Chapter 80 – Retaliation

On the 10th of Solem, on the 48th cycle, Mirian began to assemble her assault team. She sat down with Professor Torres and showed her the schematics she’d been working on. The blueprint of the airship was covered in notes and shorthand for glyph sequences.

Professor Torres sat there, stunned. “This is incredible,” she said.

“You helped me put it together.”

“But you did this from memory.”

“Yeah,” Mirian said. “Tell me about it. If I never map Rodgier conduit networks to Leishire binding sequences again, it will be too soon. Obviously, this isn’t the whole thing, which is insanely more complex, and they’ve still never let me near the engine room, but it has what we need. Communications and steering. These are the key systems you’ll be modifying,” she said, and pointed out several labeled spell engines and conduits. “We’ll have several hours to work, but the longer it takes, the more we risk capture.”

Torres looked at her. “The plan, frankly, sounds insane.”

“That’s fair,” Mirian said. “Jei and I will help install the modifications. You’ll need to pre-prepare the artifice we need.”

“I’m still teaching classes,” Torres said.

“After I talk to the Archmage, classes will be canceled on the 20th. That gives you seven full days to prepare, and feel free to half-ass your lessons. Everyone will understand soon enough. Don’t talk to Luspire though. He’s… volatile. But I need him.”

Torres shook her head. “You were so normal when I taught you two weeks ago.”

Mirian smiled. “A lot has changed for me since then. I have to go. I have more people to talk to.”

“Who else?” Torres said.

“The master illusionist, Professor Marva. They’ll make sure no one questions us while we’re aboard.”

She left Torres to look over the blueprints, and headed to Castner Hall.

***

On the 26th of Solem, they found the damned airship that had been eluding Mirian hidden in the forest again, but this time it was five miles north of the spellward. Captain Moliner found it by accident as they were preparing terrain for the skirmishing team that would be hiding in the north forest. A divination spell they were using to double check the defensive wards they’d be retreating to picked up something strange, and when they investigated, there it was.

It had been several cycles since Mirian had bothered directing the militia that far north. Once the Akana army was fully deployed on the 2nd of Duala, they would circle around to hit the rear of the Akanan convoy. Mirian hadn’t bothered using that particular tactic recently because she’d already established it worked, and the prior teams had never seen the airship.

“Of course, it’s a small airship, so it’s almost entirely chance we found it,” Moliner told her.

Mirian looked over the small craft. There was a wyvern corpse next to it, and it still had a mouthful of conduit crystal it had been tearing out of the ship to eat when it had been discovered.

Captain Moliner could tell something was wrong, probably because Mirian was grinding her jaw and scowling. “Have you… seen this before? Does this change our plan?”

“I’ve seen a variation of it. No change to the plan,” Mirian said. “Any indication of where the pilot went? Anything they left over?”

“If they left anything, the wyverns ate it first. It’s been thoroughly stripped, probably by the pilot, because the glyphcore appears to be missing. Unless these wyverns knew how to use a screwdriver…”

Mirian stopped paying attention because she’d heard it all before. She’d tried to replicate the circumstances with Nicolus, then again with how the spies were captured to see if either one was causing the airship to be sent. In the end, she decided it was a Viridian-type, an unpredictable variable that she would never pin down with certainty. Since it didn’t seem to affect the information the Akanan army was getting, she’d been ignoring it; she was busy enough with Luspire’s training, investigating soul-magic, and masterminding the defense of Torrviol. Now she was wondering if that was a mistake.

As far as she could ascertain, whatever ridiculous conspiracy was going on in Akana Praediar was impossible for her to stop. There were too many people involved, and she still didn’t understand how they were involved or who had actually recruited the assassin. Alerting Uncle Alexus to the assassination of the Prime Minister did nothing to stop it, and usually just got him killed. It would be far simpler to win the battle here. It would be extremely useful to be able to have such an airship, because then she could just get to Palendurio or even Vadriach in a day or two, but right now it seemed like a waste of time. For all she knew, the airship pilot had been eaten by a bog lion anyways.

