Elemental Escalation - Chapter 05 - Infiltration (Patreon)

Flying through the forest, Taylor headed straight to the river, cutting across the Shaemoor fields.

She made sure to make the least amount of noise possible and to stay out of sight of anybody who could spot her. It helped that over the years, Taylor had gotten to know the area intimately, so she knew exactly where to move to vanish from any observing eyes.

Reaching the river, she took a sharp turn towards her goal and began to follow the riverbank, keeping to the wild-growing bushes, while also spreading out her aura of air to be able to hide in case somebody got too close to her.

Aside from that, she practically flew towards her goal, her body lightened by the air manipulated by her magic and the body enhancements she had running through her limbs.

So it barely took her a few minutes to reach her first target: the giant bridge connecting the village of Shaemoor and the fields that provided the agricultural products that fed the village and a good part of Divinity’s Reach.

Stopping under the bridge, she walked around until she found a comfortable spot between two rocks that hid her from every direction, then let most of her magic drop (though she left her detection magic up just in case) and took a deep breath.

So far, so good!

Then, surreptitiously looking around and making sure nobody was nearby, she retreated even further into the shadows under the bridge and retrieved the bag that held the clothing Logan and Anise had sent her for the infiltration from her expanded pouch, quickly changing into it.

Looking down at herself, Taylor couldn’t help but frown.

While she expected the bandits would dress differently, she felt the outfit provided to her was a little too much (or Logan was into some kinky stuff).

It consisted of dirty brown boots (with three-damned-inch heels), criminally short shorts, leaving her legs bare (and incidentally providing absolutely zero protection), and then there was the top part.

It was basically a black and red cotton top that had a generous portion cut out for her cleavage (at least they weren’t going to look at her face), and a leather vest with several belts hanging off it, while the look was finished with a coat with a deep hood.

Over the years, she had seen what people wore during the several weird festivals that populated the Tyrian calendar, so she had become intimately familiar with them (thanks to Petra).

For example, while Tyria had no Christmas, they had something called Wintersday that was practically the same.

A sexy not-Santa outfit was practically guaranteed…

And not to mention what people wore during Tyria’s version of Halloween.

Apparently, slutty Halloween outfits transcended dimensions…

Even so, the clothing she was wearing felt like a bit much.

After grumbling for a while about people and tastes, she spent a few minutes adjusting and getting used to it before finally coming to terms with her new clothing.

Then, after she made sure everything was in place (or not out of place), she took out a generic sword that a bandit could have gotten their hands on and fixed it to one of the myriad belts hanging off her.

Since using magic would more than likely out her, she decided to make use of her meager knowledge of sword fighting and internal magic enhancement to get her through any possible fights.

Taylor released a shaky breath, closed her eyes, focused her thoughts, stayed motionless, trying to calm her turbulent mind.

After a few seconds of that, she opened her eyes and once again, left her hiding space at breakneck speed, heading towards the cemetery at the foot of Divinity’s Reach, housing both commoners and nobles, where the supposed entrance to the bandit hideout could be found.

**

Staying off the main road and out of sight of the people using it, it took Taylor barely half an hour to reach the cemetery.

Entering it, the first thing she noticed was how empty and silent it was.

With its size, she expected at least a few people to be visiting the deceased, but even after wandering around a little, she couldn’t see anybody.

Seeing the headstones, a melancholy feeling took over her, the aura of the place dredging up memories of her mother, which, thanks to her enhanced memory, were as vivid as they had been years ago.

So she took a few minutes to wander a little more, reading the inscriptions on the graves while reminiscing about her mother.

Naturally, that led her thoughts to her father, and wondering how he was doing after she had (probably) vanished from her room. She couldn’t even dare to imagine how it affected him, as Taylor had seen clearly how much losing her mother had hit him.

Cutting off those thoughts before she could spiral into some kind of depressive self-loathing state, she returned to her task and began looking for clues.

She would have time later to mull over her feelings about her father. For now, she had a job to do.

According to the notes Taylor had been sent via raven mail, the bandits had a system where several hidden symbols signaled whether an entrance to a bandit hideout could be found in the area.

