Author's notes:

Fair warning: This chapter will include combat.

About the language and notation:

The Baylon language is a predecessor to Latin, which is why it looks like Latin at a glance.

Mental communication is denoted by a < and ends with a >, so a mental communication will look like this: "< Who are you? >"

Some warnings:

This is erotic action adventure, meaning that there will be both sex and violence, but I don't mix the two.

This story is posted on the Literotica website and the author does not give permission for it to be reposted or reprinted anywhere else without consent.

P.S. I haven't gotten an editor yet, so any mistakes are mine. Interested editors are welcome :)

P.P.S. While you're here anyway, please rate the chapter and leave a comment :)

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Chapter 32 -- Flashback: A hectic day

The Capitol of Baylon, Baylon

The first thing I saw, when I opened my eyes again, was Verina, who was sitting in a chair, looking thoughtful as she stared out of the window. Dressed in a silk kimono as usual, she looked just as beautiful and sexy as she always did.

I mentally checked my body, but everything seemed to be fine, so I said, "Hey Verina... You have no idea how good to see you."

Verina jumped up with a smile and ran over to the bed, giving me a hug. "Welcome back to the world."

"Thanks." I said, as I hugged her back. "How long have I been out?"

"Eight days and that's only because you're a very good healer. The hospital Healers thought that you would be out for ten days." Verina said matter-of-factly. "What happened? We were close enough to feel you using the Verum Forma, but when we arrive and finally found you, you were almost dead."

I coughed, so she handed me a glass of water and I emptied it before I explained about the combat. However, speaking made my throat hurt, so halfway through the story, I switched to mental communication.

When I was finished, Verina nodded. "Yeah, that's more or less what I thought had happened, but when we arrived, the remaining three had disappeared."

"< I guessed that much... Have you figured out what Nequams were doing there? >"

Her blue eyes grew wide in surprise. "You don't know? You were on the island with the Western Anchor."

I shook my head. Both the Southern and Western Anchor was located on small islands, making them ideal for the use of Nequams. "I didn't know, but it makes sense. Did anything happen?"

Verina shook her head. "No, but the general opinion is, that if you haven't tracked them, something would have happened. During the week, and before any reinforcements could be arranged, they tried to penetrate the security at the Southern Anchor as well but failed. The security at all the anchors have been increased, but I can't tell you much more due to the usual security."

I nodded slowly. Almost everything about the Dimensional Anchors was on a need-to-know basis and until now, we hadn't needed to know.

A growl from my stomach told me I needed some food, so I mentally said, "< Fair enough, now I'll get my clothes and talk to the doctor so that we can get out of here. I really need some solid food >"

"Yeah. Magic can keep you alive, but it doesn't fill your stomach." said Verina and nodded in the direction of a closet. "Your clothes and weapons are in the closet over there." She smiled a bit. "There's also an envelope I was ordered to give you as soon as possible."

I got out of the bed, walked over to the closet, and opened it.

There were clothes in the closet, but they didn't look like mine. Then I remembered that the Nequams had shredded my jacket and shirt to bits during the combat, so somebody must have supplied me with new clothes.

The envelope Verina had talked about was placed so I couldn't avoid noticing it, so I ignored the clothes and took the envelope instead. Somewhat puzzling, it was heavier than it looked and closed with the seal of the Ordo Gladius, so I channelled a minute amount of Vis into it, making it break open. With a slight shrug I unfolded it. An emblem fell out, but I caught it before it hit the floor and looked at it, stunned at what I saw.

"Is that what I think it is?" Asked Verina.

"Only if you think that it's a Captain's insignia." I said slowly and shook my head as I read the letter.

Dear Vice Captain Emilian

Head of the Promotion Board for Ordo Presidium

"You got to be flaming kidding me." I mumbled to myself and then looked at Verina. "What happened?"

The only way I could be promoted to Captain after only five years as a Vice Captain was if one of those higher up in the ranks had died, resigned, or otherwise were declared unfit of active duty.

"Dominus Oscius resigned a few days ago due to old age, and Senior Captain Bantius announced that she's pregnant, which naturally placed her on non-combat duty." Replied Verina with a sigh.

I nodded slowly. With two officers missing, there was going to be some promotions and with the amount of people that had died or left the Ordo after The Disease, there wasn't that many to promote. A though hit me and made me look at Verina. "You were promoted as well?"

She nodded with a grin. "I'm now a Vice Captain of the Ordo Gladius, thanks to you being promoted and leaving a spot open."

"Congratulations!" I said with a smile. "You really deserve it more than I do."

Verina shook her head. "No. You have a knack for being at the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing, and somehow survive." She tilted her head. "Ivah, I've read your reports since you were promoted five years ago, and to be honest, they read like a thriller with all the insane magi and other things you have been up against. If there's a member of the Ordo Gladius that deserve a promotion, it's definitely you. In fact, I'm extremely glad that you got some new clothes."

"What do you mean?"

"I won't say. You have to try them."

Turning back to the closet, I reached for the jacket. As soon as my hand touched the fabric, I could feel that it was made from some sort of silk. Looking closer, I realized that it was Iron Silk: A rare and expensive form for silk, that was almost impossible to cut and when hit, it stiffens and spread the impact over a much greater area, thus lessening the damage to the wearer.

Short of an Inquisitor Battle Armor, it was the closest thing to armor I could get with my combat style and I guessed that it was about twice as expensive as my house.

"Shit!" I mumbled with regret as I admired it, slightly irritated that my voice was still rasping. "Somebody made a mistake here."

"It is yours." Said Verina in an amused tone of voice. "With thanks from the Varro Family."

I turned around to face her. "You got to be kidding me!"

Verina shook her head. "No. The Varro family believe that you saved Decimus, Scholar Narses and Laura Varro in Sybaris. Added to that, you also got Sabia Quintus Lartius out of the same city and after a longer debate with the judges about this, they finally got permission to give it to you." She smiled at my facial expression and at the same time, I heard the lock on the door slide into the locked position. "But now that I see your standing there butt-naked, I get an idea."

"Yes?" I asked with a smile, but as I looked at her, her clothes magically disappeared from her body, revealing her fantastic body.

She nodded and walked over to the bed. "You need Vis and as we both know, there're rarely free Vis to absorb in a hospital, thus we need to generate it." She winked at me. "Even more important, I'm horny and I've never shared pleasure with an Inquisitor Captain."

"Good points." I grinned and walked over to her, feeling my erection growing with each step. "Lay down."

Not only did she lay down on the bed, but she also spread her legs invitingly.

Accepting the invitation, I bowed down and began kissing my way up her inner thigh. When I reached her pussy, I started using my tongue, lightly running it over the soft flesh around her pussy, before I let my tongue run along the outer lips, until I reached the bottom. Then I slowly went back up, licking her lower lips carefully, until I reached her love-pearl and circled it just as slowly.

"You're evil." Groaned Verina, squirming on the bed, and gasped, as I flicked my tongue on the tip of the love-pearl. "Very evil!"

Instead of answering, I traced my fingers over her smooth skin until I reached her breasts, drawing small circles around her hard nipples to tease them, before I caught them between my fingers and rolled them. Verina moaned and the nipples seemed to become harder.

Letting them go after a little tug, I caressed her breasts, sucking her love-pearl into my mouth at the same time, and played with it, as my left hand wandered down her body again and the other hand caressed her tits.

Grabbing her ass with my free hand, I buried my mouth in her pussy, licking the lower lips first and then going between them to the sensitive spot just above the opening.

"That is so flaming good." Groaned Verina, running her hands through my hair, while she was shuddering with pleasure.

The moan grew louder, when I went a little further down, letting my tongue run around the opening to vagina, lapping up the flowing juices.

Moving upwards again, I focused on her love-pearl once more, giving me room to insert two fingers in her wet pussy, slowly thrusting them in and out of her, curling the fingers to rub against her internal pleasure point and causing her to buck her hips against my face.

As always, the feel of my fingers being squeezed by her warm, wet tunnel was fantastic, and the feeling went right to my dick, making it even harder than it already was.

Still, with the aim of bringing her to an orgasm, I took my time teasing her with lips, tongue, and fingers, bringing her close to the edge of ecstasy before easing up, pulling her back just enough to prevent her from coming, while getting closer and closer to the orgasm each time.

Verina manage to cast a short spell and I guessed that it was a Zone of Silence spell of some kind, because a moment later she stopped holding back on her moans.

"You're evil, but good. Goddess! Keep going... I'm so close!" Verina moaned, her body tensing and tightening as I brought her closer and closer to an orgasm.

