The pendant led us through the noble district and into the mercantile quarter. I expected as much when I first saw Mendir as the destination. Our trip through the streets was not going unnoticed, however. Not that I would expect a sorcerer, a witch, a handful of mages and two full squads of the city’s elite guard would go unnoticed. The elite guard took care of both internal and external threats to the city. Both squads were 30 men and women apiece and were among the deadliest fighters in the region bar none. To be counted among the Elite was a badge of honor, so seeing two full squads mobilized caused a stir.

  As we neared our target, the pendant began to give off a soft purple glow, and as it began to point toward a specific building, the glow began to pulse. The guards looked at me, and I gave a silent nod. The squad leaders gave silent orders, and the building in question was surrounded. After a quick check, we found a back door as well. A nice find. I turned to the leader of the mages.

  “Alright, I will take point through the main entrance. Bahruun you’re with me. I need a volunteer from your number to even out the amount of magic users going in on each side. The rest of you go in the back door once you hear me breach the front, it will be loud.” The leader of the mages, who hadn’t yet introduced himself nodded. “Sig, you’re with Lady Morgana.”

  Sig, a friendly but determined looking gnome with blue hair and purple eyes, nodded and parted from the group. “Gotcha, I’ll do my best to help.” The remaining mages hurried to the back door. I walked up to the front door and after allowing it a few seconds to let the other mages get in position, I slammed the door with all the strength I could muster. The result was beyond my expectations. I expected the door to be flung out of its hinges, but it was blasted to nothing but splinters.

  I glanced back towards Bahruun and Sig. Bahruun didn’t seem overly surprised, having witnessed my monstrous strength firsthand before, but Sig was gaping mutely, trying to get to grips with what just happened. “Snap out of it.” I turned back towards the entrance and marched inside. I was met be a pair of private guards, who were paralyzed before they could get to their weapons. “Restrain everyone, we’ll sort out the culprit after the fact. Deadly force is allowed only if necessary.”

  I could hear loud noises from the back of the building, no doubt the other mages making themselves known as well. As we stepped inside, the guards followed behind. They noticed the paralyzed guards and dragged them out of the way and secured them by the entrance. “We’ll guard the entrance and have a few hands follow behind to secure the prisoners.” I nodded and turned towards Bahruun. “Upstairs or elsewhere?” Bahruun held up the pendant, it pointed to the right and was blinking faster. He nodded towards a nearby door. “Let’s go.” I walked over to the door and wasn’t surprised to find it locked.

  I glanced over to Bahruun and shrugged, I could use magic to unlock it, but it was faster to just smash it. Besides being able to not hold back my strength for once was liberating. I understood all too well the famous “world of cardboard” analogy after holding back my strength for 200 years.

  The three of us walked through the shattered remains of the locked door and into a rather opulent livingroom. Inside was a faun with a greying mane, a short brush-like white beard and wizened features along with long pointy horns. His eyes were grey, and he looked at us with an annoyed expression. It was him the pendant was pointing at, and it was now blinking in rapid succession a few times, then paused, sank and pointed lower, blinked slightly slower, before going back up and repeating the pattern.

  I could dwell on that after this asshole was taken care of. He put away the book he had been reading and gave me a condescending look. “What is the meaning of this?” Before I could say anything, the door on the other side of the room burst open. “Ah, Lady Morgana, I see you found the culprit.” The leader of the other mages was looking a bit banged up, likely some more guards’ doing. “One of them, yes, though we didn’t really look around much and just followed the pendant.”

  I turned my attention to the Faun again. “Mr. Okley, I presume.” The faun grunted. “I am. Now who the blazes are you?” I gestured towards him. “Restrain him while I look for a basement. It would seem we have more than one culprit here. Be careful, as he knows his way around curses, speaking from experience. Now, did any of you see a door leading into the basement?” The mages glanced at one another and shook their heads.

  Alright then. “I’ll go look for it. The rest of you, if he as much as twitches in a way you find suspicious take him down.” Mr. Okley opened his mouth to say something, but I hexed him silent, letting him stew in uncertainty for a while longer. “All will be explained in due time, Mr. Okley, but your co-conspirator has to be collected first. Winter, Midnight and Soot, wait here; it’s going to be cramped down there and I’d rather not have you get caught in the crossfire if something happens. Bahruun, with me, I will need the pendant to sniff out the real culprit if there is more than one person around.”