Thanks to that, it only took her a few minutes to find the first symbol, which, if somebody else saw it, they would have thought was simply an imperfection on an old gravestone. But to Taylor, it was clear as day – mostly thanks to the drawings Logan had sent her.

Following the symbols through the cemetery led Taylor to an old, crumbling mausoleum, which hid a copse of trees behind it, that further up the mountain turned into a proper forest. And behind those trees, on the rocky surface, was a small, irregular slit that led toward the entrance of the bandit hideout.

Taylor stopped right outside of it and took a deep breath.

“Right, game face on, Taylor,” she murmured under her breath, then, steeling herself, took a big step, crossing the threshold that separated the cave system from the outside world.

**

The first thing Taylor noticed was the sound of gently flowing water originating from a small spring that started from one wall and flowed deeper into the cavern.

However, she didn’t have long to admire the charming scenery, as she was immediately approached by somebody.

Taylor obviously felt him coming thanks to her air magic, but for the sake of her cover, she acted as if she was surprised when the guy called out to her.

“Hey, girly! Who are you?”

Taylor whirled around, yelping in surprise (hoping her acting skills held up). “Wha–? Who are you?”

The man, dressed clearly as a stereotypical bandit, frowned at her, his hand inching closer to his weapon. “I asked first, girly! Now tell me, who are you?”

“Oh, right. Sorry about that!” answered Taylor, acting flustered. “I’m new, and was sent here to get my orders.”

The bandit, still wary but marginally relaxed, nodded, then continued talking. “If you’re new, what’s the password?”

Taylor nodded, expecting it.

Saying a quick prayer that the information Logan had acquired was correct, she spoke up. “Flames for profit.”

Hearing that, the bandit fully relaxed, and even though he was wearing a bandana covering most of his face, Taylor could still see he was sporting a relieved smile.

“Great, that’s the correct one for new guys. And here I thought you were another one of those Seraph spies!”

“Then can I go in?”

The other guy’s eyes, now that she had proven not to be a spy, were firmly fixed on the modest cleavage she was sporting, so it took him a few seconds to gather enough brain cells to answer her.

“Right! Go right ahead, girly!”

“Thanks,” replied Taylor woodenly, feeling dirty, and started walking deeper into the cavern, leaving behind the guard, who shook his head in disappointment at losing the eye candy and returned to a small nook where he could see everything at the entrance but wasn’t visible from there.

**

After leaving behind the guard, Taylor had a few minutes to herself as she traversed the naturally formed cavern, which followed the small river as it snaked around, allowing her to calm down and prepare herself for what was to come.

As the water started to disappear into the ground, wooden reinforcements began to appear, and finally, a giant wall structure made of wood closed off the cavern, leaving only a small door where Taylor could continue.

Walking up to it, she knocked.

She only had to wait a minute before the door was wrenched open, and a young man greeted her.

“Hello! Hello! Password?”

Taylor once again answered, this time reciting a much longer and more complicated password.

After listening and considering it, the man nodded in acceptance.

“Correct.” He ran his eyes over her body, his gaze lingering in certain places more than others. “What brings someone like you here?”

Taylor frowned at the man. “Just got out, here to get my new orders.”

“Ahh, made use of the new pardon system?” replied the man with a knowing look, smirking at her. “Nowadays the Ministry is really generous…”

Taylor returned the smirk. “Indeed.”

“You came just at the right time! We’re preparing for a big job, and we need all hands on deck!”

“Great!” answered Taylor, feigning happiness. “Who do I ask for an assignment?”

“Dunno,” replied the man, shrugging his shoulders. “Go in, and ask someone. I’m just the door guard…”

“Okay…”

Taylor was about to head in, but the man stopped her.

“Hey, my name is Switch. What’s yours?”

Taylor panicked for a second, as she had not at any time planned a name for her cover, but then, after a brief moment of panic, she spat out the first name that came to mind.

“Emma! My name is Emma.”

She was surprised to see the bandit in front of her frown.

“What kind of name is Emma?”

Before Taylor could come up with an explanation, he stepped back and looked her over with a critical eye.