I continued to work her over until she was almost there. Then I increased the speed of my hand and fingers, massaging her internal pleasure point as fast as I could, while giving her lover-pearl a good, hard licking.

The effect was spectacular, as she bucked on the bed, making her well-shaped breasts bounce against each other, while she screamed a wordless shriek of pleasure as the orgasm hit her. Her pussy clenching my fingers in the rhythm of the waves of pleasure that soared through her, and Vis flowed from her into me.

She had barely come down from her orgasmic high, when she lifted her head and looked at me with eyes that shone with lust. "Come here and fuck me. Hard."

Removing my fingers from her pussy and stood. "Move a little."

Verina considered it for a moment. Then she rolled over so her knees were on the bed and her delicious ass was pointing at me. "Take me from behind."

With a nod, I moved to stand behind her, ran the head of my cock against her soaked pussy lips, and slowly pressed inside.

We both groaned as I slid inside of her. I marveled at the feeling of her tight wet pussy around my dick. As always, we were a perfect match, as my hips met her ass just before I bottomed out inside of her.

"Fuck, I love your dick," she groaned and wriggled a little as I rested inside of her. "it's just perfect."

"Thank you and likewise." I said as I caressed her back, while retracting a little and then moved forward again, savouring the sensation.

She turned her head to look over her shoulder. "We don't have much time. Just fuck me hard and fast."

I snorted. "With it being more than a week since I had sex, I'm not going to last long."

She smiled her usual dazzling smile and said. "No worries. I'll help."

I must have looked confused, because she chuckled and reached down between her legs with one hand, briefly caressing my balls, before she groaned as her fingers found her love-pearl and it dawned on me, that she was going to make herself come about the same time as me.

That being settled, I grabbed her flaring hips and fucked her almost as hard and fast as I could, with long strokes that bottomed out inside of her wet pussy while she played with her love-pearl.

Despite her helping, I didn't go all out right away. It was too good, and I wanted to make sure to time it just right.

That wasn't easy. Verina not only played with herself, but also wriggled, pushed back at me, and used her inner muscles to squeeze my cock every time I withdrew from her, and I could feel my orgasm approaching quickly.

Thankfully, Verina was true to her word and went all out on her love-pearl, moaning and quivering into the bed, her ass jiggling with every thrust I made.

As predicted, it didn't take long before I was so close to coming as I possible could.

"I'm close." I hissed as I passed the point of no return. There was no skill or technique that could stop my orgasm now, so I just gave her all I got.

"Me too." Verina groaned happily.

Pure pleasure soared through me, feeling like it was simultaneously coming all the way from the sole of my feet and the top of my head, burned through my body, and ended with me emptying myself inside Varina with a groan.

Even in the middle of the orgasm, I didn't stop, but continued to ram my dick into her and a few strokes later, that paid off as she came once more, squealing into the bed, as her pussy tightening around me.

Spent, Verina let herself fall forward onto the bed. I followed her, the power of the orgasm making small twitches run through my body.

"Goddess, that was good." I said with satisfied sigh.

Verina nodded and turned her head to look at me. "I love sharing pleasure with you. It's always good."

I nodded and then grinned, as my stomach growled again. "I really need some food."

"Can you wait half a glass?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Why?"

"Because you're still hard."

Looking down on myself, I discovered that she was right. I usually take about half a glass to recover, but this time my dick had somehow stayed hard, even after, or perhaps because of, the powerful orgasm I just had.

Not waiting for me to say more, Verina cast a cleaning spell and straddled my hips, rubbing her pussy against my cock.

"Lay still, Captain." She said with a giggle. "You're not of the hospital yet."

"Yes, Vice-Captain." I managed to say, as she rocked her hips, pushing my dick back into her pussy with a satisfied sigh and started to ride me.

With her beautiful face, big breasts, and well-shaped body, it was an extremely erotic sight and along with the feeling of her pussy sliding up and down on my cock, it quickly made me just as turned on as before.

Reaching up, I caught her swaying breasts with my hands, squeezing them, playing with her hard nipples, tweaking them enough to pull cries of pleasure from her and she continued to bounce up and down on me.

Her hips quivered, as she moved, making her tight pussy tremble. From time to time, her inner muscles would clamp down ever tighter for a few heartbeats before they relaxed only to clamp down again. It became even better when the increasing pleasure caused her hips to flex and jerk.

It felt heavenly and I was savouring every moment of it.

Verina moved one hand down between her legs to play with her love-pearl and it didn't take long before her breathing was becoming ragged, interrupting her moans.

I tweaked her nipples once more and suddenly she yelped, convulsing as she came. Her hips were jerking wildly, going up, down and sideways, massaging my dick and pushing it deeper into her.

Removing my hands from her breasts, I gently caressed her sides and hips instead, giving her time to come down from her orgasmic high and wen the orgasm had faded, she smiled brightly and lowered her upper body so we could kiss, her big breasts feeling like two firm pillows pressing against my chest.

Despite my recent orgasm, the sight and sensation of her coming on top of me, combined with the feeling of her still spasming pussy around my dick, was so overpowering that I wanted more.

Lost in the sensation, I tightened my grip on her hips and fucked her, using long hard strokes that took my dick almost completely out of her before I slammed back into her.

Moaning into my mouth, Verina lifted her hips enough to make room for me to fuck her and since that move brought her breasts almost in line with my face, I bent my head a little and sucked a hard nipple into my mouth.

To my surprise, I could feel another orgasm approach rapidly and picked up the speed, slamming into her from beneath.

Verina gasped. "Shit! I'm coming again!"

"Me too." I said, groaning when she tightened her pussy around me. That unexpected move sent me over the top and using a hand to drag her head down to me, we kissed deeply as I emptied myself into her. A heartbeat later, Verina howled into my mouth as she came as well, shaking and shivering.

We continued the kiss for some time, but eventually, Verina broke the kiss and rested her head on my shoulder, whispering. "Not that I'm complaining, but that took longer than I expected."

"Does it matter?"

"Not really." She giggled, "but I was facing the door and I think we gave the healer a shock when he came in to check up on you."

That made me laugh. "Didn't you lock the door?"

"Yes, but that doesn't help if he had a key, which he clearly had." She said, still giggling as she rolled off me. "Hey, it worked!"

Looking down an my now flaccid dick, I nodded. "Yes, it did." I winked at her. "Can I get some food now?"

Verina nodded and cast another cleaning spell before she said. "Well, get dressed and let's get some food then."

Walking over to the closet, I took the jacket out, marveling at the quality of the material while I placed it on the chair Verina had been sitting in. That was followed by dark blue pants and a white shirt. Like the jacket, they had buttons made of black bdel and the quality of the garments was unbelievable, making it even more expensive than I had first thought.

I shook my head in wonder. "Verina... I can't accept this. Receiving gifts like this must be illegal... These clothes are worth more than I would earn in a hundred years."

"It's legal." She said with a grin and showed me a small seal. "As I said, the Varro's got an official permission for you to accept it. Now get dressed and let's go get something to eat."

The clothes fit perfectly, with a little room to spare in case I got bigger. It was a nice thought, but the Peaches of Immortality technique had more or less frozen my body in time, making it highly unlikely that I got bigger for any reason. It still felt incredibly good, and I was smiling widely as I took my low boots on.

"This is awesome!" I declared.

Verina smiled at me. "It does look good... and with a bit of luck, it'll keep you out of the hospital for a while."

I blew her a kiss, which caused her to grin for a few heartbeats, before she walked to me and gave me a hug. "Seriously, Ivah, finding you on the ground, looking dead nearly scared me to death. Don't ever do that again."

Returning the hug, I gave her a kiss. "I shall do my best to avoid it."

She snorted and chuckled at the same time. "I know, I know. It's impossible, but just try."

"Likewise." I laughed. "But being safe isn't really part of our job description."

"Good point." She said and gave me another hug. It would have been a romantic gesture, but the sound of my stomach rumbling again ruined it.

Verina laughed and let me go. "Take the weapon bag and let's go get food."

With a nod, I reached into the closet and took out an oblong leather bag. A quick look inside confirmed that the bag did indeed contain Shadow Fang along with my throwing knives and the rest of the equipment I had been wearing.

Closing it again, I slung it over my shoulder. "Let's go."

------------------

As we walked out, I mentally contacted the Ordo Praesidium chapter. "< This is Spectre, reporting in for duty >"

There was silence for a moment, but then the answer came. "< This is Adept Marcius, Welcome back, Spectre. I have a message from the Dominus Grande for you >"

"< Please proceed >" I said, wondering what it might be.