  I left back the way I came, and Bahruun caught up to me a few moments later, and after looking around for a bit we found the door to the stairway built into the grand staircase leading to the upper floors. It was made to blend into the side of the stairway itself. I descended the stairs on the lookout for trouble. What I found was not what I expected. As we reached the bottom of the stairs, we found a single reinforced door. This one was warded with numerous runes. I couldn’t even tell what half of these would do, but one thing was certain, brute force would be a bad idea.

  Bahruun lifted a ring of keys. “Grabbed these before we left, they might be what we need. Let’s see here.” He stuck the key in the lock, nothing, then the next, and the next, and then finally, success. The door swung open, revealing a laboratory of black stone. Numerous alchemical and artifice workstations lined the walls, blackboards for calculations and shelf upon shelf of various alchemical ingredients, some of which I couldn’t even recognize and others which I knew were illegal. Mr. Oakley was far more than a mere merchant, it would seem. Just half of the illegal ingredients I recognized would get Oakley put away for life.

  Bahruun let out a whistle as he looked around. I, however, was more focused on the sole occupant of the room. She was sitting inside a summoning circle and was covered in old scars and wounds. Her skin was porcelain pale, her hair black as midnight and despite her poor condition was as lustrous as someone who just received a thousand dollar trip to a hair specialist. Two large ram horns curled around the side of her head, and two glowing green, slitted eyes looked at us with open malice. Her face was unnaturally beautiful, and her thin arms and hands ended in short, clawlike talons similar to my own. Her legs were cloven akin to that of a goat or faun, but instead of fur were covered in ruby-red scales that possessed a strange, oily, jade-green sheen as light reflected off them.

  “So, Fabius has some new lackeys, has he? So what will it be today, blood, flesh, or more forbidden knowledge?” I arched an eyebrow even as I confirmed with a glance at the pendant that she too took part in the orb’s creation. “None of the above.” I opened the box containing the orb. “Does this ring a bell?” The captive woman looked at the orb with the same expression someone looking at a pile of fresh dung they just stepped in would have.

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  “Fabius’ creation no doubt, I can sense my blood within. If the runes are any indication, it was made to drain the life out of a large area of land, rendering it barren. However, it’s been badly damaged. When we made it, it was indistinguishable from that of a black rabbit, albeit one with glowing crimson eyes and the rune of gluttony blazing from its forehead.”

  Well, that explained how Irrunin ate it, poor mutt wouldn’t even realize something was off if he jumped it from behind and devoured it whole, which the beast’s massive size and supernatural abilities would allow it to do. I closed the lid again. I would have to figure out how to safely dispose of the damn thing later. Hmm, maybe voiding it with my cauldron?

  I shook my head. This wasn’t the time and place for such musings. I glanced over at Bahruun, who was looking at the prisoner with an unreadable expression. “Thoughts?” Bahruun remained quiet for a few moments. “Well, by the looks of things, I doubt she has a cordial relationship, so that’s a plus for letting her go. On the other… just releasing an Infernal with no precautions, even one that’s weakened is a fool’s errand.”

  The prisoners’ reaction was one of bitter resentment. “Oh, I know you don’t trust me, only a fool would. I would say to just release my summoning, but I have been trapped in this circle for so long the magic that would return me to my home has long since faded. If, however, you can return me to my home somehow, you will be richly rewarded.” As she spoke, she leaned against the edge of the circle, revealing the magic barrier that kept her trapped inside.

  Hmm, on one hand, releasing her here and now was a no-go, on the other she was obviously another victim of Fabius’ schemes. Hmm, maybe. “I can’t release you from your current circle, too many variables, I can, however, summon you to my circle once I return home. Then, since I am your summoner, I can at least be sure you won’t cause any problems until I can figure out how to get you home.”

  I could see several emotions play across her face until it settled on determination. “Fine, since I have nothing to lose, so sure. I am Rathina, call upon me but don’t wait too long.” I turned back towards the stairs, time to grab Fabius and get out of here. On the way out I spotted something interesting, and I grabbed the item before we headed up, it would help to handle Fabius. As we walked up the stairs, I could hear Bahruun clear his throat. “Are you sure that is wise?” I glanced back at him.

  “Honestly? No. But I can’t leave her here, and I am not so stupid as to just release her without a way to control the situation. From what little I know about infernals, our magic would be of little if any use, and it would be a tossup in a physical fight between me and her, at best, since I don’t know hers or my own limits. Plus, if we add the fact that this lab is below ground, a full on brawl could collapse the entire thing on top of us. I don’t know about you Bahruun, but I don’t fancy being buried alive. Besides, from the look of things, she is as much a victim in all this as everyone over at Appleridge.”

