The cellar storeroom was cramped and cold, but well lit. The barrels, sacks, and crates were pushed and stacked against the walls, making room for a table, with its chairs off to one side. Claudia leaned over the table, her palms flat on the surface, as she read the messages that had come in from the network of agents. The tapping of her foot on the stone floor in the otherwise silent chamber rapped as steady as a metronome, even as two of her attendants stood across from her, waiting for orders. She took deep breaths to help keep her focus as best she could, to better process the information before reacting. She shuffled through the pages to confirm the last of the reports, and looked up at the two figures across the table. The tapping stopped. “This is everything?”
The older, gray-bearded man cleared his throat and spoke up with some hesitation. “Mistress, we’re still waiting on the report from the Reach. We were expecting it earlier, but it may have been delayed by the storm last night.”
“As you can see, Mistress, the field reports are coming back with little news or development.” The younger woman spoke with more confidence than her male counterpart, but fell flat as Claudia’s bright green eyes met her own. She swallowed hard. “Previous reports showed progress on infiltration into the Ravenguard ranks, and our agents are laying low to gain trust.”
Claudia rapped her fingers on the table in a roll, her eyes moving back to the man and down to the table again. “They’re plotting something, I’m sure.” She stood up straight and folded her arms across her chest. Her eyes narrowed in concern, focused on the empty space between the other two. “It’s been a month since our last skirmish out in the open, and I’m sure they’re using their own spies to get leverage on our operation. One of the benefits of keeping a low headcount: we’re hard to pin down.” Claudia raised a hand and traced the tattoo-covered scar on the side of her head before running her hand through her red hair, up past the undercut on the side. “As much as I wouldn’t mind a fight, we’re trying to save innocents here. Keep them out of the fray as much as we can. Bastion, do we have a timetable for how long the ‘guard will be in this town?”
“We do know they’re moving soon. Even in the public view, it looks like they’re staging for a march, but at this point, we don’t know where to.” Bastion pulled a map that was rolled up on the side of the table, covering the reports. “Based on their numbers, they likely came from Thornside, so we believe there won’t be any more soldiers coming in. There isn’t enough to be an occupying force, so we don’t think that they’re going to Clearfield or Faust, and the ‘guard already have a presence in Meridian, Southgate, and Windwall.” After pointing all these locations out on the map accordingly, Bastion pulled back from the table and clasped his hands over his bulging stomach. “The local areas make no sense. But we know they’re going somewhere, probably much further out.”
Claudia blinked a moment and took a deep breath. “That doesn’t make sense. They know something we don’t.” She rubbed her hand across her face in exhaustion. As great of a tactician as Claudia was, unknown variables always put her on her back foot. The lack of information at hand was not inspiring a lot of confidence for her. “Rosa? Anything?”
She shrugged lightly. “Honestly, it makes no sense for them to move with a small force like this. They’re more like an expedition than a strike force.”
“Expedition?”
“Yes, the three agents we have infiltrating were told to bring their own tools if able. A lot of rope, canvas tents, hunting knives, and a bunch of other things. Like they’re camping out in the countryside.”
Shit. They found the Champion.
“It could be that they’re scouting regions for expansion. Maybe looking for a larger staging ground.” Rosa put her well-manicured hands on the map to pull it out a little further and pointed. “The ‘guard largely spread westward before being halted by local upstarts and our own resistance. Granted, we’re on the southern edge of their forces, but they haven’t gone much further than that in quite some time. They could go East, but the only thing there is–”
“The Reach.” Claudia’s eyes scanned the map in front of her, silence filling the room. She shifted the weight to her other foot and tilted her head. She whispered to herself, “I need to know more.” She blinked another moment in thought and exhaled hard. “You can go, Bastion, I’m sure the taproom will be filling up soon. Thank you.”
The graybeard nodded his head to both women. “Mistress. Rosa.”
As he approached the wooden door, Rosa turned. “Bastion? Would it be a bother to get some food and drink down here for her?”
He turned and smiled. “None at all. I’ll be back shortly.” The door creaked and shut with a heavy thump.
“I’m not hungry.” Claudia started to pace the cramped area on her side of the table. She straightened her tunic and patted down her leather trousers. When she came to a stop, she exhaled deep and leaned against a wooden pillar. Heavy footsteps started sound off in the taproom kitchen overhead, catching her gaze. “We’ve been at a standstill for eleven days. They know something.”
Rosa pulled a chair over to the table and sat down, taking care to not get any splinters into the skirt of her long, dark dress. “First of all, Mistress, you haven’t eaten anything all day. You need to eat.” She began to roll up the map on the table and tie it off with a cord, placing it at one end. “Second, of course they know something, but just because we know that doesn’t help us figure out what.”
Claudia brought her eyes back down and to the side, avoiding contact. “I think they found him.”
“Found who?”
“The Champion.”
Rosa scoffed. “The Champion of Three is a myth. Rumors and stories of a savior for decades, but without any proof or evidence they exist. Witness accounts always change. Is it a man? Is it a woman? Gods, I’ve even heard it was a child! Besides, there’s no reason to think this Champion will be any threat to the Ravenguard.”
“Rosa, I appreciate your candor. I appreciate your insight. I’m fairly certain you know forbidden magics to keep a youthful visage. But there are things that are beyond even you.” Claudia walked back to the table and leaned over it, hands flat on the surface once again. “I’m sure you’ve seen your share of unbelievable shit in your time as Spymaster before you were ousted, so why is it so hard to believe in the miraculous?”
Rosa tilted her head in a half shrug. “When you lose faith in what you followed your whole life, it’s hard to have faith in anything else at all.”
