Fantasy Starfallen

[StarryKnights]

Things were a mess, and everyone knew it. Anice was missing, the palace on lock down, and outside of the suspicions on Viscount Hershel and Cassandra, there were no real leads. If it turned out neither of them were involved, then King Ramus didn’t know who to turn to next. Talented mages were a dime a dozen in Arcadia, and with no concrete motive behind the attacks, this could be a well-organized attempt to overthrow the entire kingdom, or an effort to discredit Ramus as king. Hell, there could be another motive entirely, one that hadn’t been considered yet. It was a stinking mess, and unfortunately for Morlock, it was his job to sort through it.

Half of that task was locating Princess Anice, while Morlock would deal with their suspects, he trusted Tuvera, Nakier and Luthien to organize search parities and scour the castle and Windcrest. Enlisting the assistance of the outsiders would also likely be necessary, it was imperative that Anice was found, and quickly.

Sorting through the other half of the mess started with Cassandra Alves, the prime suspect for the attack on the courtyard during the king’s speech.

At the moment, Cassandra was sitting at a simple wooden table, her hands were bound by metal cuffs with some intricate carvings in the metal. A piece of magitech, the cuffs were enchanted, and prevented the wearer from casting any spells.
In the other sat her employer, Viscount Hershel. Morlock would speak with him later, Ramus wanted to be present. Right then, establishing whether Cassandra was guilty was top priority.

The woman looked almost bored, sitting back in the chair, watching the door, waiting for Morlock to arrive and get this over with.
She wouldn’t have to wait much longer.

“Sorry, so sorry”, Bellamy spoke as she entered the room, Morlock turned and watched as she closed the door behind her, it didn’t make so much as a sound.

“Are the civilians all on the mend?”

“Yes, the healers are finishing the last of the treatments”, she stepped forward and stood beside the captain, looking Cassandra over she frowned. “She’s awfully calm”.

Morlock shrugged, “She’s confidant in her innocence”. Bellamy arched an eyebrow. “Ah, well I suppose I’ll be the judge of that?”.

Morlock looked to the woman, nodding, “You are one of the most talented mages in the castle, I know you can tell if she cast the spell or not”.
“Oh please”, she chuckled. “That’s child’s play go talk to her. I’ll tell you if she’s being truthful…and if she cast that spell”.

Morlock nodded. “Right then, I’ll leave you to it”.

As Morlock stepped through the door, a grin came to Cassandra’s face. “Took you long enough”, she smirked as the older man walked though the door.
“Yes well, as you’re well aware I’m quite busy”, he sat in the chair opposite of her.
Cassandra scoffed. “Doing what, watching me sit on the other side of the glass? Come on now Morlock”, she leaned forward, placing her bound hands on the table.

He shrugged. “I was also waiting on Miss. Bellamy to arrive”.

Cassandra arched an eyebrow. “Bellamy herself is on the other side of that glass?”, he rgaze flickered to the window, though she couldn’t see through it. “What an honor, no doubt she’s buzzing in your ear now”.

She’s a chatty one too, Bellamy’s voice rang clear in Morlock’s head.

“Let’s cut to the chase Cassandra. Did you or did you not execute the attack on the courtyard?”, Morlock’s tone grew grimmer.
Cassandra didn’t skip a beat. “No, and Bellamy can attest to that”, her gaze flickered to the window before returning to Morlock.

“Why would the outsiders suspect you then?”.
She shrugged. “Gods only know. You’d have to talk to them”.
Morlock had expected as much. “Do you know where Princess Anice is?”.

Cassandra stiffened slightly. “No, nor do I know who took her”.

She’s not lying…but she’s not being fully truthful on that. She was however, not lying about her innocence. She didn’t cast the spell.

Morlock sighed. “You know Bellamy is watching, don’t try and hide anything from me”.

Cassandra pursed her lips. “Neither of you are any fun”.

Morlock rolled his eyes. Cassandra frowned. “In the courtyard, there was a person, I’d never seen them before. And I…sensed some odd magic on them. When I tried to get closer to them, that spell went off”.

She frowned. “Whoever they were, they had a powerful spell on them, I believe it was cloaking their appearance”

Morlock frowned. “Describe what they looked like”.

_+_+

Well, Cassandra wasn’t their culprit, but she had given them a new lead, and that was something.

A young man, with brown hair and even darker brown eyes. They’d radiated an unusual magical aura, which had attracted Cassandra’s interest.

It was worth taking a closer look at, given the surveillance capabilities the outsiders had, Morlock felt it would be worth a shot to see if they have any images of this person.

With Ramus still busy, he took it upon himself to contact Decker, and see what he knew about this new suspect.

He borrowed the communication device from the throne room while the king and queen ate, and made a mental note to catch Ramus up on all that had happened. After the king had finished eating, it would be time to speak with Hershal.

He fiddled with the device for a second before figuring out how it worked, gods above it was more aggravating than the magitech devices in development still.

After a bit though, he managed to get it to work. At least, he hoped he got it.

“Captain Decker? This is Captain Morlock, we have an update on the situation”.

 

[Corrosion]

Drone sweeps and recon overflights were still proving indecisive, despite that fact that they had surveyed nearly half the continent by now. But without the ID chips implanted in every citizen of the UEG, it was exceedingly hard to lock on to the princess' bio-signature. The near-complete lack of anything to assist with the identification also didn't help matters. The continent was likely home to millions alone. Locking on to a single one with thousands of similar signatures was incredibly difficult, even with Miller working overtime.

There was still a ray of hope, however. Whoever had taken the princess couldn't have gone far. The fastest way out was probably via horse, and Miller had estimated that the rider would be on the outskirts by now if he or she had left the city at the first chance. Then again, with what Decker had seen, it was also possible magic was used. If the Circles over at Camp Winder could transport a human being dozens of klicks in a near-instant, there was no telling where the princess was.

Decker had ordered a search for signatures matching those of the Circles at the camp in order to find others like it. This was also proving to be problematic, however, as there were also a number of others located around the city. He'd guessed the one used to escape was hidden somewhere outside the city proper, but that was still all guesswork.

