Grand Game 467: The Tenets of Wolf (Patreon)

You are hell-tracked. Remaining duration: 14 minutes.

Auris assigned me and the rest of the survivors of Yara’s band to guard the west door. I fell into position willingly enough. Right now, I was exactly where I needed to be—in a room filled by scores of Blades and Tyelin, no less. 

Nor was the envoy the only elite amongst the Blades. There were three others: Auris, Haiken, and a player named Lune. When Malikor and his Riders arrived—and I had no doubt they would—they would have no easy task getting to me.

“Anyone have anything else to add?” Auris yelled, addressing my group at large.

The Blade elite had been making her way down the ranks of the survivors, questioning Yara’s officers about events in the south stable wing. I’d eavesdropped on their reports but heard nothing that would give me away.

“No, Boss,” I said, shouting back my response in time with the others.

Nodding peremptorily, and no doubt feeling the press of time, Auris hurried over to Tyelin to deliver her findings. While she was about it, I spotted another Blade slip in through the north entrance.

The target is Bern, a level 201 gnomish hunter and...

Another elite.

Frowning, I watched the gnome make his way over to the envoy. There were nearly six hundred Blades in the chamber already. How many others did Tyelin have spread out about the fort?

“More bad news, do you think, Maz?” the Blade on my right asked as he leaned over conspiratorially. He, too, was watching the envoy and the two elites.

I shrugged, not daring to speak.

“Not interested, huh? But you will be, I promise. If Mong suffered the same losses we did, then the battle is lost already.”

Mong? I thought, my eyes narrowing. But despite my curiosity, I said nothing. 

Disgruntled by my continued silence, the talkative Blade turned away in the hopes of striking up a conversation with his other neighbor. 

More than happy to be ignored, I focused my attention on Tyelin, listening intently.

“… attacked after you say?” the envoy was asking. “Are you sure about that?

 “I am,” Bern responded. “Malikor’s people only entered the north stable after Mong’s people started killing the hellbats.”

Tyelin’s brows crinkled. “Yet they hit Yara before she began. Why is that?”

“Perhaps it was because of the Power,” Auris ventured. “The survivors did say nearly half the hellbats in the south stable wing were dead before they even got there.”

“Hmm.” Tyelin rubbed his chin. “And why would Titus have allowed so many companions to be slain?”

Neither Auris nor Bern had an answer for him this time.

“The only explanation,” the envoy went on, “is that Malikor’s dog had no say in the matter. Titus failed. He didn’t kill our decoy. The bastard is still alive.”

So, I was a decoy, was I? 

Even though I had already guessed as much, the outrage I felt at Tyelin’s words was no less. They were the final confirmation I needed too. My assumptions were valid. Tyelin had betrayed me—not perhaps by the letter of the Pact we’d sworn, but he’d played me false. 

Still, now was not the time to indulge my emotions. Burying my anger, I returned my attention to the trio.

“But didn’t the spies see him die?” Bern protested.

“They did not,” Tyelin corrected. “They saw him unmasked and about to be hit by a concerted attack from over a hundred Riders and assumed he would die. Erroneously, it turns out.”

Auris blinked. “So where is he?”

Tyelin turned slowly about to study the room-at-large. “My guess would be… here.”

✵ ✵ ✵

I didn’t react, despite feeling the sudden urge to bolt.

Trusting in my disguise, I kept my face impassive as the envoy’s eyes passed over me. Just one amongst many, that was all I was. There was no need to panic. None at all.

You have passed a Perception check!

Tyelin has failed to pierce your disguise.

There you go, I thought, not giving way to the heartfelt sigh that threatened to escape. That wasn’t so bad.

“He’s here, Ty?” Auris asked in a furious whisper, her hand dropping to the weapon by her side. “Are you sure?”

The envoy nodded. “I am.”

“But he is hell-tracked!” Bern squeaked. “He’ll lead Malikor straight to us!”

Tyelin shrugged. “Given the situation, that’s not a bad thing. We’ve prepared the ground already. And besides, there is little we can do to rectify the situation now.”

In the face of the envoy’s calm, the tension eased from the other two. Not entirely though.

“Shouldn’t we place them under guard at least?” Auris asked, squinting suspiciously at the survivors of Yara’s band.

“We don’t have the people to spare for that,” Tyelin replied. “And I don’t think it’s necessary either.”

“Whyever not?” Auris demanded.

“I’ve taken the Power’s measure,” Tyelin said easily. “He struck me as a pragmatist. He’ll know as well as I do that we are his best chance of surviving.” Raising his head, he added, “You hear that, Jasiah? If you don’t move against me, I’ll leave you be. You’ve already done all I need of you.”

I was unmoved by Tyelin’s words. Ha! I thought, in the privacy of my mind. I’m afraid matters will not so easily be squared between us as that, envoy.