"< Yes, sir, and I would like to add that I am reading from a written statement, starting now > " He paused. "< Good job, Spectre, and congratulations with the promotion. If somebody reads this to you, it's because you have both a month of vacation and four weeks of sick leave, that you have forgotten all about. Take it. Now. Don't show your face in the head quarter. You -- are -- on -- vacation. Have a good time and get well. That's an order >" There was a pause. "< Signed Dominus Grande Kaeso Maximus of the Ordo Gladius >" Another pause. "< Sorry about that, sir, but the Dominus Grande was quite insistent about it >"

"< Yes, he can be that from time to time. Well, I guess that I'm on vacation then >"

"< Yes sir, but don't hesitate to call if there's anything that I can do for you >"

I thought about it for a moment. "< Well, I would like an update on the situation >"

"< That is against my orders, sir. You are on vacation >"

I chuckled for myself. The Dominus Grande must have been very insisting. "< No worries, Adept Marcius. Spectre out >"

Verina must have heard the chuckle because she looked at me. "Something funny?"

"Only the Old Man insisting that I need a vacation."

She shrugged. "Well... you do, but we'll get to that later, now we go eat and then I'll escort you home." She held up a hand, before I had a chance to say anything. "Don't argue. It's an order from the Old Man."

There was a seriousness in her tone, that gave me the chills. Last time I had heard that was at the outbreak of The Disease. Taking a deep breath, I said, "Verina... What is happening?"

She was silent for a moment but then reached out to hold my hand. We linked and a heartbeat later, I started to receive information about had had happened while I had been in a coma.

It was all bad.

Three assassins had attempted to kill the High King while he was on way to speak in the Senate. They didn't succeed in killing him, but the High King was so seriously hurt, that even with Baylon healing, it would take almost ten days before he was well again, effective leaving Baylon without a leader.

To make matters worse, the security at Southern Anchor had been breached and while nothing had happened, the incidents at both the Western and Southern Anchors had sparked yet another round of heated debate in the senate. One so intense that the country was on the edge of a civil war, as both sides accused the other of being behind the assassination attempt on the High King.

I felt a wave of dizziness roll over me, as my mind took in the information. The pleasure I had shared with Verina had supplied me with Vis, but I needed food.

Suddenly I remembered something Chuzara had said to Kruse, when I had overheard them a week ago: "... we still have a job to do in the north."

Added to that was that it had been three assassins, exactly the number of people in the group, and nobody got close to the High King without being undetectable by powers, which everybody in the group was.

"< I know who tried to kill the High King >" I sent, almost making Verina stumble in surprise, before she sent "< One moment >" and walked over to a taberna (Baylon: street-kitchen'), bought two meals and walked back to me, handing me one of them. "Here you go."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." She answered with a smile, but there was no joy in her eyes and a heartbeat later, she resumed our mental communication. "< Do tell... as long as you remember to eat >"

One of the numerous of advantages with mental communication, is that it possible to do while eating and as we ate, I told her about the group of half-breeds as well as the Unknown Noble Mage, and my analysis of the situation.

"< Did you say that you included a mind-image of the unknown mage in the report? >" Asked Verina, her mental voice sounding thoughtful.

"< Yes, in the ones I sent as mental communication >"

"< There was no mind-images in the reports I have seen >" Verina sent, adding "< and yes, I have seen all the reports, both written and mental >"

It took all the willpower I had to not looked shocked. All mentally delivered reports were usually kept in an enchanted crystal, called a Memcrystal, from where it could be accessed later. The advantage of that, was that mind-images were kept along with the report, enabling everybody to view them later. Since accidents happened, every report was kept on three different Mencrystals, that was stored in three different places.

That meant that for someone to fiddle with the reports, they had to have access to three different places, which only high-ranking members of the Ordo Presidium had. Unfortunately, it also implied, that the Baylon mage in the mind-images either had connection in high places or was a high-ranking member himself, and both options were bad.

Another point to consider was, that it was highly unlikely, that I wouldn't discovered that the mind images missing soon after being released from the hospital. They were after all described in the report and since they were missing, someone would ask me about them.

For a moment, I wondered why the Dominus Grande haven't mentioned them in his message but then realized, that he had read the original reports before they were sent on and thus didn't know the mind-images were missing from the later versions.

The timeframe was also worrying. Those who had removed the mind-images must have known that it would only take a few days after I had been released from the hospital before it was discovered. So, whatever they had to do, required that the mind-image of the mage didn't reach public for seven to eight days or so. It also meant, that either the job was finished now or....

"< Tits of the Goddess >" I cursed. "< That's how they got from the Western Anchor, to the Southern Anchor and then back to Baylon in time. They were gated to Baylon by the Unknown Mage! >"

Verina sighed and nodded. "< I agree... and the Mage most likely got them away from the Capitol again, since three undetectable strangers would be easy to find. Basically, all it takes is to round up everybody that can't be detected and start the interrogations >" She grinned a humourless grin. "< I heard they briefly suspected both you and Dominus Grande Maximus, but both of you had an impeccable alibies. You were in a coma in the hospital and the Old Man was in the Senate, waiting for the High King >"

I nodded slowly. With a natural ability to be undetectable being so rare, it was normal that the Securitas had checked out those they knew had that ability first. That way they could eliminate us as suspects and move on.

Taking Verina's hand, I sent her the mind-Images I had gotten from Chuzara. "< Anyone you recognize? >"

She was silent for a while, but finally said, "< No, but the mage looks somewhat familiar. I just can't place him >"

Suddenly not feeling hungry anymore, I dumped the remains of my food in a trashcan. "< I'm going to change the plans. Instead of going home or to my parents, I'm going to Grove to visit my sister. You on the other hand is going directly to Arcem >" I smiled weakly at her. "< That's an order. You need to deliver the mind-images to the Dominus Grande and Sabia Lartius. After that, I want you to call in Varro and give him the images as well. The more people you can get them to, the better, but don't leave Arcem for a week or so >"

"< Yes, sir >" said Verina, understanding the seriousness of the matter.

"< Good. Then I'll do my best to make it look like I obey my orders and go on vacation >"

"< Wise.. and take care >"

"< You too >"

Just to be on the safe side, I walked Verina to the Ordo Vectio building, where she was gated to Arcem. To the irritation of the mage doing the gating, I stayed in the gating room, keeping mind contact with Verina, until she told me, that she had arrived at Arcem. Then I thanked the mage and teleported myself to a small forest just outside Grove, where my parents used to take my sister and I for walks when we were younger. It might be me that was overly cautious, but if somebody was tracking me, I wanted to give them as hard a time as possible trying to follow me.

The first thing I noticed when I arrived, was the black mountains that loomed in the horizon. They had been a constant sight as I grew up and as I walked into the city, I found that I had missed them.

Grove was the only major city that was located this close to the mountains, which was the reason for it had escaped almost untouched by the Disease, since Grove wasn't a city you passed through on the way to anywhere else. As the last city before the mountains, important people only visited Grove when they had business there and that had enabled the quarantine rule to come into effect before the city was contaminated.

After having used an Ars Mentalis trick to locate my sister, I walked down the main road with a slight smile on my face. A city filled with artists, musicians, and scholars from the Acedemia Major (Baylon: 'University'), Grove was not only a beautiful city, but a lively one as well.

I walked past café's, where students were drinking and eating, while they debated problems of every kind. Others were playing music, board games or flirting. It looked so relaxed and peaceful, that I felt tempted to sit down and listen to them for a while, but while I was pondering that, I saw my twin sister sitting at a table, chatting with another woman.

Instead of going right over to her, I leaned against a column and observed her.

As she had been away from Grove the last time I visited, it had been almost a year since I last saw her, but she looked pretty much the same... and with that, I mean that she looked really good.

Most of it was natural, but a few things weren't. Some years ago, she had asked me to use my healing powers to correct a few things she found irritating, and I did it for her as a birthday present. Her teeth had been straightened, a few birthmarks had been removed and any unwanted hair had been removed permanently.

By themselves, these changes weren't that big, but the overall impression had become better, and she was a beauty to start with.

According to our parents, I had taken after our mother's side of the family and she had taken after our father's side, which basically meant that we were mirror images of each other. I'm a good Mentat and fighter, who have a few Ars Magica spells and the scholastic skills to back up my profession. She's a good Ars Magica user and Scholar, who have a bit Ars Mentalis and some combat skills, which our mother had taught her. I'm a quick thinker, while she's clever and have more brainpower than anyone else I know, with the possible exception of Verina.

Since our parents insisted that we learned the 'classic social' skills, we can both dance and play the lute, but she's a better dancer than I am. On the other hand, I'm much better on a lute. She likes candy and I like stuffed dates. Of course, we're similar on a lot of other areas, but we're different enough not to have the sibling rivalry that so many others have.

