Chapter 18.1: Safe Haven

Every night in the Tarnished Coast had been dark, but as Remi Melicent assessed their environment, he recognized just how dark this particular night was. A sudden stormfront had swept through the Artergon Wood that afternoon, and though the heavy rain had stopped, the still cloudy skies left the region void of moon and starlight, the perfect conditions for a night raid. No rain and stilled winds, all he could hear now were the sounds of crickets and toads singing from the safety of the brush. It was a safety he hoped the lionguard of Arterium Haven felt as well.

Christoff Veritas was still imprisoned at the Inquest lab Remi and the rest of the bandits had left days before. The gods only knew what the asura back there were putting him through; Remi didn’t know, and he didn’t really care to. What he did know was that in their chief’s absence, he had been given charge over this part of their mission and over the rest of the cell. He’d also officially been given authority over a handful of asura agents sent with them. The story was that those three were serving as eyes and ears for their cranky mistress, but it was anyone’s guess what the little imps were actually there to do. Still, they were there. It was another part of this mission Remi had to be mindful of.

Veritas had given him a map of the haven and surrounding area and a basic plan of attack. The asura remained a half-mile away, well away from the small fort, to ensure no connection between the attack and the Inquest could ever be drawn. Soon thereafter, Remi had broken his men into three groups that spread silently into the trees, each approaching the haven from a different angle: he and his group toward the main gate, Gregor approaching from the north, and Ophelia coming around and up from the south.

For some time, his team waited, ducked out of sight in a large patch of stegopalms across the Lion Road from the haven. They waited for the signal that Ophelia’s people were in position.

Swatting away yet another mosquito, Remi scanned the haven. Along the walkways behind the parapets, he could see the torchlight of two patrols watching opposite sides of the wild territory around them. The asura were most likely right; the defenses of this outpost appeared to be thin at best. Just a couple of trained lionguard were on site, with a rabble of asura and skritt volunteers. The greatest obstacle was going to be the walls, the fort itself. Once they got past that, the whole place and everything in it was as good as theirs. Then they could take these stones back to the boss, leave the asura and this gods- forsaken corner of the world behind, and get their operation back to normal.

Suddenly there was a sound off to the south: the caw of a Krytan raven, three times. It was Ophelia, giving a signal they knew the people of this region were unlikely to recognize. The operation could now begin.

Remi nudged Herman, gesturing with his head for the young gunman to echo the same call. He cawed three times and three times again. Three more calls came back from the north. Slowly, they approached the main gate, knowing two more parties were doing the same from the other sides of the haven.

He and his team were careful to move quickly, quietly from the undergrowth of one copse of trees to the next, staying in the shadows. With the sky as cloudy as it was, virtually everything was shadow. It brought a sly grin to Remi’s face.

The first few of his men slid past him and began toward the road when Remi heard a rustling in the foliage behind him. It was quick and low, but then there was another, a short distance off to the north, and another from a thicket just southeast of them. His men continued on, but Remi froze, sliding his rifle back over his shoulder and drawing the pistol he’d stolen off that krytan woman. He turned slowly toward the location of the first sound, directly behind him, and scanned the trees and underbrush. It might have been the movement of some wildlife, perhaps boars or a warg, but he couldn’t tell. Boars would be harmless, but a warg could prove to be a noticeable kink in the execution of their plan.

He heard the rustle again, but in the same darkness that hid him from his victims, he could see nothing of his pursuer.

“Hey,” Herman whispered, nudging him. Remi’s attention snapped around, surprising the other man. “Everyone’s ready,” Herman went on.”What are you—”

A guttural roar, rolling and bassy, silenced Herman, and a large figure flung itself into the air from beneath the foliage. Before Remi could focus, it slammed back into the ground nearly on top of him. Rolling backward, Remi got his feet underneath him, ready to move again. This was not what he anticipated.

Whatever it was, this shadow creature was big, bulbous, and now standing on Remi’s hat. Two eyes atop its head and the tip of a spear in its hand dimly reflected the torchlight from the haven’s walls. It blinked, clearly assessing Remi for a moment before opening a mouth almost as wide as its body and bellowing again. “For Cuatl!”

It lunged, spear forward, and Remi rolled aside, the spearpoint just tearing into his coattail. From a knee, Remi drew and fired three shots into its side. It staggered back a step and stopped, glaring at him as it crouched to the earth, licking its huge lips. Remi tensed.

The beast’s powerful legs suddenly sprung, launching its mass into the air, well over the head of a grown man, and slamming it back into the ground, its spearhead digging into the earth where Remi had just been. It roared like the sound of wet, rolling thunder.

“Shit,” Herman gasped.

Remi had forgotten the other man was even there.

“Did that thing just ribbit? It’s one of those Hy— rek? Rok?”

“Yes,” Remi sighed. “A frog. Just say it’s a frog.”

“I am no frog,” it croaked. “I am Cuatl. This ground is ours, and so are you.” With that, it lunged forward again, a spring uncoiled. Herman entered the fray, rifling away at the amphibian’s back as it lashed out at Remi again and again. Just as before, the rounds did nothing to penetrate the strange hide armor.

The hylek turned on Herman. This was Remi’s opportunity.

Jumping atop its hunched back, Remi drew the rifle from over his shoulder, jamming the muzzle into the top of the creature’s head, right between its big, round eyes. He saw the reflected firelight in those eyes as they rolled up to meet him. It blinked as he shoved a thumb behind the trigger guard of the upright rifle and pulled.

The echo of the rifle’s crack was muted by the foliage, but the splatter of blood wasn’t. It speckled Remi’s face as he rode the corpse to the ground. He stood up, wiped his face, and turned away to find his hat.

“Remi,” Herman hissed, pointing out into the clearing along the road. “The others. They’re all fighting those hyroks too.”

Remi stepped up through the underbrush beside him, looking over the situation. There in the open field, right in front of the fort, a third of his men were caught in a struggle with a band of those ridiculous frog creatures, most of whom wore the same garb and carried similar weapons as the one he’d just killed. Fortunately Ophelia and Gregor’s teams were still in hiding, but his own team was now locked in open combat with an enemy they didn’t even know they had. “Damn frogs,” he rasped.

“I think we’re winning,” Herman observed.

Remi eyed him, shaking his head. “The boss is not going to like this.”

As he said it, a sound of grinding iron came from the haven, where he could now see the faintest glow of the torches inside. The gates were opening, he realized, and lionguard began spilling out.

“The boss,” he repeated,” is really not going to like this.”