The Great Northern Kingdom was always a land shaped by its environment—a kingdom of frost and desolation, forged in the image of its bleak tundra. Its dukes, stern and uncompromising, embodied a chilling practicality, veering dangerously close to outright cruelty. But this was a cruelty with purpose: the rigors of the taiga, they believed, demanded a certain severity. And so, as their disciplined armies surged out of the frozen woods into the endless steppe, they brought with them an order that many, weary of chaos, grudgingly accepted. For the feuding towns and scattered bands of the steppe, the Great Northern Kingdom’s rigid hierarchy must have seemed a welcome antidote to the violence of anarchy. Yet peace, as history so often teaches us, rarely comes without a price. Insurgencies flared from time to time—idealistic cries for freedom in a land where survival itself often drowned out such lofty notions. But the kingdom’s unyielding rulers proved adept at quashing rebellion, their iron grip tightening each time danger loomed on the horizon. It was during these uneasy moments of reasserted dominance that the kingdom was at its most vulnerable. Power, after all, is never more precarious than when it appears most secure. It was against this backdrop of fragile stability that a shadowy figure emerged—Lord Tyrell Shafford, a man of obscure origins and even more obscure motives. A minor noble from the kingdom’s lower peoples, Shafford seemed an unlikely candidate for upheaval. And yet, as the annals of history remind us, revolutions are often fueled by such unassuming figures. How Shafford assembled his band of conspirators remains a mystery. What we do know is that, one fateful night, he and his allies breached the impenetrable Keep Diwen and carried out an audacious massacre—eliminating the King of the Eastern Reaches, nearly all the archdukes, and their families. The audacity of the act would have been astonishing enough; its consequences, however, were catastrophic. With the kingdom’s leadership decimated, its populace turned not to introspection but to civil war. Whatever secrets Shafford held, they died with him—or rather, were buried beneath the chaos he unleashed. The Great Northern Kingdom, it seemed, had not been conquered from without but shattered from within. – Marcus Regelli, writing in “Reflections of Modern Times”

RIN

“Is it just me, or was sneaking in here too easy?” Morelli asked. Rin grunted in agreement. The pair snuck into the edge of the encampment just before dusk. It took them a few hours to find Shafford’s tent before hiding in a small supply tent. Rin pushed his exhausted mind to think over Morelli’s words.

“The last Purist camp didn’t impress me with the quality of their guards. Maybe that’s how they all are,” Rin said. They were so close to Shafford. His tent was only a few meters away. Rin wanted to deal with Shafford and get back to Illana.

“Maybe, but I’m not liking this.”

“Just keep your grapegun handy in case we need to shoot our way out of here,” Rin said with a smile. “I can’t kill them all by myself.”

“Whatever you say, Sergeant,” Morelli said. Rin recognized the tone of a junior not openly disagreeing with a senior. “How are we going to get into Shafford’s tent?” Rin peeked out of the supply tent. He studied the scene for several long minutes.

“There’s a single guard on the tent,” Rin said. “I’ll take him down quietly. You go in with your grapegun. Don’t shoot unless necessary. We’ll snatch Shafford and smuggle him back to the embassy. If we have no other option, we’ll kill Shafford and gun our way out.” Morelli looked skeptical but didn’t object. Wordlessly, the two snaked out of the supply tent.

Rin butt-stroked the guard with his rifle. The guard collapsed with a satisfying thump. Both rangers scanned the area to make sure they were still undetected. Satisfied, Morelli slipped into the tent as Rin dragged the limp body just inside the tent’s main flap. Pulling a few short lengths of rope from his belt, Rin hog tied and gagged the guard. Lanterns hung from the tent’s crossbeams. Just inside the flap was a meeting room with camp chairs placed around a large brazier. Opposite the flap was a thick linen curtain. Behind that was probably the sleeping area. Rin slung his rifle and drew his revolver. He parted the curtain just enough to allow Morelli to slip through before following him. A single candelabra provided faint light, leaving most of the room darkened. Shafford was sitting up in a large bed with a bemused look as Morelli kept his grapegun trained on him.

“Shafford, you stand accused of eighteen counts of murder most foul. You are bound under the Codex Juris to answer the charges. Any resistance by magic or violence will be met with deadly force.” Rin paused as he finished the formal words of the arrest and gave Shafford an evil smile. “Please resist.”

“I win the bet, dearest,” Shafford said to someone in the darkness. Rin spun at the female laughter coming from the shadowed corner.

