Chương 34: Omnimancer 29: Judgement Day (Reprise)

Yas stood with crossed arms, reflecting on how the scene playing out in front of him so closely resembled the one he'd endured not one week ago. Two dozen men knelt on their knees, their hands bound behind their backs and Lux-suppressing collars around their necks, leaving them as helpless as newborns. Blood and dirt caked every face, and while some were still defiant, most were just terrified. Because walking in front of them with Tala at his side was their leader.

The masked mystery himself, sporting his signature burlap sack, the crude angry face drawn in what looked to be charcoal. Comical. Or it would be, if Yas didn't know what he could do. The memory still made his stomach twist. Of kneeling on the cold stone as he waited for the masked creature to hand down his fate. But this time, he wasn't bound. This time, he was the one deciding who lived and who died. How the winds have shifted.

"This one," the chief said, stopping in front of a burly man with a split lip. His voice came out muffled through the bag, which somehow made it more terrifying.

"Tell me about him." Yas stepped forward, squinting at the prisoner, and between the grime and the burns and the cuts, it took him a moment to place the face.

"Yeah I knew him, way back when. Before I joined the Brotherhood. Aeromancer, I think. Never learned his name." Nor did the man volunteer it, staring up at Yas with a look of fear.

"And his character?" Yas shrugged.

"He followed orders. Kept his mouth shut, for the most part. I never saw him go out of his way to hurt anyone. I'd recommend him." While he hadn't been told what sorts the chief was looking to recruit, Yas had a pretty good picture from Masou, himself, Chesmu, and Kuruk, and the choices honestly surprised him. Moonfire was known for their callous ruthlessness—more ruthless than Bidzi, even—yet every one of the Chief's picks had been good, loyal people. All who'd been vouched for by Rat.

Or Tala, as she liked to be called. It honestly shamed Yas he'd ever called her that. He'd thought she'd wanted it. That she liked the moniker. He couldn't have been more wrong, and he cursed himself for never noticing. Their leader gazed at the man a long moment, and for an instant, Yas thought something passed between them. Thought he saw the chief see something in the man. Whatever it was, however, was, not to the chief's liking.

He shook his head a moment later, determining the poor sod's fate without a care in the world, already moving on to his next victim. Tala stayed at his side, silently watching everything with those sharp eyes of hers. The next raider was younger. Probably not even twenty, and trembling hard enough that Yas heard his chattering teeth even from here.

"This one?"

"Don't know him," Yas said.

"Too young to have worked for Hakan." Their leader crouched in front of the man—more of a boy really—who flinched back so hard he nearly tipped over.

"You have a name?"

"D-Dyami."

"You know who I am, Dyami?" The kid nodded frantically.

"You uh, wiped the floor with us."

"Yes. Yes, I did. Good, that'll make this easier. Who sent you? Why did you attack us?" Smart, Yas thought. Choosing a young, innocent one like him to interrogate. Much better chance of getting anything out of him than any of the veterans.

"I swear, I don't know!" the teen begged, and Yas almost felt bad for him. He was terrified down to his bones. No amount of acting could replicate that.

"Got a dead drop with some silver telling me to hit this place today at this time, with the other half of the payment later. I really needed the coin, y'know?"

"I think he's telling the truth, chief," Yas said.

"Chances are good no one here has any info they could spill, for a situation just like this." The chief scoffed.

"It would seem so," he said before turning to the boy.

"And what are your powers, Dyami?"

"I'm a Cyromancer of the First Tier, chief sir! I know [Lesser Spike] but I'm working hard on [Greater Spike] so please don't kill me, I swear to Luxor I'll serve you to my dying breath!" The chief just crouched in front of the man for a long while, then stood and moved to the next prisoner without saying a word. Yas watched the kid's face crumple, though whether with relief or despair, it was hard to tell. Poor kid didn't even know he'd been spared. The chief wanted him to sweat. To seal his loyalty beyond doubt.

