Chapter 137: The bigger Picture

Berry followed Squirt through the hall and the library, a tension to her Squirt was surprised to find. She knew better than to comment on it.

Reaching the secret tunnel to the office, it was already open, low voices speaking in harsh, bitter tones.

Berry didn’t hesitate in her steps, but Squirt did notice her tensing, her shoulders lifting by a fraction of an inch as they exited into the room. Why, Squirt wasn’t entirely sure.

And the state of the office distracted her, anyway.

The room was oddly jumbled. Squirt hadn’t been back here in days, not since the last time Jezalin had been by, and she was momentarily stunned by what she found. Maps were spread carelessly around the room, not just on the tables and desks, but on the walls with colored wax pinned into clusters around all of Everwinter.

The comfortable couches had been moved back against the walls, the coffee table she had once slept under moved with them, a simple, large table taking up the center of the space. Dusty stood in a corner, clearly playing the role of meek servant even if his attention was rapt on the quiet conversation happening over the table.

Jul, Telos, and Cirn were all quietly pointing things out on the table, moving pieces around like a board. Each had bags under their eyes of exhaustion, their expressions filled with grim determination. Kenna stood at the head of the table closest to the desk, her expression equally grim. There was no Lowvyn or Tobias in the room, as Squirt suspected there hadn’t been in some time. Lowvyn would never have let things get as scattered as this.

Lord Everwinter himself was hunched, his back to Squirt, his usual cape almost scraping the floor as he leaned over the table, his hands spread wide and his fingers splayed to hold himself up, as if by spreading himself across the table he could hold the pieces of his fracturing territory together.

He turned at the attention of first Kenna, then the other three, glancing over his shoulder at Squirt.

Squirt faltered in her steps, her attention fixed on the lord.

He looked… thinner. Worn down. It hadn’t been that long since she’d last seen him, but…

Guilt curled uncomfortably in her chest. For once, she’d been given the freedom that a titled fey had not, and it didn’t feel like a triumph like she thought it might. It felt like betrayal.

He jerked his head, silently calling her over. One hand pulled back off the desk, and without a murmured command, he created a step stool for her out of water that would rise her up to look over the table comfortably.

She didn’t hesitate to clamber up it, the usual fluster at the accommodation other pixies wouldn’t need—as they would have just floated—gone in the wake of the severe air around them.

Telos, Cirn, and Jul straightened, ready and waiting to speak.

Squirt glanced over the map of Everwinter. Up north, there were two villages she recognized, one close to the mountains, the closest village to Skye Kingdom there was, another somewhat southeast of that one, the pattern drawing an unmistakable line in the direction of the Keep. Both villages were marked with game pieces of being conquered.

The lord reached over, tapping the map south of the keep, drawing her eyes to another village with the same game piece resting over it. It was just north of the border for what had once been Riverlands, south of the river.

The lord spoke first, his voice edged with a slight rasp Squirt didn’t recognize. “Six days ago, Telos was making the rounds to the villages on our borders and discovered that this one had been attacked. Lady Cirn and Hunter Jul were sent as backup.”

Squirt only blinked once at the fact that Jul had been apparently promoted, the otherwise happy news met only with grim determination on the usually borderline arrogant fey.

A glass of water appeared by the fire fata’s hand, and Squirt glanced at Berry’s own grim expression as she served the three mages.

The lord drew her attention once more as he continued. “Unusual weapons had been used. Explosions without residual magic at work to trace. Thirty dead, a hundred injured, in a village of two hundred and forty-three.”

Squirt swallowed. Not even the obliterated village in Norland had a death count nearly that high.

Telos spoke first. “I checked the wards. They were in place. Should anyone have targeted the village, I should have felt a warning at the very least. I did, for a village raid two months back from Skyian mercenaries. This? I had nothing. It was pure luck that I noticed at all. Had I not been here for the expansion, I would have already finished my rounds by the time they were attacked.”

Jul spoke next. “There were no traces of magic to follow. The best we got were strange boot prints.” He waved his hand over the table, a wash of his magic forming a perfect illusion of ground. Squirt frowned over it, immediately seeing why he’d called them strange.