Right now, Cassandra was surely being questioned by the royals, although Decker had no idea what their methods of interrogation were. Though it was probably a lot less painful than how the UEG normally did things.

His mug of coffee was on the table in front of him. While it was still steaming slightly thanks to its temperature-regulating properties, Decker wasn't really in the mood to finish it up. Right now he really felt like popping back to his quarters and grabbing the bottle of half-finished whiskey he always kept around. It'd been aged over fifty years in the barrel, naturally. One of the finest from Caston Reserves. It was a gift from Admiral Haynes as a congratulations for his promotion to captain.

That was years ago, but he still hadn't gotten around to finishing it. It was mostly to calm his mind during stressful situations, but that didn't really tend to happen often.

Still, he'd drank quite a more than usual on the first night on this rock.

"Anything yet?" The captain asked.

"Nothing yet, I'm afraid." Said Miller, his avatar appearing in front of him. "With the number of Circles inside the city, it's pretty much impossible confirm."

"Outside the city limits?"

"Fewer, but still no positives yet."

Decker sighed and picked up his mug, taking a sip. The rush of caffeine was quite comforting. "See if you can isolate signatures that appear to have been hidden as a possible exit route."

"Aye, sir."

As Miller disappeared once again, Decker took a glance around the bridge, now sparse and nearly empty.

With the ship grounded, most of the non-essential bridge crew had be reassigned downstairs, leaving only a few left to man the vital stations such as sensor suites and communications. Those that remained were mostly intelligence personnel.

With nothing much else to do, the captain had decided to use the time to reflect on earlier events, as he usually did. They'd been here around three days, and their arrival appeared to have set of a string of events that seemed poised to shake the foundations of the current political landscape.

It'd also been a full three days since the distress beacon went up, and there was still no response even with the signal transmitting in every direction, to every star and every empty corner of space within a radius of over a thousand lightyears. He really didn't know if he should be hopeful or thankful.

On one hand, a ship on the magnitude of the Filial Piety was sure to be priority when the signal was eventually picked up, and UEG distress beacons were universal. On the other, that also meant that the vaskrans hadn't found them yet. They'd probably raze this whole planet to the ground if they did.

A rapid beeping suddenly caught his attention, and he blinked. He turned toward the holotable to see an incoming call.

"Captain Morlock's calling, sir," Miller said. "Patching him through now."

A live feed of the guard captain popped up. Had an update, apparently.

Decker straightened himself up. "What is it, captain?"

 

[StarryKnights]

Morlock straightened as the call was picked up.

“The interrogation of Cassandra Alves has wrapped up. She isn’t our perpetrator; it’s been determined that she didn’t cast the spell during the king’s speech. However, she reported that there was a strange person in the crowd, one that she sensed an unusual magical aura from. We were hoping you might have a visual on the subject. They are described as a young man, with dark brown hair and brown eyes”.

It wasn’t much to go off, the investigation had hit a brick wall. Their prime suspect had led them to another lead, but it was as flimsy as all get out. A basic description of what amounted to what could be an average citizen.

But if Cassandra thought they possessed an unusual magical aura, then it was worth looking into.

“I was also wondering if you’ve seen any suspicious activity around the city, given the perpetrator had to carry the princess they likely couldn’t have gone far. Its possible that they employed a teleportation circle as well. If that’s the case, then perhaps your surveillance might be able to spot it”.

Perhaps if they were lucky, they would spot the person in question using the circle, but Morlock wasn’t the type to cling to such improbably scenarios. It was looking increasingly likely that the princess wouldn’t be found in a timely manner. That didn’t sit well with Morlock, as the security of the royal family was his top priority.

Princess Anice was so head strong, and intent on aiding her citizens in her time on need. Someone had taken advantage of that, but why anyone would kidnap her, over say her father or mother Morlock couldn’t say.

They hadn’t received any ransom notes or any kind of contact, which indicated that the princess was likely targeted for a specific reason. He prayed she was unharmed…and that she was being even a little cooperative with her captors. He wanted her returned safely.

_+_+

“My my my”, the young man poked his head out the window before ducking back inside. Hiding out in a dilapidated structure in the poor side of town, he’d expected more search parities. Most likely they were combing the castle grounds, thinking it impossible for them to have gotten so far.

Well, they lacked imagination.

“Worry not princess, our time together will be over soon”, turning his back on the window, he faced the scowling Anice, who was tied down to a chair with what looked like little more than average rope.

A closer inspection revealed the marking in the material, which facilitated the enchantment keeping Anice prisoner.

The rope appeared light and common, but it let as heavy as cold iron to the princess. It also bore an enchantment, keeping her from calling out for her.
It suppressed her magic as well, so that she couldn’t cast her way out of this. Her white teleportation gloves were missing, currently the man was pulling them on.

He frowned. “Ah, tight fit…”, he chuckled.

Anice glared and fidgeted in her chair.

“Oh please, sit still. They’ll find you soon enough once I use the blasted circles”. He looked to the intricate drawing on the ground, which shone with an eerie red hue.

Rather than being drawn with chalk or paint, this circle had been drawn with blood.

The young man looked quite pleased with himself as he looked over the last few details.

Satisfied that all looked well, he moved to stand in the center of the circle.

“Once this spell goes off, I expect your people to come running. Well them, or those outsiders, either way”, he shrugged.
“I’ll be long gone, and the circle will dissipate, so no following, especially without these. Of course, I’ll be out of range of those ropes, so your bounds will wear off too”.

The man grinned as the princess mouthed what had to be some choice and inappropriate words.
“Now, a lady like you shouldn’t talk like that. It’s unfitting of your royal blood”.
It was time for them to get going, no doubt by now they were through speaking with that Cassandra woman.

Blast it all, they regretted not dispatching her once the smoke hit. She’d be able to tell them of their current disguise, which they’d be stuck in for some time.
Ah well, nothing to be done about it now.

The young man doubled checked the gloves were on tightly, before uttering the spell under their breath.

A moment later, the red circle beneath his feet glowed brightly, a flash of light took the culprit to their undisclosed destination.

The circle they’d used began to evaporate from the floor it had been drawn on.

