“Smiling masks concealing darker designs, you said?” Jolene said when Luna met with her in private one evening.

“Yes, Your Highness,” Luna said, nodding. “Lord Pelor’s message was quite clear. My friends and I aren’t sure if the Horned Society is truly involved with the Spine Breakers. The divination talked about the dangers coming from the south and west.”

 Chapter Seventeen

Hidden Agendas

“So you’re off, then?” Jolene asked Amyalla.

“Indeed, Your Highness,” Amyalla said. “We’re heading west to the Yatils. Hopefully there we can get more information about these ‘masked threats’, whatever they are.”

“And you don’t want me speaking to anyone else about this?” Jolene said.

“We’d rather Your Highness didn’t,” Amyalla said, shaking her head. “All we have to go on is a divination. We’d prefer to give you something more than that before you speak to the rest of the Knights about it.”

“The Knights will appreciate any help you can give us,” Jolene said.

Jolene was smiling, but Amyalla could see the frustration in her eyes.

“The negotiations aren’t going as well as you’d hoped?” Amyalla said, taking Jolene’s hand.

Jolene shook her head.

“There’re so many things to consider, to balance…I’m not sure I’m doing as well as I should. What would Thrommel think of me?” Jolene said, her shoulders slumping.

“Thrommel?” Amyalla said. “As in, Thrommel the Crown Prince of Furyondy?”

Jolene nodded sadly, as she wiped at her eyes with her free hand.

Amyalla knew the story of Thrommel Dawnblade, the hero of Emridy Meadows. When the Temple of Elemental Evil’s forces threatened the goodly people of the central Flanaess several years ago, Prince Thrommel was the warrior who led the united forces of good against them. The Battle of Emridy Meadows became a modern legend, the forces of good’s first decisive victory against the Elemental Evil. Many battles followed before the Temple’s power was finally broken. Airk had fought in those conflicts, and he captivated his friends with his vivid stories of the battles.

Thrommel and Jolene were to have been wed after the Elemental Evil war. Their countries would unite and take the fight to Iuz, the Bandits and the Horned Society, with the goal of ending their threats to their goodly neighbors. Those plans crumbled into dust when Thrommel mysteriously disappeared in 573 CY, a few years after the Elemental Evil war. Furyondy and Veluna remained as separate as they ever were.

Looking into Jolene’s eyes, Amyalla was struck by the pain she saw. Glancing to the side briefly, she was surprised by how much Jolene’s shoulders slumped. She cursed herself for mentioning Thrommel, and briefly reconsidered whether she and her friends should leave Highfolk.

“You’ll be alright for your journey back to Veluna?” Amyalla said, trying to change the subject.

“Indeed I will,” Jolene said, her demeanor suddenly calm and businesslike. “We’ll take more precautions this time. The Velunese Knights will escort me all the way back to Mitrik,” she said, referring to Veluna’s capital. “From there, we’ll meet with His Venerable Reverence.”

“Yondalla’s fortune with you, then,” Amyalla said, as the two women hugged.

As Amyalla turned to leave, she saw Jolene’s reflection in a mirror.

For a moment, Amyalla could swear Jolene was about to shudder, before she took a deep breath.

Glancing back at Jolene, Amyalla saw a warm, friendly smile.

She shook her head as she left Jolene’s lodgings.

“What kind of information are we expecting to find, anyway?” Airk said as the companions walked through the foothills of the Yatils later that day.

“Information about these Spine Breaker hobgoblins, for one thing,” Weimar said. “Someone went to a lot of trouble to make it look like they were pledged to the Horned Society. Why would they do that?”

“To focus the Knights’ attention to the east?” Seline said.

“Maybe, but that wouldn’t explain any of the assassins we fought,” Revafour said. “And I’ve never known hobgoblins to employ human assassins. If a hobgoblin has a grudge against you, he’ll try to kill you face to face.”

“Fair point, then,” Airk said. “It was much the same in the Hateful Wars. If the Spine Breakers have bested the Hackers and Heart Piercers, it won’t be long before they want more bloodshed and plunder.”

Before any of the companions could answer, they heard the sounds of pained screams and threatening roars coming from over the next hill. Glancing at each other, the companions gripped their weapons and charged to the top of the hill, ready for anything.

The companions saw nearly a score of humans and elves, all of them dressed in ragged clothing and most of them sporting painful-looking wounds. The four creatures surrounding them might have been taken for particularly large panthers, except for their six clawed legs, glowing green eyes and the long, barbed tentacles growing from their backs. They growled hatefully at the humans and elves, snapping their tentacles at them. The catlike creatures seemed to almost take a malicious pleasure in their victims’ fear, their fanged mouths resembling gruesome smiles.

