‘What the hell are you doing here?’ The sound was in chorus, Stathis speaking at the same time as the armoured figure. As the door shut behind them, Stathis caught a glimpse of a blue banner on the wall outside, a winged sword picked out in golden thread. Parth drew her sword, Janaxia and Hakara starting to cast.

Stathis raised her hand. ‘No violence!’ This was bad enough without escalating further. ‘Where the hell are we?’ She looked out of the window again, taking in the mountains and terrain. ‘This isn’t Iristari land, this looks like it’s all the way up in the Blackcrags.’

‘There’s been expansion since you left. This used to be a bandit base, we cleared it out a few years back, paid off whatever lordling claimed the title. So it’s Iristari now. Which you should know. And that doesn’t explain why the hell you’re here.’ The armoured figure removed their helm, revealing themselves to be a young woman, close-cut black hair tufting out. ‘I thought Master Yeros was supposed to be sending some of his best knights?’

‘That would be me. Well, us. When did you make major? Congratulations.’ Stathis gestured at the knots of rank on her shoulder, two golden bursts of braid bright against the armour.

‘I led the assault on this place, it’s my first command. We now rule a corridor of land all the way from here to the capital. But is this it? And you?’

‘It was a bit of a rush, I didn’t ask where we were going. Uh, congratulations on the promotion, I guess? So what’s going on?’

The door opened again, another fighter entering. He saluted, then turned to see Stathis, face going pale as he saluted and bowed, one hand still raised in salute, an awkward and messy movement. ‘High Colonel Stathis!’ He rose, keeping the salute position, staring into the middle distance.

Statis sighed. ‘At ease, Lieutenant Anarat. I’m not here as an Iristari, and I still have no idea what’s going on. Nice to see you again, by the way.’

The last flickers from the teleportation spell vanished, dark energy briefly welling up and rending apart the pale glimmers of the magical effect. Hakara let whatever attacking spell she was about to cast fade away, before going to look out the window. Semari went with her, pushing her arm through the narrow slit and feeling around outside.

‘So how many more are coming?’

Stathis replied. ‘Probably none? This is all of us, at least. You send out anyone else?’

Hakara cast a spell, magic sparking around her hand. ‘They won’t be able to come back. There’s a dimensional anchoring effect, preventing transportation or movement via other planes. Miss Parth, I believe you will be unable to shift into the ethereal while it is in effect.’

'Thanks Hakara, see what else you can find out. Anything you find out, pass to Major Herith Colobra here, and myself. So, uh, what’s going on? I heard a lot of undead.’

Anarat spoke, voice stiff and professional. ‘Yes, High Colonel Stathis. We believe conventional transport was blocked several days ago, and we are sufficiently far from other bases that we cannot raise a request for reinforcements. We assume our runners have been captured or, more likely, killed. The magical barrier erected itself at about the same time, so we assume a direct...’

Herith coughed, cutting him off. ‘I will deliver the tactical situation, Lieutenant Anarat.’

He flushed. ‘My apologies. Of course, Major.’ He returned to staring into the middle distance.

‘Knight Stathis.’ She emphasised the title. ‘We should talk. Come with me.’

She strode away, short cloak billowing from the back of her armour. It was made slightly awkward by the door being the typical small, designed-for-defence size, meaning they both had to stoop to leave. Her pace was brisk, as she led Stathis through the castle.

She looked at Stathis, speaking quietly. ‘Are your group trustworthy?’

‘Pretty much. Just don’t let Janaxia – the one with the horns – touch any powerful magical items.’ Herith gave her an odd look. ‘Don’t ask, it’s a magic thing, I don’t know the details. She’s good at blasting things, Hakara’s good at divination and has a good range of more normal spells, Parth’s good in the wilderness and with her bow, Semari, uh… she punches things and climbs around a lot.’ Herith’s look continued. ‘She does it really well? And I think she’s technically a semi-deity or something now? I’ll have to ask Hakara, she’ll know the proper terms.’

‘I was hoping for rather heavier support. At least a decent amount of knights, not five irregulars!’

‘Hey, who are you calling irregular?’ Semari was small enough to squeeze, literally, into the conversation, pushing between them. ‘I’m not as irregular as Janaxia is, she’s got horns and everything, and she’s evil!’