The woman my sister was talking with had long brown hair framing a face that was almost as good-looking as my sister, though her skin-tone was somewhat darker. A glimmer from her hands caught my eyes and I realized that she was wearing a mage ring. Not that it was much of a surprise, since my sister spent so much time at the university, that she usually met her partners there.

Returning my attention to my sister, I reached out with my mind and contacted her. She blinked a few times as she recognized the 'feel' of my thoughts.

"< Hello Chili >" I thought. Her name is Pandora, but I've been calling her Chili since we were teenagers.

"< Ivah! >" she exclaimed. "< Are you home or on assignment? >"

"< I'm on vacation >" I thought with amusement as I saw her leaning back in the seat with a smile.

"< I'm glad you're coming home. Where are you now?"

"< Look away from the girl you're trying score and look to your right. >"

She did as I said and at the same time, I stepped out from the shadow of the column.

A moment later, I had a happy young woman around my neck, hugging me.

"Ivah! So nice to see you!" she grinned and kissed my cheek.

"Hello, Chili." I said as I placed her on the ground again and noticed that the young woman by the table was looking hard at me. It was the kind of look you send to a rival who have an unfair advantage. Pandora turned around towards her and said, "Atia, this is my brother Ivah and Ivah, this is Atia."

That piece of information made Atia smile as she nodded to me. "Nice to meet you, Ivah. Have a seat."

I did as she said and sat down on a chair. "Hello. I hope that I didn't interrupt anything."

"No, no." said Atia and signalled a waiter, who came over to the table immediately.

Still being hungry, I ordered some seared water- and honey melons, a spicy burger, stuffed dates as dessert and cider to go with it all.

Pandora laughed. "Do you ever get tired of filled dates?"

Smiling back, I shook my head "No and to be honest, I don't get it that often."

Eyeing the sword bag, Atia asked, "Are you an Imperial Guard?"

"No, I'm working for Ordo Praesidium in Securitas Interna."

"Nice." She said with a smile, which told me that she most likely wasn't from a noble family.

The good thing about working for Securitas Interna was that it was quite popular among the common people, since it was the place where they could get help, if they were cheated by government officials, Mages or Mentats, or were victims of corruption or incompetence. On the other hand, most nobles hated us as all misuses of power fell under our jurisdiction, which meant that we could and would drag them to court if they misused their rights.

"So, are you on job or vacation here?" Atia continued.

"Vacation." I said with a chuckle. "My boss insisted that I needed one."

"And he was probably right." Added Pandora with a smile. "You're not really known for relaxing that much. Actually ..."

She was interrupted by a waiter that arrived with the seared melons.

"Saved by the bell." Atia said as she looked from me to Chili.

"Not me." I said, "Chili here may know a few stories about me... but I know a lot more stories about her."

Atia blinked a few times and looked at Pandora. "Chili?"

"Childhood nickname." Pandora said with a shrug.

"I like it!" Atia said, flashing a wide smile at my twin. "Chili!"

"Now see what you have done!" Pandora said and sent me a stern look, but a smile was visible at the edge of her lips. "You're ruining my reputation here!"

"Naaah." I said with a grin. "Alcohol does that, not me."

Atia looked questioningly at me. "Is there a story behind that?"

"Not one that is mine to tell." I answered with a smile. "So, what have you two been planning for the afternoon?"

"We're going to the theatre to see a play." Said Atia immediately. "You're welcome to join us."

It had been a long time since I've had the time to enjoy a play, but almost as soon as Atia had uttered the words, I could feel that both of them wanted to be alone at the theatre.

"Thanks for the offer, but if it's okay with your, Chili, I would rather just relax in the house."

"No problem." Said Pandora and drank from her cup.

"< Oh brother of mine >" Said Pandora's voice in my head. "< Could you do me a favour and tell me if I have a chance with her? She's sweet, fun and intelligent and I want her, so please use your investigating training or something >"

I chewed on a melon as I sent back. "< Take her with you and buy some more tea >"

A moment later Pandora almost dragged Atia up to get some more tea, while I looked at them laughing and talking.

Hands, eyes, and body language tell more than people know and after seeing the way Atia's eyes kept lingering at my sister's mouth and ran over her body as well as the way that she kept touching Chili's arm as the talked, left me in no doubt that she wanted Pandora. A few other details made me even more certain, among them the look Atia had sent me before she knew I was Chilli' brother, and I smiled as my sister looked at me and nodded shortly to her.

"< Are you sure? >" she asked mentally.

"< As sure as I can be without reading her mind and that's illegal >"

There was a mental laughter, and she closed the connection with a "< Thank you >"

Two glass later, Chilli and Atia walked to the amphitheatre to watch the play, and I walked 'home' to the house I had grown up in to relax.

-------------------

I felt much better when I woke up the next day. The healing had completed during the night and the tiredness was gone, only to have been replaced by hunger, so after the usual morning routines, I walked to the kitchen to get some food.

I had planned to make something simple, but Kima, the elderly house maid, had prepared three delicious looking plated with freshly baked bread, cheese, and fruits, so after thanking her, I took a plate and walked into the garden to eat there. Kima had been there as long as I could remember and since she had seen both Chilli and I grow up, she tended to treat us as her own grandchildren.

She was also an excellent cook, and I was enjoying the meal, when Chilli and Atia walked into the garden hand in hand. I wasn't surprised. I had been sleeping when they had returned to the house, but during the evening I had been briefly awakened by the sound of them sharing pleasure.

"Good morning." I greeted them cheerfully. "Slept well?"

"Yes." Said Chilli with a smile as she sat down in a sofa.

"Extremely well." Added Atia as she sat down next to my sister and gave her a kiss. "Oh, and the play was very good as well."

Chilli nodded agreement and together they explained about the play, while I ate the rest of my meal. One of the characters in the play had been an Inquisitor called Ghost, who always appeared out of nowhere to the surprise of the rest of the cast and the amusement of the audience.

"You really should have seen it, Ivah." giggled Chili. "It was hilarious."

"If I have the time, I will see it one of the nearest days." I promised.

"You know, my brother Quintus actually met an inquisitor once." Said Atia as she absently played with Chili's hair with one hand.

My sister looked at her and kissed her hand, before asking. "What happened?"

"Oh, he won't say much about it, but he was working as a guard for the Pulcher family and apparently one of the magi there had illegally caught a magical creature. However, the creature escaped and as the mage was trying to kill it, an inquisitor showed up, knocked the mage out and arrested him." She chuckled. "Quintus said he was sure he and the other guard were next, but the Inquisitor just announced who he was and after a questioning, my brother walked away a free man."

"Well, I guess that it's according to the law." Said Chili with a little smile and glanced over at me. "Have you heard about this?"

The question made me pause. Before the disease, there was no way that I would have answered that, but now that Ordo Gladius was an official order, I could at least give details that was already publicly known.

"Yes." I said with a nod. "As far as I remember, Mettius Clodius Pulcher was arrested for that crime some years ago."

"Mettius?" Chilli asked, surprise in her voice. "I went on a date with him once, but he turned out to be a creep. He even asked if I had thought about leaving Baylon for a while to see how it was to live in the colonies." She chuckled. "Not that living in the colonies is creepy, but the way he asked was."

I sat still for a moment, thoughts racing in my head. I knew, that the Pulchers had been working on becoming a power in the human world for a long time, but as I had told Master Vibius of Ordo Arbites at the debriefing so long ago, such a plan only made sense if the Baylon Empire wasn't there to oppose it.

"I have a serious question for you." I said to Chili. "Well, two actually."

"Ask away." She answered, still kissing Atia's hand.

"What would happen, if all the Dimensional Anchors were removed?"

That got her attention and she turned towards me. "You're kidding, right? Every man, woman and child know that... Baylon would return to our home dimension!"

Atia nodded in agreement.

I chuckled. As Chili had said, everyone did know that. It was part of the general education, but there was one part the teachers usually left out. "No, I meant, what would happen here? In this dimension. Nobody ever talks about that."

"Oh." She looked thoughtful for a moment, and I could almost see her mind starting to dissect the problem. "Well, first of all, Baylon is the largest power node on the planet and if it disappeared, the whole structure of Lower Magic would be destroyed." I must have looked clueless because Atia smiled and added. "That means no more magic for the humans... At the very least, it would be severely limited."

I nodded slowly. Since humans didn't have the Centre Potentia to control the magic, that made sense. Chili saw the nod and continued. "How the removal of a power node will affect the world, is anyone's guess." She looked at Atia. "What's your opinion?"