The second they were gone though, Anice felt the enchantment on the ropes fade away, leaving her feeling numb and exhausted.
The resulting magical shock wave traveled through the air, and left a distinct aura around the derelict shelter Anice was in.

 

[Corrosion]

Decker frowned at the news. "Are you certain?" He asked, placing both hands on the surface of the holotable. It wasn't like Miller to be wrong, and he had calculated the possibility of Cassandra being the one was just shy of eighty-nine percent. However, with the lack of proper, three-sixty degree surveillance and the fact that magic was still a topic that was hardly understood by the crew added to the mistake, so really, Decker couldn't blame the A.I..

He glanced over to the glowing avatar who merely shrugged. "Mistakes happen, sir." The A.I. said simply. "Even for an A.I. like me."

"They shouldn't happen," Decker muttered. "Especially when it's someone high-profile like her. I don't want another damn political incident on my hands."

Apparently, Cassandra had reported that there was someone behind her, that he was responsible. Detected a strange magical aura, according to her.

"The guy behind her?" Miller asked, sounding confused. "My triangulation may have been a little off, but I didn't detect anything off." He paused for a second. "But given that magical readings are undetectable by most equipment, it's possible the sensors haven't been tuned yet. I'll calibrate my sensors to see if I can find that exact reading."

He brought up an image of the new suspect. Text appeared beneath it, designating him as Target Bravo. "Alright, here's our new guy. We just gonna cross Cass off our list just yet, though."

Decker took note that the man was completely unremarkable and utterly average. He blended in well with the rest of the crowd, and would be the perfect cover were it not for the fact that he was smiling rather ominously.

The captain folded his arms as Morlock continued. "That's a negative," He sighed, shaking his head. "I've had drones sweep the area and we've found nothing of note. There're multiple other Circles within the city limits, so there's no way to tell without getting false positives."

With the guard captain having finished, Decker decided that it was now his turn to ask. "Are you sure you can trust Cassandra?" He asked. "She may be feeding us false information. In fact, she could be very well be working with whoever's behind this."

Miller flickered suddenly. "Whoa, that was weird." He said, looking around.

"What is it?" Decker asked, turning to him.

"Sensors just detected a massive energy discharge originating in the slum district. Triangulating..."

The satellite feed focused on area and then zoomed in, tracing the source to a run-down building on the edge of the city. "Princess' bio-signature locked in," Miller informed. "Redirecting nearby drones."

Around half a dozen recon drone were sent to investigate, their feeds popping up in smaller windows surrounding the main satellite feed. The first one had reached the place in around a minute, video distortions appearing more frequently it got. It flew towards it and then peeked through the gaps in a boarded-up window.

Inside was the princess, tied to a chair with heavy amounts of rope. She looked exhausted, but unharmed.

"Positive ID on the princess, sir." Miller told both Decker and Morlock. "It's her."

The captain nodded. "Dispatch the Marines."

----------------------
​

"Fuckin' bored, man," Adler grumbled. "Nothing to do."

The Marines stationed in Windcrest had largely nothing to do except stand around and wait for the past hour or so. They'd been confined to the base on orders of both the captain and the king himself, didn't want to make the situation any worse. Colonel Eckstein had wanted to have increased patrols and a larger presence in the city, but Decker had talked him out of it.

"Get used to it," Reyes said simply. "They do say that war is ninety percent boredom and ten percent abject terror."

"Yeah, don't have to remind me. Just waiting for something to happen."

Right on cue, the door to the building opened and Lieutenant Sharron exited, speedwalking to her vehicle as she hurriedly slipped her helmet on. "New mission, people," She announced. "Get your gear and get into your vehicles. We're moving. Brief will be on the way."

"What's going on, ma'am?" Conway asked, hopping off some stacked crates. But he already had a feeling that something was up even before Sharron made the announcement.

"We found the princess."

"Oh, shit." The sergeant grabbed his helmet from its resting place next to him and slipped it on. The he grabbed his rifle, checked if it was loaded, and then secured it to his armour's magclamps. He turned to see that the rest of his squad was forming up already.

"Seen this before," Pierce piped up. "Let's go save ourselves a princess."

"How long have you been waiting to say that?" Ash asked, half-serious, half-jokingly.

"Only my entire bloody life."

Conway spoke before anyone could laugh. "Alright, people," He said. "We are gonna extract the princess, and we can't risk anything happening to her, so cut the shit and be on your guard."

That done, the Marines got into their vehicles and sped off towards where the princess was being held prisoner.

----------------------
​

The Marines arrived at the location in record time. They gripped their weapons and poured out of the vehicles. Apex squad stacked up on the entrance while Castle covered them from the rear. Conway switched to his thermals to scan for any other heat signatures inside, but what he got was a large amount of distortion when he did.

"Dammit," Conway muttered. "Thermals aren't working. Other scanners aren't, either."

"Probably the same magical bullshit." Torres suggested.

The sergeant sighed. "Guess we'll have to do this the old way."

He signalled his squad to cover him as he stepped in front of the door, and then—

"Breaching!"

—kicked forwards, the rotting wooden door flying off its hinges at the power armour-enhanced blow.

Conway moved in with his rifle raised and scanning for any hostiles. The rest of Apex followed, doing the same. "Clear!" He shouted.

"Clear!" Reyes declared after a moment.

"Clear!" Much of the same went for Ash. "No hostiles detected."

The sergeant held up a hand and waved it forwards. "Through here!"

He rounded the corner, still actively scanning for hostiles. That was also when he caught sight of the princess tied to a chair in a corner. "Shit." He uttered, and then made his way over to her. "Cover me."

"Positive ID on the princess," Conway reported, before he pulled out his knife. "Ma'am, are you injured? Can you walk?" He asked the usual questions when dealing with prisoners taken by the enemy as he began to cut the ropes. "Evac will be here soon to get you to safety, and medical attention if need be."

"Hey, sarge?" Adler called, staring at the area in the middle of the room. "I've got some weird readings here. Matches that of the Circle thing we used a couple days ago, but there's nothing here."

"Report it in," Conway ordered, not looking back as he finished cutting through the ropes and helped Anice to her feet.

There was a high-pitched while outside as a Phoenix arrived to evac the princess out.