‘This is Semari. She’ll be good at scouting, and if they’ve got any wizards, she’s fast enough to get to them across a battlefield and stop them casting. And it’s a technical term, not an insult. “Fistfighters” don’t really have a place in most military hierarchies, especially ones that can run up walls and do everything else you do.’

The castle was clearly old and much patched, the walls in need of repair, signs of work everywhere. Another officer looked at them, saw Stathis and froze, then rapidly retreated away. Stathis sighed again, dreading whatever rumours were about to start, and wishing she could cover her face. The place was clearly prepped for combat, the hallways clear, soldiers in armour rather than more comfortable uniforms.

They came to a large meeting room, other officers around a circular table that was set up with a map of the local area, areas clearly filled in with more detail by hand. They saluted at Herith, then some of them, obviously recognising Stathis, saluted again, even harder, looking nervous.

Herith pointed at the map. ‘We have limited scouts – there are various monsters in the area we have yet to eliminate, and I don’t have the forces for full exploration. We suspect the enemy force to be some distance away, but the mountains are full of small tunnels and passes – old dwarven and elven ruins, that sort of thing. And of course, undead can manage to travel in conditions impossible for the living.’ She gestured at various blocks of black wood, scattered amongst the mountains. ‘We have no information on who, or what, has raised them, but from the numbers reported, we assume them to be powerful. Hundreds, if not more, moving in close formation, rather than a natural occurrence.’

‘And there’s the blocking effect, I assume that would take a fair amount of power? I don’t remember any stories of necromancers around here. Parth, your lot leave anything up here?’ Parth shook her head. ‘So it’s probably not old elven stuff. I assume you have the standard complement for a place this size?’

One of the other officers spoke. ‘Slightly understrength, High Colonel. The troop expected to bring us up to strength never arrived.’

‘So there’s forty troops on the road, or possibly dead? Any idea how close they might be?’

Herith pointed at another block, this one blue, placed on the road some distance away, a metal marker on top showing the location was uncertain. ‘If they were making usual time, then they should be about a day’s march away. But they could be delayed or dead – even at this time of year, the passes can be blocked by flash-floods or rockslides.’

‘So, you’ve got 160 soldiers, 8 specialists, anything else? Is Finnivar still attached? He’d be useful.’

‘He got snapped up by the Winged Guard. I’ve got five invokers, two healers and a diviner. All on at least their second tour of duty, so not greenhorns, but the 31st were thrown together in a hurry and haven’t been bloodied yet.’

Stathis cast her eye over the map – the terrain was dense mountains and forests, a lot of the connecting valleys and tunnels marked as ‘unknown’ or ‘dangerous’. Several of the markers were the purple for monsters, although no lairs were marked.

‘OK, is it possible to reinforce the pass? It looks narrow enough to be a chokepoint.’ She pointed at a narrow valley, only about 10 paces wide if the scale was accurate, on the path to the castle.

‘The map is somewhat inaccurate, it’s about five times wider. We started, but haven’t had the time or resources to finish it.’ Herith was glaring at her. ‘I’ve also done all the other obvious things, such as pitting the road and readying holy water.’

‘Sorry, Herith. I’m not used to dealing with commanders as good as you are, most have no idea what they’re doing, or there’s some ravaging monster kicking in the door already.’ Behind her, Semari made ‘rawr’ noises, clawing the air with her hands, doing her monster impersonation. ‘So, what do you need me to do? Hakara can talk to your diviner. Is it Kelnara? He’s good at range, although I swear the incense isn’t needed, he just likes the smell.’

‘Yes, it is indeed Lieutenant Kelnara.’

‘He got promoted as well? Good on him.’

Another one of the officers saluted. ‘High Colonel Stathis, sir. I would request that a troop be sent to seize the lower pass. It represents the easiest way to move a large body of troops, and will prevent us being surrounded.’

Herith shook her head. ‘Denied. Again. It’s too large and open to hold and is next to a lake – undead will simply march straight through.’

‘But…’

Stathis tried to settle the matter. ‘Major Colabra has the command, and she says no. And I agree with her – that pass looks hard to hold against dedicated living attackers, against undead you’ll get flanked, surrounded, and torn to pieces, without causing any delay and granting your bodies to the attackers. Even flooding it somehow won’t achieve much, not against undead.’