Which, Yas had to admit, was exactly Moonfire's style. They were ruthless, but they weren't dumb. They chose well, and their terrifying reputation was on full display here. The only thing more terrifying than callous brutality was brutality with intelligence behind it. The chief was a far more capable leader than he'd initially thought. Said leader stopped in front of a guy three prisoners down. An older man in his late forties, with gray streaking his bushy beard and a burn scar running down his left arm.

"Yas?"

"Tam," Yas replied, kneeling in front of him, meeting the man's weathered eyes. Tam stared back, expressionless.

"This guy's a Hydromancer. Tier I. Retired, but experienced. Worked for the Hearthguard for years. Good in a fight."

"Do you vouch for him?" This was the hard part. Yas thought about the times he'd seen Tam around the compound. The way the man had always given him the time of day, even when Yas was a young nobody. He'd even warned him about a Nightswarm surge once. One that Yas was sure to have run into without, possibly losing his life in the process. But was that enough to bring him under his wing? He'd be responsible for the guy. Any fuckups would rest on his shoulders.

"He's decent," Yas said finally.

"As decent as anyone in this business gets, I suppose. Never saw him take pleasure in the work, and he's saved my hide in the past, long ago." That was the thing. Yas knew these people, but their backgrounds were all over the place. Nothing he could use to pin on anyone, other than that they were well connected.

"Would he follow orders?"

"If the pay was good and the orders weren't stupid, sure." Their leader stood there for a long moment, bag tilted down at Tam like he was trying to read the old man's soul. Then he moved on. Yas answered Tam's searching eyes with a reassuring nod, and the old warrior's back slumped just a bit. Which, coming from the stoic man, might as well have been the tear-filled breakdown that boy Dyami had earlier. Two prisoners followed, and Yas didn't know either of them to his chagrin.

For all he knew, they could have been the most loyal, upstanding Mancers he'd ever met. They could also have been the sort of backstabbing crowfeed the various factions in Takora seemed to love employing. They both got the ax. The man after that, though, made Yas pause. He was younger, in his mid-twenties, with a cocky set to his jaw even with the collar choking his neck. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

"Yas? That you?" the man asked, smirking up at him, and Yas soured as he took in the man's face.

"You know him?" the chief asked.

"Unfortunately, I do." This was the asshole who'd shaken down a whole group of merchants once. He'd also broken an old woman's hand because she was two days late on her protection money. He'd nearly forgotten about that little incident.

"Before you ask," Yas said coldly, "his character's shit. Wouldn't trust him to guard an empty room. Probably no one here who deserves their head on a pike more than this nightscum." The smirk vanished, which gave Yas more than a little satisfaction, loath as he was to admit it.

"You piece of—""Shut up." Their leader said the words as casually as if he were noting the light rain this afternoon. Somehow, that only made it even more horrifying. That they came from behind an angry-faced mask certainly didn't help. The prisoner's lips snapped shut like they'd been sewn, and his eyes went as wide as a pair of gold coins.

"Next." Yas vouched for just one more of the lot. A woman and a Geomancer like him, but with only that and nothing else. She'd been perimeter security for the Brotherhood back while he'd been there. She was the quiet sort but notably hadn't participated in the actual assault. She'd been found hiding in a storage room, waiting for the fighting to end. Which was either incredibly smart or incredibly stupid, depending on how the raid had played out.

Considering they'd won, and given her actions, he felt comfortable vouching for her. Geomancy wasn't exactly rare, but it certainly wasn't as common as Pyro or Aeromancy. She'd made a good addition to their little crew if she behaved. And if she didn't? Well, the chief would make sure it wasn't an issue. The rest blurred together. Yas knew a few by reputation, but none personally. He gave assessments where he could and was honest when he couldn't.

Their leader took it all in, asking few questions, and rejecting everyone Yas didn't explicitly want. Which made Yas's chest puff out a little. Just a little. When they reached the end, the chief turned back, surveying all two dozen prisoners with that creepy silence of his. He'd have paid gold to peek inside the man's head. Was he contemplating the invaders' fate? Maybe thinking about what he'd do to the ones who'd sent them?