“I will glad pay after we’ve finished our work,” the woman said in a husky voice, “I will admit he surprised me. The Rin I remembered would never place his duty above his love. He has grown up.” The elven woman stepped into the candlelight. Rin nearly dropped his revolver. Her lithe, athletic form was barely covered by the sheer robe. Her strong beautiful face was marred by the angry, red scar from her left ear around her face and ending in the milky whiteness of her dead left eye.

“That is because you do not understand Mareian rangers,” Shafford said, amused, “They have a deserved reputation for being a determined lot.” He unconsciously stroked the creasing scar on his head.

“I won’t doubt you again on such things, beloved.” Rin finally found his voice.

“Ela? How can you be here? You were killed by the Pursits,” Rin said as his mind raced to catch up with what his eyes were seeing.

“Killed? No, liberated,” Ela said with a malicious smile. “They freed me to take up to my new role.” She held up the black mask in her left hand.

“The Edess Kul,” Rin said Ela let out a hauntingly familiar peal of laughter. The sound shook Rin to his soul.

“Such a wonderful disguise,” Ela said, “Not even my dear brother recognizes me.”

“He thinks you’re dead!” Rin shouted, “He grieved for you. I grieved for you. You were our sister! How could you be working for the Purists? Be in bed with him? He’s a sorcerer and a murderer.” Ela’s face contorted in sudden rage.

“You dare call me sister? After you did this to me?” Ela shouted, pointing at her dead eye.

“What did you expect me to do?” Rin shouted back. “You were holding a knife to Illana’s throat.”

“It’s her fault Ral is dead!” Ela said.

“How? Ral betrayed us. He betrayed you. He broke your mind when he forced you to put that arrow in his back. Not Illana.”

“You’re too blinded by that little bitch to see the truth. She’s cursed. We were on the wrong side, and Trennis, and Jevin, and Ral paid the price.” A slow smile spread across Ela’s face. “Now, it’s her turn to pay.”

“I’m not going to let that happen,” Rin said, placing the front sight of his revolver on Ela’s good eye.

“Are you sure you want to do that brother?” Ela asked, twisting the last word with hate. “Kill me and the guards outside will cut you down before you can save your precious Illana.”

“What do you mean about saving Illana?” Rin demanded, his stomach clenching. Ela and Shafford were too calm.

“Why do you think we allowed you to come into our camp?” Ela asked.

“To kill us? No, you would have done that already,” Rin said as he contemplated Ela’s words. “Shafford knew someone was coming for him after the murders. You figured it would be me. You would need something to hold over me so I don’t kill the two of you.” His stomach plummeted in terror. “You have people inside the Crystal Palace.”

“I told you he was bright,” Ela said over Rin’s shoulder to Shafford. “He always picked up my lessons faster than any of the others.” Ela turned her attention back to Rin.

“Before I came in, I sent the signal to them. They should have Illana in their custody. If they don’t see another signal from us in a specified time, they will kill her.”

“So why didn’t they just kill her instead of capturing her?” Morelli asked.

“They need her for Cull’s ritual,” Rin answered. A memory flashed into Rin’s mind. Illana on the stone table waiting to be sacrificed by Cull. She looked so forlorn, just waiting to die. Rin never wanted to see that expression on Illana’s face again.

“Close enough,” Shafford said. “Cull didn’t understand the prophecies as well as he thought.”

“But you do?”

“Yes,” Shafford answered.

“And if your infiltrators kill the princess, doesn’t that ruin your plans?”

“It would be a setback.”

“So, why don’t we just kill you and then go rescue the princess?” Morelli asked.

“You picked a good one for your partner,” Ela said as she gave the younger man a predatory smile. It sent chills down Rin’s spine. He never saw such an evil look on Ela’s face. Not even when she was holding a knife to Illana’s throat.

“This tent is surrounded by our best followers,” Ela said, “If either of you shoot, they come in and kill the both of you. You’ll probably kill us and a lot of them, but you will die. Then, our people will kill her.” Rin barely controlled his rage. He needed to focus. Ela smiled wickedly at Rin’s expression.

“Or we let you leave, and you can try to save your precious princess,” Shafford offered.

“Morelli, lower your weapon,” Rin said after a long moment. He looked hard at the woman he once called sister.

“This isn’t finished Ela. We will stop you.” Rin turned back to Shafford. “How did you know it would be me?”

“Did you think I wouldn’t find out who managed to give me this?” Shafford asked in response, tracing the pink crease across the top of his head. “Imagine my surprise when I found out it was you? I have so many reasons to enjoy what is about to happen to so-called heroes.” Rin knew there was something behind Shafford’s words, but he didn’t have time to beat it out of the man. Without another word, the two rangers retreated out of the tent and made a mad dash back to the Crystal Palace. Rin prayed he would get back in time.