"May the Warrior watch over you," Paladin Amberheart told me as I got on board the stealth ship.

"Thanks," I told the badger as I climbed down the ladder to the stealth ship. Its profile was incredibly low to the water. The stealth ship unmoored from the Night Blade and set off towards the Serpentine River in the middle of the night. I watched as the battleship faded in the distance behind us.

We entered the mouth of the river and traveled up it for about an hour, before coming to a stop. This was my departure point. I made sure my pack was secure, and hopped into a motorboat that was lowered into the water. Starting it up I quickly made it to shore.

After making sure the motorboat was secure and I remembered its location, I looked at the river. The stealth ship was already sailing away. The battleship was too low in the water to go up river unlike the stealth ship.

Once the motorboat was hidden and I didn't notice any creatures I made sure to memorize this location. I had looked at the various maps extensively, but it was important to know the local terrain, to quickly find the motorboat again.

Looking around I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. I grabbed the case for the trade out of the motorboat. I also secured my pack with the apostate robes inside and some supplies. There was an immense sense of tension I was feeling.

I had reviewed the maps countless times, and after making sure the motorboat was secured and hidden, I set off towards the meeting point. The precise landing location changed each time, to prevent an ambush. Paladin Amberheart was very concerned about that. The air was much warmer and it was far hotter as I made my way through the brush to the meeting location.

"You aren't the usual person," Firefox said as I entered the small stone hut some distance from the shore and river. I could only smell him and nothing else. I wasn't getting any sense of danger around me either.

"Snakes bleed like all creatures," I said the pass phrase, ignoring his comment.

"They bleed since they can be killed," he responded with the counter phrase. "A cat?"

"Yes. I am here for the information," I told him. He pulled out a piece of paper but didn't hand it over.

"My payment?" he asked. I set down a briefcase on a nearby table and opened it. There was a disassembled rifle and lots of ammo. It was a much older version than I had seen before. Single shot, large bore.

"A rifle, large bore," I told him. I pushed the briefcase over. He snapped it shut and handed over the piece of paper. I looked at it. There were a lot of random numbers and letters scrawled across it. I had memorized the cipher Paladin Amberheart had given me.

It took me half a minute to look it over while also keeping an eye on Firefur. They clearly wanted to leave but knew better than to just run off in case I had other instructions to pass on. I wouldn't be passing on any instructions, but getting the spy out of here.

The target was calling off the extraction and was letting me know the information was no longer valid. The mission had to go on regardless. I tucked the piece of paper away into the side pouch on my pack. "I need to meet with them," I said and Firefur froze at that. His nervousness shot through the roof at that.

"Meet? That's a hike. No, I have other places, I need to be." I narrowed my eyes. That wasn't a good sign. One of the clearest signs of hypnosis, was being unable to handle unexpected situations in a plausible manner. Based on what Firefur just said, it didn't appear good.

"I think you are compromised," I said calmly while extending my claws. The fox spun to look at me.

"I just pass on messages, you want more, pay more," he demanded, not addressing my concerns.

"On our return, you will be paid," I told him. He frowned at that. I noticed his tail moving erratically. His eyes were darting about, and he was nervous. A silence hung over the meeting as he tried to deal with the snakes' hypnosis. While I wanted to kill him, he was clearly been converted recently. Killing him would only tip my enemies off.

"I…I can take you to a meeting," he said with hesitation. That didn't sound good. The problem with hypnosis, was that it took time to break someone out. It would also put a lot of mental pressure on the creature. Some didn't survive, depending on how deep the conditioning went. There were methods of resisting, but they weren't simple.

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"That is good," I replied and moved in closer, while tucking the message away. I would hold onto that to confirm what happened here. Once I was close enough, I lunged. Firefur tried to scramble away, but I slapped their paws to the side and grabbed their face with my paws. I began to squeeze, and their paws reached up to grab mine.

My claws dug lightly into his face. I was hoping the shock would break the conditioning. He struggled and screamed incoherently. I wasn't going to let him go, even though he battered my arms. Ten seconds went by, then a minute. Finally, he stopped struggling and went limp. I let him go and he impacted the floor of the stone hut.