 

[StarryKnights]

Morlock didn’t blame Decker for his suspicions about Cassandra, for all intents and purposes she fit the small amount of evidence they had. But he trusted the mage, more importantly he trusted Bellamy, who could ascertain Cassandra’s truthfulness. It didn’t matter if Cassandra tried to lie, because Bellamy would know.

“I assure you; what Cassandra has told us is the truth”.

Whether or not the outsiders believed that mattered not, Morlock knew Bellamy’s word could be relied upon. As Decker moved on to explain they hadn’t picked up on any strange activity, his AI companion seemed to sense a surge of magical energy.
Morlock frowned, as that could be both good and bad news.

Turned out to be good, as Millar seemed to locate the princess thanks to this explosion.

“I’ll send word to the other search parities. Please bring her back to the palace. Morlock out”.
He let out a sigh as the transmission ended.
Leaving Anice’s rescue to the outsiders meant his men would continue searching for the man who took her.

The king would need to be updated as well; the man shook his head as he set out to do just that. He ought to be happy that Anice had been found, and of course he was. But he couldn’t escape the feeling that something ominous was looming ever closer.

_+_+

Anice squirmed furiously in her bonds, but the effects of her kidnapper’s spell still lingered. Not to mention how tired she felt; her bleary gaze shifted to the large cut on her exposed left shoulder. It didn’t look like much; it couldn’t have been more than an inch deep. But the blood from that circle had to come from somewhere, apparently Anice’s blood was the required for the spell to work properly.
Why that was the case, she didn’t know and that only made her angrier. She’d been targeted for a reason, for her blood, and that meant wherever that bastard had gone, she’d gone somewhere only a royal was meant to go.

And yes, Anice was certain it had been a ‘she’, despite the person’s appearance. She grit her teeth

How that was remotely possible, Anice couldn’t say, all she knew was she was sore, tired, embarrassed and furious.
She’d have some questions for her father, if anyone knew where that circle had led, it had to be him.

Following after the bastard would prove difficult, given the circle had dissipated once the spell was over.

Anice grit her teeth, and couldn’t help the small smile on her face, the circle might be gone, along with her gloves, but the clothes could be replaced; and she memorized the design. She was confidant she could recreate the circle.

The issue stemmed from what the circle needed to be made of. Issues for another time, she knew someone had to be on the way to save her.
As much as Anice hated the idea of being a damsel in distress, she couldn’t get herself free. Lucky for her, she didn’t have to wait long.

She heard the crash as the door was kicked in, it wasn’t long before Conway’s entire squad came pouring into the room, weapons drawn and wary for hostiles.

She could’ve cried with relief as Conway made his way over and cut the ropes holding her, instead she nodded her head in response to his question.

“Left shoulder, cut isn’t too bad though”, she coughed out, her throat was dry as a bone. Once the ropes were cut the pushed herself up and to her feet.

“Don’t need med evac, I can walk”, she rotated her right shoulder, grimacing at how stiff the joint felt.

She was stiff, sore, angry and a little lightheaded, but otherwise she was unharmed.

She wavered where she stood for a moment before looking to Conway.

“What of the others, is the rest of my family safe?”, she asked

 

[Corrosion]

As Conway helped the princess to her feet, he noted the wound the princess had pointed out. Shallow, enough to draw blood, but otherwise nothing severe. A wound like that would only need a couple of minutes at most to heal up with mediheal. "We'll get the medics to fix that up in no time," He said, before pulling out his canteen. He unscrewed the cap and gave the princess a sip.

"Standard procedure, ma'am." The sergeant said simply at the princess' words. "You've been here for a while. We need to get you some proper medical support just in case and get you somewhere safer ASAP. Rest assured, your family is safe back at the royal palace. Captain Decker is currently discussing plans with Captain Morlock."

He continued to guide her out the building. The rest of his squad stayed put where they were, weapons still scanning for potential hostiles. The Phoenix had landed in the space outside the building, its engines still producing a sound somewhere between a high-pitched while and a low, sort of humming.

The civilians in the area had all fled the moment they caught sight of the two Pitbulls barrelling down their way. With things having calmed down a bit, however, several were cautiously peeking out half-closed windows or from around corners and walls. Most seemed impoverished and poor, just like those who lived in the same area FOB Windcrest was located.

Conway handed the princess over to a medic. The medic took a look at her wound, and then nodded. "Alright, doesn't look too bad," MacCullin stated. "We'll get you fixed up in no time."

He ushered Anice into the vehicle, the doors sliding shut a moment later. Jets of bright blue erupted out of each thruster as the craft ascended into the sky and sped off towards the palace.

With the princess gone, Conway sighed and headed back into the building. Adler was still crouched down and inspecting something on the ground, with Grader standing directly across. "So what've got?" Conway asked.

"Like I said, I'm getting the same readings we got from the Circles," Adler said. "Weaker, but more erratic, though."

"There's something else, however," Grader added. "I'm also getting traces of blood. Human blood. Seems like it was drawn in a circle pattern here."

"The princess had an open wound," Conway made the connection, and he bit his lip. "No. You don't think..."

"I do," Grader nodded, grim. "It matches that of the princess."

"Shit." The sergeant cursed quietly. "There's definitely some kind of blood magic shit going on over here."

Adler stood up. "Think so. Where do you think this leads?"

"Somewhere connected to her, likely." Grader put a hand to his chin. "Hell, I have no fucking clue."

"Have you reported this in yet?"

"Yeah," Adler nodded. "The royals are going to be fucking pissed when they find out."

----------------------
​

"The princess is secure," Miller said. "Minor injuries sustained, medics tending to her now. Phoenix en route, ETA two minutes."

Decker nodded. "Objective complete," He told Morlock. "The princess in on her way back now. You might want to tell the rest of her family as soon as possible."

Miller flickered. "I've just received a report from Apex," He said. "Confirmed readings similar to the Circles, but weaker and unstable. The Circle itself isn't there, however. It's almost as if it just vanished. Also detected traces of... human blood." He turned to the guard captain. "Captain Morlock, you aren't gonna like this, but it's the princess' blood."

Captain Decker frowned at the rather unsettling report. "The princess' blood?"

