Darius finished getting dressed and looked at the butler preparing his small travelling luggage. Bleist decided to ride Bellator, which meant he could only take what would fit in the beast's saddlebags. This not only ensured a faster journey, but also much greater mobility in case of combat. And unfortunately, he expected combat.
Earl checked the fastenings of his armour once more. Leather half-armour with Guard markings, shoulder pads, heavy studded gloves and thick greaves - all covered with small runes. Underneath the armour, he wore a quilted jacket reaching halfway down his thighs, covered on the outside with extremely fine chain mail, which was impossible to recognise from a distance. The final element was a griffin-shaped helmet with a removable mask covering the entire face and a chainmail collar flowing freely down the neck. The armour might have seemed quite heavy, but Matheo had made every effort to ensure that it was not. It was perfect for Darius - it didn't weigh too much and didn't restrict his movements.
Bleist looked out the window. The crystal had already brightened enough to almost completely dispel the night. He sighed heavily and strapped on his belt with his sword and pistol. He thought once more about whether he had thought of everything and gave instructions for his absence. It seemed that he had taken care of most things and all that remained was a conversation with his student. Considering the time of day, Draco should already be up. With a heavy heart, he went downstairs.
Darius knocked gently on the door. He did not suspect that his student was still asleep, but courtesy demanded that he check.
'Come in,' came the reply from inside.
Earl opened the door and entered. There were still a few fireflies floating inside. As he suspected, Draco was sitting at his desk reading a book. It was difficult to tell if it was something related to magic or if the student had chosen lighter reading material.
'Is something wrong, master?' Draco immediately jumped up from his seat. He seemed surprised, perhaps even a little frightened, but his curiosity was most evident.
'Unfortunately, I have received an urgent task,' Bleist said sadly. He admitted to himself that if it were possible, he would have preferred to stay with his protégé. Unfortunately, his duties were calling. 'I have to leave for a while.'
'Is it something dangerous?' The dragon's voice was tinged with concern. The boy inspected the mage's equipment. By his standards, Darius's armour did not seem good enough. It was unlikely that it could measure up to the stereotype of good armour when compared to the dragon's equipment. Bleist didn't even want to think about how much metal he would have to put on for his student to consider it adequate.
'I won't hide it from you, I'm sure I'll have to face some kind of threat,' the earl admitted bluntly. 'How big? I don't know.'
Draco just stared at his master. He was clearly thinking intensely about something. Darius could even guess what it was.
'Don't worry, I'm not going alone.' Bleist approached the boy and ruffled his hair in a friendly manner. 'I have been given a detachment of the Azure Guard under my command. That should be enough against anything we might encounter.'
'I hope you can handle it without any problems, master.' The boy seemed to be somewhat reassured by the information.
'Thank you for your faith in me.' Bleist smiled more broadly. 'Try to rest while I'm away. Especially since you don't have much free time left. After all, you're starting your studies at Solvein in early September.' He added lightly. He saw that the dragon was about to say something, but he beat him to it. 'I'm sure you got in. The results should be coming soon, so don't worry about anything.'
'I'll try, master,' the boy muttered uncertainly. Darius was sure that no matter what he said, it would not discourage his student from poring over magic books.
'Go see James, he should have a little more time now.' The mage knew that work at Matheo's workshop was in full swing, but according to his suspicions, a slightly lighter period should be just beginning. Two or three weeks of relative calm, where most of the nobility would focus on the start of the year in Solvein and all the social gatherings that took place on that occasion. Later, the scheming would return, along with stockpiling supplies and not-so-distinguished jostling in the salons.
'Maybe I will visit him. I haven't been there in a long time.' The dragon slowly nodded. 'And I'll try to rest.' Draco clearly didn't realise it, but it seemed that he was afraid of being left behind by Darius.
Not having any other ideas, Bleist hugged his student.
'I'll be back as soon as I can, although I can't promise I'll make it in a week,' he whispered. 'No matter what, I know you'll do great,' he added cheerfully.
Draco didn't answer, freezing in place.
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The dragon watched as the butler packed the bags onto Bellator. It seemed that there was much more on the bess than the master would need to complete a task assigned to him at the Palace. Especially since Darius's gloomy attitude and his equipment clearly indicated that he was not going to attend a banquet. Unless someone would call a deadly dance of magic and swords a banquet.