“Let’s see… You seem to like black, and your face is really shadowed. How about Shadow? That’s a much cooler name!”

Taylor opened her mouth to rebuke him, but then decided it was useless.

She should just agree and move on.

“You are right, Shadow is much cooler.”

The man beamed at her, vigorously nodding. “Right! Not as cool as Switch, but still cool.”

Now that that was squared away, Taylor tried to enter once again.

“So, can I go in?”

The man continued nodding and stepped aside.

“Yes, yes! Go in, and have fun, Shadow!”

Taylor gave him a shaky smile and started walking with hurried steps, leaving behind the excitable door guard.

However, before she could get far from the now once again locked door, Switch yelled after her.

“Hey, new girl! Don’t forget to feed the prisoner!”

Then he trailed off into laughter.

Hearing that, Taylor took a second to collect herself, then continued her walk through the passageway toward the main cavern.

**

It only took Taylor a few seconds to reach the main cavern, where the passageway ended and suddenly widened into a spacious subterranean area.

She stopped at the entrance and took in the entire situation.

She saw dozens and dozens of bandits walking around, sitting and talking, or even training.

She could also see the same style of buildings she had seen in the other hideout, but here they were much less developed. This made sense, as this cavern was much closer to the city, so it made no sense to set up any permanent installations.

On one side, she could see an entire training facility with targets, straw men, and people training with rifles, bows, and other weapons.

More importantly, one of the rare female bandits shooting at one of the furthest targets was very familiar to Taylor. It took only a few seconds for her to realize why that was.

That was the woman from the inn with the other bandits!

Taylor clenched her fists tightly, suppressing her rage, and continued to look around.

Next to the training area were several cages, though thankfully only one of them contained a prisoner.

Probably the one she was instructed to feed.

On the other side of the cavern was a wooden structure: one part elevated platform, one part walled-off communal area.

On top of the platform, several people were organizing and packing away equipment, probably preparing for the big job, while under the platform, behind the wooden walls, were several dozen large tents.

Around the tents, bandits milled about, either sitting and talking, playing cards, dice, or other games, or walking around doing this and that.

One of them, also eerily familiar, was gesturing aggressively in front of a larger group of bandits.

In the middle of the cavern was a gigantic roaring fire, around which several bandits stood or sat, either staring into it or roasting something. The most prominent of them was the same person she had identified as a fire mage at the inn.

The man was gazing into the fire while muttering to himself.

Further into the cavern, beyond the giant fire, there was another river, this one flowing much faster than the one at the entrance, fed by a waterfall that obscured the other side with a dense curtain of water vapor.

**

The moment Taylor stepped into view of the people, before she could even decide what to do, someone with an obnoxious voice immediately called out to her.

“Hey, there! You a Seraph spy?”

Taylor cringed, expecting to be swarmed with enraged bandits, but the only response to that exclamation was laughter.

“Again, Johnny?”

“You have really sharp eyes! Hahaha!”

“She ain’t Seraph with those legs, I tell you!”

And so it went, as the bandits sitting around jeered at the man as he approached her with a sneer, while completely disregarding what he had just said.

Taylor let out a small sigh of relief, then fully turned toward the man, deciding that maybe she could use this opportunity to get some information out of him.

She gave him a small smile, but before she could figure out what to say, the man, apparently named Johnny, began talking, though this time much more quietly.

“I’ve never seen you before. Who are you? Are you with the Seraph?”

Taylor blinked, went over what she knew about the gang, then answered.

“Big Nose Ted sent me. If you don’t like it, take it up with him.”

The man recoiled as if slapped, then hunched over slightly and began to whisper.

“Okay, okay. No need to cause trouble. I was just testing you.”

He leaned even closer to Taylor, his eyes roving over her body.

Taylor suppressed her instinctive reaction to cover herself and waited for him to continue.

“You’re a feisty one, aren’t you? I hope you’re on my team!”

“What team?”

“You don’t know?” came the incredulous reply instantly.

“I’m new, you idiot.”

Johnny nodded in understanding, ignoring the insult, then began to explain.

