War is a Game of Deception

Keiko took a moment to warm her hands against the warming charm as the wyvern disappeared into the night sky. As much as it unnerved her riding the animal, there was a fearful uncertainty seeing it vanish, knowing their transportation was now gone and it was all up to her.

Clearing her mind, she focused her will onto the first crystal to channel the energy to open the portal, then onto the second crystal to create a bridge. As the spell started to form, she could already feel the strain on her body and mind... Lady Amberbrooke wasn't kidding that these are tough to cast... focus... keep it together...! She almost gasped as she felt her chest start to pound and the spell's energy surged through her, until finally Akiko stepped through just before the portal collapsed.

"Woah..." Akiko gasped with surprised, having experienced a portal for the first time in her life. She turned around and noticed the portal vanish behind her. "What about the others?"

"Th-that's all I got for now," Keiko shook her head. "If I try again, I won't have anything left for the mission for a while."

Well... crap... Akiko thought. I did say I was going to do it myself, but I was really hoping it wouldn't come to that. "Where's Masako?"

"She went to get our ride," Keiko pointed downhill. Akiko peered over the ridge down the mountain and spotted the wagon with its guide lights as it slowly made its way up the trail. The girls stood ready as the wagon came up to their camp, with Masako driving the horses.

"Where's the teamster?" Akiko asked.

"Don't asked questions you don't want answers for," Masako said coldly. "Get in the back under the tarp; their manifest says they're scheduled to deliver these supplies tonight, which should get us inside. I have the image you'll need for your spell in the back as well."

Akiko and Keiko climbed into the back and hid under the sheet and cringed as the teamster's decapitated head rolled between them. "Kya...!" Keiko nearly cried out before Akiko clamped her hand over her mouth. "A-are you kidding me...?!" she whispered harshly.

"I-I guess she wanted us to know what the driver looked like so we could make a copy?" Akiko offered sheepishly.

"And knocking him out wasn't an option?!"

"Well... I mean... what would we have done with him next? Tie him up and leave him in the freezing cold by the side of the road? Wouldn't that just be killing him in another way?" Akiko justified.

"Oh, I don't know... leave him at the Spire after we were done?" Keiko protested in whispers.

"Look, what's done is done," Akiko defended. "Can you make an illusion of him or not?"

"Sure... just don't expect him to say anything since I don't have any idea what he sounds like," Keiko countered.

Oops... Akiko realized. Guess I'm going to be doing all my greetings with grunts, hand waves and shrugs. She cringed as she went over their plan again which was going to be difficult enough without this complication.

"We're getting close," Masako called out. "Have that spell ready?"

Keiko sighed, cringed and tried to keep her composure as she focused her attention on the decapitated head while ignoring its grotesque final expression just before passing. Can't exactly have our puppet walking around the keep with his face twisted in that expression, she winced.

____________________________________________

The gate to the Black Spire stood a foreboding twenty meters tall of reinforced wood. Keiko had already identified magical protections on the gate and walls that could repel many magical or elemental attacks, making any kind of siege all that more difficult, as if the weather and terrain weren't bad enough. As they got near, the teamster glanced up at the walls and noted that they had already been spotted. If they were a known hostile, arrows and spells would already be raining down on them. Fortunately, they were expected, so the drawbridge was lowered, and they were able to carefully make it across.

Once inside, the Black Spire's quartermaster met the teamster in the courtyard as he had many times before as the latter man handed him a book with a list of the provisions as he disembarked. Looking at the list, the supplies looked routine enough; mostly food, some expendables, and low-priority personal items that had been requested as important items would have been portaled in long ago. He noticed the driver had started heading into the keep's gatehouse.

"Hey, aren't you going to sign off?" the quartermaster asked, handing the book back to the teamster.

The teamster grunted and nodded, accepting the book before checking off the list and turning back to the keep's entrance.

The quartermaster nodded with understanding, sure, it's cold. Anyone would prefer to get indoors as soon as possible.

____________________________________________

The teamster made his way into the gatehouse, then into the kitchen where warm food and drink were being prepared for the keep personnel. While technically not a guard, the staff weren't so cold as to deny the man a simple cup of warm broth, especially for the man who routinely brought them supplies from town.

Leaving the kitchen with his cup of soup, the teamster made his way to the hallway connecting the great hall to the rest of the central part of the keep. Looking around, he saw dozens of guards marching in formation, including several who openly carried crystals denoting their status as mages. They kept to their patrols, paying scant attention, apparently having seen him several times in the past. He waited until the patrols passed by before sneaking into a door leading to the stairs down.

In the lower levels, the smells of human waste were more pungent as were the sounds of suffering. Here the flickering torches kept the rooms somewhat warm, which was the only comfort these prisoners were afforded. Walking through the hallways, he counted the steps and hallways, making sure to memorize how many blocks he passed, so he could make his way back, or at least so he hoped. Under his arm was a satchel with several bottles of the Kingdom's preferred liquor, with a note written and signed by one of the Barons in the capital, forged of course. Ordinarily, he would have no business being on this level, but no guard captain would seriously protest a special gift hand-delivered to him by a noble patron for services rendered. Such gifts weren't unheard of, often for special favors for politically connected prisoners or other special considerations when an outright pardon was unattainable. He just hoped the captain didn't pay close attention to the signet seal.

"Identification?" a guard ordered.

"Uhm..." the teamster grunted and offered the forged document. Dang... maybe Masako should have spared the teamster at least long enough for us to get a voice, Akiko winced.

The guard scanned the document and pointed down the hall, "He's waiting for you."

Nodding, the teamster made his way to the middle of the dungeon level where the guard headquarters resided. The guard captain glanced at him as he handed him the care package. The door opened and the teamster immediately froze as the sight of Kyoko and Isamu Fujiwara were in the central interrogation cages. Before he could react, he was blasted by a spell from his side, dispelling his illusion, revealing Akiko's form, causing the Fujiwara's to gasp.

"Well... well... I do so love family reunions..." the guard captain mocked. "So good of you to bring us these very nice vintages. Ordinarily, I would send back my regards to... Baron Reikov, but in this case, I suspect he never wrote this note, so there's no point is there...?" he added sarcastically. "You were a fool to come here, Akiko Fujiwara... and not think that the Empire wouldn't anticipate you would come... and now you and your family will be our guests... for the rest of your natural lives..."