Elemental Thief Part I : Child of Calamity

Enemy Rising

Eskandar walked through the dark, echoing hallways of the palace, his helmet under one arm, enjoying the silence of the pre-morning.

Soon these halls would rattle with voices, messengers running back and forth between offices, soldiers moving to and from their place of duty and all sorts of court officials moving about their day, scurrying like insects as they tried to claw their way higher in status.

On a normal day it would be a tolerable level of activity, but there was dark and cancerous anticipation moving the machine these last few months, and he found himself wishing for open skies, battle lines, and simple tasks, such as killing what was put before him.

"General!" There was no panic in the voice that preceded the running steps approaching him, but a keen sort of urgency that grated on his nerves, making it hard to remain calm as he stopped and turned to see one of his messengers jogging towards him. "General, I know you don't like being disturbed in the mornings, but word has come."

Eskandar arched a brow at that, feeling the violent surge of anger simmer to a low boil before he inclined his head to the man. "And I better be receiving it before anyone else."

"Of course." The man stopped in front of him and offered a salute, lowering his voice, even as power surrounded the two of them, making their conversation private to anyone attempting to observe. "More failure from Tyson's camp. He contracted locals, again, and they were supposed to be killing the two agents who failed to prevent the enemy from gaining more knowledge of our plan, but they got distracted. They went after the person who allegedly exposed the plans to begin with and were arrested. No word if they managed to die before they were questioned. And I don't know how much they knew."

"So the idiot who tried to betray his entire country is still alive?" Eskandar growled, frowning when he saw in the man's expression that there was more, possibly worse, so he nodded to him to continue.

"Apparently, that idiot had used Cercia on his Regent, which is how he had been able to nearly succeed in bringing us the island without war. But someone over there cured it. Some healer cleared an advanced case." The man winced carefully, watching him for a reaction.

Eskandar shook his head stubbornly. "She died several years ago. I felt her die. Either she taught someone, or they have powerful and intelligent healers who finally figured out her process. Seeing as how she died before Cercia was provided to our agents, I'm assuming the latter."

"What are you going to do?" The messenger asked, possibly a bit too liberally.

But Eskandar was feeling generous, so he merely grinned. "Hopefully this last failure with convince the Emperor that I need to be put in charge of this mission."

He dismissed the man and started towards the Emperor's war council room, even as the palace and its dark stone halls teemed with the life of a new day. He stepped into the room and slipped off to one side, listening to General Tyson giving reports of his armies beginning to deploy, and plans for the next stage of advancement east.

Eskandar waited for the man to mention this set back, biding his time until his fellow General finished, failing to mention it, or even the attempt at it.

As the Emperor sat back in his throne and nodded, Eskandar took a step forward, issuing a precise bow, turning to Tyson on his permission to speak. "General Tyson, how have your attempts to silence your failed agents gone?"

"Ah..." Tyson shrugged and shook his head. "Unsuccessful so far, they are surrounded by a great deal of security."

"As is the person who infiltrated your system and ruin the surprise of our intentions, no?" Eskandar grinned darkly at the man, enjoying the look of discomfort.

Not because he was cruel, but because he had a dislike of incompetence.

The Empire deserved only the best, and it was not getting it from the man in front of him. His old mentor had begun to lose his relevance within the Empire.

"What are you talking about, General?" The emperor's voice was dangerous, though still intoxicating to even hear, pulling both men to look at him.

"I am still attempting to remove any loose ends before we continue, but the Clairvalans are proving incapable of infiltrating their own country's defences." Tyson said reluctantly. "I have a couple more contacts, which will not fail next time."

"In the meantime, a Healer there has figured out how to defeat the effects of Cercia." Eskandar said simply, addressing the Emperor, knowing that even by mentioning it, they would remember his own failures in the distant past.

But he was beyond that shame, beyond those mistakes, and would not hide his pride when the Empire needed information.

"Not an easy thing to do." The Emperor watched him for a long time, before glancing at Tyson. "I told you to be very careful how you administered that. Now our enemies have seen it and have managed to build a defence against it."

"The healer will be one of the targets dealt with." Tyson nodded firmly, raising a brow, "Though the only person we lost track of, that could do such of thing, was always suspected to have landed in Clairval."

"And she's dead." Eskandar said simply, keeping his face a mask. "It's improbable that she managed to teach anyone, because they would have been able to save her if so, if your reports that she was using before she left were true. So there is a powerful healer over there who is smart enough to figure it out. It's not impossible."

"Very improbable though." Tyson was grasping at straws. They both knew it. "As for the other failures of my contacts, we have reason to believe that both men will be executed by Clairval in the coming days, and once that happens, we will eliminate as many threats as we can, judging on what we've learned about Clairval's strengths and alliances, then all our contacts will be eliminated themselves."

"Very well General. Make sure you succeed this time." The Empire waved a hand, dismissing the room, though pinning Eskandar in place with a stare until only they remained. "Careful of your ambition, General."

Eskandar offered a low bow, shaking his head. "Excellency, I only wish to serve you, to see your dreams for the Empire come to fruition. That is my ambition."

"You are my finest weapon, General Anaxides." The Emperor purred, grinning at him. "Do not fear. I will allow you to bring our enemies to their knees. Allow the old, dull dogs to set the stage for you."

Eskandar nodded at that. "I am planning on sending another contact to Clairval, with the ability to observe through them directly."

"Of course." There was a pleased look on the man's face that made Eskandar feel almost ecstatic. "Be sure to have your contact able to observe the next attempt by Tyson's contacts. Those that are the most dangerous to us, will most likely be the ones defending against the attacks. I would like you to know what we will be fighting."

"Excellency." Eskandar nodded at the information, though he had already surmised the same for himself, pausing for a moment as the Emperor looked him over, before dismissing him to his duties for the day.

Eskandar was going to get to kill soon for the empire.

For the Emperor, and nothing made him happier.