'Are you sure, Colonel?' Captain Forth appeared as soon as one of the soldiers reported to him that a chimera was sitting in front of the estate and the Earl's bess was being prepared for the journey. He was not at all pleased with the fact that Bleist was leaving without his usual soldiers accompanying him. 'Maybe it would be better to take a few more of our men.'
'I think ten more Guards will be enough. No matter how you look at it, we'll be conspicuous anyway,' Bleist repeated for the umpteenth time.
'I don't like it.' The captain gritted his teeth and gave a sidelong glance to the Guard waiting by the chimera. Draco also looked in that direction.
He had seen similar monsters several times in Dagos, but more as attractions in menageries than as mounts. Given everything he knew about these creatures, he had no desire to approach it. He found it even more difficult to understand how anyone could ride them, especially considering the unpredictability of even trained chimeras. It happened, quite rarely, that a monster adapted for riding would stop listening to its rider and sting them with its venomous spike. After that, things could go either way - sometimes the paralysed person would simply be carried away to a place the creatures considered safe, and sometimes they would be devoured. Chimeras could not be considered safe or fully domesticated.
'Me too, Evis, but I have no other choice.' Darius seemed a little tired of explaining himself again. 'Orders from the top.'
'All the more reason you need more people.' The captain did not give up. 'Every pair of hands can be useful.'
'I can handle it, really.' Earl shook his head heavily.
'Everything is ready for the journey, sir.' The butler approached unnoticed and bowed properly.
'Thank you.' Darius nodded slightly. 'I have to leave as soon as possible.' He said, turning back to his soldier. 'I'm leaving Ed'heer in your care, hopefully not for long.'
'I'll take care of everything, Colonel.' The captain gave in.
'I hope to be back before the start of the academic year,' added the master, bidding farewell to the dragon.
Draco simply nodded and wished the mage a safe journey and a quick return. He couldn't think of anything else to say. He only knew that he didn't like any of this either. Orders issued in the middle of the night did not bode well, and full combat gear only emphasised this. Nevertheless, he had to believe that whatever his master had to do, he would be able to see it through without any major complications.
Darius approached his beast with a slight smile and quickly jumped into the saddle. The Guard waiting for him followed suit and nimbly found himself on the back of the chimera. The monster did not seem to mind the extra weight at all.
Both spurred their mounts on and set off at a brisk pace.
'I hope my premonition is wrong,' muttered the captain, not very reassured. 'Everything will be fine, young master. Don't worry,' he added, as if sensing Draco's concern.
'Master said he would have his entire squad with him, so maybe there's nothing to worry about,' the dragon tried to convince himself, but he didn't quite succeed.
The captain nodded, and as soon as the mounts disappeared from view, he returned inside. Draco, not knowing what to do with himself, decided to practise. It always helped him clear his mind.
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Crossing the city did not take as long as Darius had expected. The empty streets and fast mounts meant that they reached the gate almost half as fast as Bleist had calculated. This was hardly surprising. Despite the brightly shining crystal, Atlantis was still mostly asleep, with only a few suppliers, porters and vendors moving around the city. They also passed several City Watch patrols, but these operated around the clock, so it was nothing unusual.
Most of the city gates were still closed, but the military ones remained open at all times. They led to permanent portals controlled by the army, which also had their own garrisons. Overzealousness in matters of security was better than a lack thereof.
The watchmen saluted as they passed by with Rex. They did not check who was leaving the capital, but they did not have to check the members of the Guard either. In addition, they had probably already been notified by the unit that was to wait for the colonel at the portal square.
A bridge four carts wide led from the city gate to the mighty barbican faced with white, smoothed stone. As the fortification was already outside the main shield of the island, it had its own barrier to keep water away from the structure. A double gate led inside - the inner gate closed off the central square with permanent portals, and the outer gate could be used as a sluice if the bridge leading to Atlantis was flooded. The entire barbican was built on a hexagonal plan with a tower at each corner. The walls consisted of two layers - one was designed to maintain defence in case enemy troops broke through one of the permanent portals, and the other to repel attacks from outside. Between the layers of fortifications, there was a space where barracks and adjacent buildings for the fortification crew were erected.
While the city gates were manned by the Watch, the fortifications around the portals belonged to the Land Army. This division was created to make it as difficult as possible to smuggle or move unauthorised persons. At one time, this was a source of friction between the two formations, but it had long since been resolved. Darius personally hoped that it would not become an additional source of tension.
