“How can people organizing such a secret cult let itself be destroyed so simply?” Zac asked.

“I don’t know. It doesn’t feel right to me either. It’s not like Belanor or Maïa to fall silently like this. Nor to hide.” Mahon ran faster and approached the scout running beside Jorik.

“You really haven’t found any trace of the leaders?” He asked her.

The scout threw him a weird look, but Jorik gestured for her to answer.

“No. As I said, there are too many people, they could be lost somewhere in the crowd.”

“But they aren’t in the front or back?”

“No, we’d have found them otherwise.” The woman answered in an annoyed tone.

“What are you thinking?” Jorik finally asked Mahon.

“I’m not sure… It’s just that it feels too easy.”

“Too easy? The cultists aren’t trained to fight. It’s to be expected we crush them in battle.” Jorik answered with a frown.

“No, that’s not it. The cult is letting itself get caught too easily. It’s fishy. Why aren’t we seeing them? Belanor is always at the front of any operations. He’s a man of action. Maïa is a strategist. She would have planned counter-scenarios for such an ambush. They would not have sent men running to their death just like that. They must have planned something else.”

“Aren’t you overthinking it?” Jorik slowed down a bit to talk with Mahon. “They’ve never done such a big operation before. They’re good at hiding and plotting in the shadows, but they don’t have much experience on the field with larger operations.”

“Or they could be plotting something else, and the attacks are just a diversion.” Zac joined the conversation.

“Why would they do so? If not for Mahon, their plan might have been a success. They’d have hit the no-dream pills storage and factory and cut down our production. We saw one step ahead, however, and prevented it.”

Mahon ran in silence for a few seconds, thinking again about the whole operation. Something didn’t feel right, but he had trouble explaining it. The closer they approached the factory, the more he sensed it. They had missed something important.

“Do you think cutting down the production would have had a major impact on our life?” He finally asked the noble.

“I see what you mean.” Jorik nodded. “I’ve thought about it. They’ll successfully stop the no-dream pills for a few days and bring some people to Nightmare, but we could easily fix it within a week. They won’t have much impact in that timeframe. But no plan is perfect. Maybe they believe differently.”

“And what about Belanor and Maïa? Why aren’t they here?”

Jorik shrugged, and although Mahon could see a hint of doubt in his eyes, it was quickly gone. “They could still be hiding in the crowd. Or maybe they’re protecting the boy? We’ll find them, anyway. And the backer.”

“The boy?” Mahon asked.

“Yes, the son of Synat or Murin, I’m guessing? You said they lacked the document to blackmail one of the captains in charge of defending the storage or factory, so they abducted his son.”

A memory of last night, when they had kidnapped the child, flashed in Mahon’s mind. He saw again the scene of the cultist carrying the child in a bag over his shoulder.

“I didn’t say it was his son. We kidnapped a girl.” Mahon threw a weird look at Jorik.

The First Black immediately stopped running, and the group of students mimicked its leader. He turned to Mahon with a troubled look.

“A girl? Are you sure?”

“Completely.” His Flow had picked the rhythm of the child, and he had no doubts about her gender. “Is it important?”

Jorik looked him straight in the eyes. “Synat and Murin don’t have a daughter.”

“So…” Mahon started.

“There is a third target.” Jorik completed. The Last Black swore and started to pace back and forth while thinking out loud. “Their real target isn’t the no-dream pill, then? They have another hidden objective. Which they didn’t even tell the other inner cultists…”

Zac chimed in. “Related to the nobles, then?”

“Maybe…” Jorik continued. “They’re probably targeting Ravatoris. Whoever is behind this obviously wants to strike him down. How could they do so?”

“It may not even be the child of a guard’s captain. What about the daughter of someone more important?” Zac pursued Jorik’s thoughts. “Failing to rescue her will tarnish Ravatoris’ victory over the cult, and if she dies, it could be even worse…”

The two nobles were furiously thinking under the puzzled look of the other students.

Mahon intervened. “I don’t think Belanor and Maïa are aware of the noble scheme. It can’t be Ravatoris related.”

“What could it be, then?” Jorik started to get angrier at their inability to react to the unknown threat. “They can’t do worse on the no dream-pill path. It has to be something else. They abducted that girl for a reason!”

And then it clicked. When thinking about it, it became obvious, but since they were used to thinking about city guards as guarding the city, Mahon didn’t even consider the possibility that the target could be outside of it. And he knew someone fitting exactly what they were looking for.

“Tanyth.” He said.

“What?” Jorik asked.

“The guard’s captain in charge of the Magnesium mine. The no-dream mine.” Zac answered as he came to the same conclusion as Mahon.

“The no-dream mine? No, they wouldn’t go that far…” Jorik argued, but Mahon interrupted.

“It can only be there! Tanyth is a doting father, and he would do anything for his daughter. With him gone, they’re free to do what they want, and they want to destroy the no-dream pill for good. What’s better than collapsing the only mine with the resources to produce them?”