The brunette looked into the air over my head as she thought it over and looked at me again. "My guess is that magic will stop working and that's about it... unless they screw up one of the rituals and doesn't manage to remove all three anchors for some reason."

"What will happen then?"

"It takes at least two anchors to hold Baylon here, but if one remains while the other two is removed, Baylon will start to re-enter our own dimension along with the power from the node." Her face contorted in a grimace. "At some point the lines of power leading to the node will snap and return through the dimensions. Violently return, I might add, because that will destabilize the dimensional rift, causing shockwaves to run through the planet. Floods, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions will happen all over the planet and wipe out most of the human civilizations."

I frowned at the unpleasant thought. "Will Baylon be affected?"

Chili shook her head. "It'll get hit, but not enough to break through the shield. I can give you the calculations if you want. We did them as an assignment some months ago. Mostly because now is the best time to do it."

"What do you mean?" I asked as a sinking feeling started in my stomach.

"As you probably know, traveling through the dimensions depends on the energies, which in turn depends on the planets position in the solar system."

I nodded slowly. That was the reason for the political debate in the Senate.

Atia saw the nod and continued. "Right now, the alignment is so perfect, that if the anchors were removed for some reason, Baylon would return to its home dimension in six days without the need for any form of active guidance."

"I did not know that." I admitted, as the sinking feeling in my stomach became worse. The tale of how Magister Grande ex Magica, Flavia Porcius Dives and others had sacrificed their lived to guide Baylon to this dimension was well-known. However, if such guidance weren't needed, no one needed to sacrifice their lives and I could see how that would please the magi, making it even more likely that something was going to happen soon.

I looked over at Chilli, as I reached out and connected with her. "Could I get the calculations, please?"

As a Mentat, I have always been much better at mathematics that my mage sister and I have helped her with calculations since we were teenagers, since I was able to reach her even from Arcem, where I had spent most of my time. Complex formula entered my brain and as so often before, I recalculated everything, but there were no mistakes. Still, something that I couldn't quite place my finger on kept nagging me, so I kept studying the calculation. Suddenly a piece caught my attention.

"According to this, the best time to do this is today." I said slowly. "Is that true?"

Both Chilli and Atia nodded in unison, with Chilli adding. "Yes, but as the Senate have already voted against it, that not going to happen." She shrugged lightly. "You said you had two questions, what was the other one?"

"Do you know who this guy is?" I said and projected the mind-image of the Unknown Mage to them.

They looked surprised for a moment, but then Atia slowly said. "That's Angus Nigrus Cor... Our teacher in Dimensional Magic."

Chilli nodded. "And the one that gave us the assignment with the calculations."

The name Cor echoed in my head for a moment. "Please don't tell me, that Angus Nigrus Cor is related to Dominus Grande Cor of the Ordo Presidium. Also known as the Boss of my Boss."

Chilli swallowed something. "The Dominus Grande is Angus Cor's Uncle."

I sighed. The Ordo Presidium controlled both the Securitas' and Ordo Gladius, and if the Dominus Grande was in on the plan, it explained so many things. Like how they had known which prison Chuzara had been taken to, the authority to change reports, the inability of the Securitas Interna and the Imperial Guard to find the small group, and how Angus Nigrus Cor had known how to Gate to all the anchors. Since the security of the Anchors also sorted under the Ordo Presidium, the Dominus Grande could easily have given any of the information to his nephew, or Angus Cor could have stolen the information from his uncle.

The only bright point in all this, was that Dominus Grande Cor was a politically appointed noble and so high up in the system, that he would have little to no idea about what individual Inquisitors could do.

Without warning, the house shook as a wave of magical power rolled over us, making me see stars for a moment, while Atia collapsed in the sofa and Chili screamed, hands cradling her head and I could see blood running out her nose, while vases fell from shelves and paintings came crashing down. Another wave hit us, shaking the house again and increasing Chili's nosebleed.

"Dear Goddess, let them take the third Anchor as well." I prayed in a low voice, hoping for another wave, but nothing happened.

Taking a deep breath, I cleared my head and reached out with my senses to quickly examined my sister, but the nosebleed wasn't serious, so I transferred it to myself and stopped it with a simple trick, before I turned my attention to Atia. Fortunately, the wave of power had just knocked her out cold and she would wake up in some hours.

Remembering Kima, I hurriedly walked to the kitchen and was relieved, when I found her unconscious on the floor. It was bad, but at least not as bad as if she had fallen onto the stove.

A quick examination showed that she, like Atia, had just been knocked out and would be fine in a few hours. Just to be on the safe side, I used a healing Vis power to speed up the recovery.

A thought suddenly struck me. Vis Vitae!

Every living creature contains a certain amount, but in death it gets released as Vis Mortem or negative Vis. Being a weak force, Vis is rarely physically felt, but it did have an effect like Magic and Mental energy, meaning that it could and would affect a dimensional rift.

Another factor would be the sheer amount of energy such an event would create. Atia had said that shockwaves would wipe out a lot of humans and even a weak force like Vis could create massive effects with that amount of energy. Especially since humans had a lot more Vis than any other creature on the planet and that was really what mattered.

I walked back to Pandora, while my brain accelerated as the shockwave formula flashed through it, but this time I added a low estimate of the Vis energy that would be released at the same time, if some of the largest cities in the world were wiped out. The eighty thousand people in Babylon and Waset, as well as the more than hundred thousand people in Pi-Ramses and Yinxu.

The result wasn't good, as the amount of force now reached a level, where it was touch and go if the shields held or not and that was just the major cities. I added a few smaller cities and ran the calculations again. I had just entered the garden, when the new results showed it was more likely than not, that both Baylon and this world would be devastated.

I cursed loudly, causing Chili to ask. "What is wrong?"

"We have a serious problem." I stated and quickly explained about Vis to her. As a weak force, magi weren't taught about it, and she needed to know before I could move on. Then I showed her my calculations. "This is your calculations, but with the inclusion of life energy."

Chili blinked a few times, her eyes wide with horror. "Not good... not good at all."

"Agreed. Some quick questions. Is there any chance they can remake the anchors?"

"No." said Chili with a shake of her head. "The other planets in the solar system affect any dimensional spells and their position is totally wrong."

I nodded with a sigh. The disappearance of two of the Dimensional Anchors, meant that the Return was going to happen no-matter what I or anyone else did, and the only thing I could do was to try getting the last anchor removed before it was too late.

Reaching out with my mind, I tried to contact first the Ordo and then the Dominus Grande, but to no avail. Somebody must have activated the emergency wards, which blocked all powered communication.

That puzzled me. At this point Baylon would return no matter what happened, so cutting off communication didn't make sense, if it were connected to the Return itself. That meant, that is was most aimed at something else, since the planners of this seemed to be both intelligent and organized.

Then I felt like slapping myself. The most likely target of the communication cut-off was... Me and Dominus Grande Maximus. The planners had no way of knowing that I would wake up at least two days early and by stopping powered communication, they had minimized the chance of either Dominus Grande Maximus or I could transfer the incriminating mind-image of Angus Nigrus Cor to anyone else. That would lower the chance that they would be arrested and if they managed to assassinate both Dominus Grande Maximus and me, they might even get away with it.

If that was the case, getting to Arcem Discendi was easier said than done. At least from Grove. The sheer distance from Baylon to Arcem meant that after the Disease, only the Ordo Vectio in the Capitol had mages that were good enough to send me all the way in one go. However, if the communication stop were aimed at me, the Ordo Vectio building in the Capitol would be guarded by troops meant to stop me, and the only reason why I managed to get to Grove in the first place, had to be due to my early awakening. Not no mention, that just getting out of Grove would be a challenge all by itself if they were actively looking for me.

The thought made me chuckle at myself. To be honest, there was an equal chance that I was vastly overestimating my own importance in this, but on the other hand, I would rather err on the side of caution than being ambushed in the Ordo Vectio building or sent directly to jail or some private prison on the Cor family estate.

I looked at my sister. "If we assume, that the anchors weren't dispelled by a ritual, but right out destroyed, how did they do it?"

"Oh... most likely with some kind of anti-magic device. If the magic of the anchors is negated for half a glass or so, they will implode on themselves." She said absently, but then looked at me with large eyes. "No! That's way too dangerous!"

"Not more than being blown to pieces by staying here and watch Baylon fall apart as the energy crush the shields." I stood up. "Now you need to gate or teleport to the Capitol along with Atia and hide somewhere safe. If our opponents are as skilled as I think, and if their plan is to remain hidden, they'll try to eliminate you."

