Rule of the Council Box Set: Books, 1 through 3 by Orlando A. Sanchez

Author:Orlando A. Sanchez [Sanchez, Orlando A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bitten Peaches Publishing
Published: 2020-10-30T22:00:00+00:00

THREE

“Were you serious about this truce?” Byako asked as we arrived at the training grounds. “Kadir would rather remove your head than accept a truce.”

“I know, but it’s the fastest way to get information. Kadir is arrogant. More importantly, Benjiro will see it as an opportunity to remove me from the board.”

“This isn’t a game,” Byako answered with a hint of frustration. “They both want you dead…as in permadeath.”

Byako stopped the vehicle and turned off the engine. We had a few hours before dawn.

“They aren’t the first to desire my death,” I answered, surveying the area before opening my door, grabbing the three Faceless masks, and exiting. “They won’t be the last. Let’s go.”

“Why are we still maintaining this place?” Byako asked looking around. “Do we even use it anymore?”

“We do,” I said, sensing the Warden some distance behind us. His masking was nearly perfect, making it difficult to pinpoint his location. Difficult, but not impossible. “The Dark Council now uses the grounds to test weaponry and as storage.”

The old Dark Council training facility, a flat three-story structure, was located between 40th and 41st Streets, taking up an entire city block from 11th to 12th Avenue. The building was named the Michael J. Quill Bus Depot. In reality, the Dark Council had purchased the property decades earlier and converted the interior, leaving the exterior unchanged.

From the outside, it appeared to be a bus depot, even housing several city buses on the roof of the structure to lend credence to the deception. Inside, it housed several training areas, above-and underground, along with reinforced hard rooms for extensive heavy weapon testing.

Once I realized the building’s strategic flaws, I relocated the training center to another location underground, and had the Dark Council repurpose the existing building for storage and limited weapon testing.

Byako had parked on the 12th Avenue side, in the lot near Pier 81. A waterfront restaurant housed on the actual pier jutted out into the Hudson River. The rest of the lot was empty at this hour.

“Are you sure he’s here?” Byako asked, looking around. “He’s kind of old. Maybe he forgot?”

“The Warden may be many things, including an ancient, decrepit dark mage,” I said, sensing his approach. He had been behind us for no less than ten seconds. “Senile isn’t one of them…yet.”

“You should respect your seniors, rookie,” a familiar voice said from behind us. “I’m old because I out-thought, out-gunned, or out-maneuvered my enemies, not because I was lucky or unprepared.”

Byako jumped as Grey materialized behind us.

“Shit!” she cursed, drawing her guns. “You do that again and I will shoot you, old man.”

“Now you know what real masking is,” Grey answered, stepping forward and turning to me. “I heard you met with the warrior nuns.”

“How did you know that?” Byako asked. “Who told you?”

“You just did, rookie,” Grey answered, looking at me. “How’d it go?”

“Poorly,” I answered, still looking across the street at the windowless training facility. “Aria was betrayed by one of her own. An exile named Tela, who also happens to be an illusionist planewalker.

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