“Right, makes sense. See, we’ve got this big job coming up. Two targets at the same time. So Ted wanted us to split up into two teams.”

Taylor blinked in surprise.

It couldn’t be this easy, could it?

“So, what’re the jobs?”

“Arson. Some hospital and an orphanage.” His voice turned sadistic. “I hope I get on the orphanage team…”

Hearing the lust for violence – and something else – in the man’s voice, Taylor managed to squeeze out a word while restraining her instinct to instantly immolate the fool in front of her.

“Fun.”

“It is, isn’t it?” replied Johnny with a deranged smile, ignoring her discomfort.

His mind was clearly already imagining things Taylor did not want to know about.

Attempting to steer the conversation back to a topic that didn’t make her want to vomit or go on a murderous rampage, she spoke up.

“Right, but what about the pay? I like fun as much as the next girl, but in the end, we all gotta eat.”

Johnny immediately agreed.

“I get you. See, Ted has something or other worked out with some hoity-toity up in the Ministry. They’re the ones footing the bill for this, so no worries, darling. You’ll get your pay.”

That sounded exactly like what she was after, so Taylor decided to chance a probing question, seeing as Johnny wasn’t exactly a mental giant.

“But why?”

“Ehh, who knows?” Johnny shrugged. “According to Ted, they want to make the Seraph look worthless or something, but you never know with those types.”

“Makes sense. Thanks for the heads up.”

Now came the monumental task of extricating herself from the conversation.

“No worries, pretty lady.” Johnny looked like he wanted to say something more, but then somebody (whom Taylor would have nominated for sainthood if they weren’t bandits) called out to him.

“Hey Johnny, meat is done!”

“Right, I’m hungry, so see you at the job, darling!”

Then he turned around and swaggered back to the others, who were already crowding around a rickety old table, apparently more hungry than horny.

Taylor watched the retreating back of the bandit and couldn’t help but be disappointed in them.

One conversation – it took her one conversation to gain the information she came here for, and she hadn’t even had to try hard…

She was about to look for a way to leave the cavern when a sharp voice sounded behind her.

“Hey, fresh meat!” Taylor whirled around and beheld the same woman she had seen at the inn.

However, this time she was without her armor and rifle.

Instead, she was wearing some kind of training outfit, with a practice sword in her hand, and was drenched with sweat.

“Yes?”

“I saw you sucking up to Uptown Johnny!” the woman said with a sneer. “Don’t think you can get by just with your looks alone! Here, only strength speaks, fresh meat!”

Taylor tilted her head to the side, attempting to act confused, and hoping this wasn’t leading up to what she suspected.

“And?”

“And that means you’re going to show me what you’ve got!” the woman exclaimed, grabbing Taylor’s arm and dragging her toward the training ground.

She could have wrenched her hand away, but with how loud the woman was (and because the training outfit showed a generous amount of skin, and had already drawn a bevy of spectators), that would generate more scrutiny than she wanted.

So she simply went along with it.

They didn’t have to go far, and by the time they arrived, there was an even bigger group of bandits eagerly waiting for the match, some even betting on the outcome.

The woman let go of her hand, went to a weapon rack, picked up a sword, and threw it to her.

“This is blunted, as I don’t want to mar your pretty little skin with a real sword…” came the accompanying sarcastic remark.

Taylor swung the sword a few times to get used to it and replied in an equally sarcastic voice.

“Thanks…”

“Name’s Della. Prepare yourself, fresh meat!”

Taylor sighed and stepped into the circle across from Della, preparing to hand her ass to her.

She had already beaten her back at the inn once – doing it again, even slightly handicapped, would be easy.

**

Leaving behind the resting Della and the happy or despondent spectators celebrating or mourning Taylor’s win, she also left the training sword behind and wandered around the cavern for a while, looking for something to do.

Based on the chatter she overheard, soon it would be time to send out a new rotation of scouts that kept an eye on the surroundings, and she was planning on volunteering for the duty.

So until then, she had to find something to do.

Her feet first took her near the cages holding the lone captive of the bandits.

