12 Miles Below

The soldiers all glanced at me then, guilty looks in their eyes. Caught.

“Not what we need to talk about right now.” I said, avoiding the topic, sheathing my sword and taking a step out of the estate grounds. “Captain Sagrius, the woman? Is she all right?”

I didn’t see her among the men. Neither carried, nor walking around. My gut lurched as I realized what Sagrius was going to tell me.

“Sir, we attempted to search for her but were intercepted by slaver knights attempting to follow behind your trail. We fought them off until the Shadowsong prime arrived on scene and finished them off. He ordered us to follow lockstep behind, over my protests.”

I turned to look at Shadowsong who met my gaze without looking away. “You were more important.” He simply said, booking no argument.

“Sagrius, can you handle the rest of the fallout here? Do a full search of the estate for anyone that might have survived the attack.” I said, already stalking forward.

He gave me a quick salute. “It will be done, master Keith.”

Shadowsong stepped in my path, one arm reaching out to block my way. “Is this wise?” He asked.

“I made a promise.”

“I’m in armor. And you’re here with me, along with my guards. It’ll take a feather to take us down at this point. Don’t deny me this, Ikusari. I’ve seen too many people die today.”

Maybe using his full name got his attention here on how important this was to me. He tilted his head to view the courtyard, the damages caused, and then nodded.

I found the corridor I’d left. Journey’s headlights lit the way in, breaking the spell of darkness. Orange HUD lines revealed multiple different spectrums of light ahead, analysing everything. We'd run into only small pockets of resistance now. Slavers who hadn't gotten the message to retreat. Defeating the ten slaver knights that had assaulted House Winterscar broke the enemy back.

“This is where you separated?” Shadowsong asked.

I gave him a nod as we all continued. “What happened to you after we ran?” I asked.

“Their reinforcements never arrived. In the corridor confines, they were unable to surround me. I slaughtered the animals, and I did not allow them to run.” Shadowsong said. “As your captain explained, the expected reinforcement were handled by your men. I should have had you remain at my side in hindsight.”

“We couldn’t have known.” I said. “Doesn’t matter now. How many knights did they attack the dance hall with in total?”

“Three I killed, three were killed by your men, and another nine are dead in your estate grounds. And one escapee lurking somewhere in the clan. Fifteen knights in total.”

“Have we found out how they snuck into the colony?”

“Wolves pretending to be men.” Shadowsong said. “They carried their armor in crates, as if carrying spare scrap. Dressed as clan members from different castes. Once they came near their targets, they suited up in the shadows and attacked. I know of three simultaneous strikes so far. One on the Logi center operations, one on Lord Atius’s estate, and the last here at the dance hall.”

"Scrapshit, they really tried to take on Atius? I thought they were bluffing.”

“So I have heard.” Shadowsong said. “They wouldn’t have done so without being prepared for it. I fear that they have successfully stalled him somehow.”

Red came into the headlights, outlined in orange lines as Journey pointed out the pattern. It had rusted into a brown color, but I recognized the footprints. Ellie.

I doubled my speed, following the tracks as they continued down the hallway. They remained straight and focused, up until a larger pool of blood and nothing else. Boxes and crates were scattered around, but nothing else. Ellie must have bandaged her wounds somehow. Or found a makeshift boot of some kind.

“Crates and supplies here have been disturbed.” Shadowsong said. “Moved from their original spots at the side of the corridor.”

“A leftover hoversled she found? Took the supplies off of it, and then used it to escape?”

“Unlikely. There is dust on some of these boxes, and outlines on the ground where they’d been moved from.”

A weak voice spoke, directly above me. “K-keith?”

Instantly, my headlights flashed straight up to the source. There, I found Ellie. Pale, wedged into a crook in the ceiling. Her leg had been bandaged up by a torn part of her dress. Soaked red. Relief flooded through me, an odd sensation to experience given the fuge-like distance the Winterblossom technique granted. If I hadn't been controlling my movements with my mind, I might have collapsed on my knees just now.

Why had I been worried in the first place? Ellie was a survivor. Of course she'd come up with a plan to evade the slavers. It didn’t take long to get her brought down, the Winterscar guards already surrounding her, taking out their medkits and undoing her makeshift bandage, peeling away the slowly coagulating blood.