The boot prints were intricate in a way that only a high-quality cordwainer would do as decoration, only they were perfectly uniformed. The patterns were deeply cut into the boots with precision that was uncanny, adding extra grip and texture that should have been highly unique. Only Jul waved his hand, again and again, showing more examples of them. Hundreds of boot prints, each showing the exact same pattern etched into the groves. They weren’t all one person, or copies of a person, since the sizes ranged even if the imprinted patterns did not.

It was unnerving.

Jul continued, “We followed the prints into the Wylds, but they ended at the southern border. At Riverland’s border.”

The lord rumbled out, “And I felt no breech.”

Squirt’s eyes snapped up to his, incredulous.

Original: NovelPhoenix. This copy: unauthorized. The author asks that you read the story on the official site.

Jul said, “I counted… maybe ten, twenty separate tracks?” He wiped his hands down his face with a groan, muttering, “I couldn’t tell. They were all mixed up.”

Squirt had counted fewer than that but wasn’t surprised he was struggling. Tracking had never been his strong suit. He could follow a trail once it was pointed out to him, but the moment it was no longer obvious, he lost it.

Squirt scanned around the faces, most of them focused on the map and not on her, before she spoke to Jul. “You’re sure they went through to Riverlands and didn’t just double back?”

Jul nodded, wiping a hand over the table once more to make a bigger picture, this time scaled down to fit on the small table. The boot prints, the barrier, and the path continuing beyond the barrier.

A territory barrier, it would be possible to cast a spell to make this illusion possible, but the barrier in the illusion before her didn’t look like a territory barrier. Those were practically invisible. This was thick, glittery magic.

A country border.

They had somehow stepped through the country border without alerting either the territory holder or…

Squirt’s attention strayed to Dusty in the corner, even if she kept her eyes on the illusion. “Did… her royal highness sense anything?”

The lord rasped, “I’ve sent a missive. With luck, we’ll receive her response in a few hours.”

Squirt gave a slow nod before turning her attention to the lord. There was a grave look to his eyes that she didn’t like. The expression was almost… pained.

Oh. “You think you know what this is?”

His expression darkened. “I have a theory.” He pointed to the other two villages on the map, the tall black game pieces foreboding over them. “This is what we were meant to see. We had warnings for both. The casualty count was lower. The attacks originated with magic. Almost every other territory on the Outskirts has reported similar attacks.”

Then he tapped the village in question. “This was a test of something far deadlier, and far more discrete.”

He glanced down at Squirt, his frustration evident. “I believe that these are humans, not fey.”

Squirt almost scoffed at the sheer ridiculousness of that kind of assertion. Only his gaze held hers steadily. His attention remained in place. The solemn air only grew heavier.

Jul voice faltered as he spoke, his flaming eyes wide. “You… I mean… one human is already strange. What on earth could…”

Slowly glancing around, the only one who seemed like the concept was a revelation and not insanity was Telos. Their eyes were wide, too, but with recognition. “You think that Skye is working with humans?”

“I have written of my suspicions to Queen Annabelle. She would know best.” Then he turned his attention to Jul. “Not all humans are magicless, but those who are can pass through barriers unaffected. They’re not creatures of this realm. The barriers cannot sense what is not made up of magic.”

Of course not. Even greenlings had a little magic. Everything did. It was a basic part of physics.

Telos glanced down at the three-dimensional image before them. “That would explain the prints.”

Jul asked, “It would?”

“Yeah. I remember An—I mean, Queen Annabelle saying something about that. About clothing being mass-produced.”

“By barbarians in tiny villages?”

Lord Everwinter added, “Much has changed in the last few centuries for humans.”

Jul waved away his illusion, glaring down at the map before gesturing at it. “But why this? Why attack here?”

Squirt’s expression went slack. “Because they were convenient.”

The room turned to her.

She swallowed, her eyes lifting not to the fey, but to a map of Fer’ich hanging from a shelf, fluttering in the slight breeze drifting through the room. She swallowed. Then glanced to Lord Everwinter.

He looked unsurprised.

And she suddenly understood why she’d been summoned.