“Displacer beasts!” Weimar said. “We’d best-no, stop!” he said, grabbing Revafour’s arm as the Flan warrior pulled his bow off his back.

“What’s wrong?” Revafour asked. He’d never fought displacer beasts before, and didn’t realize what they could do.

“They can cast illusions,” Weimar said. “They look like they’re slightly off of where they’re really standing. If you attack them with a bow, you might hit their targets!”

“So we’ll have to fight them up close?” Revafour said, replacing his bow and drawing his sword instead. “That’s fine by me,” he said, as he felt the battle lust rising within him.

“They won’t be able to dodge this,” Seline said, as she raised her hand and cast a spell. A series of bluish-white magical darts flashed from her fingertips, streaking down at two of the displacer beasts just before they were about to strike. They seemed to almost miss their targets, but they still struck true, showing the companions what Weimar meant about the monsters’ powers. The displacer beasts struck by the bolts roared in pain, and turned to see where the attack came from. Snarling with anger, they started charging up the hill, their tentacles lashing menacingly.

Weimar led his friends’ charge down the mountain at them, his axe leading the way. His first blow would’ve split the displacer beast’s skull in two, except that it was off to the side. Closing his eyes briefly, he tried to listen for where the monster’s tentacles were coming from. They came from both sides at once, and he dropped his knees, raising his shield above his head. Both of the barbed tentacles slammed down on the shield, but they pulled away before he could strike back.

Revafour had the opposite problem as he approached the other displacer beast. The creature’s illusions made it seem farther away from him than it really was, and it struck while he was still raising his sword. One of the monster’s tentacles slammed him in the legs, nearly causing him to lose his footing, while he just barely managed to duck the other one. He winced at the painful sensation coming up his legs as he stood up to attack again.

Remembering what Weimar said, Ma’non’go picked up a stone as he ran past his friends down the hill. Raising it in his hand, he tossed it straight on at one of the displacer beasts still threatening the humans and elves. The rock passed through the displacer beast as if it didn’t exist, confirming that it wasn’t either ahead of or behind where it seemed to be. The creature was to either side, and Ma’non’go tried to listen for its footsteps as he approached it. The creature sounded like it was to its left, and Ma’non’go thrust his trident in that direction. The displacer beast roared in pain as Ma’non’go tore into its chest, but he cried out as well as one of its tentacles lashed him in the back.

He held his ground and prepared to strike at the monster again, but it screamed in pain as two more of Seline’s magical bolts tore into it. She’d cast another spell, this one at the displacer beasts threatening the humans and elves. Ma’non’go didn’t waste the opportunity, driving his trident square into the monster’s face. The displacer beast fell dead, unable to even roar in pain.

Looking past his now-dead foe, Ma’non’go saw Luna advancing on the final displacer beast as she chanted a spell. The creature lunged at her, swinging its tentacles wildly, but she was faster, finishing her spell first. A ball of light suddenly burst in the displacer beast’s face, blinding it. Howling in anger, it stopped in place, flailing its tentacles around defensively. Luna tried to get in closer to strike at it, but she misjudged where the creature’s tentacles were. She stopped one of them with her shield, but the other one caught her square in the head and shoulders and knocked her off her feet. While the displacer beast was still blinded, its keen sense of smell told her where Luna was. She lay stunned, an easy target for the monster’s tentacles.

Revafour slashed his sword back and forth as he tried to get a bead on the displacer beast he was fighting. He’d managed to wound it slightly, but the creature seemed to be more cunning than its packmates, constantly on the move. He sensed the tentacle coming at him more than he saw it, raising his sword to block its sharpened barbs from hitting him.

The creature suddenly let up its attack, roaring in pain as it reared up. Amyalla suddenly appeared behind it, her dagger crimson with the monster’s blood. Revafour smiled wickedly as he slashed the monster across its chest. The monster swung its tentacles, one at each of its foes. Amyalla drove her dagger into the monsters flank, plunging it in up to the hilt, but then she went flying away, struck head-on by the tentacle. Revafour’s eyes flashed with anger at Amyalla’s injuries, as his battle lust took full hold of him. In one mighty slash, he severed both the tentacle coming down at him and the head of the monster that wielded it.

Amyalla was badly bruised from the tentacle’s blow, but she was still conscious. She gave Revafour a half-humorous smirk, waving off his offer to help her up. They turned to see how their friends were faring against the other displacer beasts.

Weimar braced himself for another attack from the displacer beast he was fighting, but the monster cried out in pain as Airk ran into it from the side. Weimar raised his axe to help, but Airk shook his head.

“Luna needs help,” Airk explained, blocking the displacer beast’s tentacles with his shield. “You’re faster than me, so hurry!”