“She’s been shot four times in the leg.” I said, Journey having done a quick scan of her head to toe. The armor superimposed the position of the lodged bullets. “Pincers.” I called out.

They were in my hands before I had even turned my head. The soldiers were taking out the next set of tools and items needed for bullet wounds with practiced efficiency. They knew the basic drills since childhood, every Retainer did. One of them injected Ellie with a painkiller. She grimaced.

“Funny.” She said, words slurring slightly. "Never once thought I’d be the one on the other end of it, picking the safe route instead. That stuff works fast.”

I extracted the first bullet, tossing it on the ground and leaving the wound alone. “You always were good at finding ways to avoid expeditions. Never understood that myself, expeditions were where the best loot could be brought back. You missed out.”

Another winterscar was already wiping the area and dressing the wound as I worked on the second bullet. Journey showed me a full heads up display. Ellie was technically dying of blood loss according to the armor, but it was preventable. Especially with Journey showing me every step needed to do the job well.

No countdowns this time. No unhealable wound.

“Never liked fighting.” Ellie shrugged. “Or scavenging. Or gore. I know a lot of others would have killed to have a chance at recovering salvage for profit, but I always figured there were more efficient ways to make money that didn't involve a high chance of ending up in a crevice or under a tombstone.”

“You’re dying of blood loss, and you’re still thinking about money.” I deadpanned, withdrawing the next bullet.

“Oh please, stop being so dramatic.” She slapped the side of my gauntlet, chiding. “You would be panicking a lot more if that armor of yours wasn’t sure it could save me. And then I'd be more worried. You’re a terrible liar.”

“In my defense, a lot of angry people think I’m an excellent one.” I hummed, wrapping up the third bullet and moving onto the last. Shadowsong scoffed behind me, as if personally insulted. But he remained silent otherwise, keeping a watchful eye down the corridors.

The last bullet was extracted, and I let the soldiers handle the rest, picking her up once it was all said and done.

“She would be safer if dropped into a house nearby.” Shadowsong motioned with a hand. “The slavers are not here for valuables. Keeping her on hand will expose her to danger.”

“No, I’m taking her back t-”

There was a static hiss on the comms, and then chatter erupted. “Clan communications restored.” Cathida said over the din. “Nice of them to finally get that done. I don't know about you, deary, but I'm quite curious to see what's going on around the area.”

The clan was in shambles, but mostly unscathed except for a few surgical positions that had been attacked and destroyed. A raider strike force had raced across the white wastes in the middle of the operation, attacking the outer defenses and breaking turrets and railguns while the comms systems were down. They’d been repelled, but not without the defenses suffering damages. A highly coordinated attack.

My guards and I surveyed the dance hall, searching for any signs of fighting. Once the knights had left trying to hunt after me, the slaver foot soldiers had been without support and disorganized, deep into enemy territory. They’d been shot down the moment people began to smell weakness in the air. Maybe a bit before that point. But once it was spotted that the slaver knights were no longer loitering around, things took a sour turn for the rank and file.

What we found was mostly dead slavers being dragged into a pile. A few had tried to break rank and vanish among the clan superstructure, but the Chenobi were now prowling around, it was a matter of time until they were hunted down and exterminated. Chenobi were the shiv in the darkness, the knife even clan lords used.

Damage reports were coming in. Five knights had attacked the Logi castes at different sections. An estimated one hundred mercenaries on foot with variable gear. More information was coming in. Other places of interest that were held by slaver knight strikes. What they hadn’t anticipated the Winterblossom wielding clan knights. Once the surprise element had passed and the clan rallied, the slavers were on borrowed time up until one of our knights walked into the same room.

The only knight reported to have escaped was the slaver leader, who’d cut rank and ran early compared to the others across the colony. Those had only realized the writing on the snow too late, when they’d already gotten surrounded. Explosives packed within their armors ignited whenever any were taken alive. Often to their own surprise, as a few had agreed to surrender after seeing their friends eliminated. It seemed whoever had planned the attack made sure no one could be taken alive to reveal any secrets.

Casualties on the colony side ranked into the hundreds, mostly civilians caught in cross fires. Or brave souls that tried to get in the way despite lacking the training and combat abilities to make much of a difference.

On the other hand, the clan was now twenty two armors richer. The most massive haul in our history. And most of that armor went to either House Shadowsong, or House Winterscar. It was a haul that was surely going to make things messy in the future.

