Permission

"You want to do what?" Elya grinned as Nikolai fumbled the strange device he'd been studying. She moved like lighting, her hand whipping out to barely get ahold of it before it fell. It was with some satisfication that she observed his dumbstruck expression. That had been her a few hours ago, facing an eager Vice-Captain and guard Commander as they enumerated their plan. She returned the device, watching curiously as Nikolai placed it into a drawer, careful so that he didn't drop it. If it was that fragile or dangerous the result of dropping it would have been astonishing.

"I want to break apart the Silver Serpents. The gang that extorts most of the docks." She added the last part to emphasise her point. Nikolai's focus on developing trade meant that he was keen to mitigate the heavier crimes which were crippling the influx of merchants. The guards already had a heavy presence on the docks, but the Silver Serpents avoided stealing the material goods themselves and focused on cajoling, threatening and extorting the various sailors and dock workers to assist them. Using the Black Hand's network Alexis had discovered hints that the Silver Serpents were involved in slavery and had quickly moved to uncover more clues. She'd found the slave 'pens' in short order. The Silver Serpents made little effort to hide them, relying on their presence to keep people away. Alexis described them in far too much detail for Elya's liking, but the information was required to finalise their plans.

"I know who they are Elya, but this isn't breaking apart. This is basically waging war in the town!" Nikolai waved the papers in agitation. "It would mean fighting on the docks and into the nearby districts. Even with all this information we can't be sure how many of these gang member there are." He slammed the desk, ignoring the items and papers that flew around. "Elya, there are all sorts of alliances and vendettas among the gangs. It's basically like the Houses except within a single town instead of spread across the Empire. Who knows how many of them will join in to either fight against us or the Silver Serpents. The entire town could erupt with combat!"

He was breathing heavily, not due to anger but from sheer frustration. Elya hadn't seen him descend into anger even once during her time here. It made him relaxing to be around.

"We've considered that. It's why the whole cohort of the Knights will have to be deployed. It's important to make a move quickly though. There's more to this than just removing a gang." Elya gave him the files Alexis had prepared. "There's been information that we received recently which changes the situation."

"Demons?" Nikolai spat the word and almost crumpled the files that outlined the torture scenes which had been discovered. "This is really bad. It looks like there are only minor rituals being carried out so far, but it won't be long before it escalates."

"Why?" outside of Mages, very few people knew much about Demonic entities.

"Each summoning weakens the fabric of the world a little and lets Demons reach in. At the start only small imps would be able to come into being for short periods of time, but as further summons are carried out something more powerful will be attracted and want to come through." Nikolai threw the file to the floor, hands clenched tightly as he explained. "Those are the creatures that can manifest and are so immensely powerful it takes armies to banish them. Luckily we've caught it in the early stages and we can nip this in the bud."

"Is is so bad?" Elya was distracted from the points she wanted to raise by the gravity Nikolai displayed.

"Not yet. But if it can happen in one town in such secrecy, under the eyes of a Mage no less, who knows what dangers people are trying to conjure."

"That's not all Nikolai." She interrupted him before he could retrieve his War Staff and gave him the final file. "There are signs that they may be involved in slavery."

There was a thrum of force and Elya felt her eyes water as a flash of light filled the room. Staggering she squinted to see Nikolai pick up his great weapon Nezgrom. It seemed alive, eagerly jumping towards the Mage, the gem at its head pulsing with raging, chaotic light.

This was the War Mage.

The Hero.

"Nikolai. Wait!" She scrambled to grab his arm before he could dash off. "Follow the plan!"

He shuddered, eyes flashing with a cold light that was terrifying.

"The Empire lost its name to break the chains." His voice had become deeper, flatter and without the vibrancy he normally displayed.

"I know Nikolai, but it won't do anything to warn people if you go in with your magic! They'll cower before a War Mage and whoever is supporting them will melt into the background. In a while they'll just return and look for another gang to take over." She spoke rapidly, stroking his arm to calm him down. He'd reacted so strongly she'd been caught unawares.

With a deep breath Nikolai placed Nezgrom aside and caught her hand. "How many troops do you have here?"

"Five lances of Fifty Knights each. Each Knight has a few squires and women-at-arms so around two thousand five hundred troops." The exact figure was actually a little less, but this wasn't the time to get into details.

Nikolai brooded, gazing out the window at the town and tightly gripping her hand. With a squeeze he let go and returned to his desk, taking out several papers and ink. He started scribbling a letter and nodded, passing her a letter which temporarily deputed her as one of his followers with the power to command the guard and bring the Knights of Chernigov into the town proper for its training and in assisting the guard in its work.

"Fine." He said and Elya sighed in relief at his agreement. It wouldn't be auspicious to go behind his back for these sorts of tasks. At least not often. "But I have some changes to this scheme of yours. If you're going to do something like this, you should go big. No point in holding back."

Elya swallowed as her heart sank at the sharp grin which flashed across his face.