I checked Firefur, and he was still alive. I then changed into my apostate robes. Complete with an actual talisman. I didn't recognize it, but I am sure the Vault had loads saved up over the years. I made sure my hood was up. Time to see if the conditioning had really broken.

Half an hour went by and finally Firefur began to stir. He froze when he saw me, and I saw him trembling. "I…just kill me," he muttered as he slowly got to his feet. I didn't say anything, waiting to see how he reacted.

He was looking about, but the nervous eye movement wasn't as much. "You can take off the hood, you are from Amberheart," he said. I took the hood off.

"Better?" I asked.

"No, my brain feels like it is going to rip out of my skull and my face is bleeding. Thanks," he said the last part seriously.

"How compromised are things?" I asked.

"My whole cell was picked up. As for the sender of that note, they weren't picked up, but who knows," he replied.

"They said their information was no longer valid and they didn't want to be pulled out," I said. Firefure winced at this and let out a long sigh.

"Then they are finished. They will be held in a secure area to be questioned and broken. Getting them out, well isn't possible. The prisoner cages are also the food cages," he replied.

"The snake you hypnotized you?" I asked.

"A young one, that had rooted out our cell. The main issue is Slither. No offense, but just one cat, will be a chew toy for a snake their age and size," he said.

"Don't underestimate me. Can you show me where Shortnose is being held. I will do the rest," I said with full confidence in my abilities.

"Your funeral. I reserve the right to run away once things get dangerous," he replied.

"That is fine. I have a general idea, but I need a guide. Consider it payment for breaking the hypnosis," I replied. "Wait, do you remember the instructions you were given?"

"A bit, why?" he asked.

"Do they include meeting with the snake that hypnotized you if you have important information?" I asked. "You said they were young?"

"I did have such orders. Why?" he asked. I was considering going after the lesser snake first. It would be a good way to get more EXP, but then I decided against it. The mission came first, and I couldn't afford to confront Slither injured in any way or the alarm being raised.

"Just thinking of possibilities. You have a check in time?" I asked.

"No. The snakes often do this for cells. Capture a bunch and then release a few of us as bait after basic questioning. If they knew a Paladin was here there would have been a much bigger ambush. The snakes aren't the smartest of creatures, even if they are stupidly powerful," Firefur answered.

"Then, we need to move. I am Apostate Mittens. We bluff our way through as much as possible and I will recover Shortnose. Hopefully without any hassle," I replied.

"Slither won't let them go. Unless you prove your credentials, it won't work," he said.

"I will worry about that. For now, grab your gun case, and let's get moving. You have a cart?" I asked.

"Yes," he replied. We left the stone hut and made our way to a nearby road. There was a cart and four voles hitched to it. I winced at the casual slavery, but it was the way things were done. Once all the snakes were dead these creatures would be freed.

We got on the cart and set off. "We can speak, their hearing has been removed," Firefur said. I knew why he had this cart and slaves. If he didn't he would stand out too much. There was no other option. "We will free them all one day," he said, clearly understanding my thoughts.

"Three days to get there?" I asked.

"Yes. We shouldn't have any problems with your outfit getting through the checkpoints. It actually makes things a lot easier. If anyone asks, you are hitch a ride while you go about your duties," he said.

"And if they ask more, just kill them," I added.

"They won't ask. There are classes of slaves. The lowest being food. Then the labor. Then the attendants. Finally, the apostates are the highest ranked. I am a low ranked attendant, moving goods about."

"And the gun?" I asked.

"For another buyer. Which lets me keep my status as a traveling attendant. I have to produce goods. They wanted a gun, so I requested a gun," he replied.

"And your rebel group, how were they found?" I asked these questions to make sure there was nothing lingering deep within him that could pose an issue.

"They were found through the use of sweeping up a bunch of creatures and then scanning the rest. I have had some training to resist and compartmentalize, otherwise I would have died when you freed me like that. There is always some rebellion going on. So I just need to make it seem like I wasn't doing anything, just harboring thoughts. One hypnosis later, I would report things back, but keep doing my job," Firefur replied.

He seemed better. "Your face?" I asked, since it was still bloody.

"I will clean it up later. For now, we don't want to be near the shore. If we are found there would be too many questions. Well maybe not with you here. But no point in senseless risks." I nodded at this.

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