Chapter 8 #3
“Yes, he was rather horrible, but in recent decades the story has been heralded by Mongavarian propaganda as a shining example of human ingenuity and grit in throwing off their elven oppressors.” Uncle Edmund tapped the photograph.
“And in this case, his name is rather appropriate for this place. From what my agents in Mongavaria can gather, experiments are being conducted on ogres with the purpose of bringing down the elves—Prince Farrendel and his offspring in particular—and the Alliance along with them.”
Fieran swallowed, and Pip leaned into him as if seeking comfort. Around the table, a somber quiet descended once again.
That had always been the Mongavarian goal in this war. They wanted an empire—an empire of humans, specifically—to rival the one created by the elves so long ago. They’d conquered all the kingdoms along the ocean to the south, as well as Groyria.
But Escarland and the rest of the Alliance had always stood between them and expanding farther west. Seventy years ago, Mongavaria had hoped Escarland, as a fellow human kingdom, would willingly join their budding empire in order to form an alliance against the elves and trolls.
Fieran had even heard something about a marriage of alliance with either his mother or with his Uncle Julien.
Instead, Escarland had chosen to ally themselves with the elves and trolls against their fellow humans in Mongavaria. Seventy years ago, that had been seen as an affront. Now the most extreme of Mongavarian propaganda portrayed it as unnatural, even a betrayal of humanity.
“What is the exact nature of these experiments?” The black-haired elven female general’s voice was low and grim.
“Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to obtain the exact details.
” Uncle Edmund’s jaw worked. “There is only one Mongavarian general overseeing the Ludin facility, and all telephone and radio communications between him and the facility are in vague and coded terms. He reports nearly everything to the empress verbally so there is very little in writing for us to find in her office. The general’s office is in a heavily guarded complex, which my agents haven’t been able to infiltrate yet. ”
“But due to our experiences with the results, we can assume they are stealing the ogre’s magic somehow.
” Uncle Julien shrugged. “The exact method doesn’t change the fact that this is a threat.
These experiments are the reason Mongavaria dared start this war.
They believe they finally have the means to combat the magic of the ancient kings.
And if these experiments are left unchecked, they very well could be right. ”
That gained a series of grim nods from around the table.
One Escarlish colonel was eyeing Uncle Edmund. “You have access to the empress’s office?”
“Yes. If it comes across her desk, I get a copy.” Uncle Edmund shrugged, as if seeing everything that the enemy leader saw was no big deal. “That’s why she’s learned to be cautious about her paperwork, especially since she hasn’t figured out who my agent is.”
The Escarlish colonel nodded with a new respectful light in his eyes. Several others seemed far more ready to believe whatever Uncle Edmund told them, now that they realized the scope of his sources.
“From what I’ve gathered, Mongavaria has been abducting ogres for years.
” Uncle Edmund pulled another photograph from the stack, but he didn’t hold it up yet.
“Ever since their conquest of Groyria, they’ve been conducting these experiments on a larger, more industrial scale.
The analysts in the Intelligence Office have estimated that at least a hundred, perhaps several hundred, ogres have been brought from Groyria to the Ludin facility.
That number is expected to increase dramatically in the next few months, if this facility isn’t shut down. ”
Uncle Edmund held up a new photograph. It must have been an enlarged portion of an original photograph since it was especially blurry.
But from what Fieran could see between the shoulders of all the gathered generals, it appeared to show several long buildings with black dots clustered around them. People, perhaps?
“Then there’s this.” Uncle Edmund held up another somewhat blurry photograph, this one of what appeared to be a giant pit with more tiny black shapes inside.
“It’s hard to make out details, but the analysts and the observers on the airship that conducted the scouting mission agree that this is a mass grave. ”
Fieran’s stomach lurched. A mass grave was only needed if there was mass death.
“Are they killing off the ogres?” An Escarlish general frowned and gestured at the photograph.
“Is all of this—the Ludin facility, the camps in Groyria—some plot by Mongavaria to exterminate the ogres? Perhaps that sounds absurdly melodramatic and overblown, but Mongavarian rhetoric about the elves and trolls has indicated that they have an extreme discrimination against non-humans.”