Claudia pulled her head back lightly in surprise. “That is… surprisingly upfront of you. You don’t talk about your past that much.”
“I’ve gotten over it.” Rosa smiled slightly from the corner of her mouth as her eyes wandered. They snapped back to Claudia. “But that’s all you’re getting. For now.”
The door cracked open a little bit, then pushed open wider as Bastion came back into the room, hands full with a tankard and a plate of food. Rosa cleared the field reports on the table and made room for him to set everything down. “As I recall, you happened to like the house ale, and I got bread and a side of meat to go with the stew. Mistress. Rosa.” Bastion nodded to each of them and left the room once again.
Rosa watched him leave. “Bastion has been quite the host since we came to Salem. Something to be said about that man.”
“We saved his life and he believes in our cause. For a tavern owner, he’s gone far beyond out of his way to help us and shelter us. And the nature of his business means we have eyes and ears on the people around here.” Claudia took a deep breath in thought, the savory scent of the meat and stew invaded her senses, and her stomach growled in response. Her head dropped and she pulled another chair from the side to the table. Sitting down, her eyes met Rosa’s as she smiled and glanced at the food between them. A sharp exhale later, Claudia pulled the plate and tankard to her side of the table and began to eat.
“You should sleep, too, Mistress.” Rosa watched quietly as Claudia ate, ignoring what was said.
After taking a long drink from the tankard, Claudia stiffened a little and let out a belch. Her immediate hunger addressed, she slowed down, taking a moment to savor the taste of the stew. She blinked and stared into nothing contently. “I’ll be fine.”
“If I may be candid, you could probably use a good fucking, too.”
Her shoulders tightened at the comment, bringing her full attention back to Rosa, her green eyes wide in the offense taken. “I’ll settle for the food and sleep. You may go.”
Rosa nodded coyly and stood up. “I’m sure things will turn out fine, but I’ll come right away when the report from the Reach comes in. Mistress.” She nodded again, straightened the long scarf draped over her shoulders, and approached the door, when a knock came on the other side.
Claudia looked up from the table and saw Rosa open the door and speak with Bastion quietly before he moved aside and another, shorter figure came into the room behind Rosa, while Bastion followed last, closing the door behind him. Claudia finished her food as they approached and stood from her seat.
“Word from the Reach. Finally.” Rosa and Bastion flanked the young man in the middle, maybe just out of his teenage years. “Go on, son.” Bastion patted him on the shoulder and gestured to the table with his other hand.
“Apologies for the delay, Mistress. There were a number of obstacles that kept me from–”
“The report, please.” Rosa placed her hand on his other shoulder, and though it seemed like he was being held in place, he straightened up and spoke clearly and confidently.
“Arcanist Roth in the Reach was able to extract a witness account from a villager, and he adamantly believes that we have a first hand sighting of the fabled Champion of Three.” The messenger pulled out a thick, sealed envelope, placing it on the table, and a long scroll wrapped with a leather cord. He handed it to Claudia. “He was insistent that this was to be handed to you directly, Mistress. The full details are in the report.” He looked to Bastion and Rosa each, and she removed her hand from his shoulder. “Mistress.” He nodded and Bastion led him from the room, closing the door behind them.
Rosa broke the seal on the letter and unfolded the report. As she read it silently, Claudia watched her in anticipation, holding the scroll. “What does it say, exactly?”
Rosa shuffled through the sheets to find the specific details, the first pages of the report mostly noted the current status of the area. When she finally found the specifics, she summarized them aloud. “He says that he knows how much rumor and speculation surrounds the figure, and went to extraordinary lengths to confirm the account. He was able to imprint the memory from the villager to the provided scroll, and made every effort to determine his current whereabouts. As of this writing–dated the 7th of the Harvest Circle, three days ago–he was spotted traveling with a male Geth towards a village in the northern end of the Reach. The witness account comes from an incident in which the figure in question healed a child with one hand and… killed an elderly woman with the other. Supposedly, the boy was sick, and the elderly woman, his grandmother, willingly offered her ‘life force’ to save him. The memory imprinted is from the next day, when they rode out in the morning. He’s sent a pair of trackers to investigate. Awaiting orders to bring him in.” Rosa set down the papers on the table and looked to Claudia. “Mistress. Is it true? He’s real?”
“Sometimes we need proof before faith, Rosa.” Untying the cord, Claudia unrolled the scroll on the table, showing a black and white, life-like portrait turning to see the viewer. Short, dark hair, fair skin, sunken eyes and a stubbly beard. His face was narrow, but not gaunt. A thin scar ran almost parallel along the top of his left eyebrow. The bottom of the image had the date notated as HC8, signed by Roth, and pressed with his wax seal. Claudia took deep, steady breaths as she took in the image. “The Ravenguard is going to the Reach. I had a feeling, and this just confirms it.” She swallowed dryly, and her stomach started to knot. “We need to sabotage that expedition and make way ourselves. Send word to Roth. Let him know that we’re coming to him and we’re not the only ones looking for… this figure.”
“Yes, Mistress.” Rosa nodded and hurried out of the room with purpose.
Alone in the room, Claudia’s composure broke, and she collapsed into the chair, elbows on the table, face in her hands. She started to cry, her breath short and sharp. The pain in her stomach had mostly subsided, but the unease still washed over her like a panicked sickness, her skin prickling all over. It took a moment to collect herself, taking long, deep breaths. She wiped her eyes and stared at the image before her. After everything I’ve done, after everything I’ve sacrificed, everything and everyone I’ve fought to avenge you, Gideon. After all these years.
You’re alive?
Aberrant Arcade 