“Obbst? Is that you?” Head fuzzy and thinking painful he heard a voice he thought he recognised but no that couldn’t be, the Noble was nowhere near this merc caravan but as he slowly glanced around and recognised where he was neither was he. He was standing in the yard of Herdkeeper Halas’ villa, how? That was all the way over on the other side of the country from where he’d, he’d, he’d been murdered!

“Noble? I was murdered, not here, you avenged me, also not here. How am I here? My mind is fuzzy, everything up until this instant has a sheen over it like viewing it through a grease coated window.” His voice stumbled and he roared, “Wait?! I am not alone in my body! Who are you?”

He heard both the Noble’s voice and one inside saying different things, the Noble was saying something about a manipulative ancient monster and the voice inside introduced herself as Veldt.

Holding up a finger he said, “Wait please Noble, I would talk to my guest.”

Inside she said, “A prudent choice, what is it you wish to know?”

Focusing inside he thought, “Why you are inside my body with me. And how I can get you out!”

He felt more than saw, bah he didn’t have the words for this it was far beyond anything he’d ever dealt with. Anything that he hadn’t killed as an abomination, anyway.

He saw her grin and heard a joyous laugh then she said, “You don’t. Chaos has put me here and here I’ll stay until the day I fade away, I’m here because your body was vacant murdered by catspaws of one I want suffer before he meets his ruination and death. Folscach must die, preferably screaming as he realises that everything he loves has been ruined!”

“Chancellor Folscach? I would see him brought down but only because my Hardkeeper wanted it.”

“Who do you think is behind all your troubles? He paid to have you killed, he paid to have your herd discredited and destroyed, it was his agents that gave your Herdkeeper the false information. Herdkeeper Gersian was never wavering in her support of Folscach, I have been watching and waiting for a chance to ruin him. It finally came with your death and you were dead, you owe your renewed life to Chaos as uncomfortable as that will make such an Order aligned person as yourself.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“There is no reason why you would but you should believe the evidence of your own eyes, someone meant your Herd ill and made sure you were out of the way. That is fact. I say it is Folscach but don’t believe me ask the Noble he will tell you the same, ask yourself, who profited most by your Herd’s fall?”

Obbst thought on it and this female was right, Chancellor Folscach was the one best placed to profit from his Herdkeeper’s fall.

He said, “Noble, this spirit or whatever has told me Folscach is likely behind these circumstances, what say you?”

“The Fae Chanar appears to be telling no lies which is in itself suspicious. My people dealt with her race regularly before they were removed from the world, they are masters of lies and deceit and find it as natural as breathing. Her words by her nature cannot be trusted but I have checked with my own sources and it seems to be as she says.”

Obbst grunted and said, “Then it seems I must dismantle him and all his works, I wish to think about this and how I may achieve it.”

He felt a surge of joy from inside himself, but not his own joy which was an extremely odd sensation,

Noble Trad said, “I have information and backing to aid you in that, we find Folscach’s removal to be of value to the Iaernide.”

Obbst nodded and said, “Noble I would ask you to destroy these bodies, I haven’t got the magic to do so and I would see my Herd honoured.”

“I hesitate to admit it but I have no skill in any Realm that may achieve that.”

From inside he heard, “I can, if you allow me”

“What do you mean?”

“Your body’s gateway is attuned to Fire and Order. You have no skill in spell casting being a physical user but as a Mage I can use your Fire to ignite that pyre if you allow me control for a short while.”

He thought for a moment and said, “Granted, how do I do this?”

An irresistible force brushed him aside and he felt his body moving on it’s own, then he felt a burning feverish stab of corruption as a moderately large ball of hissing fire splashed over the pile of bodies.

Immediately he was back in control and Veldt said, “There, done and easier than I suspected. You have potential as a caster as unrealised as that may be.”

He rumbled an assent, gratified that this foreign spirit had relinquished control so easily once the task was done, “Thank you. You honour my Herd.”

“I am happy I could honour them.”

Moving away formt he burning pile he said, “Noble, in planning Folscach’s demise I believe the first step will be to determine where he is weak. I already have some ideas about that, the army does not follow him naturally and he badly overreached by taking the Primacy and the Chancellorship annoying the traditionalists among the country’s leadership.”

Noble Trad said, “He is also relying on a sharply limited resource to maintain his power, the blood of the Fae Chanar. According to your guest he has the blood of only a half dozen Fae Chanar, once that is exhausted his potency will drop significantly and from our calculations he cannot have much left.”

“I believe our best starting point will be turning the army further from him, if we could ensure some of the other councilmen take our side that would help. Perhaps bribery?”

Trad tilted his head back and forth as he said, “A possibility but if we offer to support them in their attempts at leadership it will be cheaper and probably more effective. I would suggest we return to the warren so I can find who might be amenable to that.”

“That seems like the beginnings of a plan, while you do that I’ll go to the barracks and talk to a few of the Drivvas, if we can turn them we turn their levies and there are a few of them who do not ever want to cross me.”