Forget days or even weeks—the chief struck Yas as the type to think years ahead, as the best strategists did. He swore he'd be seeing that damn painted-on angry face in his nightmares.

"Thank you, Yas." Their leader's voice cut through his thoughts.

"You, Masou, Chesmu, and Kuruk can go. Tala and I will handle this." Yas blinked.

"You sure, chief?" The man didn't respond, instead fixing Yas with a painted-on glare. He got the message, turning on his heel to leave. But Masou, who'd been standing near the entrance, stepped forward.

"Chief, we gotta talk about that raid!" Yas saw it coming. Saw the way the bossman squared off against the kid. Saw Tala tense up, her eyes going wide. He moved fast, throwing an arm around Masou's neck and steering him toward the exit.

"Come on, kid. Let's get some air."

"But—""Not now, kid. Let's get some air," he repeated, tightening his grip around the young man's neck.

"This isn't right!" Masou cried, trying to escape his grip.

"Where is everyone? Where's the rest of Moonfire? Why was it just us and—""I said not now." Yas said, fixing him with his best'drop it' glare as he practically dragged the hotheaded upstart toward the door. Behind them, Kuruk followed silently. At least he was smart enough to know when to keep his mouth shut. Masou kept protesting, but Yas ignored him, only glancing back as they reached the entrance. He wished he hadn't, because he caught the chief's cold, dead stare through the crudely cut holes of the bag.

But where most would have collapsed in fear, Yas endured, shooting back a look. A look that said everything he didn't dare say out loud. I got this. But you owe me an answer. Then Yas hauled Masou outside and the door swung shut behind them. Jax watched Yas disappear, all but sure the veteran mercenary had seen through his act by now. He had to have. Right? That Jax wasn't some genius mastermind. That he'd been winging everything all along? Jax sighed.

Life might not have been simple until now, but it had at least been manageable. Now? Now it felt like Luxor had just dumped Pandora's box in his lap. He gestured Tala to his office nearby. It, like everything, had been trashed, but at least it offered some privacy. The door closed with a solid thunk, leaving outside the eleven prisoners who probably all thought they were gonna die.

"Before you say anything, I know," he said.

"I've been working on my acting, but I'll be the first to admit it's not there yet."

"I'm sorry!" Tala cried.

"Uh, what?" Now that he looked at her, he hadn't seen Tala this skittish since… well, probably since they'd met. Her head was bowed in shame and her eyes were pressed tightly shut, as though bracing for a beating. Her hand gripped her other arm so tight it turned white. With how terrified she looked, Jax was surprised she hadn't already changed into her rat form and run off into some hole.

"I-I don't know why they attacked," she said, nearly tripping over her words.

"It makes no sense! Bidzi wouldn't do something like this unless he had a damn good reason. Maybe it's one of the other factions. Or… or maybe they somehow knew we weren't Moonfire after all… but no, then they'd have sent a larger force. That was definitely a probe. It makes no sense, they shouldn't have attacked you have to believe me!" She was rambling at this point and likely would have continued had Jax not placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Hey," he said in a low voice, pulling off the bag.

"I don't blame you. Besides, I approved the plan, so I'm just as guilty, if not more so."

"I know, you have every right to hate me. I'll… I'll leave and you'll never—wait, what?" Tala froze, and despite the gravity of the situation, Jax couldn't help but smile.

"Not the world's best listener, are you?"

"You… Why don't you blame me?"

"Because I feel like I have a pretty good read on you by now, and I don't believe you'd have made such a mistake."

"But I did."

"No," Jax said, shaking his head.

"You made the best guess you could have given what you knew. And besides, nobody died. We can always fix the compound, too. If anything, this works to our advantage. Doubt anyone's going to fuck with us after a strike force like that just disappeared. No, there's gotta be something else going on here."

"There has to be!" Tala blurted.

"Either they know something we don't, or maybe this was some rogue group within the organization or something… but I guess those all sound like excuses, don't they? I swear I'll find out, so…"

"So," Jax said with a smile, ruffling her hair to calm her down.