Taylor didn’t dare get too close, as there was a group of bandits ‘guarding’ the prisoner, playing cards.

She still made sure to observe the situation, winking at the captive, who was furiously glaring at everybody while hunched over in the cage’s corner, wearing a tattered, familiar armor.

Upon further investigation, she found out the prisoner was a Corporal from the Seraph, captured after she was found snooping around.

The cage was temporary, as she would be transported later somewhere else.

Taylor, feeling the need to do something about it, convinced the group guarding her – with the encouragement of some alcohol from her pouch – to ‘lend’ her the key to the cage so she could feed the prisoner, as instructed by Switch.

Then she returned to the communal area, dodged Johnny’s creepy flirting and bragging about the orphans he had ‘handled’ in the past, and got some gruel and water for the prisoner.

Returning to the cage, she hid the key in the gruel and handed the food to the Corporal.

As expected, the captured woman immediately began to hurl abuse at her, but Taylor took it and used the yelling to murmur one of the passwords Logan had given her that identified her as a Seraph operative to the woman.

The prisoner’s eyes widened, but she was experienced enough that there was barely a pause in her yelling.

Still, Taylor could see hope blossom in her eyes.

Then, reluctantly leaving behind the woman who was pretending to sullenly eat her food, she continued her wandering.

She counted the number of bandits, memorized faces, weapon choices, and so on, knowing that every scrap of additional information would make it easier to finish this entire fiasco.

She even managed to overhear the target and the date of the job.

Taylor was about to head to a spot far from the hustle and bustle of the cave to rest a little when she was stopped by the man who had previously been gazing intently at the roaring fire.

“Hey, fresh meat!” the man growled at her.

“Yes?”

“Go check on those idiots at the depot. I sent them for the fuses I need ages ago, but they haven’t returned.”

Taylor simply nodded, eager to have an excuse to look at more of the hideout, and began walking toward the rickety old bridge that crossed over the river created by the waterfall.

“Tell them if they’re fucking around, I’m burning them alive!” the obvious pyromaniac yelled after her. Taylor didn’t turn around, just raised her hand and waved in acknowledgment.

**

The vapor and the sound created by the waterfall fully obscured what was happening beyond the bridge, but the guy guarding it didn’t let her through previously when she was looking around.

Now that she had permission, she walked over it eagerly, curious to see what the vapor in the air was hiding.

What she didn’t expect was another passageway leading to a door, a clearing with stacks and stacks of boxes, and in front of it, several bandits fighting a bunch of river drakes.

Even this close, the roar of the waterfall overpowered every sound coming from the fighters, but she could still see they were not gaining on the pests.

Sighing, she unsheathed her sword, activated her body enhancement, and began approaching the drakes.

It wasn’t the first time she faced those pests, as they notoriously laid hundreds of eggs during their mating season and would occasionally swarm farms near the river. If there were too many of them, they would venture even further in search of food.

A few times, Taylor was even asked to participate in controlling and killing them over the years, so she was rather familiar with them. The river drakes the bandits were trying to hold back from swarming the supplies were thankfully just hatchlings, which explained how they managed to get through the small openings of the cave system.

With a swift movement, she stepped between the panicking bandits and, using a few very economical and quick motions, sank her sword into the skulls of the nearest drakes.

While the adults were dangerous, with steel-like scales and sharp protrusions everywhere, the hatchlings were rather weak, which allowed someone who knew what they were doing to quickly take care of them.

And at least here, Taylor definitely knew what she was doing.

“Who are you?”

“What are you doing here?”

Came the surprised shouting from the other bandits.

“I’m here to help you idiots!” replied Taylor flatly.

Even while speaking, she didn’t stop moving.

She dodged a drake’s weak attempt to lunge at her with its small mouth and decapitated two more.

“Maybe help me?”

The bandits just watched with their mouths open, causing Taylor to sigh.

“Incompetents…”

She then increased her body enhancement and, with a few swift motions, put an end to the river drake ‘threat’.

Turning toward the bandits while wiping off her sword and then sheathing it, she was instantly swarmed by them.

“That was awesome!”

“How cool!”

“Teach me!”