"Yeah. The only injury she sustained was a relatively minor laceration. Nothing too severe, but enough to draw a fair amount of blood. The Marines also report that the blood appeared to have been drawn in a circular pattern. Hang on, displaying it now."

An image of the pattern popped up. It was faint and somewhat distorted, but there was an outline. "Tracing..." The outline was highlighted, and then formed into a much clearer two-dimensional image.

Decker studied the image for a while, before turning to Morlock. "Captain Morlock, do you recognise this symbol?"

 

[StarryKnights]

Anice wanted to argue, aside from the light headiness she felt fine. There were bigger issues at hand than her personal health, such as the location of the person who had kidnapped her in the first place. Taking the canteen from Conway, she gratefully sipped the water within, stealing a glance back toward the ground where the circle had once resided she scowled.

“I’ll find you, you bitch”, she muttered under her breath as she followed Conway out. There was a small crowd watching as the princess was led into the strange ship, she offered a feeble wave to her citizens while Conway spoke to the doctor.
Well, at least I get to ride on one of these strange crafts, the princess thought with a huff. If she had her gloves she’d teleport home, but that wasn’t the case.

The medic agreed, her injury wasn’t severe. She cast Conway one final glance before boarding the craft.

“…They’ve already left, but who knows what they left behind, so be careful”.

If any of the outsiders were injured or, gods forbid, killed in the city it would make for another headache. Anice had enough of those as it was.

She followed the medic onto the shift, and braced herself against the closest wall as the vessel took off.
Had she not been in such a poor mood she might’ve enjoyed the fight, but as it was, she just wanted to return home to speak to her father.
She doubted that would happen until the outsiders deemed her healthy though.

She looked to MacCullin, frowning. “Alright then…”, she looked to her injured shoulder. “Honestly, it’s fine, I wouldn’t even bother the healers with this sort of thing…”. She rubbed her eyes. “Injury is less troubling than the damn dizziness”, she shook her head.

_+_+

Morlock stiffened at the A.I’s words, and a sigh of relief escaped him.
“Gods be praised”, he spoke softly. With the princess returned safely he had one less thing to worry about. Now, the focus would be on finding whoever had kidnapped her.

The fact that the princess’s blood had been spilled, and used for such a grotestque purpose was troubling. Morlock eyed the symbol presented by Millar and shook his head.
“I don’t sir, but I’m certain the king or Archwald will… Let me report to them, I’ll call you back once they are up to speed. Morlock out”.
With that, he ended the call. The princess would be back soon, and no doubt she’d have questions.

He needed to brief the king and his council on what had happened as well.

_+_+
Once Anice got medical clearance, and the phoenix returned her to the palace, she made a beeline for her brother’s rooms. The princes had been confined for their own safety, at the sight of their eldest sibling though both felt a weight fall off their shoulders.

Fawkes darted across the room and threw himself into her arms, while Terran took the only free hand she had.
“You’re far too reckless”, he muttered as he wiped at his eyes. As the eldest son, Terran was expected to follow in his father’s footsteps. But the teen had no desire to rule, and hoped against hope that maybe one day, Anice would succeed in his place. It was a dream that Anice shared as well, if only to spare Terran from the role he didn’t want.

Seeing both her brothers so distraught was a bit humbling for Anice, given her irritation over what happened, she’d overlooked how worried her family must’ve been. Well, her brothers and mother at least.

“Where’s Mom?”.

“Preparing for a meeting with Dad and Morlock…I think Bellamy is there too…”, Terran answered as he released Anice’s hand. “Morlock had something he needed to talk to dad to…Luthien updated me before heading there”.

So her guards men were there as well? Perfect. It sounded like the King's council would be meeting. That meant the ruling party only, and the king's advisors. Anice wouldn't be invited. That only incensed her more.
“You ought to stay here you know”, Terran remarks as Anice sets Fawkes down. “Father will be displeased if you interrupt them”.
Anice rolled her eyes, still carrying Fawkes she sat on a nearby chair.
"Father will be pissed regardless, and I have a right to know what the hell is going on".
She narrowed her eyes.

"It was my blood she used, that witch", she shook her head. "When's the meeting?".
"It's supposed to be this evening", terran sighed. "Given all the chaos, Father probably wants to let things settle some. The fact you're home though...the people are pleased".

Of course they were, Anice was a well loved figure. She owed it to those people to uncover what was going on here.
"I have some time then, I think I'll reside here for a while".

Fawkes looks up at her with teary eyes, but not even that an dissuade her. She would crash this little council, she would have her answers.

_+_+

Later that same evening in the throne room, Morlock presented the information that Millar and Decker had shared. Using the deceive he called Decker, asking him to present the diagram of the circle for the king to see.

“This is the circle that was drawn with Anice’s blood. It is our best clue as to where the kidnapper has fled too. Unfortunately, I am unfamiliar with this symbol”.
Morlock’s gaze flickered from the king and queen to the other onlookers.

Bellamy, Archwald and Thorm were all present. Thorm was a short, stocky dwarf with a dark beard and a thick mane of brown hair, currently braided back from his face. He looked like he was at a loss as to what the symbol might be, Archwald seemed curious.

But Bellamy, Bellamy paled at the sight of it, her gaze flickering to the king, who remained as stoic as ever.
“You’re certain this is the design that was present?”, the king sat back in his throne. “I understand that the circle itself had dissipated upon casting; how can we be certain?”.

 

[Corrosion]

The captain nodded. Now that the princess was secure, they could move on to the next stage of the operation. Whoever was responsible for the taking of the princess was sure to leave some traces of organic material behind. Sweat, skin cells, and other bodily fluids. Sources of DNA that could be used to track him... or her, if Anice was right about the whole disguise thing.

Not only that, but with some searching, there was bound to be another energy surge similar to the one earlier, and if the patterns matched up, that would be where the target ended up.

"Understood. I'll be waiting." Decker said as Morlock ended the transmission. He turned to Miller. "Miller, see if you can scan for a signature matching the one in the building."

The A.I. nodded. "Way ahead of you, sir. This shouldn't take long."

