed their strategy beforehand.

That afternoon, she sat down in front of Cain Ennecus and presented her proposal. She’d arranged a catered lunch, because at some point Nicolus had told her the benefits of negotiating when everyone was enjoying a good meal.

“It’s good to meet you, Mr. Ennecus,” she said, giving him a firm handshake. “When I learned about your family’s operation, I was quite impressed. I believe we can assist each other.”

“The pleasure is mutual, Mr. Nezzar. I’m surprised I haven’t heard of your family. It sounds like you’ve made quite a name for yourself in Akana Praediar.”

Mirian smiled. “It’s the land of opportunity. But it is getting crowded over there. There’s a great deal of untapped potential here, I think.”

“I’ve heard your proposal is quite generous,” he said, and glanced at his daughter briefly.

They made small talk and ate while Cain reviewed the documents. Mirian only grazed lightly even though what she really wanted to do was start stuffing herself with sandwiches.

“Quite generous,” Cain repeated, having finished the review.

“Perhaps, but also well worth it to me. With your help, Nezzar Arcanics will reach new heights of reputation. Imagine what will be learned from studying a myrvite titan!”

Cain looked skeptical. “You really think you’ve found one?”

Mirian nodded to one of the men she’d hired who wheeled forward the divination device. He took the cover off with a dramatic flourish, then stepped back. Mirian walked over and activated the device with a touch to a glyph. “This is the basic function of the device,” she said. “Buildings and major terrain features show up in gray. Myrvite souls are colored based on their energy, done through a proprietary glyph system.”

The illusionary projection bloomed. There were hundreds of glowing dots on the map.

“These energy intensities can help identify the species. That’s obviously a forest drake farm over there,” she said, pointing at one part of the map full of red dots.

“Amazing,” Cain’s secretary whispered.

“However, the device can be tuned to pick up a wider range of energies. It doesn’t look as fancy, and tuning the device in this way prevents it from picking up weaker myrvites. But we did some testing, and found… this,” Mirian said, tapping several glyphs on the device. The gray areas disappeared, and what was left was a single bright violet dot.

Cain furrowed his brow. “What am I looking at?”

“We are in the center of this map. This dot is east and slightly south of us, a few hundred miles away. There can be only one thing giving out arcane energy like that.”

Cain glanced at Calisto, then at one of his men, then back at Mirian. “It’s detecting a myrvite at over a hundred miles?”

“It is. And this is just the prototype. With your team’s expertise in myrvite divination, I’m sure we can do great things. And, after we bag a myrvite titan, we’ll have both academies and investors lining up to throw gold at us.”

Mirian could see the greed working its way through Cain. He had questions and concerns, she was sure. But her proposal was clear: she didn’t even want their investment. Just their connections.

“You said you require a… large team of myrvite hunters, and were willing to pay for the entire operation,” Cain said. “How large a team do you need?”

Mirian nodded at the second servant, who wheeled forward the case. “I’ve done some research on Apophagorga,” she said as the case stopped beside her. She handed the man a glyphkey and he opened a latch on it. Inside sparkled piles of doubloons. “I need every myrvite hunter you can get me.”

***

Mirian had some expertise in logistics from helping direct the Battle of Torrviol, so she didn’t at all envy the quartermasters. Coordinating and organizing supplies for nearly fifty myrvite hunters would have had her pulling out her hair, but she could say one thing about Cain Ennecus: he knew how to quickly pull together an expedition. Over the course of the next five days, he quickly processed contracts for all of them and even organized the train cars they’d need. Calisto helped secure several wagons. The days passed in a flurry, though Mirian kept glancing toward the horizon, wondering if she hadn’t impaired Troytin quite enough.

Moving a bunch of experienced spellcasters and rifle experts might have drawn a raised eyebrow in earlier cycles, but now, with Ibrahim beating at the doors of Alkazaria, large movements of money and material were happening all the time, and Mirian doubted much of Troytin’s spy apparatus had a presence in Second Cairn.

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However, with Alkazaria under siege by Ibrahim, they’d also need to hop off the train early and make their way overland, then north. They also had to check in with a military liaison before boarding the train. Mirian was pretty sure getting him to agree to anything involved at least a few bribes. Well, she had plenty of gold to spend.

The head of the largest hunters group was named Annita, and Mirian quickly found her indispensable. She had several scars on her face, and wore an eyepatch. The woman radiated confidence, and apparently had high enough spellpower she’d attempted the archmage trials, though she hadn’t passed. Mirian assigned her as second in command. They departed on the 19th of Solem, and Mirian finished organizing her chain of command on the train.

“Wow, you’re pretty good at this,” Calisto gushed as she watched her sketch out the organizing documents.

“Ah, my dad coached me in business, but he was an officer in the army before all this.”

“Well, you’re a natural,” Calisto said, giving her a big smile.

She was flirting, Mirian knew. Now’s not the time, she thought. Besides, it would feel empty again. All she likes is this shell she sees. She doesn’t know me.

She used a spell to copy her documents, which brought more cooing from Calisto. When she was done, she rose from her seat. “Sorry, I need to get these to the captains of each team and talk with them about tactics. Lots to do.”

“Yeah, of course,” Calisto said, looking crestfallen. The woman always wore her emotions. At least she was honest. Mirian found it preferable to all the practiced liars she’d encountered. Of which I am now one, she thought bitterly. But it was necessary. I can’t shy away from what needs to be done.

***

If dragging an obelisk overland with Rostal had been annoying, it was nothing compared to moving an entire expedition weighed down with wagons. They moved quickly across the roads and scrublands at first, but then as they got into the northern wilderness, the carts would get stuck. Constantly. Eventually, Mirian ordered them to abandon the carts entirely and just use the wooly oxen pulling them as beasts of burden.