It was a city of ice. Glacial buildings were fused into the frozen rock. Wide streets covered in uneven layers of petrified snow ran between spires of glittering dark crystal. Gray fog curled off of the featureless buildings and filled the air between the stark white towers with vapors of rolling shadow. Needle-thin bridges connected the delicate structures like misplaced horizontal icicles.
The breadth of the city was impressive. When the wind turned in the ship's direction, Cross tasted cold so raw it burned his tongue. He sensed powerful and ancient spirits, their origins and numbers so vast and scattered they would not be pinpointed. They swam through the currents of the air, heavy, formless and pure, like uncut diamond matter.
The group met Claw Company atop the ridge that overlooked the city. Cross saw a ground transport and a tank. Both were made out of magically-treated steel, and they were lightweight vehicles that could be carried by the cargo transport airship grounded on a ridge that overlooked the city.
Only a few Southern Claw soldiers were visible out there in the snow, their brown and deep red armor hardly camouflaged but probably the best choice for keeping track of soldiers so that no one became lost in the arctic wastes.
Airships ran reconnaissance over the frozen city streets. Cross counted at least six Bloodhawk warships in the air. They were sleek and lightweight vessels shaped like aerial speedboats.
With the troop transport and the two land vehicles, that meant that the Southern Claw had sent a least two platoons. Cross was relieved: he didn’t want the entire Company. He had a bad feeling about what was coming.
A cluster of soldiers made their way towards the vampire airship. It pained Cross' eyes to even watch them in the stinging snow. He felt his sinuses freeze.
“ Lieutenant Crylos?” Ramsey called out, his voice drowned in the wind.
“ You must be Ramsey!” a man called out. “This way!”
The soldiers led them into a makeshift white tent that was nearly invisible in the eye-numbing wind. Inside were a number of tables with maps pinned to them, plenty of supplies, sandbags, and a hex field generator that provided power and acted as an early warning system against intruders. Cold iron rods and sacks of blessed earth rested near the center of the tent. The generator made the air inside surprisingly warm.
A witch waited in the tent. Her dark hair was pulled back to reveal intricate tattoos cast on her neck and angular cheeks. She held a dark crystal attached to a string over one of the maps.
The man who’d spoken with Ramsey pulled back his hood. He was young and unshaven, with dirty blonde hair and large blue eyes.
“ I’m Lieutenant Crylos,” he said, and he shook everyone’s hand in turn. “Sergeant Ankharra is busy divining for any obvious signs of recent disturbances in this area. Thus far we haven’t turned anything up, but give us time. We’re good at finding trouble.”
“ This should be a match made in heaven, then,” Cross laughed. “You served with Sergeant Stone in Scorpion Company, right?”
“ I did,” Crylos nodded. “Good man. Sorry to hear about what happened to him. I’ve heard a lot about you, Cross.”
Cross couldn’t decide if the fact that he had a reputation was a good thing or a bad thing.
“ Where’s the rest of your Company?” Ramsey asked.
“ Patrolling near Saarn. That’s actually where the entire Company was bound for when we received orders to come and help you.” Crylos looked at Cross, clearly assuming the warlock was in charge. “What are we expecting, exactly? All we were told was that there was something of import in these ruins, and that agents of the Black Circle were looking for it, as well.”
“ We hope that the Black Circle is all we have to deal with,” Cross said grimly. “We may have vampires on our tail. Or worse.”
“ Excellent,” Crylos nodded. His face was almost expressionless. Cross couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic, or if he really was excited about the notion of facing vampires. He decided Crylos would make a terrific poker player.
Black, Cole and Kane all kept surprisingly quiet. Ekko kept her hood drawn, as they'd agreed she would. Cross and Black had both used basic thaumaturgic currents to help mask her presence from top-down vampire detection measures. Since Ekko wasn't a full vampire, she’d remain undetected unless someone specifically searched the exact spot where she stood. The implications of what might happen if Ekko's nature was discovered was more than Cross wanted to think about, as was the notion of having to convince Crylos that it was okay that they had a vampire on their side. There were some things that were all but unheard of to the average Southern Claw soldier, and the notion of working with the undead was one of them.
Funny how much I've changed, Cross thought. I used to think like that, too. Maybe everything would be easier if I still did.
“ That's kind of rare, isn't it?” Cross asked Crylos. “For a witch to be an officer?”
“ Ankharra is one of the few,” Crylos nodded.
“ I think I've found something,” Ankharra said, right on cue. Crylos nodded for everyone to convene at the map. Harsh winter wind cut through the tent as the flap opened and a handful of other officers joined them.
Ankharra briefly surveyed the new arrivals. She was a lean and handsome woman with dark and exotic eyes and full black lips. Cross felt her spirit, raw and male and filled with primal hunter power. His spirit felt largely insignificant next to Ankharra’s. Worse, he felt Black's spirit test Ankharra's. Two male spirits in the same area was always dangerous. The level of anger and aggression was so thick that Cross nearly choked on it.
“ Danica Black?” Ankharra said with a mean-spirited smile. “It’s been a long time. I'm surprised they let you out of your dungeon.”
“ I'm surprised you can even survive in this climate,” Black smiled back. “Don't reptiles need to bathe in sunlight to stay warm?”
Kane laughed, and he clawed the air and made a sound like a hissing cat.
“ Anyways…” Crylos interrupted.
“ There are arcane trace elements near this Tower,” Ankharra said. She pointed with a dark fingernail to a spot on the map.
“ Is that it?” Cross asked. Cole stepped up. She had to study the entire map for a moment to gather her bearings.
“ Yes,” she said. “That’s it.”
“ Most of the energy is residual,” Ankharra continued. “It’s maybe a week or two old. But something has occurred near that tower, as recently as yesterday morning.”
“ Like what?” Cross asked.
“ And you are?” Ankharra asked him pointedly. Cross saw Crylos give her a look, but he shook his head, and smiled.
“ Asking you a question,” Cross answered. “What sort of activity?”
Ankharra regarded him a moment, and then smiled back.
“ It’s focused destructive power, for the most part. Channeled fire, large scale explosions squeezed into tight spaces…things like that.”
Cross and Black exchanged glances. The Revenger nodded.
“ The Black Circle,” he said. “They’re blasting. They think they’ve found her, and now they’re trying to get to her.”
“ Well?” Crylos asked.
Cross ran his hand over his face. Even with the small amount of rest he’d gotten on the airship, he felt as though he hadn’t slept for days. His stomach was tight with worry, his nerves were on edge, and he had trouble focusing his eyes on anything for more than a few seconds without getting dizzy.
We are so close, he thought. So close to ending this…but now, more than ever, we have to stay alert, and we have to be ready.
“ We’d better get rolling,” he said.