25 - Team Meeting

"So let's summarize the problem: A wacko crime boss wants us to be his subordinates, plus he has a grudge against the Ancient for not bringing him to the Temple of Swords?" Katie confirmed.

"That's what I can tell." I replied.

"And he can trade places with any of his underlings, as well as probably communicate with them wordlessly?" Juliana added.

"That's what we can tell. He also seems to rule by fear. Tim and Fred seemed terrified of him."

"Can we use that against him?"

"Maybe, if we knew what he was threatening them with. It would also be nice to know if he has any actually loyal followers, or even how many he commands."

"Sounds like we need to do some reconnaissance." Thomas interjected.

I nodded in agreement, then frowned. "Who would we send?"

Silence was our best sneaking person, but she was... well, silent. Do we send one person or more? Would it take too long to find their base?

The group thought for a bit. I could tell they were grappling with similar questions.

Silence stood up, as if volunteering.

"How will you tell us what is going on?"

She just smiled before leaving.

"That woman is darn frustrating sometimes." Thomas said.

I sighed. "I agree. I'm glad the Dragon speaks for her, but I wish she didn't count on me using that."

We separated after that, Juliana and Katie returning to making clothing, with Thomas and me making bricks. Noon came and passed, and Juliana had lit the fire to prepare dinner when Silence returned. She had twigs stuck in her long, black hair, but was otherwise unmarked.

"Did you find them?" I asked.

She nodded.

With a sigh, I invited the Ancient to cover me with his cloak. *What have the two of you learned?* I asked.

*There are about fifty people, with only a handful of them being women or children. They have a camp on the riverbank, about half hour walk, if I got your times and distances right. There is a cage of downtrodden people, which has ten of the people we counted, on public display. They have rudimentary tents for shelter, and seem to have the means to provide for themselves.*

*Thank you.* I relayed the information to the others.

"The public display cages... Hostages, right?" Juliana asked.

"Likely," I replied, "That's what the Ancient had already assumed. The Boss had walked away from us much too casually to not have a backup plan."

"We're gonna have to surprise him, then." Thomas noted.

*Unless we are willing to cut through fifty people, including innocents, to finish him off for good.* The Ancient added, only to me. He had undone his possession during my relay of the Dragon's report.

We discussed plans, picked them apart, discussed new plans, picked those apart, and repeated the loop for hours.

When we broke for dinner, it was clear we were all frustrated, except maybe Silence, who seemed emotionless. None of us had experience with war tactics, and our ideas showed that. It always boiled down to plans that were too risky, too violent, or or requiring more people than we had.

We ate undefined monster meat skewers cooked over Juliana's fire. She had started it with a wave of her hand this time, which was a demonstration of her progress as a mage.

Finally, as I was chewing a piece of... tail? Anyway, I finally had an idea.

"We keep making our plans based on their camp, before they attack us. What if, instead, we were to ambush them in the forest?"

Juliana swallowed her mouthful of meat. "We'd have to move based on their timing. I'd say that sending Silence to assassinate him in the middle of the night is a better plan than that."

"They'll probably be more on guard while on the move than at their camp," Thomas agreed.

I took another bite, tearing it off the skewer furiously to vent my frustration. They were right. But we were going in circles. Katie gave me a sympathetic look.

"The sword is the problem. Can we destroy the sword?" I muttered.

*There is a ritual to destroy Soulblades. There is perhaps one Soulblade that knows it besides myself.*

That knowledge startled me upright. "You know how to destroy Soulblades?"

My outburst caught the others' attention.

"The Ancient knows how to destroy Soulblades?" Juliana asked.

*However, the ritual has no way of differentiating which blade is destroyed, so all blades besides the singer that hear the song will be destroyed.*

I relayed that information to the others, who each glanced to their blades. I wasn't the only one who had gotten closer to my companion blade.

*Is it possible for you to teach me the ritual?* I asked telepathically.

*It is possible, but it will be difficult. It is a language not even I have a solid understanding of.*

*As long as it's possible.* I replied, "I have a new plan, with that information."

"It's going to be risky, isn't it." Juliana asked.

"Probably, but not unreasonably. What if one or two of us sneak to their camp, without our swords, and do the ritual on the Boss?"

"That might work," Thomas said after some thought, "but if the ritual is too long, they could wake up and kill us before it is finished."

"Then," I continued, "do you think we can steal the Boss from their camp?"