Not on my Watch

Chapter 21

And soon, very soon, before you are an old man and an old woman, great nations in your world will be ruled by tyrants who care no more for joy and justice and mercy than the Empress Jadis. Let your world beware. That is the warning. C.S. Lewis, from The Magician's Nephew.

                                             January 28, 2014

                                        Mesa Verde, Colorado

           Topaz circled slowly down out of the sky.  It was snowing again.  The regiments were lined up, practicing.  Vin was pleased at what he saw from the air.  He was beginning to amass a well-trained army.  Everything looked the same as it should have if he'd been there.  He also saw a group of dragons and ninjas off to the side, waiting for him.  Topaz landed in the middle of the practice field.  Vin dismounted, striding towards the ninjas.

          Seeing him approach, one of the ninjas came out to meet him.   He was completely robed and hooded, including the traditional ninja face mask, which covered his entire face.  He was a few inches shorter than Vin and had a slight limp.  There was something about him that seemed vaguely familiar, but Vin couldn't quite put his finger on it.

          He met Vin in the middle of the field and extended a hand in greeting.  "Captain Frost, I presume?" he asked in a raspy voice.

            Vin shook it.   "That's I.  And you are?"

            "Lone Warrior."

           Vin gaped in astonishment.   "Lone Warrior himself?  I thought you preferred to stay in the shadows, commnunicating by message."

             "I do.   It's not that I don't fight when I have to.  I'm no coward...but I've found that when a good leader can stay hidden and delegate most important responsibilities to others, the least likely it is that his enemies can detect his vulnerabilities, or locate his base of operations.  I received your latest note, however, and decided it was best I come in person to assist you.  You may have need of my fighting abilities.  We also have other items to discuss, such as how to deter this big army traveling through the western deserts, and I also have some urgent news of my own to convey, which perhaps it would be better if we discussed somewhere more private."

            Vin led the ninja off the field and to a spot out of earshot of anyone in camp, but out in the open, so there would be nowhere for anyone to hide to try to listen in.   "You must have extremely sensitive intel for me, especially to come in person."

            "I do.  I've discovered we've both had a spy in our midst for months, and neither of us knew.  My ninjas found out about it and brought me the info.  It's because of this spy that the army's traveling here.  They heard you may still be alive."

            He frowned.  "A spy?  Damn.  We tried so hard to prevent that.  Who is it?"

            "You're not going to like this.  It's the person who's been our main go-between for communications, Astrid Bloodfire.  Only it turns out she's not Astrid at all.  Astrid started out working for me, but she has an identical twin sister no one knew about.  The twin's name is Jaylon Easton, and she managed to get rid of Astrid some time ago.   I'm not even exactly sure when this happened...but it's now Jaylon who's been working for us.  She's a renowned double agent who works for the government as a spy and sometimes assassin."