Decisions and Departures

Reaching the town center, Magnus takes a seat on the fountain. Watching the soldiers go about their business of resetting up the town, he closes his eyes and listens to the sound of the running water, smiling as a feeling of peace settles over him. Breaking from his moment, he opens his eyes as a young soldier comes walking over.

"Paladin Magnus?"

"Yes. What can I do for you?" Handing an envelope to Magnus, the young man bows.

"New orders, sir. Just came in with the latest ship." Taking the envelope from the young soldier, Magnus dismissing him with a wave of his hand. Opening the letter carefully, he frowns at the contents.

Paladin Magnus,

Congratulations on your recent victory at Novaransk. I know you are most likely exhausted from the previous battle, but unfortunately a situation has come up that requires your team's combat prowess. I am sending a ship to collect you in three days' time. It is a long-distance vessel. It will take you to Alexsteig. There has been a significant increase in demon activity in that area, and your team is best suited to deal with the growing threat. I will place you under the directive of Marshal Ryan Asheham. You will report to him immediately upon arrival. I expect to hear good news in the coming days.

Grand Marshall Saunders.

Frowning, Magnus folds the note and puts it into his pocket. Before he can make a move, a voice calls out his name. Turning he finds Lana leading, Celeste, Eva and Ikane.

"We've made our decision." Opening her mouth to continue, she's cut off as Magnus raises his hand.

"Not here. New orders also just arrived. I will meet you at the barracks in an hour, and we shall discuss it then. First though, I need to find Amirah." Leaving the four women, he hurries off into the town. Turning to the others, Lana scowls.

"What the hell was that?" Looking at his retreating back, Ikane sighs.

"I don't know but if he's hurried off to find Amirah, it can't be good. Come on, we'd better wait for him at the barracks. I have a feeling we may leave quickly. Probably not a bad idea to get our gear in order." Turning from the square, the four women head back towards the barracks.

Sitting in the command center of Novaransk, Amirah sighs and rubs her neck. Looking down at the screen in front of her, she frowns at the figures and data scrolling past. Leaning forward, she gasps as she connects all the dots. Standing up suddenly, she cries out in pain as her head hits something hard. Turning, she finds Magnus staggering backwards from her, clutching his face.

"Magnus, my god I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" Wiping the blood from his mouth, he looks at her.

"I will be. If I'd known you were going to headbutt me when I came over, I would've yelled out from the door."

"Speaking of that, why are you here? Surely you didn't just sneak up on me for no reason." Removing the letter from his pocket, he hands it to her.

"New orders are in. I'm getting transferred. Theres something going on here, Amirah, and I don't like it one bit." Reading over the orders, a dark look crosses her face. Looking around the command center quickly, she takes a seat at her computer and gestures for Magnus to come closer.

"This is bad, Magnus. Look. This is terrible. Look at this. Whose signature do you see on this order?" Reading over the order displayed on the screen, Magnus grinds his teeth.

"Grand Marshall Caden Saunders. That order was placed a week before Anbushire fell. The only reason you would move critical staff out of a town…."

"Is if you knew it was about to fall. Magnus, if I'm right, then he's the one who's been working against us behind the scenes."

"Amirah, don't reveal this to anyone. Keep it under lock and key. Not just for their safety but for yours. Promise me you won't dig deeper into this."

"I can't promise that, Magnus. You know I can't. If he's feeding information to Vivienne, then he must be stopped."

"I know. But be careful at least. Can you promise me that much?"

"I can. Besides, speaking of which, you're going to a much more dangerous place than I. Shouldn't I be saying that to you?"

"True that." Frowning, Magnus grabs a pad and pen from a nearby desk and begins writing on it. Tearing the page off, he hands it to Amirah.

"How quickly can you get all this?" Reading over the page, she looks up at Magnus.

"A day, maybe two. I'll see what I can do."

"I'd appreciate that. Now I'd better go break the news to the rest of them." Walking to the door, Magnus stops just before and, rubbing his jaw, he turns to Amirah.

"Also, Amirah, I always knew were a suborn hardheaded woman. Now I have proof." Ducking the pen as it comes through the air at him, Magnus laughs and leaves the command center. Smiling to himself as he heads towards the barracks.

Walking into the barracks, Magnus quickly finds the four women sitting by themselves in the mess area. Walking quickly over, he takes a seat with them.

"Okay. So, what did you all decide?" Looking at each other, Lana speaks for them.

"We have all decided to stay. Ariane couldn't deal with the fact that you're a demon, so she left." Nodding his head, Magnus looks around quickly before talking.

"It was to be expected. Her motivation for joining the Vatican was the end of the war and the advancement of mankind. People like that don't deal well with having their core values shaken like that. Now on to my news. We've got new orders. In three days, a transport ship will arrive to carry us to Alexsteig. I've spoken to Amirah, and she's going to do me a favor and gain some things to make our new assignment a little easier. But make no mistake, even with her help, this assignment is going to be rough. I have a suspicion as to why we're being moved so far out of the way." Looking around once more, Magnus lowers his voice further so the women can barely hear him.

"I also have a lead on the traitor. But as we're being shipped off, Amirah will have to deal with it." Looking over at Magnus Ikane frowns.

"Will she be alright dealing with that?" Rubbing his jaw, Magnus smiles.

"I'm sure she'll be fine. If I'm honest, I'm more worried about what's going to happen to the traitor. But there's no point in worrying about that for now. There's little we can do about it. For now, I want you all to rest up for the next few days. Once we arrive in Alexsteig, I suspect we're going to hit the ground running. Questions?" Taking a sip from her glass, Lana lowers it slowly and replies.

"What about Eden?"

"That will have to wait for now. I don't want to go to Alexsteig, but If more people die because we don't, then finding Eden Is pointless in the end if there's no one left to save." Getting up from the table, Magnus nods his head to the women and leaves the mess hall. Looking at Ikane, Lana talks softly to the brown-haired woman.

"He really carries the weight of the world, doesn't he?"

"He always has."