AO 5 Ch 20

Chapter 20

Eva was relieved when her feet once again touched the ground. They had reached their destination and she no longer needed to be carried by Zuri.

"So, Ard forgives quickly. How quickly does it take for the rest of the anchors?" Eva said, trying to make light of the tension she had felt the whole way. She had definitely noticed when giving magic to Zuri it had been like trying to push rope. 

"I don't know what you're talking about," the tall, dark-skinned woman responded, as stoic as ever.

Eva found her the most difficult of Ard's anchors to read. Maribelle was easy enough. She was always obsessed with Ard, and even the smallest slight against him felt like marking where you wanted her dagger to slide into your body.

Emlyn was torn between being Ard’s rival and lover. Meanwhile Aurelia was duty bound to serve him while also being a closet cuddler.

Zuri, on the other hand, was always calm, collected, and calculating. It was a damn shame that she ended up as an anchor. Otherwise, Eva guessed she could have made a wonderful matriarch for the Trevis family one day. 

"Sure, if that's the way you want to play it," Eva said, not backing down. "So, let's at least get this done and head back. We'll probably need some time for me to fill you up on magic before we make the trip back. I don't think I can keep up with your expenditure, given how hard it's been to fill you all the way here." 

Zuri grunted noncommittally, walking through the woods towards their target.

It had been genuinely hard for Eva to push her magic into Zuri. The woman didn't have to love her, but even a passing affection was clearly not there. If Eva had known how Zuri felt about her originally, she wasn't entirely sure she would have taken this mission.

As they got to the edge of the woods, the fort sprawled out in the distance. Eva would certainly use the word 'fort' for what the estate had become. The structure was stationed on top of a large hill, and the forest had been clear-cut for a mile all around it. The wood from the clearing had been used to build high wooden towers filled with scouts and low-angled palisades to defend behind. 

"This is far more fortified than I was led to believe," Eva said as Zuri touched a stump nearby. 

"What are you doing?" 

Zuri brushed her finger along the wood. "It's more fortified than you thought because it's new. These trees couldn't have been cut more than a week ago." The anchor rubbed at splinters of bark that hadn't been worn smooth or even showed a hint of decay. Zuri stepped back into the tree line to avoid being detected. 

"Can you use your dark magic to get a closer look?" Zuri asked. 

Eva nodded, not needing the anchor to remind her of her capabilities. Her eyes turned black as she peered through the shadows and out through the shadows of the fort beyond. Such an ability was difficult to detect. It didn't use much magic, especially not over such a short distance. Dark magic could be used for a number of scouting purposes and some of the best even claimed to be able to see vaguely into the past and future. 

Through the shadows, Eva picked several of the shadows to focus on, her vision branching much like an insect's eyes. A few dozen different views threatened to overwhelm her vision. Focusing on one, she was able to pull forward and see within the shadow of the keep.

There were a number of guards marching about. 

"They certainly have the manpower for all of this," she said, for Zuri's benefit. "There has to be at least a hundred men here.”

“Mages?” Zuri asked.

“I'm looking." Eva snapped. She didn't need this woman riding her. "You know, if you don't like me, you can just say it," Eva said, scanning through the darkness.

Through multiple visions of what was happening in the fort, the towers had four men each. One of them was even going through a rotation at the moment. Two were rotating out and two were rotating in. Rotating in pairs like that would definitely make subterfuge far more difficult. 

Eva finished looking all around the exterior of the fort, only seeing a few mage-forged and two anchors before she dove into the manor proper.

The space was richly decorated, however, it was difficult to see through the enormous clutter. Boxes lined every hallway and room as she scanned through. It truly seemed to be used mostly for storage.

However, as her vision climbed to the upper floors, the boxes cleared out. Plush rooms that were clearly being lived in were likely used by officers and those with magical potential. 

"Definitely some mages here," she said for Zuri. "I just can't seem to find them." 

She scanned up the center of the structure, finally finding one mage and two of his anchors at the very top of the copula. "Okay, one mage," she confirmed. 

"What about the basement?” Zuri asked.

“I didn't see any stairs.”

“There at least has to be a cellar. From what you've described, we haven't seen any bags of grain. They have to have those somewhere." 

