Otto stood beside Lady White and watched her do whatever she was doing to try and locate Jackal. Other than a wavering disturbance in the local corruption, nothing of her magic was visible to him. They’d chosen a spot a comfortable distance from the portal but with a view of the central pyramid. Dawn was still hours away, but his enhanced vision allowed him to see easily through the darkness.
Not that Otto had seen anyone come or go. In fact, it seemed like they were the only ones, living or undead, in the city. Weird, but an empty city was probably the safest place in the world.
That couldn’t be right, of course. Unfortunately, the corruption left him nearly blind, magically speaking. It wasn’t a nice feeling. The sooner they found the Scroll and escaped this miserable place the better. The tricky bit would be getting Lady White back to the empire. She couldn’t use the portal and the City of Coins would be unlikely to welcome an undead, even one as lovely and well mannered as her.
A ship would have to be dispatched to collect her from some isolated beach. He made a mental note to visit Lux as soon as they got home. Captain Wainwright had enjoyed a nice long break. It was time to put him back to work.
“He has to be in one of the pyramids,” Lady White said at last. “I can’t sense him anywhere in the city, but some magic prevents me from scanning the pyramids. They’re like a black hole in my magical vision.”
Otto had noticed the effect as well. Some defensive magic of Lord Sur’s no doubt. “In that case, I’ll activate the portal and retrieve my soldiers. A few score men armed with mithril weapons should make the hunt considerably easier. Not to mention given the size of the pyramid, the search might take some time.”
“I’m not certain that’s a good idea,” Lady White said. “The two of us plus a smaller group of your best fighters would be better. Even with mithril, the average soldier wouldn’t last long against Jackal. Plus, if he’s hiding, someone with magic will be necessary to spot him.”
“Fair point. Okay, you, me, and a handful of others. The rest can patrol out here to make sure no one sneaks out with the Scroll.”
When she offered no further argument, Otto took the patch out of his satchel and walked over to the portal. A quick toss sent it up to the master rune where it merged with the portal and rewrote its magic. The whole process took only seconds.
Satisfied with the transformation, he drew the control rod, charged the tip with ether, and tapped the Garenland rune. Ether flowed through the portal, burning away all the local corruption. He breathed freely for the first time since arriving.
Otto glanced back and found Lady White had moved further away from the portal. That gave him a rough idea of the safe zone it created. About a hundred yards, he guessed. Plenty of room to set up a good-sized camp.
“I’ll be back in a moment.”
He stepped through the portal and emerged in the fort surrounding the Garenland portal. The night watch didn’t appear surprised when he appeared. At this point they were probably used to his constant coming and going.
The night commander hurried over and saluted. Otto hadn’t met the man before but put his age at late twenties. Probably a newly promoted officer. They tended to get the crappy jobs.
“How can I help you, Lord Shenk?”
“Send a messenger to Shenk Manor and tell my brother it’s time to go to work.”
“It’s the middle of the—” He choked off the words when Otto glared at him. “I mean, yes, my lord.”
A messenger was quickly dispatched and the officer asked, “Was there anything else?”
“No, I need to return. As soon as Axel gets here, send him and his men straight through. I’ll be waiting on the other side. Also, the portal will be locked open at my location, so no merchant traffic until I’m done. Be certain to inform the fort commander. There will be some angry merchants and he’ll need to explain the situation to them.”
The night officer grimaced. “He’ll be delighted to hear that.”
The fort commander’s displeasure didn’t concern Otto. As long as he kept a confused merchant caravan from showing up in the dead city, that would be enough. It shouldn’t take Axel long to arrive. They’d been discussing the mission for weeks and the supplies were gathered and ready.
Next, he extended his senses to the warehouse to summon Hans. He and the guys were always ready and should be along in short order. The good sergeant would be annoyed with Otto for going ahead without them, but at this point it happened so often he wouldn’t say anything out loud.
Otto snapped his fingers. There was one more person he needed to collect. Jet would never let him hear the end of it if he didn’t bring her along.
Extending his sight toward the Thirsty Sprite, he quickly slipped through the wall and upstairs to the garret. Jet lay in the simple cot sound asleep. Her pale face was surrounded by dark hair spread across her pillow. She was quite lovely when she wasn’t awake and talking nonsense about the wonders of the cult of Astaroth.
Sending his voice along to join his sight he said, “Jet. Wake up.”
Her eyes popped open and she looked all around the room.
“I’m speaking to you magically. If you wish to rejoin Lady White and myself, come to the portal as quickly as you can. The guards will let you in.”
“I will be there soon. Thank you for not forgetting me.” Jet tossed her blanket aside revealing her pale, naked body.
Otto severed the link. He’d committed many acts that some would call crimes. But he certainly wouldn’t stoop to peeping on a woman dressing.