What was left was cleanup. Logi comms directed anyone with firepower, reestablishing kill zones and taking command again of the situation. A small army of knights were directed to verify what the Chosen were up to as the first order of business, only to find the people there none-the-wiser at what was going on. They'd been too far deep to hear anything or be caught in any crossfires. Still, a barricade was setup and all of them had been rounded and held under watch.

I left Ellie behind with one of my guards, giving him orders to take her back to my estate grounds while I reluctantly followed my duty and assisted with the round up.

Shadowsong and I were sent to the thicker sections of fighting, but no knights were left to fight us. It was cleanup against enemy combatants who had no weapons capable of dealing damage to either of us. Only one had brought an Occult knife with him, and that hardly changed his fate. Soon it turned into a hunt for rats hiding away. Took hours, and the Logi were still not satisfied that all the rats had been exterminated.

Halfway through the operations, a chenobi dropped from above, right before my guards and Shadowsong.

Synthetic feathers gave his shoulders a wide appearance, the long robe’s colors blending in well with the metal background, with exception to a wide reed hat, that did no favors with the beige color. Behind the white demon mask he wore, it was up to anyone’s guess who he was. Chenobi were typically the clan lord’s personal guard and operatives, though there were plenty who joined ranks with other Houses depending on their situation. It was rumored they could sneak everywhere in the clan, and were the greatest spies on the surface.

Which meant that the real Chenobi were usually out in the open, dressed like normal civilians and just living their life. Considering this one was suited up in the full regalia ill-suited for combat, he was here as a messenger of sorts. Or he was pretending to be a Chenobi.

What wasn’t a question was the signet he carried. The sign of the clan lord, authentic as Journey confirmed.

Shadowsong withdrew his blade, back into the scabbard. He’d nearly decapitated the man during the drop, halting only at the last second.

The Chenobi made no motion of having noticed. “This one greets the honored House Masters. I have come with a message and an order. Lord Atius instructed me prior, that should anything happen to him, I was to report the events directly to you, Shadowsong Prime.”

Shadowsong turned his head, “Has something happened to the clan lord?”

“Yes. We have lost contact with him and he has not been found anywhere as of yet. His quarters have seen an explosion, and his armor was found with a blade struck through it. We suspect assassins have made an attempt on his life at the start of the chaos, given the evidence of a fight we found left behind. This is the message I was sent to deliver.”

“If he’s been killed, we can ask him in an hour once he returns.” Shadowsong said, clearly unimpressed.

The chenobi shook his head. “The situation is different.”

"I'll be the judge of that. What was the order?"

The man turned that demon mask, looking at me. I could see dark brown eyes hidden deep inside. “In events of this kind of situation, instructions left were to bring Keith Winterscar to investigate.”

“He is going nowhere without me to accompany.” Shadowsong growled. "I cannot be completely sure of your identity. You may have stolen the signet you hold.”

The man shrugged, feathers rustling as he did. “I was not ordered to return with the Winterscar alone. Only that he is to be brought back. You and his guards may follow behind should you wish.”

Lord Atius slept near the center of the clan, in his own estate grounds. His room however was unrecognizable. Not because he lived differently than men. But because it had been the center of an explosion.

The winterscar guards remained at attention, eyeing Atius’s Chenobi guards. Those were all across the grounds, appearing and disappearing.

There was an overturned desk, nearly broken into small splinters. Ash was everywhere, likely from carbonized papers. The bed was equally unrecognizable. Screen panels had been ripped off their moorings, leaving broken glass over the blackened floor.

What caught the most attention was a relic armor, impaled on the wall. One large sword remained embedded deep within, a silver sword that I didn’t recognize. The armor had no helmet, instead it had fallen to the floor. I could tell this was Lord Atius’s armor, because it carried on the shoulder that traditional great fur cloak - and the armor was empty.

“Deathless break down after death.” The chenobi escort said at my side as I looked at the armor. “Their bodies vanish into dust after an hour, leaving everything behind.”

There were two other relic armors in the room. These ones were not empty. They each contained dead bodies and were more clearly decorated as slavers from what was left unscorched. The first had his head cut off. The second had a clean cut through the chest, which had been torn further open by the explosion. No other sign of damage otherwise.