“Are you single?”

Glaring after hearing the last one, Taylor frowned. “How about we make sure you do not bleed out?”

She indicated one of the bandits who was bleeding from his legs, where a lucky drake had grazed him with its teeth.

After the wound and the others were bandaged, Taylor asked them about the fuses.

The thankful bandits immediately showed her the box they had already retrieved. It seemed they had been attacked on their way back.

Disappointed that she had lost the chance to see the depot, she took the box of fuses and left her new admirers behind as they started dealing with the monster corpses.

After walking through the cloud of vapor once again, getting even damper, she simply walked up to the pyromaniac.

When Taylor first held the box, she thought about sabotaging the fuses inside, but then realized that the man would have found out almost immediately, thus outing her.

So she simply greeted her ‘superior’ and handed the box over.

The man took the box gleefully, inspecting it for any damage while singing under his breath.

“Fire, fire, fire, so pretty and warm… burn my pretty, buuurn…”

Taylor ignored the creepy singing and spoke up.

“Do you need anything else, uh… sir?”

It took the man a few seconds to look up from the fuses.

He looked at her, then shook his head.

“No girl, that’s enough. I’m going to build some bombs, so you can do something else.”

“Alright,” replied Taylor awkwardly, as she watched the man walk away, cradling the box of fuses as if it were his child.

Luckily, before she could be asked to do anything else, a new person entered the cavern, bringing with them a group of tired bandits.

They stopped in the middle of the clearing around the giant fire and asked for the next batch for the scouting job.

Taylor, of course, immediately volunteered. The guy was skeptical, but after her fight with Della, several guys were ready to vouch for her, so after some minor arguing, she got one of the scouting jobs with no problems.

Waiting for the other scouts to get ready was nerve-wracking, but with a herculean effort, Taylor managed to stop herself from fidgeting and waited until the lead scout took a group of half a dozen bandits, including her, outside.

On the way, she said goodbye to Switch, the creepy door guard, and finally, after what seemed like an eternity underground, she stepped into the light again. Taylor looked around, searching for hidden threats, but otherwise glad to be out of the cave.

While she was doing that, the group leader took them to a small clearing, where he pulled out a badly made map and began pointing at locations.

“You two, go there…”

Hearing that, two people nodded and left the group.

“Jimmy, you will be here…”

The man, apparently named Jimmy, nodded and immediately left for his post.

Things continued in the same vein until only the leader and Taylor remained in the clearing. He looked at her, then at the map, before speaking.

“So fresh meat, you are new, so I don’t trust you, but the others seem to, so I’m going to test you.” Taylor nodded but stayed silent, waiting for him to finish. “There,” he said, pointing at the Queen’s Forest on the map. “You’re going to go there and gather intelligence about the logging operation.”

Still, Taylor stayed silent, nodding in understanding, and began to head out.

The man, seeing that she didn’t object, nodded in approval.

“Good, you understand. Try not to fuck up!”

“Understood.”

Falling silent, Taylor turned around and began heading toward a part of the river where she knew she could cross without being seen if she used magic.

**

Taking the long way back, it took her around half an hour to find her way to the bridge. And in the light of the setting sun, she quickly changed back to her regular clothing, glad to be out of the fetish wear, then, with haste, she left the cover of the bridge and began making her way towards the forest, where, upon arriving at the clearing, she stopped to take a short break.

There she spent a few minutes eating a quick snack, as Taylor was too nervous (and was afraid she would get food poisoning from their food) in the cave, and because she realized she was starving.

While she scarfed down a sandwich prepared by the chef from the inn, she organized her thoughts and the information she had gained during her missions.

Then, after finishing with her meal, Taylor stood up, dusted off her clothes, and headed back to the city.

However, after reaching the gates, Taylor didn't head immediately towards the Salma District. Instead, her aim was the Seraph Headquarters. Not directly, as that would be too suspicious; instead, she first wandered for some time through the streets, checking the few merchants that were still open at the time, taking the time to quickly visit her favorite bookshop to see if they had anything interesting, before seeking out the nearest guard and asking them (making sure everybody around her heard) if they knew whether Captain Thackeray was in the city.

