Chapter 9 We have a mole

With a turn, he started to leave but a hooded figure stepped out from the shadows just outside the chamber. 

"Why Leave so soon, Elanon?" Varrick, a Dark Enchanter with a reputation for ruthless ambition and raw power, said in a cold voice that echoed through the chamber.

Elanon had little time to react before Varrick sent a deadly spell towards him. He managed to dodge it and counter-attacked with his own spell. A chaotic battle between dark and light magic followed. The room erupted and the air crackled with energy as various spells clashed. Ultimately, Elanon struggled to cope with Varrick's ruthless strikes. 

Youth and ferocity triumphed over age in the end and Elanon was overwhelmed. Varrick struck a final, devastating blow and summoned the Lunarceptor which flew into his hands. Elanon remained on the ground, grievously injured as Varrick melted into the shadows and vanished.

Elanon gasped for breath but managed to make a call to Yunis from his wristband. "Yunis… you must go to Garion and find my son, Aelarion… only he can help us now." Elanon said in a weak, but urgent voice.

Magic, since its discovery, has been known to have four branches: Lumancy, Elementalism, Shadowcraft, and Necromancy. A mage may be gifted in one or two of these branches, but few have ever been gifted in all four of them. Aelarion - Elanon's son - was extremely and exceptionally gifted in all four branches of both light and dark magic. In fact, he was considered a genius mage of a level that has hardly been seen in the history of the realms and his potential seemingly had no bounds. However, practising certain branches of magic has its own risks and the Planon Alliance forbade the practice or use of certain magic spells.

Aelarion however had an irresistible interest in dark magic and this had led to a falling out with the Planon Alliance. Ultimately, he had to leave the Alliance. But Elanon was certain that Aelarion was their only hope in this situation. This was because Varrick and other Dark Enchanters were skilled in various forms of deadly dark magic including creating magical traps, performing espionage, corrupting natural energies, Necromancy and raising the dead, and even manipulation of natural elements and the weather.

Elanon thus held little hope that the Alliance would be able to overcome these dark forces without the aid of his son, Aelarion.

Yunis was doubtful and expressed his concerns. "But Aelarion has been separated from the Alliance for so long, Master Elanon. What if he refuses?"

"Hold on a minute," Struggling to remain conscious, Elanon recorded a message on his wristband. Then he returned to the call with Yunis. "Show him this message." Yunis received a prompt for an incoming video message. "I trust he will help after receiving the message. You must hurry, Yunis. We don't have time to waste."

Yunis urgently set out on this mission with Elanon's recorded message in hand. He knew that the fate of the Alliance, and even that of the entire realm, depended on locating Aelarion and successfully retrieving the Lunarceptor with his help. This had to be done before Varrick could implement their sinister scheme of unleashing Zalthar's dark power.

False information?

Enchanted lanterns gave off a soft glow in the dimly lit room and Elanon lay in bed in the aftermath of the battle with Varrick, the Dark Enchanter. His body remained weak from the battle but the healers of the Planon Alliance had done their best. Yunis had updated them on Elanon's location and status before setting out for Glarion. The healers were able to locate Elanon in little time and do their best to treat him. However, it was Elanon's own resilience that ultimately pulled him through.

After several days, Elanon woke up. His mind was somewhat foggy but it was gradually clearing up. The dull ache of his injuries made him groan and shift. 

"You're finally awake," Jara, the chief healer said in a gentle voice. Her eyes were filled with relief. "You gave us a scare and we've been worried."

"Thank you, Jara. How long has it been?" Elanon asked with a faint smile.

"You've been out for five days, but you still need some time to recover fully."

Elanon's mind raced as he recalled Noster's prophecy of one of the five being a traitor. The fresh memory of Varrick's attack also made him realise that the enemy had anticipated their every move. This was an unsettling thought. How had Varrick even known about the Lunarceptor. How did the latter part of Noster's prophecy get torn and missing? 

"Jara," Elanon said, in a firm voice even though he felt weak. "Gather the inner circle of trusted deputies. I must brief you on important events. We have a lot to discuss."

Elanon looked round at the three Alliance heads in front of him. A few hours had passed already, and the four of them had convened in a secured room in the Alliance Protectorate Headquarters. His gaze went from Liora, his seasoned strategist to Darek, the head of internal security and stopped at Jara, the Chief Healer. They were all seated around him and he sat at the head of a long table. 

"Thank you for coming. You've already been told that I was attacked and that we have a serious problem. Let's get down to it." Elanon proceeded. "The question is how did Varrick know about the Lunarceptor? How did he know where exactly to find it and how to ambush me? There's no doubt that we have one or several moles in our ranks." 

This was a grave assessment and the gravity weighed heavily on everyone present. The room remained silent. Liora spoke first. "How deep does this infiltration go? This is one of the questions we have to answer. We can only trust those in this room because our security has been compromised."

"I agree," Darek seconded. "We can begin by performing thorough background checks on all personnel involved in our operations. Let us check for unusual behaviour and inconsistencies." 

"It is also very likely that the mission of our Alliance Heroes has been compromised." Elanon leaned forward and added. "Varrick may very well have intel on their activities since he knew about the Lunarceptor."

Jara frowned and said. "That is true. There is a need to ensure their safety. The question is how to do that without alerting the mole."

The room was silent as everyone thought about it. "We have to design and implement a multifaceted approach. Let us first perform discreet background checks on everyone no matter their status. Next, we can closely monitor communications and increase surveillance on all personnel. Finally, we can introduce false information into our operations and monitor it to see how it gets leaked."

"False information?" Liora asked with a raised eyebrow. 

"Yes. Anyone who acts on the series of false leads that we create will be suspect. In this way, we can identify the mole in a way that does not raise suspicion."

Implementing security measures

The Alliance Protectorate Headquarters in all three planets of the realm experienced a whirlwind of activity in the next few days. Darek and his team first began a meticulous review of the background of every Alliance agent that took part in recent operations. They checked for suspicious absences, links to known enemies, or signs of unusual behaviour.

Liora also used her intelligence team to establish a network of false information. Series of fake plans were crafted with the goal of tempting any mole that sought opportunities to sabotage the Planon Alliance. Thereafter, the team cleverly and subtly leaked these plans and information using secure channels. Liora and two other team members closely monitored the dissemination of the information.

On her own part, Jara implemented security reinforcement measures within the headquarters and branches of the Planon Alliance Protectorates. She changed all pass codes, strengthened all magical wards, and restricted access to sensitive areas for unauthorised personnel. Finally, she used a network of trusted healers to closely assess the health of key Alliance members. Her goal was to find out signs of manipulation, coercion, or hypnosis.

It took a few weeks for the plan to unfold. In the meantime, the atmosphere in the Planon Alliance remained guarded and the team that was in the know remained vigilant. The false information circulated and after a while, suspicious activity was detected.

Darek's team flagged a few agents who showed too much interest in the false leads. Their pattern of communication revealed that they were too eager to identify and confirm the information. 

Even though Elanon was still recovering, he kept a close eye on the implementation of the plan. He was therefore excited that they were close to identifying the traitors. 

Darek walked into his office several weeks after they set up the plan. He held a report in his hand. "We've finally got several leads," Darek said as he handed the report to Elanon. "We are monitoring the suspects closely. These records show that they have an external source that they communicate with frequently."