From inside Veldt said, “What of other Herds? They may fear the same fate befalling them if Folscach is throwing his weight around.”

“That is an excellent observation, thank you. I know exactly who to approach.”

“Noble, perhaps also contact some of the other Herds. I know some are fearful of Folscach’s power becoming more entrenched and if we can show them they are not alone they may give us support in some ways.”

Noble Trad nodded and said, “A sound plan. Let us be about it.”

*******

Obbst walked through the doors of the squat, thick walled fortress the Confederation Expansion Force called home. It was in the centre of Chelavis city and would never be under attack unless the country had already fallen but it’s architecture was the same as every other CEF base.

He passed the first hurdle without a problem, at the gate there were a pair of large statues of two heavily armed vaguely Minotaur shaped creatures that weren’t really statues. They were tasked with protecting the base and no one without a valid pass, identity confirmed by their blood, would get past them. Not without them attacking.

He walked through the wide parade yard, shuttered by the metal roof currently but the last time he’d been here open to the sky for the mustering out of his last group of trainee Drivvas.

The smell of stressed sweat lingered in the sand, still. Along with a very faint tinge of blood, injuries were not common during the mustering out because the Drivvas should be very well trained in subduing the slaves attacking them without harming them. But accidents happened. At least the last time it had been a Drivva injured by a slave not a slave killed by a poorly trained Drivva.

His own views on the slaves the Cadogan Confederacy used so freely had been shifting ever since his time outside the Confederacy, but the corruption and rot at the highest levels of the country had made him reconsider it even more. They maintained that it was necessary and good for the country, that without the slaves the country itself would fail but their treatment of him and his herd… that, that made him question the truth of that statement.

He’d been trained that slavery was just natural and right but he’d also been trained by those very same people that they were worthy of respect, they were not.

Questioning authority was not something he’d ever been comfortable with but now he had to and for some reason it seemed more acceptable?

He walked on toward the main building, at this time of day the Drivvas would be having their lunch, a good time to catch them.

As he walked through the building he heard a murmur of shocked voices spreading throughout, maybe they’d heard something about his ‘death’.

When he walked into a hallway on the way to the canteen a brace of CEF MPs blocked the hallway ahead, with more behind.

He snorted and stopped.

One of them stepped forward and said, “Halt! By order of Councilman Oystereos you are under arrest. Do not resist.”

In Harkag he said, “L-Last I h--h-h-heard the good C-Councilman was the Governor of Chelavis, w-what has he got to do with the Force?”

They surrounded him without another word. He had a choice to make, he could resist and probably succeed because he’d trained some of these clowns or he could go along with it and see what happened.

Inside he heard, “Let them take you. I can aid you in escaping later if we need to and in my long experience those in power tend to talk too much to people they have in their power. I’d suggest waiting for them to hand you information because clearly you won’t be able to do what you came here for.”

He grunted in agreement and let them slap the manacles around his wrists, then he felt his magic blocked. He said, “What are you doing!? This is an affront to my Honour, you will remove that block right now or the Council will hear about this!”

One of the MPs (and one of his trainees) said, “I don’t like it any more than you do but the orders came from above, all detained persons are to be blocked.”

“W-Why are we accepting this? This is a direct c-challenge to the honour of the M-M-Minotaurs! This is totally unacceptable! Krahg, I’ve f-fought you and I know you for an honourable W-Warrior how can you let this stand?”

Quietly the MP whispered, “Don’t question it. We are being watched by one of Folscach’s bloodmage’s familiars always, it’s another recent change.”

From inside he heard, “The block doesn’t matter, I can remove it for you any time but it sounds to me like someone is making a grab to maintain their power. A sign that things are shaky for them maybe?”

He grunted again and let them lead him away.

********

The cold sterile tunnels under the Iaernide peninsula beside the Straights or Zurmis by the Dreamless Sea always felt homey to Noble Trftdrwx, he had awoken in these tunnels one hundred and ninety revolutions ago. He’d seen a lot in his time but these current times were by far the most interesting, even the great war had not been so rich with chances for new information.

Cold unadorned grey walls greeted him in green zero, the sharing room he’d been sent to, contrasting with the gleaming gold and silver shape of the Royal he was here to see.

“Noble Trftdrwx, thank you for coming.”

Eyes downcast he said, “Royal, your commands are as my own wishes.”

“You are dealing with the fated being admirably, continue as you are. I have prepared the information from our archives for you to give to them, they have been arrested but do not worry we believe the Fae Chanar will aid the Minotaur in navigating the political situation while he deals with any physical altercations. We know the Fae Chanar were always astute in these types of games so have little worry we may have to step in.”

“The Minotaur himself is deceptively quick to notice small details and is quite good at navigating unusual situations.”

“Hmm, cultivate that burgeoning friendship. It will serve us well.”

“As you command Royal.”