“I wouldn’t put that past them at some point, and I shudder to think what they would do to the elves, trolls, and dwarves if they won this war.
” Uncle Edmund’s jaw flexed, his eyes holding a dark kind of anger.
“But at this time it appears the deaths are a byproduct of the experiments. A byproduct they are not in a hurry to fix. The conditions in the holding camps in Groyria are decent enough that it seems Mongavaria needs their lab rats alive and well.”
Beside Fieran, Pip’s breathing had turned ragged. Fieran turned to her, partially sheltering her from the rest of the room. “Are you all right?”
“Just trying not to be sick. That’s awful.” Pip pressed her face against his arm, her shoulders giving a slight shudder.
Fieran rubbed her back, holding her close for a moment. He’d thought he’d lost his ability to be horrified at the things people could do to each other. But nope, it seemed there were levels of horror still to be reached.
A long, heavy silence fell across the meeting room.
Fieran’s magic crackled in his chest, but there was nothing he could do with it here. The enemy was far away, and all he could do was hold Pip close by his arm around her shoulders and hope his uncles had come up with a plan for ending this.
The belligerent Escarlish general cleared his throat.
“While this is all…grim, does this change anything? As awful as this is for the ogres, our current strategy will likely end the war sooner rather than later. After all, we have Mongavaria on the run, and our advantage will only increase as winter sets in, thanks to the troll ice magic we have on our side. If we win the war, we will also, in essence, liberate the ogres at the same time.”
“We need to shut down this facility to prevent Mongavaria from making more of those magic-stealing machines.” Uncle Julien tapped the map on the table once again.
“Mongavaria intends to fortify the Empress Line with those machines, negating our magical advantage. That would halt our advance, if not turn it back altogether. We could find ourselves fighting a war in a bloody stalemate. Our invasion has only made such incredible progress these past few weeks because Mongavaria has been strategically falling back in a delaying action and making only minimal use of those machines while they further reinforce the place where they actually intend to take a stand. Don’t mistake our gains these past weeks for victory. This war is far from won.”
That sent a murmur around the room. These generals—the Escarlish ones in particular—apparently didn’t like to be told that their seemingly inexorable march into Mongavaria wasn’t as victorious as it seemed right now.
But the elven and troll generals were nodding, severe lines on their faces. With their long lives, those generals were the ones who had actually fought wars before. They likely remembered all too well the stalemate of a hundred years of war between the elves and trolls.
“In addition, our warriors of the magic of the ancient kings are currently at a significant risk, as are our warriors with magic of any kind. If we lose them, we lose this war.” Uncle Julien’s jaw was hard beneath his thick beard as he stared at the generals.
“Simply put, we can’t win the war until we get rid of those machines. ”
Fieran wasn’t about to argue with that. He’d experienced the power of just one of those machines firsthand and had seen what a whole bunch of them had done to Dacha. Until those machines were eliminated, the Alliance couldn’t unleash the full force of its magical power to win the war.
“I say we bomb the Ludin facility to put it out of action for a while.” That Escarlish general jabbed a hand at the photographs Uncle Edmund had set on the table. “A few ogres might be killed, but they will die anyway in the Mongavarian experiments.”
That sounded cold, but that general’s first priority was Escarland and Escarlish lives. From his point of view, his suggestion made perfect sense.
Even if Fieran hoped that wasn’t what his uncles actually planned to do.
“As we mentioned, bombing is still mostly ineffective.” Uncle Julien fished a photograph from the folder and handed it to Uncle Edmund, although neither revealed it yet.
“It takes numerous and near continuous bombing raids to put a factory or facility out of action, and with the Pamfrey Aerodrome putting up a stiff resistance, such a campaign would be dangerous and drawn out. Nor could we guarantee that we would hit a vital enough section of the Ludin facility to cripple it.”
“And there’s this.” Uncle Edmund held up the photograph. It was even more blurry than the previous one, but it appeared to show a large yard where a faint symbol had been formed in whatever gray surface created the flat landscape.
Fieran swallowed and met first Merrik’s gaze, then Rothilion’s on his other side, even as one of the generals said, “Is that the Escarlish Flying Corps wings?”