Eva agreed with Zuri’s logic and thankfully she didn't need to find the stairs. Instead, she pulled her vision back instead of hopping from shadow to shadow. She reached underneath the building for the shadows that were deeper. And there were certainly plenty to find. Her vision shifted to a large room filled with cages. People in them screaming and begging as no less than half a dozen mages worked. 

"Shit.” Eva cringed.

“What is it?" Zuri was close next to her.

Eva hesitated, trying to get a better view.

“Some sort of torture? There’s corrupted, I think.” Eva tried. No. She looked at the cages that held the corrupted. She tried to figure why they had corrupted in them.

She heard twigs snapping beside her and pulled back her magic, turning to see Zuri taking the bundle that was her bow and snapping the arms out, extending it fully. 

"What are you doing?" Eva snapped. 

"Give me magic," Zuri paused and demanded, a hand on her hip next to where her swords rested. 

Eva held a hand up, cautioning the anchor, "I don't know what you're planning on doing. We're just here to scout.” Eva asked.

“Corrupted in cages," Zuri snapped. The stoic woman's face twisted into agony. "You know what that sounds like? It sounds like this might be the place where they're making monsters like Colin." 

Eva took a breath and realized what was happening. Zuri was still, rightfully so, furious about the death of her parents, and they had just stumbled on something that looked passingly like the people responsible for the monster Colin. 

"We don't know anything, Zuri, and we'll be back here. If you do anything now, it's only going to make it harder in two days." 

Zuri grabbed her hand and squeezed it, not tight enough for pain, but certainly enough to make Eva aware that the anchor could snap her like a twig in a moment's notice.

She fed a trickle of magic into Zuri, though it was just that, a trickle. She was currently more than a little concerned for the anchor and herself. It wasn't helping the already difficult time she had been having giving the anchor magic.

"We have to do something," Zuri said. "If like you said, they have a basement full of them, all that means is that the bandits are going to come here in two days and be food for whatever twisted experiments have been spawned here.”

“We can come back." Eva tried to reason with her, letting the anchor look down her nose at Eva.

"Why do that? You said yourself, there's one mage in the top of that copula," Zuri pointed, "and the rest are down below, too busy with their experiments. Sounds to me like right now is the perfect time to strike. If we can cut that mage off, we can burn the whole place to the ground. Hopefully those in the basement notice too late." 

Eva did not want to go through with Zuri’s plan, and more than that, she didn't want to have to walk back to Ard and explain to him how Zuri killed herself on some sort of suicide mission. 

"Even if you kill that mage, you're low on magic, and there are more mage-forged and general soldiers than you can fight." Zuri's hand squeezed her even harder.

"Well that's something you can fix, isn't it, Eva? You have a lot to fix lately.” Zuri stared at her.

“And there it is." Eva decided this woman wasn't going to listen to logic, and there was no need to continue down that line of conversation. No, this woman needed a wake-up call. 

"I thought you said you didn't have any problem with me, Zuri." Eva pressed, brushing her hair out of her face.

"I don't. Ard does, or perhaps I should say, Ard should. It's plain as day that you and Uncle Valken want Ard for your own purposes.” Zuri said.

“Of course we do. I have said as much to his face," Eva spat back. Facing off against Zuri right now was like staring down a bear, you didn’t run, you made ourself as big as possible. 

Arden Aldis was the first four sphere mage since the destruction of the old Zenovia when they were pushed down to the peninsula.

Though the current queen had not commented on Ard's potential since he became a known figure in the world, certainly within the next few years she would. Given that Ard was Harry's son, there would almost certainly be a faction of the royal family that would herald him as the next king of Zenovia.

In the past, Zenovia would often pick its ruler not by any means of order or succession, but instead by their magic potential. Zenovia wanted powerful mages to lead the country, and more importantly, to continue the rich and powerful Zenovian family bloodline.

"Everyone wants Ard, Zuri. Whether it be Carmilla, your grandfather, the Virel family..." Eva waved her arms around as she named all of the different powerful influences that suddenly were being so helpful to Ard. "Your grandfather sends one of his best anchors to Ard. The Virel family recalls an old marriage agreement they had made. Carmilla swoops in and tries to get control of him. Heck, the second prince and his sister immediately pounced on that opportunity, from what I understand. Everyone wants Ard, Zuri. Your job..." Eva decided to poke the bear, quite literally her finger shoving into Zuri's chest, "is to make sure Ard gets the best of all of the situations. Because the reality is, he's going to have to pick. He's going to have to go with someone. Otherwise, everyone will tear him apart. I’m offering him a fair option. Zenovia would welcome him with open arms."