“Two relic knights should never have been able to kill the lord.” Shadowsong said at my side. “This is unnatural.”

“They could have caught him by surprise.” I said. “Landed a few crippling hits at the start. It could be done. If they caught him sleeping...”

The chenobi motioned to the dead slaver knights. “We suspect there were more than these two. The attack could have been successful, but the explosion took them by surprise. The broken gauntlet in the lord’s armor makes us suspect he detonated a grenade in his hand. Given the noise, they were forced to leave without cleaning the site before the rest of the guards and knights could cut them off.”

“What makes you think that?” I asked.

“Our lord’s sword is missing. And one of the dead bodies clearly shows he’d used a blade to fight them off. We think the assassins took the sword but had no time to do more.”

“I do not see the urgency of all this.” Shadowsong said. “We need only to wait for the lord to return to life. He will be back within the hour.”

“The explosion happened three hours ago by our records.” The chenobi said. “There is still no sign of Lord Atius, neither within the clan nor outside. We believe these circumstances are more unique.”

“Explain.”

The chenobi didn’t answer, instead he turned to me, and pointed a hand to the impaling sword on the clan lord’s armor.

I got the message and made my way, hand reaching out to the hilt of that occult blade. The moment I touched it, I knew what this blade was. More importantly, I knew what it could do.

“A moment before the explosion, the servants nearby claimed they felt something.” The chenobi continued, speaking to Shadowsong. “A rip in reality, as they explained. Each described it the same way, and none would have had time to work together to come up with such a story. It may seem far-fetched, but my team could not put aside the possibility of this being true. Not where a Deathless is involved. The enemy may have come with a weapon tailored for the situation.”

“Sorcery of some kind?” Shadowsong asked. “Explain it in more detail, Chenobi.”

“Remember when the lord fought against that Feather, underground?” I asked, cutting into their chat.

He turned his helmet to me. I think he realized what I meant almost immediately. “You believe this blade has the same power?”

“I don’t believe anything, I know it does. Lord Atius’s sword felt like it had only a few charges left, this one feels like it has been freshly forged.”

“Do you know what happened to our lord?” The Chenobi asked quietly at my side. He was doing a great job at suppressing any emotion at least.

“He’s not dead.” I said, to which the room seemed to visibly relax. As if I had punctured the tension and allowed the air to leak away.

“Except?” Shadowsong asked.

“Except that he won’t return for some time. The blade delays that.”

“Days?” The Chenobi asked at my side.

I shook my head. “No. The clan lord told me that when this blade's ability is used on an immortal, their resurrection could be delayed by months, maybe a year even. At least against a Feather it worked like this. If the slavers used it here, they probably banked on this effect.”

“So that’s their counter to a Deathless in charge. They can’t defeat Lord Atius, they want him out of the way for the invasion.” Shadowsong summed up.

The guards around seemed to flinch at the statement, as did the chenobi loitering in the same room.

The chenobi to my side turned to Shadowsong and gave a bow. “As First Blade, it is your duty to deliver the news to the council and see to the transition of power while they deliberate a new clan lord to take on the mantle, until our Lord Atius returns for it.”

Shadowsong nodded, accepting the role without comment. He reached for the sword impaled into Lord Atius’s armor, turning it on to slip it out more easily. Then, he offered me the hilt. “You know what I want you to do with this weapon, Keith. See that it is done."

I took on the hilt of this strange blade. Pure silver white, with a purple hexagonal gem at the base of the blade, right before the hilt. Ornate, almost with vines stretched over it all. The inscription was legible, written in our words this time. No latin.

Weep, for I have come. And despair, for I will spare none.

“What happens now?” I asked.

"Now?" Shadowsong turned to look at me. "Now, we tend to our wounds. We rid the clan of these animals, then we prepare to step outside again, for burial and mourning. What comes after..." He took a breath, almost audiable in the silent room. "Lord Atius will not be here to guide us against the raiders, not in the time we have." He glanced around the room, taking attention of everyone. "There will be no hiding the assassination. Panic will take hold in the clan. That is unavoidable. They will need heroes to look up to in these dark times. Faith that even in his absence, they will be safe. That duty falls to us. Each of us will need to prove that we can face what comes next, alone, and without fail.

There is no other choice. We have no other choice. We can not fail our people.

The clan must survive.”

Next chapter - Epilogue

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