"What?" exclaimed Chilli, as she looked at me with shock in her eyes, but before I had a chance to explain, she nodded slowly. "Sorry... I get it. You and I have been in contact, so no-matter if I have seen the mind-image or not, I'm a liability that must be eliminated."

"Exactly my thoughts, so bring Atia and yourself to safety."

"What about you? Where're you going?"

"Arcem Discendi... hm... By the way, do you still have grandmother's old stuff?"

"Yeah, it's in the last guest room as always." She sighed. "I should have cleared it out long ago, but I miss her too much." She tilted her head. "Why Arcem? That's the first place they will look."

"I need an anti-magic device or two." I said drily. "Since that's the only way to blow the last anchor."

For a moment, Chili looked like she was going to protest, but she knew me well enough to recognize a lost battle when she saw one. Instead, she gave me a hug. "Take care, Ivah, and be fast. Our calculations showed that it only takes about three days from the disappearance of the anchors before the lines of power leading to the node snaps and return through the dimensional rift." She held up a finger. "One more thing. Once the lines of power snaps, you only have about half a glass before any gates leading to Baylon will stop working."

"Thank you. Now get out of here."

She nodded, walked over to Atia, and leaned down to touch her. Then she cast a teleport spell and grimaced. "Apparently, teleporting out of the city is impossible at the moment. They must have activated the wards."

I had feared that much, so I nodded. "I guess so. Do you have another place?"

Pandora nodded, cast the spell again and a moment later, I was alone in the room.

The problem I had right now, was that even if I could get out of the city and away from the wards, I didn't have the range to teleport to Lescare or even to one of the colonies. The only Power that could do that was Gates and I never had the skill in Magic to learn how to make those.

Varro could, but unless Verina had gotten hold of him, he was in the Capitol and I was fairly certain that the Capitol was locked down as well, eliminating everybody I knew there.

An idea popped up in my head. Tia Magnus was still enchanting items in the crafting halls of the Ordo Architectus (Baylon: Order of Engineers), and she was more than capable to gate from Baylon to the colonies. It had a been a couple of years since we saw each other, but with our jobs and the chaos the Disease had caused, that was to be expected.

More to the point, Ordo Architectus had almost total control over the forging halls and even the Dominus Grande of the Ordo Presidium would need a very good reason for them to lock down their halls.

Still formulating a plan in my head, I walked to the back of the house where my grand mothers' stuff was located. As typical for her, everything was neatly packed in square baskets with labels on them and placed on shelves, making it easier to find what you were looking for.

As a result, I quickly found what I had been looking for, which was a big basket named 'Costumes'. My grandmother had loved costume balls and always kept usable costumes in her house, which was one of the reason Pandora and I had loved visiting her. Right now, it was a chance for me to find a disguise, that could get me out of the city, so I could get hold of Tia Magnus.

Placing the basket on the floor, I quickly looked it through, trying to find something I could use. Unfortunately, since they had belonged to my grandmother, the costumes were for females, which limited their usefulness a lot.

In the end, I opted for a mage costume, since the traditional mage robe would hide both the iron silk clothes and the sword, and with the hood up, it would cover my face just enough to make me hard to recognize.

Satisfied, I walked into the garden and used a childhood path through the bushes to get to the street on the other side of the house than the main entrance, and then walked towards the city gates in a tempo that suggested that this mage wasn't in a hurry.

Choosing the smaller roads, I arrived at the city gates without any problems, but that was as far as my luck held, because the open square in front of the gate was suspiciously quiet. Normally, there were people entering and leaving all the time, but now, it seemed almost deserted aside from the city guards, who looked extremely alert, and a few people sitting in the small open area outside a café, looking they were debating something. With the waves of power that had swept over the city that was understandable.

The waves would also explain why the gates were locked and the lack of ordinary people, but it still made my danger sense scream that it was a trap, so I activated the usual combat Mind Tricks as I turned left and walked to the main street to see in something was blocking the traffic. To my relief, there was, which made my use of the combat tricks feel rather unnecessary. There was a large group of wounded people outside the hospital, waiting to get in and they were blocking any traffic of the road.

Relieved, I turned and walked towards the gate, taking my captains badge from the pouch and as I walked. There wasn't a city guard in the whole of Baylon that would deny an Inquisitor the right to passage, so I simply walked over the guard, showed the seal, and got a salute in return. "Have a nic..."

Sensing an incoming attack, I rolled to the left as a fireball exploded right between the guard and the place where I had been standing, cutting off the guard's sentence as she fell screaming to the ground.

Without thinking, I flowed into the state of Mutatur Tempus Mente (Baylon: "Time shall be changed in the mind."). My brain accelerated and everything else slowed to a crawl, as I activated the adrenaline in my body, and sprinted away from the guard, glancing around to get a sense of the situation.

It wasn't good, as about a dozen people in dark red uniforms had suddenly appeared near the walls of the houses that surrounded the square in front of the gate, effectively covering every exit. Some wore weapons and had dark red armors, while others wore dark red robes of the style magi preferred, but all had a facemask that obscured their identity.

Elemental spells of fire, light and ice hammered into the wall behind me as I moved into cover behind a wooden cart, pausing to rip off the fake mage robe and get my weapons, as I slipped into Vis Meditation to activate Pugna Promptu to alert me of attacks.

One against twelve was not good odds. Especially not if many of them were magi. With a sigh, I activate an Ars Mentalis trick that should have teleported me to the other Gate, but nothing happened, proving that they had also activated the wards that prevented any form of teleports within the city itself. Not only was that a potential death sentence for me, but it also showed that they had access to the city defenses at the highest level.

My mind searched for ways out of the situation, that didn't include combat, but with the teleport being unusable, it was hard to see how it could be done.

An idea struck me. One that was so simple, it might work. Taking a deep breath, I shouted. "This is Inquisitor Captain Spectre of the Ordo Gladius. Lay down your weapons and surrender." Just to be on the safe side, I used mental communication to send out the same message to everyone within the square.

It had seemed like a good idea, but just as I had finished shouting, a fireball exploded against the cart, proving that they weren't about to just surrender.

Time to dance with the Goddess of Death again.

A movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. Slipping into Vis Meditation yet again, I activated Vigor Pugio (Baylon: 'Energy Daggers'). Immediately a shimmering throwing dagger of concentrated Vis appeared in my free hand and with a flick of the wrist, I sent it into the chest of yet another dark red figure that had appeared on top of the city walls. A new Energy Dagger appeared in my hand as soon as the first one was thrown.

The figure fell to the ground with a crash as I infused mental energy into Shadow Fang. Like the other times I had used that ability, I could feel the blade contract as it got sharper.

Magic hummed in the air and the cart I was hiding behind suddenly turned to dust, revealing seven soldiers in dark red armors coming my way. All seven of them were holding a round shield with the same dark red colour, and all were wielding swords.

I went into action, activating an advanced version of the Mico Gradus (Baylon: "Flash Step") Vis Power, which allowed me to move incredible fast for a short distance, while still being able to react to my surroundings. Then I dashed between the seven warriors, hitting each as I passed them, slashing through armor, flesh and bone with each hit, wounding or killing them.

They fell, but one of the magi fired a glittering Bolt of Ice my way. I parried it with my sword, sending it into a wall. Then I noticed that a dozen more people clad in dark red uniforms had appeared in the plaza. They must have arrived while I was behind the cart.

Cursing to myself, I used a telekinesis trick to reach out with my mind, taking hold of the swords my attackers had dropped and hurled them toward a group of five magi. The spinning swords glittered in the sunlight for a heartbeat and then slammed into the magi, cutting through their robes and painted the wall behind them red with blood.

Standing still in a combat against magi was always a bad idea, and I was about to move again, when Pugna Promptu warned me of three incoming attacks from a trio of magi to my right.

Moving away as fast as I could, I managed to dodge one of the elemental bolts and parry another, although the third attack, an Icebolt, hit me in the side. The Iron Silk stiffened lessening the blow, but pain shot through my body as several rips broke from the force of the bolt. Gritting my teeth, I blocked the pain, and sent a shimmering Energy Dagger into the facemask of a mage.

More elemental bolt left the rest of the magi, but before they could hit, I used Mico Gradus again, as I sprinted towards a group of soldiers, throwing two Energy Daggers as I moved past the remaining two magi in the trio. The bolts flew past me, but the daggers hit, sending them to the ground before they could cast another spell.

Another spell hit me, but this time it wasn't an elemental bolt spell and thus not something I could dodge or even know where it was coming from. Powerful Ars Magica tore into my body, breaking bones, and rending flesh. Screaming with pain, I sent out a wave of mental energy that caused the group of soldiers to stagger as the wave stunned them. Unfortunately, the magi were out of range for the mental scream, which meant that I had to avoid them somehow.