He alerted the night officer to Jet’s imminent arrival and stepped back through the portal to rejoin Lady White.
When the last of the scouts emerged from the portal in Amet Sur’s capital, the sun had just begun to peek over the horizon. Otto had to give his brother credit. He’d gotten his people on the move quickly enough. Jet had arrived hours ago and immediately gone to join Lady White at the edge of the plaza. Otto watched the reunion but kept his distance. Judging by Lady White’s expression, she’d been utterly indifferent to Jet’s return.
Otto actually felt a little bad for the woman. Being so devoted to someone so disdainful had to sting. Of course, Jet only saw Lady White as a means to securing her future now that she’d lost everything in the Celestial Empire. So maybe it was a fair trade.
Hans and his squad had arrived an hour after Jet. They’d simply saluted and moved to form a screen around him. It seemed they’d seen enough strange sights that a dead city and black pyramids weren’t enough to draw comment.
“This place makes my skin crawl,” Corina said as she looked around the gloomy city.
She’d actually filled out a bit over the past few months and was approaching healthy. She wore her black and gold war wizard uniform with pride. It pleased Otto to see her grow, both as a person and a wizard.
“It’s far worse once you move away from the portal, which is why you’re staying here with the scouts on guard duty.”
Otto expected an argument, but she accepted his order without complaint. Bless her, she really was growing into a proper soldier.
“So what’s the plan?” Axel asked.
“I need you to divide your men. I want squads on patrol around the pyramids to make sure no one escapes. Another squad will keep the portal secure. With the ether running through it, I don’t think anything nasty will be able to approach, but I want to make sure. Lastly, I want you to join Hans and his men to come into the pyramid with Lady White and me. In addition to retrieving the Scroll, there are an unknown number of enemies already inside.”
“That’s not at all what we discussed during the strategy sessions,” Axel said.
“True, but you do remember what I told you at the end of every one of those meetings?”
“That no matter how much we planned, you had no actual idea what we’d find when we arrived.”
“Exactly. This is the situation. The sooner we deal with it and find the Scroll, the quicker we go home.” Otto glanced at Lady White and Jet. “Get your men sorted. I need to talk to Lady White for a moment. Join us when you’re ready.”
Otto left Axel to his task and walked over to Lady White and Jet. They both turned his way as he approached. Hans kept his distance without having to be told.
“We’re going in as soon as Axel’s ready. Is Jet coming with us?”
“Yes,” Jet said.
At the same moment Lady White countered with a, “No.”
“But I want to help,” Jet said.
“How?” Lady White asked. “You have no magic and no particular combat skills. The only reason you were invited to join the cult was your status within the Celestial Empire. Without that, I’m uncertain how to make use of you. Astaroth has accepted your devotion, but you haven’t learned how to tap into his power as a priest. And I haven’t the time to teach you, not now at least.”
“I certainly can’t spare anyone to protect you,” Otto added. “Why don’t you stay in camp with Corina? One of the advantages of serving the demon lord of the undead is time. You have all that you’ll ever need to gain power. Try to be patient. Once you’re actually dead, gaining more power is considerably harder.”
Otto felt like a total hypocrite counseling her to have patience given his complete lack of it. But unlike Jet, he had the power to make his goals a reality. All she had was Lady White’s dubious goodwill. And it looked to Otto like that was quickly wearing thin.
“Very well,” Jet said with a distinct lack of good grace. “If that’s where I can be of the most use.”
She marched off toward the portal, her clenched fists the only sign of her frustration. Otto watched her for a moment then caught Axel’s eye. He pointed at Jet and crossed his index fingers. He’d learned enough of the scouts’ sign language to know that was the symbol to keep an eye on someone or something. Axel tapped his temple in acknowledgement.
“Thank you for finding a place for Jet,” Lady White said. “She may one day make a fine disciple, but right now she’s more of a burden.”
“I would have left her behind in Garen, but figured that would cause more trouble than bringing her along. Anyway, she’ll be fine in camp. There’ll be plenty of time for you to train her into something useful later. Assuming that’s safe.”
Lady White cocked her head. “Safe?”
“I mean, you’re on the bad side of your master. What if Astaroth orders her to kill you or something?”
“You overestimate my importance. Astaroth has worshipers on billions of worlds. He’s hardly likely to take a direct interest in me one way or another. It’s the leader of the cult, Lord of the Dead, that wants me destroyed.”
Otto shrugged. It was her decision not his. As long as Jet didn’t cause him any trouble, Otto couldn’t have cared less.
Axel left Cobb and started their way. They met up beside Hans and the guys.
“All set?” Otto asked.
“Yeah, no problem. I left Cobb in charge. He knows what to do. How long do you think this is going to take?”
Otto eyed the massive pyramid. “A while. I hope you didn’t have plans.”