Grand Game 607: Shifting Allegiances

Tosh had a lot to say.

Some of what he had to share was no more than I expected, the rest, though… the rest, I found fascinating.

It turned out that neither Maricella, Elias, nor Jobe were Sworn, despite all three being elites. They were followers only—their Marks were proof enough of that—which explained why I’d received no alerts from the Adjudicator informing me of Muriel’s ire when they had died.

What Tosh had to say about Muriel was interesting too. She appeared to be a significant player in the Game, and was at least a major Power, if not a supreme one—Tosh wasn’t too clear on that point. It also explained, I supposed, why the three elites were mere followers and not Sworn. A Power of Muriel’s caliber no doubt commanded dozens, if not hundreds, of elite players.

Jobe himself was an inquisitor, and his magic worked especially well against those aligned with the opposing Forces of Dark and Shadow. It was how he’d unmasked me in the first place.

I’d thought I was being clever by forging my Marks and imprinting a Mark of Greater Shadow on my spirit signature, but according to Tosh, that was why I’d been revealed. No minion of Shadow or Dark could hide from the inquisitor’s gaze.

That in itself was another interesting tidbit of information and further validated what I knew of the doppelganger ability. It proved—conclusively—that Marks forged through it were more than skin-deep, and hostile spells would react to them as if they were real.

Tosh went on to confirm the name of Loken’s envoy. It was Frey, and like the three elites had said, rumors of her death were unverified. Tosh suspected she was still alive, as apparently did many Light players. In search of the truth, the Lightsworn commanders had sent more than one scouting expedition to the wyvern caves in the west, but what they had discovered, Tosh didn’t know.

The disposition of the armies in the sector was another curiosity. Before this, I would have bet on Dark winning the war, but by all accounts, they were losing—and decisively, too.

Despite all the marital strength commanded by the Tartan Legions, despite the Awakened Dead being entrenched in the adjoining dungeon, and despite Tartar and Ishita’s people both arriving in sector 12,560 before Muriel’s, they were losing.

And the primary reason for that was numbers.

Muriel had brought a host many times larger than the combined forces of Loken, Tartar, and the Awakened Dead. Now, her forces controlled the southern, eastern, and central regions of the valley. It was only over the western mountains—with the wyvern caves—and the northern ranges—where the dungeon entrance was located—that she did not hold sway.

The goblin tribes in the sector had been wiped out. Every other non-player force and minor faction had met the same fate. Now, only Muriel, Tartar, the Awakened Dead, and Loken contested the sector—and whether the trickster was still in a position to do so was questionable.

In fact, Muriel’s hold over the sector was so complete that she could claim the safe zone tomorrow if she wanted to. There was no one and nothing in the sector that could stop her from doing so.

But the same could not be said for forces outside of the sector.

Which was the primary reason Muriel had not moved to claim the sector just yet.

The Light Power was wary of a trap—either of Tartar’s making or Loken’s. If she repositioned her armies around the safe zone, she feared coming under a two-pronged assault launched from outside the safe zone by the existing forces in the sector, and from within by a newly-arrived army from elsewhere.

Certainly, both Tartar and Loken were both powerful enough, that if they so desired, they could field an army larger than the one Muriel already commanded in the sector. The Light Power knew this as well as anyone, which was why she was refusing to take the bait—if bait it was—and move prematurely against the safe zone.

Her plan—as far as a lowly player like Tosh understood it, anyway—was to ignore the safe zone until such time as she had full control over the sector.

And that was not proving easy.

Muriel’s numbers counted for little in the twisting, narrow tunnels which had formerly been home to the wyvern Besina, and which now presumably, was the refuge of Shadow.

The situation in the north was likewise complicated. While the Awakened Dead were a comparatively minor faction, they had an unassailable sector—Erebus’ dungeon—at their backs to continually draw on for resources and manpower. And if that wasn’t enough, their fortifications around the dungeon nether portal had been recently reinforced by the Tartans.

Something I’d never imagined happening.

But it seemed that the mixed force of Awakened Dead and Tartans I’d observed fleeing earlier were not an aberration as I’d hoped. Instead, they were a true reflection of the shifting alliances in the sector.

“And you’re certain Tartar has permanently allied himself with Erebus?” I asked Tosh for the second time. “It’s not just a temporary joining of convenience?”