“What should we do about it?” Moliner finally asked to break the silence.

“Nothing,” Mirian said.

That night, though, she had a new dream. She was kneeling in front of the statue of the Ominian again, the grand sanctum of the Mausoleum looming above her, but unlike all the other times, she wasn’t alone. Some four dozen others knelt, their faces and bodies obscured by the deep folds of robes and cowls.

Who are you? she said, or maybe thought; no sound carried in this room. Whenever she walked through it, she felt her footsteps, but they were always silent. The figures turned to her, but their faces were empty. She turned to the Ominian, and the statue’s head was looking down at her. Its empty eyes bore into her, and she knew its gaze could see through her very bones.

She alone rose to stand before it. I’m almost there, she told it.

It only stared, the silence in the hall deepening.

***

“Another successful withdrawal,” one of General Hanaran’s colonels reported. It was the evening of the 3rd of Duala. “The enemy is now hesitant to move forward.”

Mirian turned to the General, who as usual at this point in the battle was looking at Mirian with something between respect and fear. Hanaran said, “We’ve had no reports from the northern strike team. Have they disrupted the Akanan logistics?”

“They have,” Mirian said. “Marshal Cearsia will next prepare a desperate thrust into the center to reach the Underground. Harass the southern and eastern Akanan lines as they withdraw, then let them overextend into the trap.” She turned to look at the militia members. Valen stood beside Captain Moliner. She was scared, Mirian knew, but determined. She was the perfect person to help lead the defense of the Underground; after all, Mirian had nearly the full month to prepare her. “Start deploying to the tunnels. This is the one we win.”

When she said it this time, there was no false conviction. She meant it. Both Valen and Moliner saluted her and left.

Hanaran said, “As long as the Akanans have those airships, there’s no way we can cut them off. Every time we push a front, they’re the only thing preventing us from reaching a breakthrough.”

“You have the levitation wands?” she asked one of the lieutenants.

“Yes, ah… sir?” He was at a loss for titles. The man presented a box to her.

“Good. I’ll take them now. In a few hours, they’ll be taken care of.”

General Hanaran shook her head. “The airships? You’re actually serious. When you first described your plan… but now I think you have a chance. Ominian watch over us.”

“He is. Watch for the signal,” Mirian said, then headed for the Monument. She wound down the now familiar staircases and halls and through the security door.

Archmage Luspire was in front of the Monument, raised hand trembling as he channeled into it. “Damn. Damn! I was sure it would work,” he said.

Mirian strode up behind him. “You need more time. Days, not hours.”

“But I did it before!” he snapped. “You told me I did!”

“In circumstances we can’t recreate. But you know how close you are. If the Akanans reach this room though, they’ll do so with overwhelming force. We can stop them before that. Make them pay for what they’ve done to Torrviol.”

Archmage Luspire turned to look at her, face a mix of wild emotions he was barely containing.

“Marshal Cearsia is in command of the airship.”

It was fury that emerged as the victor in the Archmage’s emotions. “Damn her,” he snarled. “After everything I gave her. You have…?”

Mirian handed him a levitation wand.

“Of course. My best prepared student.”

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She smiled at him. “You’ll need to carry three, plus the artifice Torres has prepared. Marva doesn’t have the spellpower, and we’ll want Torres to be fresh.”

“To plan B, then,” Luspire said, and they moved up to the garden.

Jei, Torres, Cassius and Marva met them in the courtyard. “Go ahead, Professor,” Mirian said to Marva. Marva’s major illusion spells were, in a word, perfect. When she was done, there was no sign they weren’t part of the Akanan’s 7th Airborne Engineering Division.

Cassius looked himself over with disgust, while Luspire seemed pleased with the result. Marva cast a separate spell for themself. That’s interesting, Mirian realized. I didn’t even feel them cast it. Were they simply that efficient at illusion?

“The sooner this is done with, the happier I will be,” Respected Jei said.

“Remember, if you start speaking, the game’s up. I’ll do the talking. The crew up there is exhausted, but they’re well trained. Ready?”

The team murmured their affirmation. Luspire looked up at the sky.