Alpha Nocturne's Contracted Mate

Chapter 283 Remnants of the Daemor Wars

Bartholomew was mid discussion with Adam and the Enclave’s Commander of the guard when his

office phone rang.

He stared at it in bemusement and exhaled a short laugh.

“I rarely get calls directed here…” He mused as he reached for the receiver.

The Enclave’s commander grunted in annoyance and threw himself down on the chair, resuming the

animated discussion with Adam regarding the reinforcements due to leave in less than an hour’s time.

“Oh! Lord Brarthroroz!”

Bartholomew exclaimed as Adam’s head turned violently towards him and he focused his attention on

the conversation.

“Yes, Yes I can do that. Let me call you back, I just need a few minutes to check the records. I’m sure I

have it in here somewhere.” Bartholomew’s face took on a thoughtful expression as he said goodbye,

hung up and made his way over to the bookcase.

Adam and the Commander exchanged a look, and as no explanation was forthcoming, Adam cleared

his throat loudly and looked towards Bartholomew expectantly.

But Bartholomew paid him no mind as he browsed the shelves with a deep frown until finally, his face lit

up and he pulled a book from the shelves, scurrying back to his desk with it and rifling through his

drawers as he took his seat.

“Do you want to tell us what that was about?” Adam asked curiously as he leaned onto Bartholomew’s

desk.

“What?” Bartholomew uttered distractedly as he pulled out what looked like a leather book and sat it on

his desk before him.

He met Adam’s gaza with mild confusion, his h*ands resting on both books, before the realization

suddenly dawned on him.

“Oh! My apologies. That was Lord Brarthroroz.” He said as the Commander snorted loudly.

“We kind of understood that from your: ‘Oh! Lord Brarthroroz!’ comment when you answered your

phone.” The Commander offered sarcastically.

Bartholomew peered at the commander with a mild-mannered smile on his face.

“Such a helpful contribution to the conversation, Commander. It makes me wonder why you haven’t

advanced further in your career,” Bartholomew said with the same mild mannered smile, but the

irritation in the lines of his face was glaringly obvious to Adam.

He allowed himself a small smile of his own as he side-eyed the commander who looked as though he

had just been slapped, and waited for Bartholomew to continue.

“As I was saying,” Bartholomew cleared his throat, “It seems Lord

Brarthroroz has a line of inquiry that he wishes to pursue. The most recent assumption was that

Eromaug and his coven had holed up inside the containment facility, having recruited the inmates to his

side. However, Lord Brarthroroz seems to think that his brother will have a second, well hidden but

decidedly less guarded entrance in addition to the one that he is currently presenting to us. Using it as

a decoy if you will.”

Bartholomew paused as he leafed through the book, murmuring to himself as he did so before placing

it down on the desk and moving to untie the leather bindings on the folder, revealing an intricately

folded large, piece of paper, that he carefully unfolded and spread across his desk.

Adam glanced down at the pages of the book and only had time to read the title across the top of the

page before Bartholomew picked it up again and began scouring the map, and marking various places

on the map.

“Remnants of the Daemon Wars?” Adam frowned, as he repeated the title out loud.

“Yes.” Bartholomew answered ponderously, peering down his nose as he marked off yet another

location on the map, “Lord Brarthroroz seems to be of the opinion that Eromaug will most likely return

to one of the previous haunts that the darkness occupied back in the Daemon Wars.”

“But why would he do that? Inhabit a ruin I mean. Surely defensively that wouldn’t be a feasible option.”

The Commander asked, suddenly intrigued as he approached the desk and watched Bartholomew

work.

“That is where you are wrong, Commander. They may be ruins on the outside, but on the inside,

underground in the caverns and tunnels that they spent centuries constructing, the structures are

perfectly sound. After the Daemons were repelled, explorations of the structures they left behind were

halted after multiple exploration parties failed to return. Instead, they were sealed and hidden from sight

by the most powerful Magick users that were in existence at the time.” Bartholomew explained

patiently.

Adam could see the logic in Lord Brarthroroz’s line of thinking and focused intently on the map.

“So presuming that the containment facility is indeed a decoy, wouldn’t that mean that any of these

ruins could be an entrance?”

“Not necessarily. They still need to be able to attack and resupply and reinforce that stronghold, whilst

having the ability to harass Greyson and his men, keeping the pressure on them.” Adam mused as he

located the old factory that Greyson and his men had repurposed as their stronghold.

He took a red marker from the desk and circled Greyson’s position on the map and sat back and waited

for Bartholomew to finish marking the sites.

“I think it’s safe to say that any of those that fall within a 30 mile radius of our team’s stronghold would

be worth investigating.” Adam pondered out loud and Bartholomew nodded in agreement.

“The fact remains though, that we still need to figure out the reinforcement teams.” The commander

argued, “We can’t replace exhausted men with tired men fresh from their guard duties!”

“No? Do you think we’ll have the luxury of being able to make that choice if we don’t put a stop to it

while we can and they march on the Capital, the Enclave itself?!” Adam snapped, tired of the

Commanders constant objections.

“But… we’ll be sending them at a subpar standard, risking their lives and the countless years of training

that goes into them…” the commander blustered angrily,

“These guards are not easy to replace, they..”

“Enough.” Ann’s voice stated firmly as Bartholomew’s office door opened and Ann strolled in with Coral

in tow.

Coral shrugged apologetically at Adam and he sighed internally. There really was no way of making her

listen.

“Commander, in my absence, Adam speaks for me at all times, do you understand?” She said

smoothly as she held his gaze with confidence.

“Yes, my Queen,” The commander answered immediately as he bowed his head and bared his neck in

submission.

“Now, let’s start getting things done a little more quickly, shall we? I hear Narcissa is still alive and

kicking and that has to change.” She grinned sinisterly.