“I am,” he replied. “Or at least Muriel’s Sworn are. They have told us so repeatedly.”

I pursed my lips. That was the problem with questioning rank and file soldiers. No matter how convinced I was of Tosh’s honesty, I couldn’t be sure what he was being told was the truth—and not just a self-serving version of it.

But try as I might I could see no reason for Muriel to lie to her own people about this. “Have you seen any evidence of—”

I broke off at a distant howl from the north.

Flicking up my hand, I signaled Tosh to halt. The two of us were traversing the forest by treetop. It was safer than traveling across the forest floor and the Lightsworn rogue was agile enough to manage the feat. Still and quiet, I listened intently.

The howl was not repeated.

Nor did my mindsight pick out any gathering of players—small or large—in the vicinity. The howl was just a howl, an ordinary forest sound. Judging it safe to continue, I gestured Tosh onward, and we resumed our journey west.

“Why would Tartar bind himself to Erebus through a Pact?” I murmured, more to myself than Tosh. That was what he had supposedly done according to the rogue.

“The Awakened Dead must have offered something too valuable to refuse in exchange,” Tosh replied, thinking the question was directed at him.

“And what might that be?” I muttered, not expecting an answer this time either.

The spectrum of possibilities was too vast to speculate on. The real question, though, was what did a Power who’d been around for millennia need so badly that he was willing to tie himself to a faction he reviled to get?

“Some sort of chalice,” Tosh replied matter-of-factly.

I stopped dead. “A chalice?” I repeated, turning around fully to stare at the rogue across the tree branch we strode. “You didn’t mention a chalice before.”

He shrugged. “You didn’t ask.”

I closed my eyes for a second, striving for patience. It was not Tosh’s fault, not exactly. He was not an ally in truth but had been forced into the role, and that, unfortunately, came with some downsides. While I might easily compel him to answer my questions, getting Tosh to volunteer potentially useful information was not as straightforward.

“Tell me about the chalice,” I ordered.

The rogue shrugged again. “I don’t know much about it except that the Awakened Dead have it, it’s been promised to Tartar, and Muriel wants it. We’ve been told to keep an eye out for the thing or any couriers that may be carrying it.”

“Muriel thinks the chalice is here? In this sector?”

“Yes.”

I frowned. “Assuming this chalice is the reason Tartar lowered himself to dealing with the Awakened Dead, why would Erebus bring it here? To a warzone of all places.”

“I don’t know.”

“Of course, you don’t,” I muttered.

Tosh opened his mouth to reply, but I waved aside his burgeoning protest before he could get the words out. “Describe the chalice to me.”

“It’s small, made of blood red crystals, and supposedly deadly to the touch.”

My frown deepened. I’d not been sure at first—the coincidence seemed a bit too fantastical—but now I had to wonder if the chalice Tosh spoke of was not the same one Loken wanted me to steal from the Power Paya. Certainly, the rogue’s descriptions seemed consistent with the one I’d received from Morin all those months ago when Loken had first tasked me with retrieving the artifact.

“What do you mean by ‘deadly to the touch’?” I asked softly.

“Just that. We were given strict orders not to attempt handling the chalice. Word amongst the rank and file is that the enchantments protecting the artifact are strong enough to kill at a touch.”

This, too, tallied with information I had on Loken’s chalice. The trickster had called it a Force artifact, and according to him, no Lightsworn or Shadowsworn could hold it. “So what were you supposed to do with the chalice after finding it?”

“Summon Muriel’s Sworn immediately.” Pulling out a small device from his pocket, Tosh held it up. “With this. I took it from Jobe’ s body.”

I glanced at the object in his hand. It looked like one of the remote triggers I used with my traps and had a small stud on the top. Reaching out with my will, I called up the device’s Game data.

The target is a: stone of calling. It is a rank 4 item that, on activation, alerts the linked caster and allows them to scry your location. It requires a minimum Magic of 16 to use.

I held out my arm. “I’ll take that.”

Obligingly, Tosh handed the item over.

“Thank you,” I murmured, stowing it away. “Now tell me, what does the chalice do?”

“No idea.”

I grunted, annoyed if unsurprised, by his ignorance. I’d been tasked to steal the thing and still knew damnably little about it. “Were you given any other information?”