The square where the permanent portals were located occupied the entire inner courtyard of the barbican. The gates were created along five walls, excluding the one with the entrance gate. Each magical passage was erected in the form of a conch on a keystone marked with the name of the location to which it led.
The portals in Ryhs's Barbican led east of Atlantis - to Dagos, Viride, Sparta, Alexandria and other important cities, among others. Today, they were to use the portal leading to north-eastern Africa, which was the furthest passage. As the distance travelled increased, so did the amount of energy needed to open and maintain the portal. Alexandria was on the verge of profitability from Atlantis's point of view, and considering that it had been an important communication hub of the magical world for centuries, it was the perfect choice for a transport network hub. Importantly, permanent portals had much greater capacity than the personal ones opened by mages. Large gates allowed for the rapid transfer of troops, supplies, and trade goods and were the basis of communication. It was also important to remember that only the permanent ones worked in both directions. While Darius could easily open a portal leading to Dagos, he needed coordinates or a connection to a magical rune marking the destination, and this could sometimes be difficult. The coordinates alone were often insufficient, and it was best to open passages only to places one had already been to, otherwise one could end up underground or high in the air. Fortunately, the spell contained restrictions ensuring that the passage could not be activated if it was not possible to exit safely on the other side.
Bleist did not need to look around. From the inner gate, he could see the unit waiting for them. Another surprise today – larger than in the orders Rex had given him. Ten Guardsmen with equipment similar to that of the corporal were waiting near the gate leading to Alexandria, three of them on besses, very likely from Bleist's breeding stock, five on Karsun does – beautiful deer-like beasts with grey-silver coats and graphite antlers and hooves. Their appearance was very deceptive; despite their resemblance to deer, they were carnivorous, and their flattened horns were as sharp as swords. The remaining two rode bikorns - dark-coloured monsters resembling Shire horses, but much stronger and faster than them. A characteristic feature of these mounts were their blood-red eyes and two horns growing from their foreheads in such a way that when the bikorn charged, they were parallel to the ground. Like the Karsun does, the bikorns had a taste for bloody meals, preferably those they had caught and torn apart themselves.
In addition, six heavily armoured men in the colours of the Ruby Guard were waiting near the portal. They were all equipped with runic plate armour, shields, spears, broadswords and pistols. All six rode tarian, beasts resembling bulls with heads covered in thick, natural armour, menacing horns and strong beaks capable of easily crushing a helmeted skull. An interesting feature of these creatures were their eight-toed paws, which provided them with good stability in difficult terrain. They were clearly waiting with the unit that Darius had been given command of.
Bleist and Rex headed towards the Guards. Earl did not even have time to speak, as one of the heavily armed men rode up to him and saluted.
'Colonel, in accordance with the orders of Marshal Zilven and General Jatven, we have been placed under your command.' The rider took out a sealed letter and handed it to Darius.
The mage took the document and quickly opened it. Inside were barely three lines of text.
"Colonel Bleist,
in response to the report presented by General Leigher and a full assessment of the situation in the Bushtabhar region, together with the Central Staff, we have decided to send reinforcements to your unit in the form of six Guardsmen from the Ruby Guard. Until further notice, they remain under your command.
Crown Marshal Sven Zilven"
Darius read between the lines that any plans for covert action had just been shelved. The heavily armed Ruby Guard specialised in frontal assaults and open combat with superior enemy forces. They were extremely effective at it. The Azure Guard was slightly different, normally engaged in intelligence gathering and combating detected threats, which made its members best suited for covert operations, ambushes, and surprise raids. It seemed that his superiors expected even greater problems than Bleist.
'Thank you...?' Darius looked at the heavily armoured man waiting for his reaction.
'Guardian Harven Gurt'tan, Colonel.'
'Thank you, Harven.' Bleist nodded to the soldier and looked at his subordinates. He had been given an interesting mix of forces, ready for both a covert attack and a subsequent assault. Assuming the worst, it was also a great combination of heavily armoured soldiers holding back enemies and lightly armoured but more mobile mages specialising in eliminating opponents. Darius took his watch out of his pouch. It was quite late, although still earlier than he had expected. 'Let's get the formalities over with,' he muttered to himself. 'I am Colonel Darius Bleist, commander of the unit. This is Corporal Rex Interdale, my deputy. I hope we will work well together.' he said in a loud voice. 'I assume you have received your general orders. We will go over the details during the stop. For now, march towards Alexandria,' he commanded, and all the Guards began to line up in marching formation.