----------------------
CHAPTER NINE
GETTING TO THE BOTTOM
----------------------
​

By the time Morlock had called back, the Marines had combed through the entire building the and surrounding area. The place was secure, and there wasn't much else to be done, so they packed up and returned back to the FOB. There was increased drone coverage, however, just in case the priority target made a return this way.

That wasn't to say that the Marines hadn't come home empty handed, however. They'd recovered the material needed to track the target.

Miller had analysed the material and managed to gather sufficient DNA, but as with before, there was no way to know who it belonged to without a composite database.

Still, at least he could perform a systematic comb through of the population. Likely as it was that the target had gone into hiding by now, it was worth a shot.

On the other hand, he had no idea whether the disguise or shifting process would also alter the subject's DNA makeup, so it was also likely the target could be another face in the crowd. Hell, he or she could even be one of the civvies who'd walked past FOB Windcrest, or even one who came by to have a conversation with the Marines on station.

That worried him. Miller assigned a certain amount of his processing power to calculate the probability of that occurring, and also to locate signatures that matched that of the target.

Decker, on the other hand, was focused on the meeting currently going on. "We're not a hundred percent certain," He said. "As you said, most of the blood had... vaporised by the time the Marines got there, but there was enough residue to get by, along with remnant energy signatures." He turned to Miller. "Miller?"

"This is the clearest I could get, given the situation." The A.I. said, gesturing to the image. "I've calculated a 96 percent certainty, sir."

"We've also managed to gather some DNA samples from the scene and are attempting to locate the target," Decker followed up. "But as of now we still haven't managed to detect any energy signatures matching that of the one made using the pattern. We have no idea where the target was transported to. However, I hypothesise that it's somewhere related to princess, somewhere she knows given how it was made from her blood."

 

[StarryKnights]

The captain’s machine was certain that this was indeed the design that had been in the floor. From her seat Bellamy looked to the king, uncertain on how he wanted to proceed. Ramus regarded Millar’s images silently for a moment before letting out a sigh.

“What a fine mess we’ve found ourselves in”, he shook his head and glanced to Bellamy. The poor girl, what an awkward spot he’d gone and put her in.

Bellamy looked to the floor, unwilling to meet the king’s gaze.
“That symbol is supposed to be a well-kept secret of the royal family…so well kept that not even Anice knows of it’s origins”, the king spoke carefully. He was unwilling to reveal everything to these outsiders, unsure of what they would make of the information.

Orsina reached out and placed a hand on her husband’s shoulders. “I think the time for such secrets is past Ramus. It is not only our people’s lives at stake here”, she glanced to Decker.
“even if they don’t understand…or believe, there must be something we can tell them”.

Thank goodness for Orsina, the king tended to heed her words. Bellamy was relieved she didn’t have to be the one trying to convince the king. Advisor or not, Ramus still saw Bellamy as a child in some regard, her counsel was often resisted by the aging king. Anice always said her father was far too stubborn when it came to such things.

The woman ran a hand over the back of her neck, glancing to the door.
A frown came to her lips as the familiar sensation of magic crept over her, offering her a glimpse of what was about to be.
“We’re about to be interrupted”, she spoke up, drawing the king and queen’s attention.

“Who would dare t- ”

He didn’t finish his sentence, as Anice shoved past the guards outside, pushed the doors open and walked in.

As the doors swung shut behind her, Bellamy caught a glimpse of the confused guards outside.
The normally relaxed Bellamy adverted her gaze to the door, a sigh escaped her lips.
“We’re about to be interrupted”, she spoke softly, but Ramus still caught it.

Morlock glanced to the door, knowing full well who was about to come storming in. Not even a minute later, the door swung open, revealing a rather incensed Anice. The princess stalked across the room, until she stood at Morlock’s side.
“Please father, go on. Don’t mind me”, she crossed her arms, making it clear she wouldn’t be going anywhere.

“I think you owe us all some answers, because unlike what the Captain here thinks”, she glanced to Decker and then back to her father.

“I have no idea what the circle is…or where it leads. Certainly not why my blood would be needed for it to work”, she grit her teeth, waiting for her father to launch into one of his reprimands.

For a moment, the room was silent, Morlock looked from the princess at his side to the king and queen on their thrones.

“My liege…some kind of explanation is needed. If this attack poses a threat to our people, and to the offworlders then…”, he stopped there, as Ramus raised a hand.
“Silence Morlock, no need for more convincing”, he looked to Bellamy, and beckoned her forward.
“…Miss Adderson, you may explain the origins on that symbol. You know it better than I”.

Bellamy stepped up to the base of the thrones, and looked from Decker, to Morlock and lastly Anice. The princess’s eyes widened with shock, as she and Bellamy didn’t keep many secrets between them.

“…That circle design is fairly accurate Captain”, Bellamy addressed Decker first. “But unlike most of the circles here in Arcadia, that design only has one destination. And to access it…you have to be of royal blood”, she looked to Anice, who frowned.

“So, kidnapping me…and using my blood…it was all to get a spell to work?”.

Bellamy nodded. “Yes…the way the spell was designed, a member of Arcadia’s ruling family would have to sacrifice apart of themselves in order for the spell to work”, she paused there, unsure of how much more she ought to say.

“Keep going Bell”, Anice urged.
“The circle…is designed to go to a holy place of communion…and if legends are true, that location exists somewhere between our world and…well…that of the divine”, Bellamy glanced to Decker, unsure as to how he would process this information.

“That circle was meant to be used in the case of an absolute emergency…a last ditch effort to commune with an ancient and power beast…one that is worshipped as a god now”.
Anice blinked as it hit her. “…A dragon? You’re telling me that damn thing can take you to a dragon?”.

Bellamy nodded. “Yes. And if the culprit was able to use the circle…then odds are they will be able to undo the seals guarding that dragon. We…likely are too late to prevent them from waking it”.

 

[Corrosion]

Decker folded his arms as the king went on. The symbol was a very well-kept secret, it seemed. So secret that even Anice, the princess herself, wasn't aware of its existence. And yet the priority target knew. That meant that either they were very good at finding secrets, or that they were someone close to the royal family, perhaps even the one tasked with keeping it a secret in the first place.