"We'll figure this out together, in due time. But that's just one of the many issues on our plate, yeah?" Jax would be lying if he said he was happy with the current situation, but Tala beating her head about something out of her control wasn't about to help either of them. Her eyes were so wide with shock and disbelief that, once again, he was confronted with just how terribly she'd been treated most of her life.

"Y-yeah," Tala said, still not quite over her shock, before mumbling something Jax couldn't quite hear.

"What was that?"

"I said thanks!" she said, looking away as though it were the most embarrassing thing in the world. Which, for her, it might've been.

"For not throwing me out," she added, mumbling. Jax just raised an eyebrow and stared, which made her as uncomfortable as he'd hoped it would.

"Alright, fine!" she huffed.

"For believing me! Happy?"

"I am! And don't mention it. Now, about our friends…"

"Right," Tala replied, regaining a bit of composure.

"They must have their suspicions. Masou's not stupid. Or Yas. None of them are."

"I know." And speaking of suspicions, what was up with that Mancer earlier? Jax thought back to the guy Yas said he'd worked with. Everyone else had shown up as a light yellow to [Threat Radar]. That guy? Deep orange. That man was easily the strongest Mancer there, and yet, something about him sent chills up Jax's spine. No way he'd hire someone like that, no matter the gains.

"You'll have to tell them the truth," Tala continued.

"And soon."

"I know that too."

"So, when? And what are you gonna say?"

"Soon, and I'll think of something," he said.

"We've got bigger fish to fry for now. Like figuring out who the hell attacked us so we can ensure they never even think of trying again." Tala's expression didn't change, but her eyes narrowed, which Jax had learned meant she was running through scenarios in her head.

"We got everyone who entered. That, I'm sure of."

"I'm sensing a 'but' coming…"

"But there were definitely others outside. From the psycrystals I found, there was definitely a Psychomancer working with them," she said, retrieving a small shard from a pocket. By its jagged edges, it had clearly been part of a larger piece.

"I heard them reporting in with these, so I made sure to destroy every one. They were using them to send messages. Standard check-ins at first, but when the fighting started, they just devolved into panic."

"How much did they report?"

"Tough to say. I monitored what I could, but..." She rolled the shard between her fingers.

"They know their assault team is gone. That's for certain."

"Do they know the compound was empty?" Tala met his eyes.

"I didn't see anyone report it explicitly, but I'd say there's a good chance. Doesn't take much to speak into the crystal. Or to report that a single man took everyone down." Jax cursed under his breath.

"This can't continue. I'm too vulnerable. We're too vulnerable."

"Never thought I'd hear that from an honest-to-Lux Hexamancer, but I agree," Tala said, tapping her chin.

"We could recruit faster?" She gestured toward the prisoners through the door.

"Do that a few more times and you'll build up your numbers fast."

"No." The word came out harder than Jax intended, making Tala flinch.

"Sorry. I just… already created problems doing that. Yas is loyal and does a good job commanding respect from the others, but if I keep padding our ranks with former enemies, I'll have a mutiny on my hands inside a month. We need to be deliberate about who we recruit."

"What, then?"

"First," he said, "I dump the trash. Again."

"And then?" Tala asked, looking thoroughly unconvinced.

"Then we hike." Tala raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry? Hike? Where?" Jax thought about his Vitality stat. About his physical weakness that made every fight a gamble, and that was despite the armor he wore religiously. There was a shard out there that could fix it. A shard that could make him strong enough to actually survive this insanity he'd stumbled into. It wasn't even anything special. Just a Tier I. Hard to find or not, chances were decent he'd stumble upon it on a peak somewhere.

"Someplace I can find what I need," Jax said, pursing his lips.

"To fix my biggest weakness. Because I am never letting what just happened ever happen again." Not having his home invaded. Not nearly losing a fight due to his physical frailty. He saw understanding dawn in Tala's eyes. Understanding… and a little fear.

"First we set things in order," he said, "and then? Then we're gonna climb a fucking mountain." Because after he'd addressed this problem, his enemies were next, and when they learned of the raging storm that was about to crush them, they'd wish they'd never been born.