The anchor blinked at Eva. "And what do you mean by that?"

"Just that, Zuri. When Carmilla couldn't get him, she was going to tear him down. The king realizes Ard and Aldis are against him. Well, that means Ard is no longer someone to try and convert, to lure to their side. No, now he's a problem to be stamped out as violently as possible. Heck, I'm sure this King Martin would love to get ahold of Ard and do the same exact experiments that are happening in that cellar to Ard. Yet, when Lord Valken met the young four sphere just awakening his power, what did he do? Saved him and let him go on his own accord."

Eva could see that every time she mentioned Ard, Zuri's focus on the fortified mansion seemed to shift. Almost visibly, her head was tilting away and towards the direction they'd come, back towards Ard. That's when Eva knew that Zuri genuinely cared about Ard. She cared enough that subconsciously just saying his name made Zuri want to go back.

"And you're trying to convince me that you have Ard's best interest in mind?" Zuri asked.

Eva snorted. "I want Ard to be a powerful mage. I want him to end this war. I want him to come back to Zenovia. Whether you think that's in his interest or not, there it is. That's what I want. And you have to make a decision just like now. Is it in Ard's best interest that you throw yourself at the enemies just over that hill?" Eva waved her hand. "Or are you gonna go back to Ard with the pertinent information and make a plan?" She poked Zuri again. "You're his tactician and that means you need to use your head."

Perhaps she'd oversold the emphasis because Zuri's brows dropped into a glower. "I don't need you to tell me what to do."

"It sure as fuck seems like you do." Eva spat back. "Because from where I'm standing, it seems like you were about to go commit suicide because you're pissed off at the world, at the people who took your parents from you."

Eva had definitely gone too far and that became crystal clear when Zuri lifted her up by the collar of her cloak.

"Say that again?" The anchor growled.

"You're making a mistake," Eva said, holding on to Zuri's forearm to give herself some breathing room. She could feel that in a moment's notice, Zuri could crush her windpipe. Though Eva was currently spinning up a tendril of dark magic behind Zuri, should the worst come to pass.

But it didn't.

Zuri dropped her on her ass and it was jarring enough that her spell behind Zuri dissipated as the anchor kicked at the ground where the spell had been forming.

"I think you were the one about to make a severe mistake," Zuri said.

Eva rubbed at her throat. It was most likely going to bruise. "You can't really blame me in that situation, can you?"

Zuri's face broke into a smirk. "I guess not, though it wouldn't have worked."

"Oh, why is that?" Eva asked.

"That wouldn't have just crushed your throat and allowed you to attack. It would have ripped your entire neck off."

Where Eva was rubbing her own throat took on a new meaning. "It's not safe fighting a mage until they're dead," Zuri said. "Fine, we won't attack." Zuri flicked her bow and the horns collapsed as she knelt down to wrap it back up.

"Then we're going back?" Eva asked, very eager to get moving.

"Put a hand on me and dump your light magic in while you continue to scout. I promise I won't cause any more issues." Zuri gave her a tense smile. 

"Of course," Eva said, putting a hand on Zuri's shoulder as the taller woman sat down and began to bundle her bow back up. "I hope you'll start to trust me, Zuri."

"War is easier if you don't trust anyone. That goes double for spy work," Zuri said. Eva nodded along. She had heard similar knowledge from her own spy training. 

"You trust Ard?" Eva asked.

"He's my mage and that's different," Zuri said. 

"What about your grandfather?" Eva tried to poke holes. 

"What's your point?" 

"That you need to have allies in all of this, Zuri. If you don't have other people you can at least trust. In this, it's going to exhaust you." 

"I do. Like I said, Ard and his other anchors were all in this together." 

"But I'm not," Eva said, filling in what was unsaid. 

"Exactly. You and Uncle Valken have your own secrets. I don't blame you for having them. However, as long as you have your own secrets and agendas, I can never fully trust you." 

Eva grimaced and looked up at the sky. "That's fair. But I'll have you know, Zuri, my goal is the same as Ard's. I want to end this as quickly as possible. Because, once this is done, perhaps I can bring them back to Zenovia. I do have my own goals, Zuri, but right now, behind enemy lines, yours and mine are exactly the same."