This sheer breach in security had Decker worried, however. If the former was the case, would it be possible for them to infiltrate the UEG? While it doubted that, given the advanced security and identification protocols the UEG had in place, with magic, they could very well be bypassed.

"This goes deeper than we thought," He said. "Whoever's behind this could be someone in your service, close enough to know this somehow."

The captain spared a glance towards the young woman, Bellamy, if he recalled correctly. She was young, just a sparse year or two older than the princess. Looked uncomfortable, nervous, but when thrust into a situation like this who wouldn't be?

"Secrets aren't worth keeping when there's much more at stake." Decker said simply, noting the king's apprehension and at the queen's prompting.

The king seemed to relax at that. He still seemed somewhat reluctant, and Decker couldn't blame him. Those secrets, it seemed, had been kept for generations, and revealing them to someone who had literally fallen from the sky just days ago would seem crazy and illogical.

Bellamy spoke suddenly, stating they they were about to be interrupted. Decker rose a confused eyebrow. "Hm?"

The doors suddenly burst open, and the princess came marching through. She made her way through the throne room without acknowledging anyone and looking remarkably upset as she did. She stopped by Morlock, and then took a moment to compose herself.

"...Princess Anice." Decker greeted after a moment of silence, and then listened to what the princess had to say.

She didn't know what the Circle was, or where it could lead. Guess Miller could strike that off his list of possibilities.

Morlock was next to speak, also looking for an explanation, but was silenced by the king. He motioned to Bellamy, to let her speak.

But the fact that she knew more about the pattern than the king himself was rather unexpected.

Decker glanced to Miller, who looked just as confused and surprised as he did. He turned back to Bellamy as she began her explanation.

He absorbed the information, about why Anice was needed, and what it was used for, but he couldn't help but get increasingly confused as Bellamy went on. "Are you telling me the Circle leads to... another dimension?" He asked, skeptical in spite of everything.

But he just had no idea what to make of the last part. His arms fell to his sides as he struggled to make sense of the situation.

"...What?" Decker asked after a rather long moment of silence. "You're telling me that the Circle leads to another dimension, which contains a... dragon... which is worshipped as a god, and that whoever is behind this is trying to wake it up?"

He groaned and rubbed his temples, feeling a massive migraine coming on. Hostile aliens he could handle, but this was something else entirely.

Decker turned to Miller, desperately hoping he had a solution. Unfortunately, however, the A.I. shook his head. "Sorry, sir, but I'm afraid this is pretty far beyond my programmed functions."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, turned to Bellamy. "This... dragon, what is it, exactly?"

 

[StarryKnights]

Bellamy was no stranger to being in the spotlight. She’d been fussed and fawned over ever since her gifts had been revealed to the royal family, and her duty as the voice of the divine had been decided. She’d never truly hated that role, but this was one instance where she didn’t relish it.

She could feel Ramus’s gaze on her back as she tried to think of the best way to explain Decker’s questions.

Truthfully, he’d taken the news better than she’d expected him to. At the very least he wasn’t openly mocking what was one of the closest guarded secrets in the kingdom.

So much so even it’s ruling class was left largely in the dark.
Anice’s shock at such a thing being kept from her was clear, above all else Bellamy hated that this was coming out in front of her. Anice was wise enough to bit her tongue now, but the firely look in her eye conveyed a clear message to Bellamy.

You have so much fucking explaining to do.

Bellamy sighed and looked to Decker.
“It’s not…a separate dimension. More like a gateway to one. It’s…complicated”. She frowned, trying to think of the most concise way to explain.

“The circle leads to a gateway, on the other side of which is the realm of…well magic. It is the origin of the energy source which governs and protects this world…and enables us to use magic in all forms”.
This world didn’t exist separately from the one they lived in…it was more like one existed on top of the other.
An unseen, hidden world which overlapped Edreign as they all knew it. Bellamy could think of no way such a thing would make sense to an outsider.

“…It’s less like two separate worlds and…more like two planes”, she held her hands up, so they were perpendicular with one another. “One plane exists on top of the others, but they never meet. They support one another…”, she looked to Decker, unsure if this was making this more confusing.

“As for what dragons are… they are the first beings that existed on this world. They…retired to this alternate plane, leaving this one to develop into the world we know now. Remnants of them can found in the history of the world…which has lead to their worship as gods. Only one dragon resides in this plane now…and it slumbers at the entrance to the Fey Wilds…”.

She blinked and added. “Oh, the Fey Wilds is what we call the alternate plane. At least…that’s what we Speakers have always called it”, she looked to the floor. “This knowledge has never been shared with anyone outside of the current king of Arcadia…and even then, it’s… not shared until the end of their rule...and toward the end of their life".
She glanced to Anice as the princess visibly stiffened, she'd never heard of such a thing before. Looking to her father, Ramus seemed less surprised by Bellamy's words.

Bellamy looked back to Decker. “Your hypothesis regarding the culprit behind all of this being someone who worked for the castle isn’t entirely wrong sir... But I feel that this individual has taken such great pains to avoid being identified that I’m not sure it matters. We know where they’ve gone… Now we must find them before they jeopardize the safety of this planet. If that dragon is awoken…it could be disastrous for all of Edreign…but especially for your men”.

Anice stepped up. “And why is that?”, she snapped. Bellamy looked to her. “…because that dragons is a guardian of this world and it’s inhabitants. If someone woke it…and claimed that our unexpected guests were invader…”, she looked to Decker and then shook her head.

“I need not speculate. Should that come to pass, both sides wind up losing”, she spoke with such resolve, it was hard not to believe her. Given her foresight abilities, Ramus and Anice knew that she told the truth. The princess bristled.
“So…this person is going to rouse some ancient…God and for what… to rage war?”.

Bellamy shook her head.
“My sight doesn’t give me insight to the motives of the offender. But regardless of their intent, if the dragon is disturbed it won’t bode well for this kingdom”.

She sighed and rubbed her eyes, clearly tired suddenly. Anice’s anger deflated for a moment, as she knew the signs of Bellamy’s magic being pushed to the limit. If she’d seen a vision that showed the kingdom in ruin…then they were likely running out of time to prevent it.
“Well…how do we stop them?”, she stepped toward the thrones. “We have to follow after them, we can’t afford to stand idly by…”, she looked to her father.

