Chapter 54 – At What Cost

  Moriarty’s hands were blistered from carrying the front half of a field stretcher for the better part of a day. He couldn’t believe how sideways the op had gone. Not just two mages in the steam carriage, but two mages and a knight, and no Leon to boot.

  His source hadn’t been lying or trying to set them up. Moriarty was sure of it. But he had been wrong, and the bad intel had cost one of his teammates a leg—hastily treated with an AIFAK and the application of healing magic from his squad’s mage.

  They’d gotten their asses kicked, but at least the steam carriage never got reinforcements from the front. In fact, the carriage seemed to be in an awful hurry west, and the hero’s party-members had elected to break contact and continue rather than pursue Moriarty and his team as they fled back into the woods.

  Alexa walked beside him, in shock, cradling the core of her crushed clockwork familiar.

  Ahead, a familiar figure stepped into the path, and Moriarty felt his lips twist into a grimace. It was that rookie bitch who pulled the disappearing act on him.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded. “Thought you ran off and went native. Left us to do the hard work.”

  Nona glared back, and she could glare with the best of them. Quietly, Moriarty burned a charge of his ability to see the threads of where this conversation might lead—but was stunned. For the first time, every branch of his Social Deduction ability came up null. There was nothing he could say to bring Nona around.

  “I told you your source was wrong. You’re the one who decided not to listen,” she said. “Too obsessed with your plan and everything going your way.”

  “Fuck you, you sneaky bitch,” he said. “It would have been fine if you hadn’t fucked off and stuck around to help us. I had everything under control. Now we’re back to square one, and we’re not getting another shot. Not for a long time. That’s on your head, and I’m going to do everything I can to get you taken off active status.”

  Nona didn’t react to his threats. His ability still showed absolutely nothing of use. The girl was a black hole, immune to charisma, threats, flattery, everything. “Just thought you should know,” she said, “Cole and the others got Leon—after your buddy Guall tried to assassinate them. He was at the fort in the south mire.”

  She stepped behind a tree and didn’t emerge from the other side. Moriarty swore and lowered the front half of the stretcher down, eliciting an angry shout from Rucker, his teammate carrying the back half. He stomped over and looked behind the tree, but the girl was nowhere to be seen.

  “What the fuck…?” he asked. He coaxed some blood back into his numb fingers before picking the stretcher back up and carrying on.

  Sure, he’d known there was always a risk of Guall betraying them. He was a demon, after all. That’s why he sent an expendable rookie team on the diversion detail. No hard feelings towards Cole or the others. It just had to be done.

  It was all part of the plan.

  * * *

  “Hold up,” said Cole, whispering into his radio. “There’s someone at the vehicles.”

  Slowly, he stalked forward. As he suspected might happen, his vision was starting to evolve, and the infrared strobes weren’t exactly visible to his naked eye, yet. But he could definitely tell something was affecting the light around where they’d stashed the vehicles.

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  “Howie, Besson, cover. Roxy, with me.”

  Roxy angled her shield and shotgun forward, approaching the vehicles under NODs. Cole followed her, just off her right shoulder to give him plenty of clearance. But it seemed like the person was alone. For now. And asleep. He put his hand on Roxy’s shoulder to hold her about fifty meters from the figure tucked into the hollow of a tree. With his rifle tucked into his shoulder and his muzzle level, he approached slowly.

  The man on the ground had wrapped himself in a threadbare blanket, and still slept, even as Cole crept within ten feet of him. Finally, he reached down and scrounged for a stick, which he threw at the local.

  The man woke with a start, but quickly quieted himself as he looked around what, to him, must have been a dark forest shrouded further by the smoke boiling out of the Scar to the north.

  “H-hello?” he whispered. “Is someone there?”

  He raised a small monocular, sweeping it around until he swept it over Cole, at which point he yelped and tried to scoot back, only to be reminded of the very solid trunk behind his back. “You’re not… where’s Moriarty?”

