Gathering the Crew

(AN: This chapter takes place before the crew gets to the camp.)

Devin felt a tug at his consciousness as his Telespeak tried to get his attention.

"What?! I'm working here!" He was irritable and ready to mirror the king's head-on-pike stunt.

"Ingen needs you." Ernest came over the other end.

Devin dropped his vial, burning a hole in the floor. "Excuse me, what?"

"Ingen didn't die, he escaped the prison they held him in and is in need of help to escape Gluaze. I would go myself but I can't risk being followed. There are always spies watching me from a distance. Ingen said to gather a crew and follow his golems."

"You got it, boss." Devin was ecstatic, his anger forgotten.

Devin gathered his things into one of the three compression spheres that Ingen gave him for graduation.

"Hmm, Ben and Ward are definitely going to say yes. Ward is a little rough, but I can tell he sees Ingen as a rival, so there is no way he wouldn't. Maybe I can get Teo or Vincent in, they don't exactly have a future here. Then there is Ingen's friend John, he might if I can convince his dad."

Devin went along asking from most to least likely to join.

"I'm in." Ben said just as Devin came into his room.

"But I haven't even said anything yet."

"You're going to ask me if I want to help you kill the king right? After what he did to Ingen there is no way you don't want revenge." Ben looked at Devin with lightning in his eyes.

"No, no, no. It's not like that, Ingen is alive and needs our help."

The lightning in Ben's eyes turned to tears. "YES! Let's go immediately!"

"Calm down, we can't go immediately, Ingen will be tracked if we do. We have to help his golems get there without leaving tracks." Devin whispered, hoping that the people who heard Ben's scream wouldn't hear.

"Fine, but I'm going to go pack anyway." Ben's tone returned to normality

Devin left to find the rest of the crew.

Ward accepted without question, Teo joined up with the stipulation that he would be helped to escape his monitors, Vincent was another story.

"There is no way I could join you." He said in-between swings of his sword. "Ingen said he never wanted me to talk to him again."

"I'm sure he would be ok with you joining us in an expedition to save his ass."

"No, no, you don't understand." Vincent stopped swinging his sword for a minute and showed Devin the back of his hand.

"You made an oath?!" Devin facepalmed "Seriously? Was it that important to you?"

"Yes, and I don't intend to break it."

"Let me see that!" Devin grabbed his hand and started reading the runes. "This says Fov, Ingen, Oure. Can you even read?"

"No, my nickname is not Rune Sage, so I haven't memorized every rune known to naturalkind."

"You never thought to look up these specific runes?"

"I always assumed it was an oath to never talk to Ingen again, considering how it happened just after he said something."

"Well, you can't have an oath to never do something because then the oath can't be fulfilled. Yours translates to 'Forgive, Ingen, Oath.' This means you have an oath to get Ingen to forgive you."

Vincent looked at Devin like he was speaking another language. "What?"

"You have to get Ingen to forgive you or you will lose some of your lifespan," Devin said annoyance bared.

"Really?"

"Really."

Vincent sheathed his sword. "I'm in."

"Get ready, I'm going to go find one more person."

Devin opened a portal to Ingen's old house and asked Ernest where John lived through the Telespeak. When he was given directions, he found his way to John's porch.

"You'd best not go in, fella. John is a little upset at the moment." Fabiru said.

"It's important, and it pertains to Ingen and you too."

"You know Ingen?!" Fabiru grabbed Devin by the arm and whispered into his ear. "He's still alive you know."

Devin turned his head awkwardly and whispered back. "That's why I'm here, he needs help."

"Come inside."

Devin and Fabiru made their way inside. Devin was only slightly surprised to see the armory inside.

"We planned to take over Fort Lao where he's held."

"No need, he escaped by himself, he just needs people to help him get out of the country."

"Perfect, we're in. I just need to finish my orders and find a way to leave without raising alarms."

"Why are you so suddenly invested in Ingen?"

"Well, first, he's my kid's best friend. He also just so happens to be the most innovative man I know. Even managed to get a last name at graduation."

"I guess that's a good of a reason as any. Can John go immediately?"

"Mhm, he was packing for a long trip anyway. Just pretend like someone kidnapped him or something, while you're at it, take my surplus with you."

After a few moments of deliberation on how John was going to be 'kidnapped,' he was part of the crew.

********

"It's perfect, the night is lit only by the stars tonight." Devin rubbed his hands together in anticipation and to warm them.

The rest of the crew was surrounding him, waiting for the golems. After about ten minutes, they appeared from the shadows, stole into Ingen's workshop, and escaped with armfuls of supplies.

"That's our cue," Devin whispered.

The group dashed inside and took as much as they could.

"Don't get separated!" Devin said as loudly as stealth would allow.

With loads of supplies in their hands, they all followed the golems.

"Knights, override orders, do not attack us."

"Yes, Second Lieutenant Devin." Plien and Fultz replied in unison

'When did Ingen give me a rank?'

"Stop!" Devin commanded as soon as the school was well out of sight.

The golems stopped in their tracks obediently.

"Give me Ingen's coordinates."

Plien and Fultz replied at the same time with different coordinates.

'Ingen says they have a hard time hearing lower frequency sounds.'

Devin changed his voice to be higher-pitched. "Plien, what are Ingen's coordinates?"

Plien rattled off some coordinates. Devin opened a portal to an area he had been to that was a little closer, as well as many extra portals that went nowhere in particular to spoof anyone who chased them. He stepped through it after everyone else and promptly went limp from Eneru exhaustion.

"If you are a pressure mage, keep the golems' feet from touching the ground." Devin changed his voice again. "Pick me up Plien."

Teo kept the golems off the ground for a while until they had to make camp. Once everyone was surrounding the fire, Teo pulled out a Windcutter.

"Vincent, you go scout for a place to portal us to tomorrow."

With Vincent gone and most of the rest of the group asleep, Devin got to work with the compression spheres, making sure to get as much into them as possible. Once they were full he gave one to John, and one to each of the knights. Anything that couldn't fit in a compression sphere went into some makeshift bags that Devin placed on the knights' back.

"We're ready for tomorrow." Devin finally fell asleep.