“If this person wants to wake a dragon…then we have to stop them or wake the beast ourselves and ensure if can’t be used against us”, she frowned.
“…If necessary…we might even have to kill it".

Silence fell in the throne room, Bellamy was giving the princess an incredulous look.
"Kill it? Kill a dragon? Are you out of your mind?!".

Anice gave her a flat look. "if it becomes a threat to my kingdom and it's...visitors", she glanced to Decker and then back to Bellamy. "Then there are few extremes I wouldn't go to".

 

[Corrosion]

The captain grunted and folded his arms, resigning himself to whatever Bellamy had to say. He noted the reactions of everyone else, however. The royals seemed to be taken by surprise, with Anice faring the worse. The king and queen appeared to at least be somewhat aware, but the princess, it seemed, was kept completely in the dark.

Given by her gaze which was currently melting a hole into her friend, she wanted a lot more than just explanations. Anice trusted the girl, was her best friend. That much he knew. Didn't keep many secrets from each other, so it seemed.

Decker already had a feeling that this whole blood magic debacle was going to lead to something utterly insane, but this was just unprecedented. Extradimensional dragon gods who were also the first sapient beings to inhabit the planet? At this point he wanted to declare that he didn't get paid for this kind of shit, but as the highest ranking officer of the survivors, he opted to remain silent and absorb whatever Bellamy had to say, no matter how hard it was.

As she continued, the captain felt his migraine slowly begin to turn into a throbbing headache. For once, he decided to pull out a seat and promptly sat down, rubbing his temples. He was beginning to lose Bellamy as she began to bring up the topic of some place called the 'Fey Wilds' when Miller thankfully spoke up.

"Do you require some paracetamol, sir?" He offered, to which the captain simply nodded without turning.

Hell, even the royals themselves seemed to be losing her at this point as she just went on and on. Anice seemed to be the most interested out of them all, while the king somehow seemed almost unsurprised by this whole turn of events.

Decker had spent years listening to long and agonisingly complicated lectures on military strategy and tactics, but no amount of teaching or experience could prepare him for something like this. He'd been trained to fight rebels and aliens, and now these people were expecting him to help stop the culprit behind all this from awakening a godlike being and destroying the world.

He glanced up as Bellamy addressed him this time. The efforts to identify the target had all been met with complete failure, and it seemed like actually trying to capture him or her was going to be impossible, considering how the target was apparently now in a whole other dimension.

And if this dragon awoke, there was no telling what could happen. Something powerful enough to be worshipped as a god was bound to be incredibly dangerous.

Both sides would lose, that was for sure. If the dragon proved to be powerful enough to be unharmed by conventional weaponry, the next step would be the nuclear option: unleashing the Filial Piety's nuke stocks on it. The whole thing would result in untold amounts of destruction from hundreds of multi-megaton nukes going off.

But for now that was uncertain. Decker still knew hardly anything about the dragon. Perhaps it could simply be a powerful biological creature, an animal, much like the beasts worshipped back on ancient Earth, when mankind hadn't the means to defeat them. Maybe they were overestimating its power, maybe it wouldn't be able to withstand a couple of Peacemaker missiles, or maybe it'd even go down after a few AR rounds.

Important thing was to not come to any conclusions just yet.

A thought came to him suddenly.

He cleared his throat and spoke at last. "The Circle used to travel to the Fey Wilds... can it be recreated?" He asked the royals, though he knew they were likely going to be rather apprehensive about his plans. "It was drawn using the blood of a member of the royal family, and we have recorded the pattern in detail. If so, a squad of specialists can be sent in to locate and neutralise the target." Decker said, putting a hand to his chin. "There's no telling what's on the other side, or whether communications would be able to get through, or if it's even too late, but it may be our only option."

 

[StarryKnights]

Decker echoed the thought on Anice’s mind. Duplicating the circle and following after the culprit struck her as the only real option. If they were allowed to make contact with the supposed dragon and the calamity Bellamy foresaw was allowed to unfurl on the kingdom…

She couldn’t allow such a thing.

“I second that notion”, she spoke, casting her father a daring look. “We need only the material to draw the circle. I’ll lead the charge myself”.

“Absolutely not! Your being on the front lines is what caused this entire ordeal”, Ramus shot back with a frown. “I cannot risk your safety Anice, you are a princess first…and a warrior second”.

Anice opened her mouth to argue, but Ramus raised his hand, and his voice.
“I WON’T hear another word on the matter”.

His tone made it clear there would be no further arguing on the matter. Anice sputtered angrily before lowering her gaze.

Her father was livid with her, and she couldn’t fault him for it. Her capture had facilitated all of this… But that only made increased her drive to fix it.

“That aside… the circle…”, the king looked to Bellamy, who hesitantly continued.

“…If it’s redrawn with a member of the royal family’s blood…excluding the queen, then it’s more than possible for to recreate the circle”
She looked to Decker, frowning. “Though I’m not sure how it’ll effect your men Captain, this wouldn’t be like using a standard teleportation circle… and…”, she looked back to Ramus.
“I’m afraid the portal will only work if activated by a member of the royal family’s magic… I’m certain Anice’s gloves were used to fulfill that requirement by our culprit”.

Anice couldn’t help the smirk that came to her face, it went without saying that neither of her parents or brothers would be making the trip.

Ramus’s face grew tight, and his frown deepened.
“You seem intent on placing yourself in harms way daughter”, he spoke after a moment. “Fine then…prepare for this circle, and to fix the mess you’ve caused”.

Anice glared at the old man as he rose from his throne. “Bellamy, see to it the outsiders draw the circle correctly, and that Anice is restored post blood donation”.

Bellamy inclined her head, Ramus descended from his throne, with the queen following behind him.

“Alright then. Captain, I will trust my daughter to your men, ensure that she returns home”.

Anice rolled her eyes, as if she needed an off world babysitter.
After her parents made their exit, Anice looked to Decker.

“Right then, we don’t have time to waste. We can draw the circle in the castle courtyard… Aside from my blood, what do you need to draw it?”.