The Sword of Retribution

The Spies - Part 3

     Resalintas reached the teleportation cubicles and walked straight into the one that led to Ilandia, closing the door behind him. The teleportation magic was triggered by the closing of the door, and the priest was instantly teleported two thousand miles back to Fort Battleaxe. Unlike his first use of the teleportation network that morning, though, which had been smooth and effortless, the return trip was accompanied by a sharp, stabbing pain and the awful, sickening feeling that his body was being twisted and stretched like a piece of rubber in the hands of a giant. It passed almost immediately, however, leaving him leaning against the wall of the cubicle and gasping for breath as the door opened and a man entered to help him out.

     “Are you all right, Sir?” the man asked anxiously.

     The priest muttered a prayer to Samnos and immediately felt the power of his God flowing through his body, healing him and restoring him to his usual self. “What happened?” he snapped angrily. “Is the network breaking up?”

     “No Sir, it’s the enemy,” replied the man, a Corporal “They unexpectedly strengthened the anti teleportation barrier around the city. We lost two good men and a wizard who tried to teleportation in from Silverlode. Once we became aware of it our wizards tried to compensate, but their efforts to keep the hole open were only partially successful. They say they’re working on it.”

     Resalintas grunted a reply. "I want a message taken to every officer and NCO in the city." he said. "They are to report to number five training floor in the tower in half an hour. Also, have a Coronet of Farspeaking brought to me immediately. I have a message of the highest urgency that must be passed to every other garrison in Ilandia. Understood?”

     “Yes, Sir, but why?”

     “Never mind that, just do it.”

     The Corporal summoned a messenger, repeated the priest’s instructions and the young man ran off to obey. “We’re still holding them at the outer wall,” he then said. The elderly priest was already marching up the stairs, though, and the Corporal hurried to keep up. “Not much else has changed.” The priest didn't reply but just kept climbing. At the top, they emerged through a door into the back of what had, until just a few days ago, been a broom cupboard. Two men stood guard beside it, saluting as they strode past.

     “Do you think they knew you were out of the city?” asked the Corporal. “Why else would they strengthen the magical barrier just as you were returning?”

     The priest gave him a strange look that unnerved him a little, but said nothing as they passed through the bank’s reception area and passed several other soldiers, alert against spies and assassins. The military had completely taken over the building ever since the manager had revealed himself as a Fellowship member and put the teleportation cubicle as their disposal, and Resalintas thought it unlikely that they would ever be able to get back to normal business even if (no, when, he corrected himself hastily) they won the war. The Fellowship relied on secrecy. They would have to abandon the bank and find another cover elsewhere in the city from which to conduct Fellowship business.

     Leaving the building, he hurried along the narrow road towards the tower, the sounds of battle coming to him from the city wall, about two hundred yards behind him. It was getting dark as evening approached (Ilandia was two hours behind Pargonn time, because it was two thousand miles further west), and the layer of smoke that completely hid the sky was lit from beneath by the flames consuming the outer circle of the city. The shouts and screams of men and the growls and roars of humanoids carried easily in the still air, as did the ringing and clashing of weapons, the roaring of a thousand fires and the occasional explosion, sizzle and clap of thunder as war spells were cast. The city’s outer wall was just outside the range of the Orb, which was therefore powerless to help in its defence. Soon, however, they would have to abandon the outer wall and retreat to the second wall a hundred yards further in, where they would come under the Orb's protection.