He acquiesced, but Herith still didn’t look happy. ‘I will speak to Stathis, the knight, about her role in the upcoming battles. You are dismissed – see to your troops, and that they are fully equipped and prepared.’ They saluted and left. As soon as the door shut behind the last one, Herith spoke again, her voice now showing frustration. ‘What the hell are you doing here? This place is on edge already, and now the heir to the Iristari finally returns from her adventures! Half the troops are going to think they can slack off because the rest of the army isn’t far behind, the other half are going to take stupid risks to try and impress you.’

‘I got told there was an emergency, I didn’t think to ask where it was! Hells, I didn’t even know we’d stretched out this far. Bit overextended, isn’t it? And I’m here now. I won’t take command, don’t worry.’

‘You’ve got it, regardless. If you give an order, who’s not going to follow it? You outrank me, High Colonel.’ Her tone was bitter. ‘I only got the word about that promotion three months ago. Impressive, earning it without even being in the army!’

‘There’s not much I can do about that, I tried resigning repeatedly, Mother won’t let me. Stick me in the field as soon as possible. I don’t want to split the chain of command.’

‘Bit bloody late for that, you already have! Couldn’t you think, rather than just charging in? At least have worn a bloody helmet? And don’t touch that!’ She gestured at Semari, who was poking the wooden tokens, playing with two of them and making zombie noises.

‘Semari, leave the markers alone, they’re needed to track the enemy forces. Look, this situation isn’t what either of us would want, but it’s what we’ve got. Treat me like you would any other knight or mercenary, and we’ll have to deal with whatever problems arise as they come up.’

Herith looked them over, her eyes settling the longest on Janaxia and Semari – Janaxia was currently scrutinising the map, despite probably having no idea how to read the symbols and markers, while Semari was poking around the other items on the walls, tapping a shield to make a ‘donk’ noise.

‘So you’re willing to vouch for your group?’ Herith looked dubious.

‘Yeah, they’re pretty good. Hakara should be kept away from front-line combat if possible, Janaxia’s going to be useful on the walls if we need to knock attackers backwards and can be useful against the necromancers. She might know something about the magic animating the undead as well.’

Janaxia looked up from the map. ‘I thought we had settled this, you really don’t need to insinuate such things simply because of my aesthetic preferences. It is possibly to look good in the darker shades without being a cackling villain, you know!’

‘You’re normally proud of your family – and you must know something about it, isn’t your mother supposed to a master of this kind of thing?’

‘Kinnevar is her superior, by quite some length. Although he did indeed teach me some of the theory. But I seek perfection in other, more esoteric arenas of the arcane. I suppose I may have some light I can shed on the matter.’ She turned to Herith, gracing her with a slight smile and a declination of her head. ‘I am Janaxia Seyroon Falmeth Uth Tr…’

Stathis cut her off, not wanting to have to endure the full list of honorifics. ‘She’s good at direct assault magic, and can throw up domes of darkness to block sightlines. Might be useful to shut down enemy mages, or if they have any ranged units.’

‘Stathis, a word? In private. Now.’

Herith led her through from the briefing room into her personal office – the walls here were bare stone, the only decoration another Iristari banner next to a longsword and shield, both finely buffed and polished, for dress uniform rather than live use. The “desk” was a set of planks nailed to some barrels, several books of tactics in one corner. Herith closed the door, having to pull it shut with a solid pull, managing to barely constrain her obviously growing irritation.

‘You bought a fucking Uth Tremari here? How do you know she’s not going to tell her family everything? Or that she’s not going to set off some spell and kill us all?’

‘Why would she? And why would they care? And I don’t think she can anyway, she’s got weirdly limited magic, and doesn’t really talk to her family much. That I know of, at least. She’s too lazy to be a spy, or at least a very good one. I’ve heard her family are up to something, but she’s not got anything to do with them.’

‘I know you buggered off to go adventuring, but are you completely out of touch? No-one can prove anything, but something happened at Felismont that made every corpse in the place rise up at once. Your mother rode in with the Winged Guard and torched it, it was easier than hunting down all the wraiths and wights that popped up. One of the Uth Tremari was seen digging around in the old ruins there shortly before it happened, so they probably had something to do with it. Or is this some Sheathed Eye business?’

‘The what now?’