Weimar didn’t need to be told twice. Running past Airk and the displacer beast, he tossed his axe into the air as he pulled a dagger from his belt. The monsters’ elven and human victims had moved off to the side, so he wasn’t in danger of hitting them as he threw his blade at the displacer beast. He caught his axe as he watched the dagger’s trajectory, hoping he’d hit the creature.

The displacer beast’s vision was still blurred from Luna’s light blast, but it heard Weimar’s dagger coming towards it. The monster’s illusions ensured that Weimar missed, but it let up its attack on Luna. Weimar finally caught up to the creature as he ran past Luna. A glance at the monster’s tracks helped Weimar figure out where it was really standing. He blocked one of its tentacles with his shield, severing the other one with his axe. He severed one of the creature’s legs at the knee, putting it off balance. The monster roared in pain, unable to defend itself, especially once Luna recovered enough to join Weimar in the fight. Using Weimar’s position as a guide, Luna struck the creature in the side with her mace. The displacer beast would’ve screamed yet again, except that Weimar’s final blow cut its head nearly in two.

Back up the hill, Airk struck the last living displacer beast with his morning star. Growling angrily, the creature turned to face him, but Airk hammered it in the face. One of its tentacles slammed into his arm, but the well-made plate mail he wore easily absorbed the blow. The next blow from his morning star tore a jagged gash along the displacer beast’s shoulder and part of its neck, and the monster cried out. It turned to flee, realizing that its packmates were all dead. As it fled, leaving a blood trail in its wake, Airk let it go. He realized it wouldn’t last long in its condition.

He followed Revafour and Amyalla down the hill to where the rest of their friends were speaking with the humans and elves the beasts had targeted. Airk was dismayed at how bedraggled they looked. Their bodies bore the scars of whips and branding, they looked thin and underfed, and they seemed to have barely any kind of supplies with them. Luna treated some of the most injured people with her healing spells, while some of the others spoke to Seline, Weimar and Ma’non’go.

“Corellon Larethian bless you all,” one of the elves said, dark fatigue circles visible under her eyes. “We thought we were dead for sure.”

“What happened to you all?” Seline said.

“We were prisoners of the Hacker hobgoblins,” one of the humans said, tugging at his thinning white beard. “We managed to escape when most of the Hackers were fighting off an invasion by another clan.”

“Another clan?” Airk said, alarm on his face as he ran up to join the conversation.

“The Spine Breakers,” the human man said. “I speak the hobgoblin tongue, and I heard them say the Spine Breakers overcame the Heart Piercers as well.”

Weimar, Airk and Revafour all exchanged glances, realizing how bad this news was. No hobgoblin clan worthy of the name would accept having its tribes broken up and absorbed into another clan without a brutal fight.

“We need to get back to Highfolk,” Weimar said. “Any hobgoblin warlord that can dominate two rival clans that quickly is dangerous.”

“More dangerous than you know!” another one of the elves said, shaking badly from fear. “The Spine Breakers are planning to attack Highfolk!”

The companions, the other humans and the elves all exchanged glances.

Nothing more needed to be said.

The companions escorted the hobgoblins’ escaped prisoners back to Highfolk. Their news sent the Knights and their allies into a frenzy of activity. Some of the Furyond and Velunese Knights sent messengers back to their homelands to request aid, while the delegates from the other nearby communities did so for their own people. Highfolk and the rest of the towns organized their militias, recruiting everyone they could. The companions were no exception, becoming part of the military preparations when they were deputized as part of Highfolk’s defense forces.  

“Smiling masks concealing darker designs, you said?” Jolene said when Luna met with her in private one evening.

“Yes, Your Highness,” Luna said, nodding. “Lord Pelor’s message was quite clear. My friends and I aren’t sure if the Horned Society is truly involved with the Spine Breakers. The divination talked about the dangers coming from the south and west.”

“I can see why you asked me not to mention this to anyone,” Jolene said. “The negotiations are going poorly enough as it is. The last thing we need is rampant speculation and suspicion.”

“They’d likely be going even more poorly if the Furyond Knights had been assassinated, or if you’d been slain in Veluna,” Luna said.

Jolene’s eyes widened at that realization.

“Could those bandits have been involved too, then?” she said, alarmed.

“Which explains the second group of assassins, the ones who came after me and my friends,” Luna said. “We’ve been a thorn in the side of whoever’s trying to ruin the negotiations.”

“Who could they be?” Jolene said, rubbing her chin. “Iuz? The Horned Ones? The forces of Elemental Evil? Or someone else entirely?”

Luna just shrugged helplessly.

She found herself sharing Amyalla’s frustration with divination spells.