“He can hear us?” Bern asked aghast.

Ignoring the strange looks the Blades not privy to the conversation were giving him, Tyelin scanned the room nonchalantly again. “I suspect so.”

Bern did not look best pleased by the envoy’s answer, but Auris had more important things on her mind. “Then the plan has changed?” she asked, lowering her voice even further. Despite this, her words still carried to me.

“It has,” Tyelin confirmed. “Pull everyone in. Mong’s people included, as well as those set to watch the summons on the ground floor. We’ll make our stand here.”

“What about the psi dampening field?” a worried Auris asked. 

“What about it?” Tyelin retorted. “There’s only ten minutes remaining on the spell, and no matter how furiously Malikor’s mages work, they will not be able to renew it for another few hours yet.”

 “Ten minutes is a long time,” Auris cautioned. “Malikor alone can do a lot of damage in that time.”

“Which is why we have the traps,” Tyelin replied primly. “They’ll force the Riders to slow their approach. They should not reach us before the field dissipates.”

“But what if they don’t slow down?” Auris countered.

The envoy grinned evilly. “Then their losses will be horrible. Truly horrible.”

✵ ✵ ✵

It was an anxious next few minutes, not just for the waiting Blades, but for me too.

Refusing to trust Tyelin’s glib words, I dared not lower my guard. No matter what he’d said, I was certain Blythe’s envoy would strike at me the moment I was located.

As the clock ticked down on the psi dampening spell, the tension in the room ratcheted up. At the eight-minute mark, more Blades rushed into the room. Mong’s band. Watching intently, I took careful count while Auris redeployed them.

Eight hundred was the final tally—five of whom were elites. 

Quite the invasion force. 

But were the Blades’ numbers sufficient to defeat the Riders?

I wasn’t sure. Even discounting the hellbats, the fort was home to two thousand Riders. Crucially, though, Malikor had sent half his people to patrol the river, including his own elites—Leafbright and Zultan.

Factoring in the players I’d already killed that put the Blades force at parity with the Riders. But the overall count of players mattered less than the number of elites did. With Leafbright and Zultan absent, how many did Malikor have supporting him?

Probably not enough. Whatever else Tyelin was, he was not foolish. He would not have come unprepared.

Chewing on this, I studied the chamber anew—the envoy’s chosen battleground. Even with the addition of Mong’s people, there was plenty of space. The middle of the room was occupied by Tyelin, his commanders, and a reserve force of four hundred. 

The north door was guarded by Mong’s band of three hundred and the east entrance by the remnants of Yara’s band. The hidden trapdoor in the southwest corner of the room was unguarded—deliberately so.

There were no furnishings as such. Other than the dusty boxes stacked against the walls and the magelights clinging to the ceiling, the chamber was empty. It’s probably a storeroom, I thought. If an unused one.

Given the room’s layout, I didn’t see myself escaping until the Riders arrived or the psi dampening field dissipated. Which meant I had another decision to make, the same one in fact that I had avoided in the stables—choosing a side.

Did I help the Blades? 

Aid the Riders? 

Or stay out of it?

This time, though, the stakes were higher. It was not just control of the fort that would be decided in the upcoming battle, but ownership of the sector itself.

Claiming the sector for myself was an impossibility, I had not the numbers for it. And undoubtedly, it would serve my interest if the Blades won. Then the sector would revert in age, leaving me with greater freedom to come and go as I pleased from the region.

But the Blades had betrayed me. And I balked at the thought of seeing them rewarded for their treachery. Nor could I deny that the idea of helping Malikor and seeing Tyelin defeated had a certain appeal to it. Now that I had the portal scrolls, I didn’t need the Blades, so why not see them punished?

The final option was to simply leave, letting matters between the Blades and Riders take their course without any interference on my part. It was by far the safest choice too.

Biting the inside of my cheek, I pondered my options, and as I did, a surprising Game message unfurled in my mind.

The Adjudicator has allocated you a new task: The Tenets of Wolf! The Blades have betrayed you. Falling prey to envoy Tyelin’s machinations, you’ve been manipulated into doing the Power Blythe’s bidding. But Wolf is no one’s plaything. Nor does Wolf tolerate betrayers. Wolf does not betray weakness in the face of others or let any slight go unanswered. Pride demands vengeance. 

That, though, was the old way, and Wolf is no more.

You, young scion, are the future. The time has come for you to determine what sort of Power you will be. Will you cleave to strength? Will you take a more pragmatic approach? Or will you forgive and forget? 

It is in your hands to determine what path House Wolf shall follow. There is no wrong way, but there are consequences with every choice, and your actions today will determine the tenets of the reborn House.

Objective: Respond to the Blades’ treachery. Note, this is a time limited task that will auto complete in 1 hour. 

Huh, I thought. Curious.