The guard, fortunately, recognized her and helpfully told her and the surrounding people that the good Captain was indeed in the city and that she could find her friend at the Headquarters.

Taylor thanked the man, made a remark about training, and finally headed for the Seraph Headquarters.

She didn't know if they really needed such an elaborate ruse, but both Logan and Anise were much more experienced in intrigue like this, so if they said she needed to do it this way, then she would do it.

**

Arriving at the Headquarters, after reciting half a dozen passwords to get through half a dozen checkpoints, Taylor was finally led into a well-lit, exquisitely decorated room where Logan was sitting behind a giant wooden desk, laden with giant piles of documents, while Countess Anise was leaning against the wall, looking unconcerned.

The moment Taylor stepped into the room, Logan instantly stood up and exclaimed, "My favorite hero has returned!"

Taylor gave him a smile, then a nod to the Countess, but said nothing.

Neither did the other two until the door closed behind her.

"Welcome back, Taylor," said the Countess, smiling at Taylor. "Perhaps your quick return is thanks to acquiring some actionable information?"

"Yes."

Upon hearing that simple and short answer, Logan perked up, and Taylor could see that even Anise's face gained an inquisitive look.

"Then, come, my friend, take a seat and share it with us!" exclaimed Logan as he directed her towards a rather fancy but comfortable-looking chair.

Taylor took the invitation gladly, as she had been on her feet since sunrise.

She took a few seconds to get comfortable, while Logan returned to his seat behind the desk, and Anise poured herself some wine and some water for Taylor.

Logan waited until Taylor took a satisfying sip of the cool water, then began talking.

"I knew you'd make it out safely, but did you have any problems? Did someone recognize you?"

Taylor had to snort. "No problems at all. The passwords worked smoothly, and well… they're bandits…"

"Oh?" came from the leaning Countess.

"I didn't have to do anything. They told me everything I wanted to know without any prompting," explained Taylor with a satisfied smirk. "Apparently, information security is not a high priority for them."

The other two looked at each other, then turned back to Taylor with questioning gazes.

However, it was Logan who voiced their question.

"So, you figured out who was behind them?"

"Yes," answered Taylor, sitting up straight. "Not like there was much question about it. It's someone at the Ministry paying them to make the Seraph look bad."

There was a tense silence as the Captain and the Countess digested the information.

Finally, Anise placed her glass of wine down and leaned forward towards Taylor.

"My dear girl, I believe it is time to tell us the entire tale…"

**

It took Taylor deep into the night to explain everything she had experienced, seen, and overheard during her infiltration.

Currently, they were standing around another desk that contained the drawing of the cavern system that she had drawn from memory (thanks to her magic-enhanced memory and brain), with the ‘important’ locations marked. Next to the map were several pages of notes about the people she had met, including their descriptions and threat assessments.

While Taylor wasn’t really on the up-and-up about parahumans before she left Earth Bet, she was still somewhat familiar with the threat assessments the PRT assigned them, thanks to some late nights on PHO.

So, using her prodigious memory (one of her favorite applications of magic), she called up all this information and tried to explain it to Logan.

The Captain was appreciative but felt it was ultimately a superfluous system that served no practical purpose for him, but Countess Anise hummed appreciatively and gave Taylor an assessing look when she had finished her explanation.

They were presently discussing the targets of the bandits’ operation.

“So, the hospital,” said Logan as he pointed at the hospital on another map, then moved his finger to another point. “And the orphanage. Despicable.”

Taylor and Anise just nodded in agreement, as there was nothing they could say that hadn’t been said during their previous discussions.

“Do you have enough men to cover both places?”

“Technically, yes,” answered Logan, but then frowned. “But if I were to move so many people for no reason at all, a lot of people would kick up a fuss and hinder our operation. Plus, it’s really hard to keep the movement of so many people secret, and, if possible, I want to capture those bandits. So I only have enough people to cover one location properly.”