  Cole didn’t relax upon hearing the name. “Who are you?”

  The man trained the night vision monocular at each of them in turn, frown increasing. “You’re… you’re from Earth, right? With Moriarty?”

  Cole stepped forward, rifle raised. “I asked you a question.”

  “Ah, uh, I’m Burthan. I’m a friend! Moriarty promised me sanctuary in exchange for my help. I told him about the hero moving to the front lines today.”

  Cole looked at the others. “I’m sorry to say, but your intel was a bit off. Leon was already there.”

  “Leon?”

  “The hero. We have him. Moriarty isn’t back yet.”

  Burthan made to stand, but Cole whistled through his teeth, causing the man to stumble back down to his ass.

  “Once Moriarty gets here, he can confirm your story. Until then, sit tight. Besson?”

  “Yeah,” said Besson.

  Cole tilted his head toward the local. “Think you can have Nutmeg keep him company?”

  Besson clicked his tongue at Nutmeg, but the dog was already moving up. She sniffed at the man, whose eyes went about as wide as tuna cans.

  “Nice troll!” he crooned. “Good troll.” He looked up. “Please tell your troll not to eat me!”

  “Don’t give her a reason,” said Cole. He went to help the others pull the camo netting off the vehicles and stow their packs. It was another five hours before Moriarty and his team came through the woods with a stretcher in tow. Roxy immediately went to help their charge-exhausted medic with treating a nearly-amputated leg.

  On seeing Burthan, Moriarty stalked over and yanked the man to his feet.

  “You set us up, you piece of shit!”

  Burthan yelped as the other team lead lifted the man straight off his feet and pulled out his sidearm, putting it in the man’s face. “Give me one good reason not to put a bullet in your skull right now.”

  Cole came over and put a hand on Moriarty’s shoulder. “Hey, leave it.”

  Moriarty tried to shake him off, but Cole persisted.

  “Moriarty, we got Leon. Mission accomplished, man.”

  “I… I’m sorry! I told you where he’d be,” Burthan wheezed. “I was right about the fort! Please!”

  Moriarty dropped him, fuming, and looked at Cole.

  “He was half right, at least. It worked out. And he said you promised him sanctuary if we got Leon out, which we did.”

  Moriarty moved up, getting in Cole’s face. Cole felt him burn an ability charge and tensed up, but the man’s eyes flitted around for a moment. He clicked his tongue. “He was half right, huh? Well, we can’t leave half of him here.” He hesitated. “You’re stone cold, aren’t you Airborne? Won’t budge for anything.”

  What the fuck was that? Thought Cole. He said nothing, and Moriarty stood down.

  “Let’s get the fuck out of here,” he said. “I’m tired of this world.”

  Roxy helped load their injured Kicker onto the back of one of the vehicles, and Cole urged Burthan up onto the back of the other. When he turned around to check that everything was secure, he spotted Nona climbing up onto the back of the transport. She nodded at him.

  Cole sighed and slid into the front passenger seat, leaving the wheel to Roxy. He unslung his rifle and stowed it by his seat as she flipped on the IR lamps and pulled them around south. A few hours of uncomfortable off-roading later, they pulled up to the portal staging point, where half a dozen personnel manned weapons behind a temporary fortification. Cole spotted Han, who waved with an arm that had been all but severed the last time he saw the man. Well, that gave him hope for Moriarty’s injured teammate. Roxy pulled the vehicle up and waited as a mote started to spark and then broadened into a full-size portal wide enough to drive the vehicles into.

  Behind, Vael continued their struggle against the Scarred ones. Cole looked at Leon, squeezed between Howie and Besson. If nothing else, he’d done one good thing here. Maybe that didn’t make up for the betrayal and bloodshed. But bringing this kid home… well, maybe his brother was still out there somewhere.

  Maybe he could bring Ryan home, too.

  Baby steps.