The lord took pity on her, explaining what she did not to the rest. “The other attacks are diversions. They will happen. Likely, the next one will strike here.” He tapped a village on the map, sliding his finger across it, tracing a direct line to Everwinter Keep. “Before hitting here.”

Jul faltered. “An all-out assault as a diversion?”

“No. They don’t need an assault. Our resources are stretched thin. If this is being replicated across all of the Outskirts, then they are expecting us to see it.”

The blood drained from Telos’ face. “The harvest. They plan to target the crops. As a diversion.”

The lord nodded gravely.

Jul faltered again. “Then why…”

It was Kenna who answered. “To starve us and force the royals to provide support. It’s obvious enough we’ll see it, that we’ll be prepared for a large-scale attack on the territory keeps. Even if they fail, it’ll create confusion, frustration, and even resentment if the royals don’t provide support.”

Telos’ shoulders slumped as they took a few steps back, falling back against the couch behind them. Their hands wiped down their face. “And if I hadn’t checked on that village a week later than I was scheduled to, we wouldn’t have known their real target.”

It finally hit Jul, his eyes widening. “Riverlands. They’ve got a direct line to the Capital.”

Telos added wearily, “And no one who can cross into Riverlands. Not without drawing every furious feybeast directly towards them.”

“Oh gods. They’re magicless, like…”

Jul’s eyes drifted towards Squirt.

She gave him a firm nod. “The feybeasts won’t care to bother them. Even if they gather in groups.”

Because unlike greenlings, who had little magic, these humans would have none at all.

Jul’s eyes were haunted as he swallowed thickly. “We can’t let them bring those weapons anywhere near the Capital.”

Kenna turned to the map of Fer’ich. “They’ll travel by boat to the Capital.”

Cirn spoke, her voice hard and cold, not unlike the ice freezing her veil with every angry exhale. “Lord Prince Ranin will meet them.”

Squirt stiffened. She wasn’t so sure that was a good idea.

Kenna spoke before she did. “And what would the lord prince do? These weapons are not magic. None of our defenses can protect us. We don’t even know what they look like.”

Jul inhaled sharply, finally seeing what Squirt had seen several minutes ago. “But we could.”

All eyes turned to Squirt.

She huffed. “Even if I wanted to, even if you teleported me directly to the border’s edge at this very moment, I could not search the entirety of the Riverland Wylds before the Harvest Festival.”

It was Dusty who spoke up quietly. “But you’re not alone.”

Squirt glared his direction, ignoring the confused looks of Cirn and Jul who were out of the loop on his identity. “Not a fucking chance.”

He didn’t answer her, his eyes wary on everyone else.

Lord Everwinter broke the silence first. “Speak freely, Dusty. I ask you to.”

Dusty gave him a deep bow. “As you wish, my lord.” When he righted himself, he glared at Squirt. “We’ve got at least a dozen greenlings who are already trained on the Wylds—”

“In the course of a week—”

“—aren’t you the one who insists that the feybeasts won’t harm us this time of year? What’s the danger, then?”

“I think the village they just finished burying is danger enough—”

“Tens of thousands could die, Squirt. At least give them the option to choose for themselves.”

She opened her mouth to snap out another condemnation for his stupid fucking suggestion when a water cup was quietly placed next to her hand. She glanced down into the hard eyes of Berry, who murmured in greenling, “I’d go.”

She backed away before she could draw the attention of anyone else, leaving Squirt stewing silently.

Squirt wiped her hands down her face.

Jul glanced between Dusty and Squirt before hedging, “Am I the only one confused here?”

Cirn looked equally baffled.

Lord Everwinter shifted, drawing everyone’s gazes. “We’ll consider that later. For now, nets. Barriers. Dam the river on the border between Riverlands and the Capital District if we must. We cannot rely on magic to stop them.”

Squirt nodded. “The feybeast traps.”

“The feybeast traps.” He tapped the map. “Athereon, prepare to head out tomorrow morning. I’ll have you flown to the edge here. I’ll allow for yourself, Zhadin, and Qzi to pass through.”

Squirt nodded. Zhadin was too powerful on their own but would be safe from feybeasts in the shadow plane. Qzi would be weak enough that the beasts would give him a cursory glance but not give chase.

“Now. Here’s where I propose you look.”