Will McDermott - Judgment

Both men nodded and turned away to go about their tasks. Laquatas watched Traybor head back to his summoners. He's shrewder than any summoner I've ever encountered, thought the mer. I wonder what else he's holding back? Perhaps I should delve into his thoughts tonight and see what I can find.

The phalanx slowed to a crawl after the first attack. The second-rank warriors all watched the trees while their comrades in the front lines hacked away at the underbrush. But even these soldiers watched over their shoulders, afraid to take their eyes off the forest.

Laquatas continually scanned for nantuko but was often distracted by Traybor. He moved back and forth through the ranks of summoners as they advanced through the forest, talking and laughing with his mages, seemingly totally unconcerned by the threat of impending attack. The mer wanted to call the Cabal commander on his insolence but couldn't spare a moment from his scans, lest he lose more Order troops to the nantuko. Tonight, thought the mer. Tonight I will make you mine.

The nantuko attacked three more times that afternoon, and Laquatas went over each attack in his mind that night while deciding what to do about Dinell and Traybor. Laquatas had been able to raise the alarm moments before each of the first two attacks, and yet the order phalanx still lost four more soldiers, and not a single nantuko warrior was injured. The bugs moved so fast they were almost on the ground by the time Laquatas could yell out a warning. After a few quick slices, they were gone again, lost in the trees. Before the last attack, Traybor had once again distracted the mer, and six more Order troops were killed.

Laquatas saw the second attack. Just after he yelled, two bugs dropped from the trees right beside Order soldiers who were busy hacking through a large bush. The first nantuko warrior slashed down with both arms into the soldier's exposed neck, slicing through to the vertebrae from either side with its serrated forearms. The second bug plunged its claws into the side of its foe as the soldier turned toward Laquatas's call, shredding the man's organs and bursting through several ribs on its way up into his heart.

The second-rank soldiers raised their spears to plunge them into the attackers, but the bugs sprang back into the trees as the spears whisked through the empty space they left behind. Laquatas had thought it odd that he'd scanned six creatures in the area, yet only two had attacked. But he realized now that all of the other soldiers in the area had turned at his call and readied for the attack. Only the two men who had not yet reacted quickly enough were targeted.

Smart bugs, thought Laquatas. They will be tough to stop without some help from Traybor and his summoners.

The Cabal had been oddly silent during every attack. Laquatas's suspicions were aroused even more during the final nantuko attack of the day. Once again, just before the attack, Traybor came up to ask some inane question of the mer. Laquatas had ignored the summoner and concentrated on his scans, but he noticed the man's eyes kept darting toward the phalanx and back as they walked. Then, just as Laquatas felt the incoming bug attack, Traybor tripped and fell into him, almost knocking both mages to the ground. By the time Laquatas righted himself, the attack was over.

Traybor apologized for his clumsiness, but Laquatas didn't have to read the man's mind to know he was hiding something.

"What is he up to?" said Laquatas to the air inside his tent. "What is he plotting in that little brain of his? He does seem saner than most summoners I have met. Perhaps I can delve into his demented mind. Perhaps I can even exert some control. If not, I will just have to apply pressure instead."

Laquatas stepped out of his tent and looked around the camp. The allied forces had created a clearing after the last attack that was large enough to hold all the troops and still leave a ten-meter space between the camp and the nearest trees. The Order soldiers set up their camp on the north side of the clearing, while the Cabal raiders settled into the southern parts. Laquatas's tent had been pitched in between the two camps.

The mer sauntered toward Traybor's command tent, hoping he could get the summoner alone long enough to probe his mind and implant some control points. As Laquatas pushed aside the flap, his hopes surged inside him. Traybor was indeed alone.

"Good evening, summoner," he said as he moved into the tent. "I hope I am not disturbing you."

"Not at all, Ambassador," said Traybor smiling as he pushed his dinner plate away from him. "I've just finished my meal. What is on your mind this evening?"

Laquatas again vowed to kill this monstrously impertinent mage after he acquired the Mirari.

"It is about the nantuko," began Laquatas as he took a seat in front of Traybor's table. "We must find some way to combat them before they destroy all of the lieutenant's forces."

With his legs blocking Traybor's view, Laquatas folded his hands together and began to build up a reserve of mana in his fingertips.

"They are too fast even for my summoners to react in time," said Traybor. "What would you suggest?"

Laquatas seemed to ponder the question for a moment as he sent a wispy, azure tendril of power out toward Traybor underneath the table. The probe engulfed the summoner's boot and insinuated itself through the leather and the skin beneath, searching for the nerves in the sole of his foot.

"Is there some way your people can detect the bugs before they attack?" asked Laquatas as he sent his awareness through the probe into the man's nervous system. "My own scans are too localized to be of much use."

Laquatas's mind raced through Traybor's body. The distraction of the seemingly innocent question should provide an open door into the man's thoughts and memories. Once inside, Laquatas knew there was no way Traybor would ever be able to get him out.

The physical Laquatas saw Traybor's pupils narrow and his eyes flash black momentarily as if ink had been injected into them and then flushed out again. The astral Laquatas saw the same ink splashing from synapse to synapse, cascading down the spinal cord directly toward him. When the ink washed over him, the mer felt like he was drowning in mud. The ink pushed him down and stuck to him, invading every pore of his essence.

Laquatas nearly gagged from the images he was receiving from his mental trip through the summoner's body. He could feel his power ebbing away as the ink threatened to destroy his astral body. He did the only thing he could-he severed the contact and returned his essence back to his body.

"I suppose we could send out some dementia beasts as scouts," said Traybor, smiling after the ink washed away from his eyes.

"That would be most welcome," said Laquatas, who was suddenly pale and out of breath.

"Are you all right, Ambassador? Can I offer you something to drink?"

"No thank you," said Laquatas, rising from his chair. "I'm simply overtaxed from all the scanning today. Perhaps I should go seek out an Order healer."

"Excellent idea," said Traybor. "Sleep well."

As Laquatas crossed the clearing toward the Order encampment, he went over the meeting with Traybor in his mind. What was that, he wondered. He may be the only summoner to ever completely master his own dementia space. Perfectly sane in most respects, but incredible power at his fingertips, and total control over his own mind.

"I must speak with the lieutenant," said Laquatas to the guard outside Dinell's tent, raising his voice just enough to make sure all of the nearby soldiers heard what he wanted them to hear. "I have reliable information that the Cabal forces held back aid today during the nantuko raids, aid that could have saved Order lives!"

As the guard held the flap back to allow Laquatas to enter the tent, the mer could hear the whispering spread from fire to fire around the camp. Now I just have to get Dinell to confront Traybor in the morning, thought Laquatas, and then I can step in to save the alliance and exert my control over the Order troops.