Taylor shook her head. The more she learned about the politics of Kryta, the more it resembled Brockton Bay…

“How about you take your men to the hospital, and Taylor and I go to the orphanage?” added Anise, while contemplating the map. “Based on what our young mage here told us, they don’t really have enough people to threaten us. We just need to make sure they are stopped in time.”

“You speak wisely, Countess, but…”

As Taylor listened to the two people in front of her, she couldn’t help but feel surprised.

So surprised that she couldn’t stop herself from speaking up.

“Um, what if… what if we don’t let those monsters near wounded people or children and just simply wait for them to gather and take them out at the cavern?”

The entire room was silent as Captain Thackeray and Countess Anise digested her words.

Finally, they looked at each other, then back at Taylor – Logan with an embarrassed smile, while Anise was sporting a proud one.

“Indeed, young Taylor, that seems to be a perfect compromise. Apparently, in our haste, we forgot the basics. Excellent instincts, young lady!”

Hearing that, Taylor blushed and ducked her head, still somewhat uncomfortable with people praising her, while Anise turned to Logan.

“We can even position some extra personnel around their hideout to catch anybody who wants to flee.”

Logan hummed in agreement, then reached under the stack of papers covering the table and took out a map that detailed the area around the cave system that Taylor had infiltrated.

He then spent a few minutes silently looking at the map and Taylor’s drawings of the cave system, while still thoughtfully humming.

Finally, he put down a paper full of notes and turned to the two women who were watching him.

“It can work.”

“Really?” asked Taylor.

“Yes. With your and the Countess’ help, we could assault the cavern with relative ease. But we must hurry. If they leave before we get there, then we will lose the element of surprise.”

“I will go there to take a look,” proclaimed Anise as she stepped away from the table. “You start preparing your soldiers.” Then she turned to Taylor. “There is a cot here. Take a small nap, as you will need all your strength for the battle.”

Taylor wanted to argue, but before she could even open her mouth, Logan placed one of his large, callused hands on her shoulder and squeezed it.

“You have done well, Taylor. It’s time to take a well-deserved rest.” He gave her a small smile. “I promise to wake you up when the fireworks start.”

“Fine…”

With that, she shucked off her shoes and jacket and walked towards the cot that Anise indicated and dramatically fell face-first into it.

She was asleep in five minutes.

**

Taylor woke to someone poking her in the ribs. She sluggishly opened her eyes and tried to glare the offending party to death.

However, when she saw it was Logan, all the memories of the previous day came rushing back, chasing away the sleepiness plaguing her mind in an instant and causing her to sit up suddenly.

The older man watched her with a slight smile, and when he saw she was cognizant enough, he began speaking.

“Good morning, Taylor. Go and wash up. We are heading out in half an hour. The Six willing, today we end this threat!”

Taylor nodded, not trusting herself to say anything without vomiting from the sudden onset of worry. Logan stepped back and gave her another nod.

“I will wait for you outside.” Then, with a sharp motion, he whirled around and left the room, his cape dramatically flapping behind him, the door closing behind him, leaving Taylor alone with her thoughts.

Taylor slowly stood up, still a little woozy from her nap – or, as she looked at the light streaming in through the expertly crafted windows, her proper night’s sleep.

She staggered towards the washbasin on the side of the room, once again proving that Logan was a workaholic. With a negligent wave of her hand, she heated and cleaned the water in it and began washing her face, trying to fully wake up.

After Taylor was done with that, she smelled her clothing and, sure enough, after ascertaining that it smelled to the high heavens, she threw it off and took a change of clothes out of her pouch and quickly changed into them, while also donning some of the armor she had appropriated from the bandits and cleaned up since then.

It wasn’t the best quality, and she hadn’t had the time to have it enchanted, but it was better than nothing, because now that she knew she was going to a battle, she wanted to be as prepared as possible.

After making sure the armor was properly in its place, she finally retrieved her staff.

Grasping the staff with both hands, she spent a few minutes just circulating mana through her body and through the staff, calming her mind and soul, meditating over everything that had happened and would happen.

Then, after a last equipment check, making sure her hair was combed and she was altogether presentable, snacking quickly on some jerky and left the room with hurried steps.

She had bandits to deal with…