“If they collapse the mine, it would take months to get back to it, even with Earth magic.” Zac completed.

“Magnesium isn’t only used for no-dream pills, though. A lack of it, even for months, could lead to the collapse of the balance. They aren’t that crazy.”

“Oh, no, they are.” Mahon said. “They are crazy fanatics to the core. The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced it’s their plan. Everything fits too well. We need to go there as fast as we can.”

“Wait.” Jorik said. “What if you’re wrong? Ravatoris will not agree with that decision. There is a risk they are doing something entirely different. We can’t just leave like that.”

“By the Fada, Jorik! Open your eyes. We don’t give a fuck about Ravatoris’ future if Ratho collapses.”

“You’re underestimating him. If Ravatoris goes down, he will not go alone. And he could very well bring the whole city with him.”

Mahon hadn’t realized how much Jorik was afraid of his brother until now. Ravatoris hadn’t really shown anything despite arrogance and contempt, and in that he was similar to Tiarsus. The latter’s death hadn’t changed anything, though. Was Ravatoris really different?

Now wasn’t the time to ponder on such thoughts, however, and Mahon had promised himself he wouldn’t let the Fada cult ruin anything. Even if he had to go alone, he would. He had one last ace up his sleeve to convince the noble, though.

“I trusted you during the tournament. Now it’s time to show back some faith. Alone, I might not be able to stop them before it’s too late.”

“I’m going too.” Zac immediately showed his support.

Jorik paused and glanced around him. The other students would listen to his order anyway, and if neither Belanor nor the bodyguard were among the factory attack, there was no need for the students to go there. Would they be useful elsewhere, though? Without knowing where the cultist might strike if not at the no-dream mine, they were useless.

But if something happened while they went away for nothing, they’d be held responsible.

“Trust me on this, Jorik. They are there. You said you were capable of empathy. Prove that you can choose the people of Ratho over Ravatoris.”

Jorik grimaced, but Mahon could see something lighting in his eyes. He wasn’t siding with Ravatoris by choice, but because he feared his brother. The First Black wasn’t a coward, however, just a calculative cold mind. Somewhere in the balance, though, Mahon’s words hit right, and he could see Jorik recomputing his odds. The First Black acquiesced.

“Go tell the others that we aren’t joining them.” He ordered the scout. “Also, tell them what we discussed here and what they should look out for. All the others, follow me. We’re going to the no-dream mine.”

The woman rushed back to the factory while the whole group went to the city gates at a rapid pace. They were already late if Belanor and the others had left for the mine at the same time as the other groups, and they needed to hurry up.

The group was made of First Green and First Yellow, and they had endured Slander’s training day after day, like all the other students. They knew what they were capable of. They ran as fast as they could without impeding their fighting ability later on. A dust cloud raised behind them as soon as they stepped on the sandy road outside of the city.

Between Jorik and Mahon, they were more than enough to guide the group towards the mine location without needing to pause to search for it. As they approached closer and closer, the tension stepped up slowly.

What if they had been wrong, and the target had been somewhere else? Mahon could see the thoughts twirling in Jorik’s mind even though the First Black tried to stay impassive. Zac, on the other side, was turning more and more serious.

Together, they had deciphered every single move of the cultists to crack them from the inside. Even if Mahon had been the only one to do the infiltration work, Zac could as well have been a cultist by now for how much time he had spent trying to understand their motives.

They both knew deep down they’d meet Belanor and the others at the mine. They had no doubt. And with only twenty students to deal with the best of the cultists, they knew already it’d be a hard battle.

When the mine was finally in sight, Mahon immediately noticed how calm the surroundings were. The two times he got within a hundred meters of the building, guards were already waiting for him, at the ready. No one came to them this time.

Only when they arrived close to the entrance did he notice two guards on watch. They approached the group of students nervously.

“Halt! What are you doing here? It’s a restricted area. Please go back.” One of them yelled to the students.

Mahon didn’t even need a second glance to recognize the two men. They were both part of the oldest inner cultist circle. Jorik glanced at him and Mahon nodded.

“They are cultists.” He said.

Strangely, Jorik let go a sigh of relief at the information while the students tensed up and strengthened their grip on their weapons. The two fake guards sensed something was off and recognized Mahon a second later.

It was too late, however, and Mahon’s spear pierced the heart of the left one, killing him on the spot. The second cultist didn’t get any respite, as Jorik’s sword beheaded him in a swift and powerful move. The First Black was already Flowing. He was in serious mode now.

“Enter the mine and get rid of the cultists before they collapse the mine.” He ordered the students in an icy tone.

The students immediately obeyed and moved forward. The First Black then glanced at his duo, a First Yellow woman, and at Mahon and Zac.

“We find Belanor and the bodyguard, and we kill them. Capture the backer. Let’s move.”