Using a moment to block the pain again, I dashed into the group of soldiers, where the magi couldn't hit me without hitting their own people. Shadow Fang glittered in the air, cleaving the chest of a soldier. He fell to the ground and I sent two Energy Daggers through the space where he had been standing, impaling a mage some twenty cubits away. He must had been uttering an extremely powerful spell, because when my knife interrupted the spell, he staggered for a heartbeat, before his head exploded, as the magical forces he had been gathering suddenly had nowhere to go.

I dodged the attack from one of the three remaining soldiers in the group I was in and took off the head of one of them with Shadow Fang, being careful not to expose myself to the magi. Fortunately, the soldiers were a lot less skills than they looked, and I continued to dance around them, as I sent the next Energy Dagger into the chest of yet another mage.

A soldier died when a Lightning Bolt missed me and hit him in the chest, blasting right through him to hit a wall some thirty cubit away. Lightning Bolt is a much more powerful spell than the Ice- and Firebolts the other magi had cast, and I instinctively focused on the mage that had cast the spell, marking her as dangerous in my mind.

Impaling the last soldiers with the sword, I dodged around him and used telekinesis to hurl three of the dropped swords into the dangerous mage. The first one bounced of an invisible barrier, but the next two hit her head and chest, killing her instantly.

That left only the two magi who had flanked the Lightning Bolt caster and I didn't want to give them time to do anything, so I threw yet other knife at the nearest one, just to make the mage dodge and interrupt his spells. To my pleasant surprise, he either didn't see it coming or was preoccupied with the spell casting, because it buried itself to the hilt in his chest, killing him.

Activating the Mico Gradus (Baylon: "Flash Step") Vis Power again, I dashed to the right, dodging a fireball from the last mage, and before he knew what was happening, I was next to him. There was a surprised look on his face as Shadow Fang pierced his heart with a stab, but the expression disappeared when I jammed an Energy Dagger through his temple, destroying his brain.

The made all my visible opponents dead, but I doubted that they were the only one here, so I moved towards the gate as fast as I could, while using an Ars Mentalis trick to detect mind-patterns.

Four patterns showed up where there were no people to see, positioned in pairs by the walls to each side of the gate.

Pugna Promptu screamed to me, that an attack was incoming, so I hurriedly sent out a cone of mental energy that slammed a pair of magi against the wall they were standing by. They became visible as they crumbled to the ground as two broken dolls.

Two gleaming bolts of Ice raced towards me from the other two magi and while I managed to parry one of them, the other bolt was so badly aimed that it took me by surprise and hit my upper right leg. There was a sound like a dry piece of wood snapping in two, as my leg broke, sending me tumbling to the ground.

Still being in the slow, secure world of Mutatur Tempus Mente, falling took a long time in my head and before I even hit the ground, I had sent out a mental attack, that sent both into a coma.

Just as I lifted my head to ensure that I had gotten them all, a force picked me up from the ground and threw me through the air towards the city walls. I had just enough presence of mind to turn in the air, so I didn't hit it with my head, but the impact broke even more bones and knocked the air out of my body.

Shimmering chains of magical energy surrounded my body the moment I hit the ground, making movement or escape almost impossible. As I looked up, I saw a lone figure walking towards me in a slow measured pace. A bolt of stone left his hands and slammed into my body before it continued, only to turn and hit me again, breaking the arm I had lifted to protect my head.

And again. Breaking the other leg with so much force that if I haven't been clad in Iron Silk, it would have amputated the leg.

And again. Mangling my hand and causing me to drop my sword, as the bones in the fingers was smashed to pieces.

And again. Shattering my shoulder as the bolt disintegrated against the Iron Silk.

My world was pain and to make it worse, I could only watch as the blurred figure cast another bolt of stone. Fortunately, I was still in the slow, secure world of Mutatur Tempus Mente and that gave me just enough time to create an invisible forcefield around myself before the bolt hit.

It didn't stop the stone bolt, but along with the Iron Silk armor, it did reduce the damage a lot, as the bolt hit me just as many times as the first one. One of them hit me in the head and I must have passed out for a moment, because the next thing I remember was looking at the face of Angus Nigrus Cor, as he kneeled beside me, with a frown on his face.

"I don't know how you're still alive, Inquisitor Emilian, but I hope you suffer." He showed his teeth in a humorless smile. "You have been a pain for years."

I tried to speak, to tell him that his actions would destroy Baylon, but nothing came out.

"Oh, too hurt to speak?" He shrugged lightly. "That matters little. You failed, we succeeded. Baylon will return to its home dimension."

Ignoring his taunts, I tried to use mental communication to tell him the same as before, but for some reason, it was blocked.

He laughed, wriggling his hand in front of my eyes. A ring with a glowing red stone caught my eye. "See this ring? This makes me immune to mind attacks, so just give up trying."

"Fool." I managed to say, finally getting my mouth to work for just one word.

That took him by surprise, but the surprise quickly turned into anger and a heartbeat later my head rang as he hit me in the face. Fortunately, the forcefield trick was still working, so the punch was rather weak. Still with all the damage I had taken, it still made lights appear in my eyes.

Hitting the forcefield seemed to piss him off, but with a visible effort, he brought his temper under control. "Never mind. You're going to die here and now."

He started to cast a spell.

Slipping into Vis-meditation of a heartbeat, I activated a power that allowed me to drag something to me, and then used it on him. His eyes widened as he was pulled into his own energy chains, burning his hands, and interrupting his spellcasting.

Even better was that the energy chain spell did exactly what it was designed to do. It dissolved when their creator touched them and at the same time, I used the only power I could think off, that wasn't a mind attack.

Every Mentat healer used the Tralativa (Baylon: Transfer) trick to transfer a wound or any other problem from the patient to the healer, since Mentat healers could only heal themselves. What few people knew, was that this trick, like several other tricks, could be reversed if the Mentat is skilled enough.

The reverse version is called Vindicta sanantis (Baylon: Revenge of the Healer) and will transfer wounds from the healer to whomever he or she is touching.

Gathering the mental energy, I headbutted him, releasing the Vindicta sanantis as my forehead smashed his nose, breaking it.

To my amazement, it went through his defenses and a shimmering field surrounded us both for a few heartbeats as time and space was twisted, and I transferred every single wound I had gotten during the fight to him. The broken, shattered, or pulverized bones, the mangled flesh, the ruptured tendons and muscles, and every bruise, scrape and minor bleeding that came with them, disappeared from my body, and materialized on Angus Cor.

A wave of relief soared through me, as my body returned to normal, and the pain suddenly disappeared, but Angus Nigrus Cor didn't fare so well.

He shook violently as the Vindicta sanantis sundered his body, the noise of multiple bones breaking at the same time sounding like a giant stepping on a pile of dried twigs. Wide-eyed, he opened his mouth in a silent scream and fell to the ground, passed out from the pain.

Shaking my head to clear it, I took a moment to check myself and after confirming that everything was as it should be, I took hold of Shadow Fang and stood, as I looked around. It felt like the fight had taken hours, but I doubted it had lasted for more than a few minutes, judging from the still stunned expression of the few remaining people in the square.

A city guard patrol came running toward me, clubs at the ready.

Holding up my Inquisitor seal, I quickly identified myself, using both vocal and mind-speech. Since it's incredible difficult to lie over mind-speech, that seemed to calm them down somewhat.

The Sergeant saluted. "Well met, Inquisitor Spectre. How can we assist you?"

I blinked a few times in surprise when I realized that I knew the leader. It was Sertor Claudius Galba, the nephew of Sky Knight Galba of the Dragon Riders, and one of the students I had met in Arcem Discendi along with Sabia Lartius about five years ago.

Reaching out with my mind, I asked "< May I ask what are you doing here, Sertor Galba? Shouldn't you be in Arcem Discendi? >"

"< Yes, sir. I'm here to learn how the city guard work. This is my second tour >"

Since any Inquisitor would be required to work with the city guard from time to time, spending time being one had always been a part of the education, but most students only did it once and my guess was that he was being punished for something. Not that it mattered right now.

Verbally, I said. "Good to meet you again, Sergeant Galba. I need you to place this mage, as well as any survivors from the combat, under arrest: They're involved in the plot to assassinate the High King."

That got their attention and Galba's eyes turned hard as he looked at Angus Nigrus Cor. "Yes, sir."

Focusing on Sergeant Galba, I reached out with my mind and sent a fast recap of the combat to him. He would need it to understand what had happened. Then I finished verbally with. "He cannot wake up or be allowed to escape. The same goes for all the people dressed in those dark red uniform. I want them all to stand trial."