  Bahruun looked back down the stairs. “I can agree on the last bit, at the very least, there was obvious animosity there. Fine then, let’s do it your way, I doubt the other mages would take kindly to seeing an infernal, regardless.” As we returned to the room where Fabius was being held, I noticed that he now sported several deep scars across his face, and a quick glance across the room revealed that Soot’s legs were covered in blood. “Do I want to know?” Soot flew down to my shoulder. “I’ll explain later.” I couldn’t recall ever hearing Soot so angry before. It was obvious it took every ounce of willpower he possessed not to throw himself at Fabius again. What in the world was going on here?

  I took a deep breath. “Fine. As for the rest of you, I found his lab. There is evidence there that would be enough to see Fabius banished from the city. However, for your own safety I have to insist you refrain from entering until tomorrow to collect it.” Sig looked up from where he was sitting. “Is that your personal or professional opinion?” I looked Sig dead in the eyes. “Both.” Sig pulled out a pipe and lit it with a snap of his fingers. “Noted.” I wasn’t even lying, the circle down in the basement could contain the Infernal, sure, but if she somehow got loose, the collateral damage would be immense.

  I turned my attention to Fabius, who was glowering at me. I looked at the others. “Well, since the culprit has been found, I will take him off your hands. I have… plans for him.” Winter landed on my hat again. “How are you planning to transport him, Mother, I doubt he’d go willingly.” I reached up and scratched her. “Oh, I know exactly how to do so.”

  I pulled out what I picked up earlier. “Manaseal shackles. It doesn’t matter how strong a mage you are, with these on, your ability to cast does not exist. I wonder, how did you ever get his hands on these Fabius? After all, the last time I checked these are a restricted commodity.” I released the silencing hex and immediately received an angry growl in response.

  Realizing he could speak again, Fabius refused to reply. I chuckled in response, a dry mirthless one. “It doesn’t matter to me, her me get these on him.” Fabius would likely have tried to fight back if he weren’t so outnumbered. As it was, it took only a bit of work to get the cuffs onto his uncooperative arms after a minor, token resistance. “This is an outrage.” he let out an angry growl. “No one cares much for what you think right now Fabius. And by tomorrow you won’t be remembered fondly, regardless of your current standing in the city, I can guarantee you that.”

  I was tempted to just hex him to death here and now and be done with it, but there were others who were ahead of me in the line of wanting revenge. So, as much as I wanted to tear him apart, I would have to wait. Even if he survived the others’ revenge, Fabius’ days were numbered. The question was how much he would wish for it to all end by the time it was my turn, considering Rathina was ahead of me in the line... Well I wouldn’t want to be Fabius a few hours from now. I grabbed Fabius’ arm and dragged him to his feet.

  “Soot, monitor him. If those Manaseal Shackles turn out to be faulty and he channels a single smidge of mana, you are free to pluck his eyes out to disrupt the channeling, should he try to run, same thing. For now, we’re leaving for home.” As I dragged Fabius outside, the others followed. “I take it you won’t mind if I use my flying carpet to take off from here?” The guard captain shrugged. “Considering your mood I think the faster you leave our city, the better for everyone involved. It would be better if we didn’t drag Fabius Oakley through the city like a common criminal. It could cause…. Problems given his popularity. I sincerely hope the evidence in that basement is as compelling as you say it is, because we will probably be lynched if it’s not.”

  I wrote a few of the items I identified on a note and handed it to the mages, who would recognize them. “Those are but a fraction of the illegal substances stored down there. Again, for reasons I cannot go into detail about wait until tomorrow to retrieve them, for your own safety.” I could see the mages’ reactions to reading the list, some of them went pale, and others looked physically ill. “Get him out of here, I’d rather not look at Fabius right now.” It was Sig who was speaking, and the rest of the mages looked in open agreement.

  The guard captain shot the mages a curious look, and one of the nearest mages, a young woman softly explained what was on the list and their potential uses. He nearly lost his lunch then and there. Without further ado, I pulled out the carpet, set it to hover and tossed Fabius on top of it. A quick paralyzing hex to ensure he was going nowhere, and the rest of us jumped on top of the carpet as well. A few moments later we were airborne and flying not towards home, not immediately, but towards Appleridge.

  His own flesh and blood were first in line, then Soot, then Milnair, then Rathina, and finally myself, should he still be alive at that point. As we flew along, I looked over at Soot. “Why don’t you explain why you were so agitated back there while we fly?” Soot remained quiet for a moment. “Sure I suppose I could do that, just give me a moment to gather my thoughts.” Given the sound of his voice I doubted it would be a fun recollection.