Herith looked around, as though checking for spies. ‘I know I’m not supposed to know, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be inducted the next time I’m back at the capital.’ She made a hand gesture, fingers bending at painful looking angles. ‘So if you need to make her disappear, that’s easy enough to arrange. This place has some pits we can throw her into if she’s needed as a hostage, thick doors so she can’t fly out and no-one in spell range.’

‘Uh, don’t do that. What’s this “Sheathed Eye”?’

‘Stop being a prick, Stathis. I know you don’t like me, but this is my command, and if you’re here on business, even if it’s covert, I need to know.’

‘I’m not. Honestly, I’m here because I got the call for help. And I do like you. Well, I don’t dislike you, at least. If you’re in command here, it’s because you deserve it – you always were fantastic at tactics and logistics. I’m not here as a spy, or to secretly do away with Janaxia or anything. She might not look it, but she’s handy in a fight, just not on the front lines. So what’s this “Sheathed Eye” business? Some kind of spy thing?’

‘Yes. All that stuff in Cormontara, with the demons and the riots? That was one of their operations. Please tell me you’re not so out of touch you don’t even know about that? Some of their best operatives, apparently, and why the Farnham matter got settled so quickly. Managed to avert complete disaster. But they have a totally separate chain of command, and full deniability, no-one knows who they are, at least officially.’

Stathis sighed. ‘Spies, then?’

‘And more.’ Herith was looking at her, slightly cautious now, carefully choosing her words. ‘I hear they they’re laying the groundwork for something big. To cement some major growth or alliance or something, to fight something major. The reason behind everything your Mother has done. You can trust me, and I’m ready for any test.’ She tensed, as though expecting Stathis to leap at her with a blade.

Stathis shook her head. ‘I really have no idea – look, I’m sorry, but I don’t formally work for the Iristari at the moment. If there is something going on, you’d know better than me. And does my mother know about this group? She tends to have, uh, strong opinions on her name being invoked when she doesn’t know about it.’

The look in Herith’s eyes was decidedly cool. ‘They’re said to be preparing the way for your succession, so I would imagine so.’

‘This isn’t some double-blind test where you have to say nothing to pass, I genuinely have no idea about any of this stuff. Janaxia’s too lazy and vain to be a spy – she won’t be a threat unless you have any particularly attractive officers around or some nice wine you were planning on drinking yourself.’ Fortunately Herith herself was very much a soldier, her hair cut short to make wearing a helmet easier, without any elegance or tidiness, and so unlikely to be targeted by Janaxia. ‘So, can we focus on the enemy first, and then worry about anything else afterwards?’

‘Very well, High Colonel.’

‘I’m not your officer! At least not right now. And you always beat me at the tactical exercises, so I don’t want to take command anyway. Don’t make this weird, please? Just tell me who to hit, where you want something blasted or where you want scouting.’

‘Very well, Knight Stathis. I just hope it’ll be enough. The initial reports were worrying – hundreds or even thousands of the dead, as well as ghosts or similar on-corporeal undead. And I still don’t trust any Uth Tremari, so she’s banned from briefing meetings.’

‘Fair enough. I doubt she’d find them interesting anyway or have anything useful to add. You can ban Semari as well, unless you want lots of odd questions and weird noises. I’ll fill you in on what Janaxia can do, she’s got some unusual spells. Hakara’s more normal, and probably has a more diverse skillset than anyone from the Academy.’ Herith was still looking at her, trying to judge if she was telling the truth or not. This would get really complicated if she decided to make a thing of it. ‘Are there some quarters we can use? I don’t fancy bunking down in the hall.’

‘There’s the royal chamber.’

‘I thought you didn’t want me to be here? Just regular rooms are fine, but Hakara needs somewhere to prepare her spells.’

‘We’ve just about repaired some of the buildings in the courtyard – they’re not great, but it’s the summer, so it should be warm enough, and you’ll be close to the fray if something starts.’

‘Thank you. This is really not what either of us wanted, but let’s make the best of it.’

They left her office, returning to the briefing room. Semari was partway out of the window, trying to squeeze out of the gap, dust dancing around Hakara as she cast some spell, a rough semblance of the area appearing between her hands, cross-referencing it with the map, taking a pencil and making corrections. Janaxia was looking at the map, hands behind herself, clearly faking an interest.