The sergeant nodded. "We'll take care of them. They're not going anywhere." Looking around, he added. "May I ask what those red uniforms are? I've never seen them before."

I shrugged slightly. "I don't know. It's the first time I've seen them as well." I pondered it for a few heartbeats. "Guard me."

"Yes, sir."

Reaching down, I placed a hand on Angus Nigrus Cor's forehead and reached out to read his mind. Unfortunately, his mind-shield was extremely tough and trying to read his thoughts was like running into a stone wall. I sighed as I realized, that there was no way I was going to get through that shield anytime soon and time wasn't exactly my friend.

I opened my eyes again and looked at the Sergeant. "I can't read his mind right now, so that will have to wait. I advise you to gather the witness and safe them safe as well." I paused for a moment to think it over and then continued. "Oh, you need to remove his items. Some of them makes him immune to Powers."

One of the guards grinned widely and took a pair of pliers from her belt. "We got this covered, sir. It's not the first time we had to arrest a mage."

"Good. Please do it now." I turned towards Galba again. "I have to leave. Can you open the gate for me?"

"Yes, sir." Said Galba and took a wand from his belt. "Allow me."

We walked to the gate, where he used the wand to unlock the gate for me and said his goodbyes, while I opened the small door and walked outside, aiming for the small forest where I had arrived yesterday.

The thought made me shake my head. Everything moved so fast, that it was hard to believe that it was only yesterday I got out of the hospital.

When I has entered the forest, I stopped and reached out with my mind to complete the plan I had made a glass earlier. "< Hello Tia >"

"< Ivah! >" came the happy answer. "< Are you in the neighbourhood? >"

"< Not yet. Listen, I really need your help right now and it's serious >"

There was a slight pause where I assumed, that she was thinking it over. "< Can you tell me more about it? >"

"< Not without putting you in danger and that is not going to happen >"

There was a mental laughter, as she replied. "< Fair, I guess. What do you need? >"

"< I'll tell you later. Can I teleport to your room? >"

"< No. I've gotten a new room, so you're not familiar with this one. Here's an image >"

A mental image followed, showing a room that was larger than the old one, but just as luxurious, with Kemetian art and carvings.

"< Nice >" I commented as I locked the image in my mind and used the Ars Mentalis trick that would teleport me there.

A few heartbeats later, I was standing in the room in front of Tia, who was sitting on a richly decorated Kemetian style chair. She was looking just as good as the last time I saw her, with the long red curly hair framing her pretty face and highlighting her sparkling green eyes. However, her clothes were different as she was wearing the robe of a Dominus in the Ordo Architectus, the highest rank a pure mage could get in the Ordo. The Dominus Grande had always been both a smith and a mage and I doubted that was going to change ever.

The smile on her face disappeared the moment she saw me. "Goddess! What happened?"

Surprised, I looked down at myself. I had forgotten to clean myself after the fight in Grove and despite the Iron Silk taking the blunt of the attacks, I was still filled with dust, sweat and blood. I shrugged lightly. "No worries, most of it isn't mine."

She snorted as she stood up. "What have you gotten yourself into?"

"Politics." I said with a sigh. "Oh, congrats on the promotion, by the way."

"Thanks, but I have a feeling that this is even more serious that you said." Tia said. "How bad is it?"

"The end of Baylon bad." I said, as thought were spinning in my head. I had promised myself not to tell her more than necessary, but with her now being a Dominus, perhaps it was more prudent to just tell her the whole thing, so there was a witness more in case I didn't return. "Is the Dominus Grande here?"

Tia shook her head. "No, he was called to the Capitol for a meeting earlier."

"Makes sense." I mumbled and used the usual Cleaning trick on my clothes before I said. "If you want to know what is happening, I will tell you, but we need to go to Kemet or any of the colonies first."

I didn't know the extent of the wards or the capability of the mages, so I wanted to get to a place from where I could reach the last anchor just in case the magi closed Baylon down. If that was even possible.

Tia studied me for a long moment and then nodded, smiling slightly. "Let it never be said that I refused a request from a royal Healer. Kemet it is. Your place?"

I shook my head. "Your place is safer."

She sent me a thoughtful look, but instead of asking, she cast a longer spell and a shimmering portal appeared in front of us. On the other side, I could see a typical gating room, except that this one had a beautiful mosaic in the form of an Eye of Horus. Drawing my sword just in case somebody was there, I walked through followed by Tia.

-------------

Except for the servants, the place proved to be empty and a little while later, we were sitting in a garden with a mug of cider each.

"So, what's so serious that it has gotten you all paranoid?" Tia asked, as she leaned back in the chair and drank some of the cider.

"Well, do you know the old saying 'it isn't paranoia if they really are out to get you'?" I said, causing Tia to chuckle and nod. "Yes, I've heard that a few times."

"Good, so listen to this and then you can determine if it's one or the other."

I took a moment to gather my thoughts, switched to mental communication and then told her everything from the start, adding mind-images to show her exactly what I was talking about. I started with the investigation of the pirates in Alashiya, the discovery of the Pulchers holdings in the human world, the half-Baylon mage in Alashiya and the discovery Varro and I made in Wilusa with the cursed swords, that had led to the raid on the Pulchers castles.

"< That's flaming crazy. Everybody have heard about the raid and the arrest of the Pulcher family, but I didn't know that you were involved >" remarked Tia, slightly wide-eyed with surprise.

"< It gets worse >" I sent grimly and continued my tale with the start of the Disease and the conclusions I had reached at that time, where the Pulcher plot only made sense, if Baylon wasn't in the world to oppose the Pulchers planned empire, and that they were the ones that had fabricated the Disease. Then I moved on to the interrogation of Chuzara in the prison in Drusus and the mind-images I had gotten there.

"< Wow, wow >" Sent Tia as soon as I showed the mind-images to her. "< He looks like the teacher in Dimensional Magic in Grove ... Angus Nigrus Cor! >"

"< Yes, I know that now, but I didn't know back then. Actually, I only discovered that today when I got out of the hospital >"

"< Hospital?! >"

"< Yes. The hospital >" I explained about my arrest and release, the raid on the prison, the disappearance of Chuzara and my tracking of them, that ended when I got my throat cut.

"< Wait a minute. 'A job in the north'? Do you think they were responsible for the assassination attempt on the High King? >"

"< Yes, but to be honest, that doesn't really matter right now >"

Tia looked at me in disbelief, as I recounted my talk with Pandora and Atia, as well as our recalculations of the shield strength, showing that the shields on Baylon would fail, if the third anchor weren't taken down. I finished the story by showing her the combat on the small plaza in front of the gate in Grove, and how Angus Nigrus Cor had tried to kill me, before I took him down.

There was silence in the room when I was finished, but after a little while, Tia said. "< Shit, that story is something else and no, you're not paranoid >" She thought for a moment. "< We need to stop this, but there's a something I can't figure out: What is the connection between the Pulchers and the Cor? >"

"< Well, the Pulchers clearly needed Baylon to be gone and the Cor is in a perfect position and mindset to pull that off, which the Pulchers simply didn't have the magi for. The Cor family wanted Baylon to return to its own dimension, and while I don't know for sure, I think that the Pulchers used their forbidden magic to breed a group of half-bloods, that were not only undetectable by powers, but also immune to the Disease. That way they could get into the quarantined cities and steal the magical items they needed, and that was exactly what the Cor family needed for their plot. Basically, these plans started out as two different plots, that just happened to benefit from, and feed off each other >"

Tia nodded and sighed. "< Unfortunately, that makes sense. The ring you saw on Angus Nigrus Cor is extremely rare and one of these rings disappeared from the Ordo Ars Magica quarter in Gesso during the disease. Using a healing Ars Mentalis was either extremely lucky or a stroke of genius, as that is the only type of Ars Mentalis the ring won't stop >" She drank some more cider, while she thought. "< What can I do to help? >"

"< Gate me to Lescare. I need the equipment there to take away the third anchor and I need it as soon as possible. If Dominus Grande Cor of the Ordo Presidium is in on this, he can declare me an enemy of Baylon and try to have the Securitas Interna arrest me. However, until he knows that Angus Cor have been placed under arrest, he doesn't have a reason to do so, which buy us some time >" I smiled a little. "< That they have blocked powered communication in and out of Grove works against them right now, but that will not continue >"

Tia nodded and stood. "< Let's go >" She smiled wryly. "< I might not be a combat mage, but at least I can transport you around, so we have a chance to stop this >"

"< Thank you >" I said and stood as well.

The dream blurred, flickered, and disappeared as the darkness came back