Tosh shook his head.

That, too, was not unexpected. Sighing, I sank down to straddle the branch and rested my head against the tree’s trunk while I considered what I’d just learned.

The chalice Tosh spoke of and the chalice I’d been tasked to retrieve had to be one and the same—which made it leverage. Loken wanted it. Tartar did too. And now it appeared Muriel had an interest in the thing as well.

If I got my hands on it…

Opening my eyes, I stared at the rogue who was watching me with undisguised curiosity. “Have you heard of a Power called Paya?” I asked.

Tosh’s brows crinkled, puzzled by the apparent non-sequitur. “Yes, she’s one of the Powers in the Awakened Dead faction, isn’t she?”

“That’s right. What do you know about her?”

“Uhm…” He scratched his head. “Not much. She arrived in the sector about six weeks ago, but according to the scouts’ reports I remember seeing, she doesn’t command a significant force.”

So, Paya was in the sector as well. That stood to reason if the chalice was here. But wait… My eyes narrowed as something else Tosh had said caught my attention.

“You said Paya arrived six weeks ago,” I said slowly. “Are you sure about that?”

“Six weeks or thereabouts,” he temporized. “I couldn’t tell you the precise day if that’s what you’re asking.”

I waved away his qualification. “I don’t need the exact date. When did the hostilities resume between the Dark and Light?”

Tosh stared at me.

Seeing his blank look, I rephrased, “I mean when did the war begin in earnest.”

“Oh. Also six weeks ago.”

“Final question: when did Tartar ally himself with the Awakened Dead?”

“I can’t say for certain, but it was announced shortly after the war began.” He paused. “You see some significance to all of this?”

“Yes, I do,” I whispered. Bowing my head, I reviewed the timeline.

Erebus buys Tartar’s alliance with the chalice. They agree to do the exchange in sector 12,560. Paya arrives with the artifact. Muriel gets wind of the alliance and, fearful of what it may portend, attacks. After which, the alliance is announced to the troops.

I frowned. The chronology… fit. As far as Tosh’s tale went, anyway, but there were more pieces to this puzzle.

Roughly five weeks ago, in a move that smacked of desperation, was also when Frey had abducted Saya. Initially, I’d thought it was the war that had caused Loken’s envoy to act so, but now I had cause to rethink.

Why get me involved?

Realistically speaking, there was little I could do to stop a war between foes as powerful as Tartar and Muriel. And in hindsight, I realized I should have figured that out sooner.

It wasn’t the war that had pushed Frey to act.

It was the chalice.

The very same chalice that Loken appeared intent on keeping out of the Dark’s hands. What would the trickster do if he learned it was being given over to a Power as strong as Tartar?

Answer: whatever it took to prevent it from happening.

Up to and including kidnapping Saya.

I exhaled heavily as the implications sunk in. I’d come into the valley, assuming that whatever was going on, Loken was not involved. Indeed, I’d been working on the principle that neither the trickster nor his envoy would do anything overly rash because they still needed me to steal the chalice.

But if the chalice was already in play… all bets were off.

Isn’t that just peachy, I thought blackly as I realized my relatively simple plan to infiltrate Frey’s base, find Saya, and get out was no longer viable.

Now, I had to assume Loken himself was present in said base. And if that was true, there was no way I was going to penetrate it undetected.

Damn. Damn and damn. What in hells do I do now?

Not get ahead of yourself for one. Breathing in deeply, I set aside my worries for the future and, returning to my timeline, reordered the sequence into something that made more sense.

One: Paya arrives in the sector with the chalice.

Why would she do that? Well, perhaps the Awakened Dead had finally learned how to make use of it and were intending on employing it against their enemies.

Two: Muriel’s people find out about the artifact and attack.

Three: Staring annihilation in the face, the Awakened Dead turn to Tartar for help, promising him the chalice in exchange.

Four: The Dark Powers strike an alliance.

Five: Learning that the chalice is about to fall in Tartar’s hands, Frey gets desperate and tries to force me to act.

I nodded slowly. The new chronology fitted events even better and made clear what the key to the puzzle was: the chalice.

Obviously, I would have to get my hands on it.

And before Loken, Tartar, or Muriel could do so. Then I would have all the leverage I needed to secure Saya’s release.

I opened my eyes. I knew what I needed to do now.